by Programming | Apr 8, 2023 | Programming, Uncategorized
This year we’re doing something a bit different for Friday night at JordanCon. We know many of you love karaoke, and we do too! But this year is our 15th anniversary, and we wanted to do something special. In the Wheel of Time series our very own JordanCon founders, Jennifer & Jimmy Liang, were written into the books as innkeepers at “The Yearly Brawl.” In honor of that we are hosting a pub/tavern night on Friday. Marc Gunn is joining us again and will kick us off playing music. If you’re not yet familiar with Marc, he is a traditional Celtic musician with a science fiction and fantasy twist. You can check out his website here.
In addition to music from Marc, we’re going to open up the mic! Some of you may have a song you were practicing all year in anticipation of karaoke, some of you like to play and sing with your friends or are part of the filking community, maybe you’re a poet and want to showcase some new work. We’re making time for this too. You can sign up for an open mic slot at this link. We’ll have a keyboard on the stage if you play or you can bring your own instrument. Back up tracks will need to be provided by you! Time allowing, we’ll also have some traditional pub sing-alongs throughout the night.
What’s a pub night without games? We’ll be providing cards, dice, “coins,” and a variety of printed game rules for each table. Rumor has it, there will be some dominoes sets as well if you want to kick back and “throw some bones” with your table.
Our JordanCon family has always enjoyed spending time together and making connections. We’re hoping that our pub night this year will continue to foster those opportunities. We’re very excited to host you for this night and hope you enjoy it.
See you in a few weeks!
Welcome Home to JordanCon. <3
The JordanCon Programming team
by JordanCon Marketing | Mar 9, 2023 | Charity Auction, Uncategorized
JordanConners!
It is my pleasure to announce that the 2023 JordanCon Charity Auction is live online. As we have in years before, we’re using 32Auction.com. The direct link is here. We will be adding additional items to the Auction as we receive donation submissions.
If you were already curious and went looking at the Auction page, you might notice we already have a number of items there for you to check out. Not a lot, but we’re hoping that will change in the very near future. “But Hopper,” you ask, “if I want to donate something to the Auction to help out, how would I go about doing that?” Well, my dear friends, we have a Google Form all set up so that you can tell us all about yourself and the items you’d like for us to have. For anyone who has donated in the past, you might notice the form only allows one item per submission. We had to do that to cut down on the back-of-house processing that was required to bring items from our submissions spreadsheet to the online auction.
I know there are a number of you who have already indicated you have some amazing items you’re planning to donate. If you’re ready to submit them, I’m sure we have people out there who are ready to start dreaming about budgeting and outbidding their best friends to own them.
If you do have something you’re donating that you’d rather not have to deal with packing in your luggage, please let me know and I’ll share a shipping address so that it gets here on time.
You may have also heard the Charities Division of JordanCon has been boosted to the Officer Level and now reports directly to our amazing Chair, Jennifer Liang. This is true, and as part of that change we’ve hired a new Charity Auctions Director, Larry Daniels. I am NOT just walking away from the Charity Auction. Larry, however, will give me the time and space to work on other events too.
I can’t wait to see you all in April.
-Hopper
by Programming | Apr 19, 2022 | Uncategorized
Daes Dae’mar!
This year’s convention game incorporates two of our favorite things at JordanCon – poker like the one on w88 for pc, and The Wheel of Time. The game play is open to all members and is a fun addition to your regular convention shenanigans. You must seek out new allies and conduct delicate negotiations to obtain just the right cards to achieve a winning hand. Anyone can play, few will win, but you cannot win alone.
Make new friends, or bitter enemies, by simply trading playing cards to obtain a straight flush. Lots of possibilities, so many potential allies, only two days to find the right five cards. To the victors, a copy of The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time!
Rules for the Game
- Each player receives a hand of five randomized red and blue playing cards and can have no more or less than five cards at any time.
- Write your name legibly on each card in some conspicuous blank space, edges, etc.
- Find other players to trade with, you might ask conspiratorially “Do you play the game?”
- You may trade one card with each new player you ally with, trading a card with your name, perhaps others, for a card with their name, and perhaps others.
- The goal is to make any straight flush of all one-color deck, either red or blue, such as Ace-2-3-4-5 clubs, 4-5-6-7-8 spades, or 10-J-Q-K-Ace hearts, etc.
- You may trade each card up to four times, with each previous player’s name on the card along with yours, with a maximum of five names on each card.
- If a card is traded four times, there should be a total of five names on the card, including your own. Now, the card is locked and cannot be traded any further.
- You do not need to trade all of your starting cards, nor must you trade each card four times. It is encouraged for collaboration, however, and improves everyone’s chances of winning as your name appears on more cards along with your network of allies.
- When you have a straight flush of all red or all blue cards, turn them in, have them marked for confirmation, and drop them in to our drawing to win a copy of the World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time! There may be some additional secret prizes as well, you’ll have to play to find out.
- So, choose your trades carefully, negotiate, make allies, form a house, a clan, or guild of collaborators seeking just the right trades. But most of all, seek out new players of the Game and make new friends.
Our Onsite Events Coordinator will be set up near the Registration desk for supplies and questions regarding game play. Stop by and see Daniel, join the fun, and try for your chance at the prize.
by pandrewfloyd | Apr 18, 2022 | Uncategorized
For the first time in JordanCon’s storied history, we have sold out!
