by Kevin A Davis | Mar 7, 2025 | LitRPG, Main, Programming
How now, you crusty bag of nature, you egg! Do ye have what it takes to step into an original production of Shakespeare’s ROMEO & JULIET? To explore the shifting yet constant nature of language and dramatic action? Come and take part in a group staging of Act I, Scene 1, wherein the company shall roundly insult each other with Elizabethan screeds and many, many thumbs shall be bit. Cosplay welcome—nay, encouraged!
A collaborative production between the Main Programming and LitRPG Tracks with narrator Neil Hellegers:
This is a group workshop I have done many times with all ages, and with as many as 50 people, and it ends with everyone doing a scene from Romeo and Juliet together! (background: I worked as a university instructor and teaching artist for decades before becoming an audiobook narrator).
It starts with splitting the group in two, taking opposing sides of the room. I’ll then distribute slips of paper with insults from numerous Shakespeare plays, and do a quick review for sense. These are always fun, a little more graphic than people generally expect from Shakes, and an exploration of language and action. We practice firing them at each other at the other group from across the room.
Then I have each group pick two “captains”, with whom I cast and review a shortened version of the first scene from R&J (aka the “Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?” scene). We then choose a fun setting and stage the scene, with each group as rival Montagues and Capulets, and let the insults and biting of thumbs fly, complete with police (The Prince) intervention.
I can fold in a little or as much literary analysis and dramaturgical import as fits the group, while we also have a blast, a rowdy and energetic experience, with a unique version of the play, and tons of archaic insults to keep throwing around the con for the days to follow.
Expect to have a blast at this panel!
by Kevin A Davis | Feb 28, 2025 | Authors Workshop, Programming
Collaborating with the Gaming Track, Authors Workshop Track brings writers a game design workshop with professionals in the industry to meet and talk about your ideas for your game. Bring a manuscript of 1,000 to 3,000 words, to discuss in detail with industry professionals. Feel free to discuss content, game design philosophy, mathematical systems, layout, and professional topics related to game design.
Tentatively scheduled for Friday evening!
Find more workshops at the Authors Workshop Track
by Kevin A Davis | Jan 31, 2025 | Authors Workshop, Programming
What’s an Elevator Pitch?
An elevator pitch is a brief (30 second) way of expressing a story idea. It’s called an elevator pitch because it’s the time you’d spend on an elevator ride with someone. It might be what you’re working on, a story ready to sell, or a concept for upcoming work.
Bring your pitches to JordanCon, and we’ll have a panel of industry professionals ready to listen. They’ll be a good sounding board to find out if your 30 seconds is effective in grabbing their interest and relaying your idea. For writers, pitches are a skill to be learned.
We’re waiting to hear your pitch!
Tentatively planned for Saturday night at 2:30 p.m.
See what else we have planned at the Authors Workshop Track
by Kevin A Davis | Jan 10, 2025 | Authors Workshop, Programming
Write and Read Flash Fiction
Returning to the Authors Workshop Track at JordanCon 2025: Robby Hilliard leads a guided flash-fiction writing session on Saturday morning where prompts are provided! We’ll give you a short bit of time to put down some words, then you’ll read your story to your peers.
We love to see what comes from creatives!
Join us and let’s see what we come up with. Tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday.
Don’t forget our Friday Night Workshop and our two Saturday Slush Panels – Read More
by Kevin A Davis | Oct 18, 2024 | Authors Workshop, Guests, Programming
This year the Authors Workshop Track will host one-on-one mentorships, and possibly even pitches, depending on the interest of the attending publishers.
During a one-hour session, we’ll offer a few fifteen-minute time slots for attendees to sit with an industry professional and discuss their career plans, story plots, or writing habits. As mentioned above, there might be pitch sessions. We’re sure this will be a new Authors Workshop Track favorite.
We’ll have a lot more information on this project as the weeks progress, and logistics will be key in getting guest preferences connected to attendee interest. Keep watching our blog and social media for sign-up forms because the early preparation will determine match-ups.
by Rhed Morgan | Mar 2, 2024 | Announcements, Programming
It’s March, and that means the JordanCon 2024 schedule is out! You can now start planning your panels for each day. Keep in mind the wheel is still weaving, so things may change between now and JordanCon.
You can find the schedule here: jordancon2024.sched.com
For easy access, you can also download the Sched app, and the JordanCon schedule will be publicly available. If you want to customize it so you know what you plan to attend when, keep reading!
Mobile App
If you don’t already have Sched on your device, you should download it. Click Sign Up or Sign In, depending on if you created an account last year.
You’ll see a typical sign up page asking for name, email, and password.
Once you’re signed in, do a search for JordanCon and click on JordanCon 2024.
You’ll see this:
Tracks are color-coded so you know at a glance what track each panel is associated with. For example, above you see that Main Programming is lilac, Wheel of Time is pink, and Fantasy is light blue.
Now, to add a panel to My Sched (your personal to-do list), click on the box with the panel listing, and it opens up to this:
At the bottom, click Add to Sched. When you’ve added some events, you can click on My Sched and it will look something like this:
Now, if you want to easily navigate between days of JordanCon, you simply click the day whose schedule you want to see. That will take you to the top of the day’s events.
This feature works the same in My Sched.
Web Access
You can also access Sched via the web. Go to jordancon2024.sched.com, and you’ll see this:
The blue arrows point to Sign up and log in.
The green arrow shows the color coding of the various tracks; you can also use this to filter!
The red arrow shows where you can change how the schedule appears. “Simple” is what appears above, with everything sorted by time. “Grid” sorts things into—you guessed it—a grid. “Expanded” shows all the details included in each listing, and “By Venue” sorts everything by where it’s located. If you want to attend a lot of Sanderson track panels, for example, you may want to sort By Venue, and that will show you what time each panel is.
When you sign up via web, you’ll have the option of signing up with Google, Facebook, or email.
Once you’re signed in, you’ll see circles next to every event. You can click that circle to mark it as to-attend, and a checkmark will appear next to it, as seen in the purple circles below.
In the bottom left, you’ll see how many panels or activities you have saved to My Schedule.
If you click My Schedule in the bottom left, you’re taken to your personalized agenda, and it looks like this:
Further Support
If you need any further info or support, you can check out Sched’s how-to page, here: https://sched.com/guide-category/guide-for-attendees/
We can’t wait to see you in April!
