Con Report: All-Con 2016

I spent last weekend attending All-Con in Dallas.  I've only attended All-Con once before, back in 2011 when their theme was steampunk.  I hadn't realized it'd been a full five years until my facebook reminded me by showing pictures from five years ago.  I've been wanted to go back since that time and it just hasn't come together.

All-Con is a pretty unique con.  It has a very broad focus, as it's name implies, and welcomes fans from any type of geek culture.  There's a real focus on costuming and maker culture.  Many of the panels focus on DIY skills, which is one of the reasons I love the con.  When I go to panels, I want to learn stuff.  All-Con typically has a laid-back familial party atmosphere, I gather.

My husband, showing off his spikey bowler
 in the hotel bar.

This year was the first year the con was held in a new hotel, the Westin Park Central.  The con really needed a larger home than their old hotel, but the change in venue lead to a lot of issues and made the event feel more like a first year con than one in it's 12th year.   In general, the vibe seemed off.  People were scattered all over the hotel on several floors and there didn't seem to be any center of the action.  I felt like I was missing out on the fun, whereas previously, all of All-Con was very centralized on one floor.

But I wasn't at the con for most of the time.  I've been struggling with a flare of my back condition for the last month or so, and I wasn't sure if I was even going to be able to go.  So I intentionally limited my con time so I would be able to do the things I'd agreed to do, namely, presenting three panels on corsets.

This year the con put more effort into a steampunk track and took on a new steampunk track coordinator, who is a friend of mine.  She reached out to the community to organize panels, and that's how I ended up doing these corset panels.  Which is cool cause I love blabbering about corsets to people.

On Friday night there was a steampunk music night which included Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands.   I saw this band previously about a year ago in Houston.  They instantly became one of my favorite steampunk bands.  So I was super excited they were playing this con.  I went to the con on Friday JUST to see them.

The concert was held in the Penthouse Ballroom on the top floor of the hotel.  As far as I know it was the only event held up there and I had trouble figuring out where it was even taking place.  Apparently either a lot of people did, or not many people realized the event was even happening.  It was scheduled at the same time as Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is a big deal at this con.  So the audience was really, really small.

Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands

As difficult as it is to play to a mostly empty room, the band was FANTASTIC.  They have an eclectic sound that features Crystal Bright's AMAZING voice and her keyboards, accordion, bowed saw, and on one song African harp.  The sound does have a vintage or antique quality, with several songs in waltz or tango rhythms.   But it's still modern, it's still rock, and it has an edge.  While song steampunk bands I've seen are fun for an evening, but aren't necessarily something I'd want to listen to all the time, Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands is music I'll listen to any time.

I also have to give a shout out to Crystal herself for being a super sweet person.  My husband and I were sitting at the bar in the hotel lobby before the show and she came up to us to say hi because she remembered us from the show a year ago.   And she was equally lovely after the show as people bought merch.  It's not a lot of lead singers who I end up hugging.   But I was a little ashamed that more people didn't attend their show, especially the steampunk community.  We need to support our own!

Me, in the Steampunk Cleopatra, with husband.

Anyway, on Saturday I gave two corset panels back to back.  The first was Corsets 101 and the second was Intro to Corset Making.  There was a lot more interest in the Corset Making class than the 101 class, which is interesting because at other cons it's been reversed.  All-Con's panels are supposed to only last 45 minutes, which flies by when I have a lot to discuss.  So I did feel pretty rushed and a little disorganized in my presentation.   It's always difficult to gauge what people are understanding or absorbing, but a couple of people came up and told me they'd learned a lot, so that's nice.

I stayed for the next panel in the room, which was a Victorian fencing demonstration presented by the local Victorian fencing society.  It was super interesting and fun.  I'm already a fencing fan due to the Olympics, but it was neat to see it so close and see the difference in Victorian style fencing from modern fencing.  As well as learning some of the history.

After that I attended a panel on Small Business for Creative Types.  The presenter was obviously very knowledgeable, but much of the panel involved talking to the people in the audience and got into specifics that weren't super relevant to me.  I was used as the example business for much of the panel since I had an established business.  But it did underline some things I really need to consider and focus on to get my business better organized and got me thinking in some new directions.

