Fandom Fail: FandomFest Makes a Stink in the Derby City

Let me preface this by saying that I had no intention on writing about FandomFest this year. For those unaware, FandomFest is a convention in Louisville, Kentucky which grew out of Fright Night Film Fest, a horror show. I attended for the first time in 2011 and returned again in 2012. I'll talk about those experiences and then I want to share some of the general thoughts on the show which have been expressed to me by guests. I have nothing to gain by writing this, but I feel as a representative of geek culture in Kentucky, it is the right thing for me to do. I will not be upset if I lose followers over this blog post. People I know have been affected by this show, so I feel that it is my duty to get the word out.

Nerds Descend Upon Louisville in Just 10 Days

 

Kentucky has just exploded with conventions over the last few years. Just a couple of years ago, the only convention that I knew about as someone who lived in Lexington was Scare Fest, and though it's a great con, it really fits into its own niche. (I can't wait to attend this year, PS.)  Little did I know that there was a great con just a few counties over in the city of Louisville that I would get to attend last year. FandomFest emerged out of Fright Night Film Fest and has now become one of the largest multi-genre conventions in the Mid-West. At the rate that it is growing, it could become a Dragon*Con for the Upper South/Mid-West and that would be phenomenal. In fact, it's not even just one convention. Fright Night Horror Weekend and Film Fest is a huge part of the affair, as is FandomFest, which brings in many guests based in pop culture, but there's a third component as well, Mid-America Comic Con. Rather than having one niche convention, the organizers of FandomFest have brought together some of the biggest names in popular culture, horror, comics, literature, movies, you name it really, for one great weekend.

Also in Louisville that weekend, specifically on June 30, is Derby City Comic Con. I had the pleasure of attending DCCC last year as well and was so pleased for it to be my first convention in almost 20 years (my first ever convention was the Fox Kids Expo back in the early 90s and it was glorious.) We had a great time at Derby City and met a lot of great folks, even though I didn't get to talk to Tony Moore at either convention. For the first year of the convention, I think that they did astonishingly well, as around 3000 comic fans came out to the Kentucky International Convention Center for the con. This year, it will be back in the same location with some great artists in attendance made up by a lot of local talent. There will be a silent auction in which you can place your bids all day with winners being announced just before the convention comes to a close. All proceeds from the auction benefit Kosair Charities. 

You want to know the best part? These conventions are only A BLOCK AWAY from each other and while Derby City runs from 10-5, but FandomFest continues into the evening, especially the gaming and panels portion. Check back to Kentucky Geek Girl for full previews of both conventions.

Fandom Fest/Fright Night Horror Weekend

and Film Festival/ Mid-America Comic Con

Galt House Hotel

140 North 4th Street Louisville, KY 40202

Day Passes - $25/day, Weekend Pass - $50

CONVENTION HOURS

Friday 4pm- 2am FOR VIPs 5pm-2am for General Admission

Saturday 9am-2am FOR VIPs 10am-2am for General Admission

Sunday 10am-5pm FOR VIPs 11am-2am for General Admission

Facebook | FandomFest.com | Twitter

Derby City Comic Con

Kentucky International Convention Center

221 South 4th Street Louisville, KY 40202

Adults $10, Kids 12-under: Free

CONVENTION HOURS

VIPs get in at 9AM; Doors open at 10 for regular ticket holders.
Facebook | DerbyCityComicCon.com | Twitter

Interview with Author Stephen Zimmer

Last summer, as I was going through the "likes" on the Kentucky Geek Girl Facebook page, I noticed one from someone by the name of Stephen Zimmer. Up until that point, most of the people who liked the page were those that I had invited to be a fan or were somehow connected with the blog. So, it was refreshing to see what I thought was organic blog and Facebook traffic. It was shortly thereafter that I attended the George R. R. Martin book signing at Joseph-Beth and saw a banner hanging from the banister which read talked about a local author's book signing later that month. The name on the banner was "Stephen Zimmer." I was delighted; an author, A CELEBRITY!, liked my humble little Facebook page! A couple of months later I had the pleasure of meeting him at a book signing at The Morris Bookshop, where he informed me that he was the Literary and Gaming tracks director for FandomFest, a convention which I attended last summer. We chatted for a few minutes about my thoughts on the convention. Fast forward a few months to a lovely spring day as Stephen and I sat down at (of course!) the Bronte Bistro at Joseph-Beth for me to learn more about his inspiration as an author and what we can expect from FandomFest this year. I'll be including the FandomFest portion of our interview with this week's preview of the convention, which will be held June 29-July1.

Stephen Zimmer is originally from Denver, Colorado and moved to Lexington with his family when his father took a job at the University of Kentucky School of Medicine. About Lexington he said, "I just never left, but it’s turned out to be a great place for what I do now because Lexington is so centrally located in relation to so many larger urban centers. It’s turned out in retrospect to be a good place to be an author."

Stephen is part of a stable of authors with Seventh Star Press, a small press publisher based out of Lexington. It was established in 2008 and specializes in speculative fiction. Other authors from Seventh Star Press include Jackie Gamber and Steven Shrewsbury. They release titles in all formats and more information about the company can be found on their website. His newest book in the Fires of Eden series, Spirit of Fire, is available now. Check back to Kentucky Geek Girl on Sunday, June 10 for a stop on the Spirit of Fire book tour!

Many thanks to Stephen for having a cup of coffee with me and answering the following questions:

Guest Post: BookTastings by Jackie Gamber

I'm so pleased to have Jackie Gamber making a stop on her blog tour for her new young adult novel Sela. Sela is the second in the Leland Dragon Series and is available now from Seventh Star Press. She is an award-winning author and writes stories in various lengths that have appeared in anthologies, periodical publications. Jackie is winner of the 2009 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award for Imaginative Fiction, was named honorable mention in L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Award, and received a 2008 Darrell Award for best short story by a Mid-South author. She is also a member of the professional organizations Science Fiction Writers of America and Horror Writers Association.

I met Jackie last year at Fandom Fest in Louisville and she was an absolute delight to talk to. She was on a panel of young adult authors and it was really neat to hear her speak. She also held a BookTasting at the convention and I really look forward to that this year. 

Again, thank you so much Jackie for stopping here at KGG for the Sela blog tour and I wish you all the best! Guest post after the break!

Louisville Convention Round-Up: Derby City Comic Con and Fandom Fest 2011

July has been a busy month for conventions in Louisville. After happening upon two conventions quite randomly, I have to say that I had a wonderful time this month. I'll be outlining my experience at each of these conventions within this post. I can safely say that I am no longer a convention noob, or am less of one as of these experiences.