{"id":118,"date":"2010-09-24T15:32:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-24T15:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnpicacio.com\/onthefront\/2010\/09\/24\/fencon-2010\/"},"modified":"2014-12-14T18:45:02","modified_gmt":"2014-12-14T18:45:02","slug":"fencon-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/johnpicacio.com\/onthefront\/2010\/09\/24\/fencon-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"Fencon 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p> $\"\"$ <\/a>(Photos, clockwise from top: My Art Show display at FenCon; Vincent Villafranca\u2019s work-in-progress THE DOGS OF WAR; Rie Sheridan Rose in full Victorian regalia) Took me a few days to post this, but before this week disappears, I wanted to say a few words about this year\u2019s Fencon<\/a> in Dallas, TX (Addison, TX, to be specific). In short \u2014 take a bow, Fencon. You came, you saw and you rocked this past weekend. I had a blast from start to finish. Plenty of highlights, including:\n

Rhonda Eudaly \u2013 First-class. She conducted guest relations as well as any con can, anywhere. She made every guest feel like family. She stopped at nothing to ensure every guest received A-list treatment. How can anyone not be happy when their complimentary goodie bag contains beer and rock-em, sock-em robot rings?<\/p>\n

Jimmy Simpson \u2013 Rock-solid. This man knows his art and knows how to run a quality art show. When you\u2019re an artist deciding whether or not to invest time and labor in an art show, the show director is often the difference-maker. Jimmy\u2019s one of the best in the business, and I already look forward to when I can again participate in a Jimmy Simpson show.<\/p>\n

Andy Trembley & Kevin Roche \u2013 Fan GoHs, and extremely cool guys. These guys know costuming like nobody\u2019s business, and they know their premium alcohols. Had a terrific time with them and look forward to any con where they\u2019re around. <\/p>\n

Opening Ceremonies \u2013 Spider Robinson GoHed via Skype. He didn\u2019t physically attend the con as Author GoH, but was very much a virtual presence throughout.<\/p>\n

Vincent Villafranca \u2013 As always, more phenomenal work from one of the best sculptors in the field. He unveiled a work-in-progress called \u2018The Dogs of War\u2019 that blew me away.<\/p>\n

Jessica Wade \u2014 Ace\/Roc editor extraordinaire. How cool is she? She\u2019s so cool that a mere autographed headshot of her brought money in an auction. She\u2019s so cool that she can make the phrase \u201cfor reals\u201d ring in my head for days and I\u2019m amused. For reals. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

The Lansdales \u2014 Joe, Kasey, and Karen. Always a pleasure with them. Saturday night, we dined at the Clay Pit along with Jessica and my pal Sanford Allen. It was one of my favorite meals in a while. Best company, conversations, and great Indian food all in one. On Sunday, Kasey<\/a> belted out a one-hour singing performance at FenCon and if I didn\u2019t have a simultaneous panel commitment, I would\u2019ve seen more. Fortunately, I was able to catch a few minutes at the end and she was awesome.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>(Photos clockwise from top: (l to r): Sanford Allen, Andy Trembley (back), Kevin Roche, Stina Leicht; Guest of Honor goodie bag contents (note the Rock-em, Sock-em Robot Rings); Andy Trembley with smooth rocket fuel)<\/p>\n

Enjoyed seeing the great Robert J. Sawyer, P.N. Elrod, Chris Merle, Mel Tatum, Caroline Spector, Cat Conrad, Rachel Caine, Shanna Swendson, Karen Meschke, Brad Foster, David Lee Anderson, Rocky Kelley, Stina Leicht, Jeff & Maya Bohnhoff, John Randall, and many, many more whom I wish I could remember in my current deadline-frenzied state.<\/p>\n

Special shoutout to Jay \u2013 he\u2019s been an Elric fan for over 30 years and gave one of the best compliments ever. Said he walked in the Art Show, saw my 5-foot tall vinyl print of ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS<\/a> and felt that the image embodied the Elric he\u2019d always seen in his head but never seen until then. Really made me feel good to hear that.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a pro or fan and you\u2019ve never experienced FenCon, these folks know what they\u2019re doing and their attendees know how to have a great time. It\u2019s a very fun show and this won\u2019t be my last. I was honored to be there. Huge thanks to the whole con staff including the aforementioned Rhonda and Jimmy, Tim Miller, Tim Morgan, Julie Barrett, Bobb Waller, Ed Dravecky, Becky Demonja and everyone who made the show great.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"