Apologies for the radio silence

Hi everyone!  I know things have been silent for a while.  First I had a severe back flare that meant I wasn't getting ANYTHING done except playing video games.  It also was pretty depressing and I just couldn't work up enthusiasm for blogging.  And then there were the holidays and I was traveling for two weeks and now that I can work on things again I've been pretty busy.

I'm trying to catch up on my corset commissions and I'm also doing some home improvement projects.  They're small DIY, low-budget things, but that's taking a lot of time.  I have been wanting to ask my readers, though: should I post about my home projects here?  They're not actually steampunk related, unless you want to say something simple like painting cabinets could be steampunk.  I have a more personal blog that no one reads where I COULD post about them.  I've always tried to keep this blog as on-topic as possible, so I'm asking.

Should I post about my home improvement projects here?

Yes, I'm interested!

No, keep it strictly steampunk.

Maybe? (Explain in comments.)

Poll Maker

Thanks for voting!  I really am interested in my reader's opinions.

On the steampunk front there are things coming up in my area that should get me back in the swing of things.  I am keeping my con schedule light again this year for financial and personal reasons.  I will most likely only be attending/vending at small steampunk-specific events.

Here are some of the events I'm keeping an eye on at the moment for Texas:

Steampunk Express (Cogs, Leather, Lace and Steam) - The Texas State Railroad is having a steampunk weekend April 24-26.  There are lots of events planned, but details are still slim.  This sounds super cool so I'm looking forward to learning more about cost and vending and whatnot.  FB event here.

The Corrupted Cog - Austin, TX May 9-10 - From the organizers of Weird West Fest, it's a new event right off 6th street in Austin.  They're going for a dark, macabre side of steampunk and I'm looking forward to it!

There's a Sherlock Holmes exhibit currently at the Museum of Natural History in Dallas and I'm going to try to organize a steampunk group trip.  I'll post details once I have them.

I will also be giving TWO corset making workshops this summer at the same location as my workshop last year outside Dallas.  Details to come.

So yeah, the next few months are starting to look busy.

Con Report: Weird West Fest 2014

Saturday September 20th was Weird West Fest in Giddings, TX.  This is the second year for this event, and the first time I was able to attend.  I was a vendor for this event as well.

Photo by Charles Lincoln Miller

I love the idea of placing a steampunk event in a small town with historic locations.  Small towns are always looking for more ways to increase tourism and I get the impression everyone local was super supportive of this event.  The event was sited in the downtown of Giddings, spread over several buildings withing a couple of blocks of each other: the Historic Train Depot, the 1910 Silent Movie Theater, and the modern Landmark event center.

How ADORABLE is this trio?

I spent most of my time inside the event center, where the bulk of the vendors were, and where the talks and panels were located.  It was also the only air-conditioned location, which is significant when it's 90 degrees, quite humid, and you're in period dress.  Last year the event was held in December and actually had to be rescheduled due to a huge winter storm.  It's Texas, there's never an ideal time to hold an outdoor event that can't be messed up by the weather.

Scientific displays,
photo by Charles Lincoln Miller

Although the various locations of the event were within fairly close walking distance, they were just far enough apart to discourage flitting from one to another, with the effect that events and vendors were fairly isolated from each other and people didn't really know all that was going on or available in the different locations.  In fact, I missed some of the displays because I didn't know there was anything INSIDE the train depot!  Better communication and signage as well as possibly more volunteers directing people to attractions would improve actually getting attendees to see everything.

There was a film festival as well in the 1910 Silent Movie Theater nearby.  Unfortunately, I heard the theater was unbearably hot because it was enclosed and not air-conditioned.  That's not something the festival organizers can change, obviously, but it meant that something that should have been a nice rest for attendees (sitting and watching indie films) wasn't an option for many.  And it's Texas, so temperature is always difficult to predict.

Photo by Charles Lincoln Miller

Unfortunately, I didn't get to stay after the vendor room shut down because I was in a lot of pain and exhausted.  There were several entertainers performing that night I was looking forward to.  I do think it would have given people more to do and more reason to stick around if there was more continuous entertainment throughout the day.  I think quite a few families took a quick spin through the vendors and then left.

