Current Post On Trae’s Blog:
One year ago, on April 16th 2024, the first page of Peregrine Lake went online. One year since we first met Bev as she drove through a snow storm and said the exact thing most of us have said in that scenario.
It took so long for Peregrine Lake to get off the ground. I first announced it back in December of 2019, and originally I was going to draw it. And then the world fell apart, and I found myself with zero ability to draw it anymore. I kept kicking the idea around, wanting to move it forward when in 2023 I jokingly suggested to my friend Ethan that they could draw the comic for me.
And they said yes, they'd love to, and I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
We then spent almost a year regularly meeting, talking about my plans for the plots, the world, the characters, and all the things that would have otherwise just lived in my head. I started scripting comics, and Ethan got to work on concept art. And for most of 2023 we planned and got ready, and we hit the ground running in 2024.
And now we're here. Honestly, I love everything we've put out over the last year. Ethan's art is incredible, and tells the story in a way that I'm not sure mine would have. I love this comic, I love that you all are reading it, and I'm excited to show you what's coming next.
Because we've only just scratched the surface on how weird this is going to get.
On April 26th I'm going to be at Concinnity in Milwaukee, WI! Stop on by and say hi if you're in town!
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I’m assuming the question is ?
Looks like Jasper was named .
Curse my stupid ineptitude with tags!
Probable question: http://www.unconventional-comic.com/2010/10/closing-confusion/
Jasper named: http://www.unconventional-comic.com/2013/10/the-final-question/
Had to search the archive to find his question, though I then have to ask if it’s been a repeat issue, why not get the contract updated?
That said, I sorta hate Q&A sessions, because 90% is the same stuff that gets asked every single year. And of that, 90% is something the convention can’t do anything about.
‘The vendor hall was crowded.’ ‘So don’t go there. Then at least others don’t have to squeeze past your fat ass.’
‘You didn’t have the panel I wanted.’ ‘So run it yourself.’
‘There were two panels I wanted to see at the same time.’ ‘Join staff, set the schedule yourself.’
‘This event wasn’t run right.’ ‘Join staff, run it yourself.’
‘Parking was bad.’ ‘Ride the bus.’
‘I didn’t get to spend time with the Special Guest.’ ‘Neither did 2000 other attendees. You are not special.’
…..I might be a little bitter…
I look at the Q & A part of the closing ceremony to be the part where you make a request and the staff tells you why they can’t do that. Like you said only 10% of that is something and maybe among that, on 5% of that can get implemented. I said this a long time ago but with that said I still see the closing ceremony to be rather unproductive and to a huge extent, depressing.
Sometimes it isn’t as simple as just updating the contract. Some hotels put very specific restrictions on serving food to the public and abiding to those rules can be costly, especially if the hotel requires the con to purchase the food through its own catering services. Hotel food is usually not cheap and when push comes to shove, it makes a con suite kinda frivolous financial-wise because those funds are better spent on equipment, con space, security measures, guest fees, and other expenses.
Note, there is a huge difference between a con suite and a staff lounge. I’ve been to cons that feed staff, volunteers, and guests, but not attendees. The guest get fed via their contract and the staff/volunteers as part of a bartering system, which is a legal form of payment for services in the state I live in.
Regarding the comic though, it sounds more like this one person asking the same question every year rather than it being a repeated issue. You can’t please everyone, so sometimes it’s not realistic or doable to cater to a small group who want a specific thing.
Anthrocon did away with the Q&A in closing ceremonies years ago. It had become long, drawn-out and unproductive, and it was evident many of the people were just grabbing a moment of our chairman’s attention (he’s a popular guy).
Instead we developed an online survey to collect feedback, and keep the closing ceremony brief and positive: thanking the Guests of Honor and other notables, announcing the total amount collected for charity, total attendance and fursuit parade numbers, etc. Takes about half an hour.
Great Idea. Also by that point, everyone is tired and ready to go home. Also almost everyone is gone by then that sounds more productive.
As y’said. There were also a share of ‘I love this con *snif* *bawl*” that were sweet to hear but took up valuable time.