Those of you in my inner circle (anyone who reads the blog even once) will know that I declared 2012 The Year of the Con.  I am still on track to attend more cons this year than I have in years past.  But as with many great plans, the exact details have changed since implementation; life has decided to step in and deliver a few curves.  Am I still going to a metric @&%$-load of cons this year?  Yes.  But I’ve had to focus and sort out my priorities, and that has led to some changes.  Let’s take a look…

Emerald City Comicon – Unfortunately, I’ve had to drop this con from my list.  Looking at finances, I could have made attending this con work, but at the risk of missing out on one of the two other US cons I have this year.  As much as I wanted to hit a big con with my buddies, the other two cons now have a higher priority (I’ll tell you why when we get to them).  Since I’m not willing to risk missing out on the other two, this one had to go.  But it is definitely pencilled-in for next year, because there are definitely things I want to see at this con.

Calgary Expo – Given their big announcement recently (all the ST:TNG principle cast? Yes please!), it breaks my heart to have to drop this one.  But my new job at Wizard’s Comics means that I have to stay behind and watch the store while the owner and my boss are flying the Wizard’s flag at the con.  Such are the trials and tribulations of geekdom.  There are two silver linings to this cloud: 1) there is an outside possibility I can make it down for at least the Sunday, which would be cool; and 2) there are people attending that will allow me to give them money to get autographs from some of the guests.  So the Calgary Expo won’t be a total write-off, but my participation is definitely diminished.

Paizocon – Okay, here’s the first piece of positive news!  I am all registered, and locked in to run some games at the event.  I have transportation worked out, thanks to the Venture-Captain from Winnipeg; I’ll join him and a few friends in their road-trip to the con.  The only thing I haven’t done is book my hotel room, but I can now divert the funds I was saving for ECCC (*sniff*) to do this sooner rather than later.  So Paizocon is a definite go, and I am looking forward to hanging out with the company for which I volunteer.  Plus, an entire weekend of Pathfinder? Yes please!

Gencon – This con is a definite go as well.  As a Venture-Captain I get advanced dibs on volunteering to run Pathfinder events at Gencon, and I have volunteered for enough slots that Paizo is taking care of my weekend pass AND putting me up in a hotel room (with 3 other GMs).  So all I have to do is get there.  Which is where the Nerdbus comes into play.  Kris over at Warp One Comics is organizing a road trip from Edmonton to Gencon for any nerds that want to make the trip.  You can get the full package (weekend pass, hotel and transport) for a staggeringly reasonable $650.  Since I have two out of three covered already, I am opting for just transport which gets me a price reduction on that.  And looking at the latest update, it looks like it’ll be Nerd RVs as opposed to a Nerdbus.  Which makes a heck of a lot of sense, both for comfort and scale-ability of the trip.  So if you were thinking of going to Gencon, I think Nerdbus might be your best bet.

At this point you might be thinking, “Okay, but so far that is just two cons.  How does two cons equate to the Year of the Con, slappy?”  First off, that “slappy” was hurtful and unnecessary.  Second, I am adding some more cons to the list.  I’ll post later with details, but I have added the following conventions to my Year of the Con: Pop Culture Fair (March 4);  Edmonton Collectible Toy & Comic Show (April 1);  Prairie Con 33 (June 1-3); Underground Con (June 9); Animethon (August 10-12); and of course Pure Speculation is on the list as well.  So fret not, fair reader, I am packing the year with conventions big and small.

What conventions are you hitting this year?  Talk them up in the comments below…