Myself and my husband

Photo by Charles Lincoln Miller

The selections offered by the vendors was really fantastic.  I was totally impressed by both the number and quality of the vendors.  Unfortunately it seems there were actually too many vendors for the crowd, and it was a low-selling event for most.  I about broke even, but I know some vendors sadly took a loss.  This points to the real need for MORE attendees and better advertising of the event.  The attendees were definitely split into those who were aware of steampunk, and those who showed up with no idea what to expect.  Some apparently expected more of a rodeo show and were confused.

The problem with locating your event in a small town is that you have to be able to convince your audience to TRAVEL to your event.  Giddings is an easy drive from Austin, and a reasonable drive from Houston, but it still takes planning and effort for people to make the trip.  I think Weird West Fest needs to ask what it is that is going to inspire people to make the drive so that they get the numbers of attendees and the target audience they deserve.   Bigger name performers? More organized events?  I don't know exactly what would attract the masses, but this is an event I'd love to see do really well.

Event: The Brass Ball

Hi everyone!

On Sunday night I vended at the inaugural Brass Ball hosted by Deja Noir at Zimm's in Houston.  Deja Noir is a new goth night and they will be having monthly themed events.  Their first theme was steampunk, and they reached out to the local steampunk community to make the event great.

I think it was a success!  There's been a conversation in the local steampunk community about the need for smallish and more regular steampunk events and I think this was a great example.  It wasn't exactly complicated, just a DJ, two largeish vendors and a couple of artists and smaller vendors.  The bar itself is nice and the decor totally worked for steampunk, and lots of attendees put good effort into their outfits, even if they obviously weren't habitual steampunks.

My table

My friend Drew,
runner up of the Best Dressed contest

I was mostly tethered to the general area of my table, but it seems like a good time was had by all.  I enjoyed spending some chill conversation time with people I know from the community but haven't spent all that much time talking to.  There's not always enough time to just chat at conventions with everyone's schedules conflicting, so it's nice to just socialize.

I also had fun selling to random drunk people who had no idea what the hell was going on, but wanted fancy outfits, too.  Random drunk people are the best customers.  :)

The evening was topped by a Best Dressed Contest, which was fun since no one took it too seriously.

Some friends

Unfortunately the night was marred for me by the fact that my car was broken into and several bags of mine and my husband's belongings stolen.  I absolutely can't blame the venue or any of the organizers for that, of course, and it sucks because otherwise it was a delightful evening.  Financially we did pretty well on sales, but of course the repairs to the smashed window and replacement costs of our property outweigh what we made.   Besides the fact that it's really disturbing to return to an area of Houston that I once called home and have that happen.  (In fact, the first night we met, my husband and I went to Zimm's, the very bar where the event was held. )

And me.  I was told pictures look better
 when you look to the left.  I'll buy it.

So the past few days have been a bit stressful.  Please don't talk to me about insurance companies.  No, really, don't.

Off for some musical adventures...

Today I am off to Houston to vend at the A Dead Winter Night's Steam concert.  I won't be back home until late Friday, so you get no Friday Finds this week.


I'm looking forward to seeing Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands.

Check them out:

See you guys next week!

Event Report: Steampunk November 2013

What an amazing day Saturday was!  It was the third annual Steampunk November party put on by Cut, Thrust, and Run and Airship Misfortune.  This was the first time I was able to attend the event because last year it conflicted with another event I was vending and I guess I didn't know about it the year before.

My booth was actually a horse barn!  With a chandelier!

To get an idea of the event, it takes place on the rural property of the hosts and featured three stages of entertainment, a good number of vendors, and is basically a huge 12 hour party.  Because it's essentially a private party (open to all) staged at someone's family home, it had a very different vibe from all other steampunk events I've attended.

I was a little surprised how relaxed and warm the atmosphere was.  Regardless of whether you had ever met a person before, friendship was assumed.  Really, I expected a party with a well-stocked BYOB bar and free beer to be a lot more rowdy, but the overall feeling was friendly, fun, and laid-back.  Of course a lot of the attendees knew each other, or knew someone who knew the other, and that all contributed to the "all family here" atmosphere.   But there really was a sense of, dare I say it, community, which is something that's been somewhat lacking in the steampunk events I've attended in the last year or so.

Yes, she made her dress and corset herself.

