Reflections on GenCon 2012
GenCon 2012 has come and gone, and I have to say I had a pretty good time! GenCon is best known as a gaming convention, but it also has a large sci-fi and fantasy presence as well. Although I consider myself an on-again-off-again gamer, my wife and I spent most of our time in the Writer’s Symposium tracks (I being a writer and she being an editor). And I have to say, I learned quite a bit.
The biggest thing I took home from the panels I attended was the need for personal networking and harnessing the power of social media. Of course, I already knew the importance of those things, and I do indeed have a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and this blog, but the problem remains that I have almost no Facebook friends, no Twitter followers, and I’m pretty sure no one reads this blog. What I really need to do, based on what I have gleaned, is not just sit around hoping someone finds this blog, my Twitter account, or Facebook page. I need to take the time to extend my cyber-presence, actively follow, like, and/or friend other people, and try a chronic introvert’s best to be more sociable. Yikes! I guess this means I’ll be posting more, and so I’ll need to find more to post about and somehow find the time to do it.
I also really enjoyed hearing from Jason Sizemore of Apex Publishing, Gabrielle Harbowy of Dragon Moon Press, and writer/publisher Steven Saus, and the great advice they had to give on the art of writing, getting published, and perhaps most importantly, the ins and outs of small press and digital publishing. Plus I should point out that Steven Saus’s blog, IdeaTrash, is pretty fantastic.
I also quite enjoyed hearing from Daniel Myers about the art of medieval cookery, and his humorous derivation of medieval cooking in his Dwarven Cookbook. If you have any interest medieval cookery, you should also check out his website, MedievalCookery.com.
Well, that’s about it. In a few weeks I’ll be heading off to DragonCon. Stay tuned for my review (and probably lots of picture) of DragonCon 2012.