While our experienced staff is prepared for hosting this many people, there will inevitably be some challenges. We want this to be a great experience for everyone involved. That said, this post is going to focus on a few things we want everyone (new AND returning members) to keep in mind when you are on site.
Volunteering
Volunteering has always been important to the success of JordanCon, but in 2022 it will be even more crucial. With so many people in attendance, our regular staff (who are also volunteers) are going to be faced with additional challenges and we need all the help we can get.
Volunteering is an excellent way to meet people and to help you feel more at home at the convention. The great thing about volunteering is you have control over when and where you can volunteer. While the volunteer sign-ups have been occurring online, you can still sign up to help out onsite by visiting the Volunteer Room in Maplewood A. There are roles available to fit nearly everyone across all aspects of the convention and at times that allow you the flexibility of schedule so you don’t miss out on the things that are important to you.
Crowds
There are going to be a lot of us and we are all excited to see and do the same things. That means there will likely be some queues and waiting. This year patience will not only be a virtue, it will be a requirement. Expect some wait times for Registration, the elevators, the hotel restaurant, and ConSuite. There will also be more people participating in panels and workshops and the rooms are only so large. We have capacity limits for our track rooms that are set by fire and safety codes, so even though we would like to get everyone into the panels they want to see, it may not be possible to accommodate everyone.
Movement through the Dealers’ Hall, the Art Show, the Authors Alley, and the convention space in general is going to require higher situational awareness and plain old good manners. With all this in mind, here are some tips that should make your experience at JordanCon 2022 the best yet:
1. Plan ahead
If there is a panel or Workshop you want to attend, plan to get there early. Many of the Workshops have sign-ups, so keep an eye out for those notices to make sure you don’t miss out. Also, make sure you take a little time to look over the hotel map. If you are queueing, please be mindful of the flow of traffic and do not block doorways or emergency exits.
2. Be Prepared to Wait
At the elevators, at the restaurant, when checking in, at the ConSuite, at Registration, in the Gaming Track… just everywhere, y’all. If you come in with the attitude that there is going to be a bit of a wait, you will be pleasantly surprised when the wait isn’t so bad. The reality is there are going to be quite a few people and we are all just going to have to be in “Chill Mode.” Channel your inner Zen Rand. Please be considerate to those who may have difficulty waiting in line due to Accessibility concerns.
3. Situational Awareness
With so many people coming together to enjoy the weekend, make sure to be aware of the space you are in and consider how you are interacting with others in that space. And we know for some of you it’s been a couple years since you’ve seen your besties – and con is a time to celebrate! – but please continue to keep others in mind if downing any Horneater White.
We all have the common goal of having a great time this weekend and we are all going to have to put in some level of effort to make it happen.
But don’t worry! We plan on keeping that same homey family feeling that JordanCon has always had. Our family has just grown.
Welcome home!
#It’sApril!
by pandrewfloyd | Apr 17, 2022 | Uncategorized
And now, a special message from our Director of Charity Events, Jeff “Hopper” Bernard:
♫♪Something’s happening here. What it is, is actually clear. There’s a lady with some ink over there. Sayin’ she’ll do henna tattoos (for charity!) this year.♪♫
Our resident henna master Kalyani Poluri has offered to donate her time and skills to help support our Charity Events fundraising this year. Some of you may remember Kalyani from the before times. She is absolutely amazing, and we’re thrilled that she wants to help us again.
She will have henna designs with set prices that you can choose from. If you have your own design that you’d like her to do, the price will be $1 per minute for the duration of the tattoo. Charity Events will accept the payments (we get the easy part) and Kalyani will put the art on you. Kalyani has absolute authority on deciding whether she’ll use your designs and where on your body she won’t work.
If you would like to get a fantastic henna tattoo, please come to the Charity Auction and we’ll contact her. She expects to be spending her time in the Charity Auction/Dealer Hall/Art Show for most of the weekend, so it’s likely she’ll be able come over pretty quickly. If she’s not immediately available, such as actively working with someone else, we’ll work out a time for you to come back, if possible. Please remember that she is one person who may like to enjoy other parts of JordanCon and is under no obligation to spend her entire weekend doing henna. We appreciate any time she’s willing to donate.
We all really look forward to seeing her art walking around JordanCon.
by pandrewfloyd | Apr 12, 2022 | Uncategorized
If you’ve perused our 32 Auctions page and are like me, then you already have way more stuff on your wish list than you can afford. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re about to put an even heavier strain on your wallet.
Amazon’s The Wheel of Time executive producer Rafe Judkins and co-executive producer Justine Juel Gillmer have donated a one-of-a-kind item to the JordanCon auction. They’ve generously provided to us the script cover (title page only) of a production copy of episode 1, “Leavetaking” signed by FOURTEEN series cast members. 
As you can see above, the page is adorned with the magnificent John Hancocks of Rosamund Pike (Moiraine), Josha Stradowski (Rand), Jennifer Cheon Garcia (Leane), Daniel Henney (Lan), Taylor Napier (Maksim), Madeleine Madden (Egwene), Kate Fleetwood (Liandrin), Priyanka Bose (Alanna), Zoë Robins (Nynaeve), Álvaro Morte (Logain), Hammed Animashaun (Loial), Fares Fares (Ishmael), Marcus Rutherford (Perrin), and Sophie Okonedo (Siuan).
We are extremely lucky to have this very rare piece in our auction and cannot wait for you all to get a chance to bid on it. This will be a hot item, so be prepared. And, please, no using balefire on your auction competitors. We all have to live in the same Pattern and we want to protect it.