Anyway, I was vending, so obviously my focus was directed towards that for most of the day and night, but I still got to enjoy most of the music, if not actually watch the performances or dance, and I caught bits and pieces of the performances throughout.  The entertainment was very well organized, with three stage of rotating entertainment, two outdoors and one indoors.  The party included an afternoon tea and an evening wine tasting, neither of which I was able to attend, but they certainly looked awesome.

Love the use of color and coordination.

All the musical performances were good (and I don't always say that at these kinds of events because there's usually something I don't like) and varied from choral performances of old standards to shanties and drinking songs to straight up rock and roll.  Marquis of Vaudeville put on an excellent performance, as usual (and you should buy their record because it is EXCELLENT and they are very nice people.  And Toby helped me sell some hats, so I'll maybe sell some copies of his record.)  Besides the musical acts there were belly dancers, carnival sideshow performers, and two burlesque shows late in the evening.  I heard all of these acts more than saw them, so I can't really comment on them other than they sounded fun.

Mae West

The vendors had a really good variety of wares and I wished I'd had more money to make purchases other than a few small ones.  My booth did very well and I had some really lovely customers/new friends.

I have literally no complaints about the event, and hope it is even bigger and better next year.  I don't have any real idea what the attendance was since people came and went and left early and came late.  I wish a few more people had been there, if only because it was so great and I want everyone to come out and have fun and support great events.

I managed to get quite a few photos of people's outfits, which I always mean to do but usually fail at.  So enjoy some takes on real-world steampunk costuming.

Con Report: Showdown at Unobtainium: Tesla vs Edison

I spent the weekend vending at the Showdown at Unobtainium: Tesla vs Edison.  To even describe this event is a challenge.

Mr. Edison and his assistant.  Photo by Wendy Corn.

The organizers took  a piece of rural property about 30 miles outside of Austin and turned it into a 19th century mining camp.  The ore being mined is called "unobtainium" which apparently has some effects on the space-time continuum  The design of the town was inspired partly by Deadwood, and I was really impressed by the effort put into all the little details.   The entertainment centered around actors portraying Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison as well as various other contemporary celebrities.  There were educational presentations about various technologies, a Maker Mad Science lab, a few talks, several bands, and the Showdown itself which would decide who was the greatest scientist.

A project this unique and ambitious required a great deal of work, and I'm really in awe that it got done.  When we arrived on site on Saturday morning, everyone was helpful and friendly and things seemed to be ready to go.  The main problem during the day was that it was around 85 degrees and that's difficult to handle in steampunk or period garb at an all outdoor event.  Possibly that was the reason why things seemed sluggish during the early afternoon.  We got lucky in that there wasn't any significant rain, and it wasn't horribly cold, but I still would have preferred temps in the 60s.  But it's November in Texas, and it could be in the 80s or it could be in the 30s, you can't predict it.

Photo by Wendy Corn.

More people arrived towards evening, when the musical entertainment began.  If my count is correct there were 6 different musical acts over the two days.  My personal favorites were Shakey Graves and Barebones Orchestra, both because I had never heard of them before and because they were so good.  Shakey Graves plays some great blues-rock, and Barebones Orchestra is a sort of Texas roadhouse country rock with a horn section and a kick-ass violinist.  Marquis of Vaudeville headlined Saturday night but I was busy packing up for the night.  They sounded good as they usually do when I see them at a steampunk event.

Photo by Wendy Corn.

The actual Showdown between Mr. Tesla and Mr. Edison took place both on Saturday night and again on Sunday afternoon.  I was able to watch the Sunday performance.  It began as a debate between the two men on questions of science and energy which eventually devolved into fisticuffs and stick fighting.  It was, to be honest, more entertaining than I expected.  It was a lot of fun and I have to give the actors a lot of credit for pulling it off.  Needless to say, Tesla won and was declared the greatest scientist ever.

So, overall thoughts on the event.  It was a success for myself, vending wise.  As I mentioned I was very impressed by the setting and the love that went into it.  I think there were hopes of a higher attendance than they ultimately had, but I have no idea what the number actually was.  It's the kind of event that would definitely grow given a second year, so I hope it happens again.  Sunday was very slow and not very well attended, in addition to being hot and muggy.   It was nice to see a lot of faces that I haven't seen before at steampunk events.  There were a lot of people who were pretty new to steampunk and either were wearing their first outfit or were looking to put one together.

Photo by Wendy Corn.

If I was going to change something about the event I think I would try to create more things for attendees to do.  Besides a couple of educational presentations, shopping, and some demonstrations in the mad science lab there wasn't much going on during the daytime.  Most people spent their time standing around talking to one another, which is fine, but leaves newcomers a bit out of the loop.  If there had been more panels scheduled or more than one presentation area, I think that would have helped.  Or perhaps if there had been more structured presentations of the various technologies on display, perhaps on the main stage.  I know everyone wanted to see more of the Tesla coil than we did, for example.

A shootout in front of the saloon.  Photo by Wendy Corn.

But ultimately, I wasn't ideally placed to judge the event as a whole.  I had a bout of insomnia the night before the event, so I did all day Saturday on no sleep and retreated to my hotel room about 10:30 to pass out.  And I spent most of my time in my own booth assisting customers, and my booth was placed so I couldn't see the main field.  The fact that Sunday was much slower (and I wasn't in a sleep-deprived fog) meant I got more of a chance to wander the site.  I haven't mentioned it yet, but I was very impressed by the quality of the vendors.  I saw things that interested me at pretty much every booth, and was impressed with the quality of items being offered.  My purchases of the weekend were CDs from Shakey Graves and Marquis of Vaudeville, an octopus badge made by Mr. Tesla, and an Egyptian necklace from my booth neighbor Lisa Turner (for my Steampunk Cleopatra!).

I was so upset to have forgotten my camera because there was so much I wanted to photograph, both decor and people.  The level of costuming seemed particularly high, especially given that I wasn't seeing all the same people I'm used to seeing at Texas steampunk events.  There was a lot of quirky inventiveness on display.

All I can ultimately say is that I fervently hope this event happens again.  It really showcased so much of what is awesome about steampunk.

I didn't fall on my ass once: not really a con report

Over the weekend I attended a steampunk event in Dallas called A Clockwork Wonderland. It was held at a club and featured various vendors, airship crews, bands, and performers. There was a good crowd with lots of costume eyecandy. Unfortunately, the club was small, crowded, and dark, so I didn't get any really decent pictures.

I was excited to wear my newest steampunk ensemble on Saturday. It's still a work-in-progress, but I have to say I'm pretty happy with it.

From Clockwork Wonderland 2011

I talked about making the underskirt in my previous blog entry. The bustle overskirt I also made and plan to write an entry about that process soon. The top is from Target, the corset is from Fair Lady Designs on Ebay. Though the plain black canvas corset may look boring next to my purple brocade bodice with tails, it's a far superior quality corset with steel boning and is therefore much more comfortable. I plain to make some mods to it in the future, as well as replacing the plastic boning in my Von Lancelot corset with steel boning.

The fingerless gloves I knit myself, the shawl is one I've had for a while. I wanted a more evening formal look for my hair, so I skipped the bowler hat and bought a hairpiece from Amphigory which turned out really nice. (I'm wearing the Lavinia style hairpiece in dark brown/auburn.) I need something else on my head or face or hair to make me more steampunk, though. I'm not a big fan of mini-hats, so I'm still waiting for inspiration to strike.

And finally, my last accessory is my new seat-cane. I have a very bad back, which is really inconvenient for these kinds of events. I started off dreaming of a steampunk wheelchair, but that's monetarily out of my reach for the time being. Then I developed a plan that would involve a folding stool with wheels and a pulley like a suitcase. My husband looked at me like I was insane and suggested I just buy a seat-cane. I totally didn't know they existed and was trying to reinvent the wheel. I surfed around, disappointed with how ugly all the available seat canes were, until I found this wooden model from CanesCanada. I received it as a holiday present. I recovered the seat with a floral pleather fabric that I had leftover, spray painted some of the metal hardware bronze, and added silver rub n'buff to the black rubber feet to hopefully rid it of some of the senior citizen chic it had going on. The best part is that it worked beautifully and I was able to sit any time I could find a spare foot or so of space. And even doing it in layers of Victorian skirts, I didn't fall on my ass once. I'm really looking forward to having this with me for cons. I might be able to attend events that require standing in line!

I'm aware this post fails rather spectacularly at being a good event report, but this blog is meant to focus on my own creations. More coherent entries to come, I (nearly) promise.