Archive for the 'Conventions' Category
November 18th, 2009, 10:52 am by Jayson Peters
 LeVar Burton and Felicia Day Phoenix Comicon organizers have announced the next big round of celebrity guests for Phoenix Comicon 2010, coming Memorial Day weekend at the Phoenix Convention Center.
Leading the pack is LeVar Burton, host of Reading Rainbow, Geordi LaForge on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Kunta Kinte from Roots.
Burton joins fellow TNG alum and ubergeek Wil Wheaton, along with the previously announced Jonathan Frakes, who played USS Enterprise first officer Will Riker. Frakes’ wife, General Hospital star Genie Francis, is also a guest.
Other Hollywood stars announced: John Schneider (Smallville and The Dukes of Hazzard), actress and geek goddess Felicia Day (The Guild, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), perennial guest and The Incredible Hulk star Lou Ferrigno, and Kevin Grazier, Ph.D., science adviser to the Syfy series Eureka and Battlestar Galactica. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Comics • Conventions • Events • Sci-Fi & Fantasy • Smallville • Star Trek • Television • Felicia Day • LeVar Burton • Phoenix • Phoenix Comicon | 1 Comment »
November 5th, 2009, 2:12 pm by Chris "KeL" Adams
 Sheldon Dorf, the man responsible for starting the convention that would become the San Diego Comic-Con, died Tuesday from kidney failure. Dorf was 76.
In 1970, Dorf put together the Golden State Comic-Convention, in a time where comic book cons were few and far between. From these humble beginnings the convention grew to what is now the largest gathering of comic and pop culture fans in the country.
Posted in: Comics • Conventions • Deaths • San Diego | Post a Comment »
October 16th, 2009, 2:25 pm by Jayson Peters
The International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival is now under way through the weekend at MADCAP Theaters in Tempe.
In addition to more than 50 films, the festival will also include parties, a gore girl competition, and discussions with filmmakers and directors. A VIP all-access pass costs $100, a flex pass of four individual screenings costs $25 and single-screening tickets cost $10.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Conventions • Events • Horror • Movies • Sci-Fi & Fantasy | Post a Comment »
October 14th, 2009, 12:01 am by Jayson Peters
 The widow of Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax is working to have a memorial erected to the game designer in his adopted hometown of Lake Geneva, Wis.
The monument, which Gail Gygax is hoping will be placed in the city’s Library Park, first must go through parks board approval before going to the City Council.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Collecting • Conventions • D&D • Deaths • Gaming • RPGs • Sci-Fi & Fantasy • Dungeons & Dragons • Gary Gygax | 6 Comments »
October 7th, 2009, 12:58 am by Chris "KeL" Adams
 Most of us have just recently finished recovering from this summer’s San Diego Comic-Con. Next year’s event is scheduled for July 21-25, 2010, well over nine months away. As of today, four-day passes with preview night admittance are sold out already. However, four-day passes that don’t include preview night are still available for $100. For the moment, at least. Apparently jacking up prices compared to previous years is doing little to decrease demand.
If you were planning on making the pilgrimage to comicdoms holiest of holys next year, better act fast or you may wind up on the outside looking in.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Comics • Conventions • Comic-Con • San Diego | 1 Comment »
October 3rd, 2009, 8:23 pm by Jayson Peters
 Conventioneers are gathering this weekend at the Phoenix Mesa Marriott for LepreCon 35, which this year is being billed as a “relaxacon” or smaller fan gathering instead of a full-scale convention, due to the organization’s involvement with the larger WesterCon and last month’s North American Discworld Convention.
Next up: the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival, Oct. 15-18 at MADCAP Theaters in Tempe, which Emily Behrendt previewed here.
And here are other local conventions in the offing, as seen in the “Local Convention Calendar” list on the right-hand side of the page:
- Saboten-Con: Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, 2009, Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa
- Dark Con: Jan. 14-17, 2010, Grace Inn Ahwatukee
- LepreCon 36: May 14-16, 2010, Phoenix Mesa Marriott
- Phoenix Comicon: May 27-30, 2010, Phoenix Convention Center
- RandomCon: July 9-11, 2010 (tentative), Grace Inn Ahwatukee
As always, if you see something I’ve neglected or messed up, send an e-mail to the address in the sidebar or tweet @nerdvana. Or, just leave a comment below!
Posted in: Conventions • Events | Post a Comment »
September 14th, 2009, 7:51 am by Jayson Peters
 It’s good to be bad, particularly when you’re the Dungeon Master. At least, that’s the case at Wizards of the Coast’s latest Worldwide D&D Game Day event, scheduled for this Saturday at hobby shops across the globe.
The last WWDDGD, in May, celebrated the release of Monster Manual 2, and another in March marked the launch of Player’s Handbook 2. This one will coincide with the release of Dungeon Master’s Guide 2, and will give participants a chance to build their own adventure scenario using the new guide’s concepts.
Two is better than one, apparently. Now that the new Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition has been out for more than a year, many players are comfortable with the basics of dungeon-delving and this second round of core rulebooks, and the events celebrating them, can focus on more advanced strategies for killing imaginary things and taking their stuff.
UPDATED below with Valley locations. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Conventions • D&D • Events • Gaming • RPGs • Dungeons & Dragons • Worldwide D&D Game Day | Post a Comment »
September 11th, 2009, 3:11 pm by Jayson Peters
 Disney announced that Capt. Jack Sparrow will return in 2011 in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The news comes out of the inaugural D23 Expo in Anaheim, where Johnny Depp was there in person on a giant pirate ship — and our guest correspondent CactusCarl is dealing with strict mobile device restrictions. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Business • Conventions • Disney • Events • Movies • Pirates • Sci-Fi & Fantasy • D23 Expo • Horror • Nicolas Cage • Pirates of the Caribbean | 1 Comment »
September 9th, 2009, 12:35 am by ebehrendt
MADCAP Theaters at 730 S. Mill Ave. in Tempe will be hosting this year’s International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival Oct. 15-18, 2009.
 This year’s inductees into the IHSFF Hall of Fame include Judith O’Dea, known for her role as Barbara in the George A. Romero 1968 classic zombie film Night of the Living Dead; Marilyn Burns who played Sally in the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Casper Van Dien, who is best known for his role as Johnny Rico in the 1997 science fiction classic Starship Troopers. The IHSFF Hall of Fame honors those individuals that have made a difference in Horror and Science Fiction film.
The three-day festival will include screenings of more than 50 films, including Donkey Punch, Friday the 13th, The Wizard of Gore, Rapturious, Tokyo Gore Police, Vampire Hookers, Ray Bradbury’s Chrysalis, Alien Raiders, The Blob, Hell’s Ground, Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth, Deadly Event, Farmhouse, Re-Animator, Farmhouse, Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth, Frazetta: Painting with Fire, Hell’s Ground, and of course The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The festival will also include parties, a gore girl competition, and discussions with filmmakers and directors.
For more information please call the Phoenix Film Festival at (602) 955-6444 or visit www.horrorscifi.com.
Posted in: Conventions • Events • Horror • Movies • Sci-Fi & Fantasy • MADCAP Theaters • Tempe • Zombies | Post a Comment »
September 8th, 2009, 10:07 pm by Chris "KeL" Adams
This past weekend, Seattle played host to the annual Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), one of the largest public video gaming conventions in the world. For years now, I’ve been lamenting the fact that I never can quite make up there to attend. However, it sounds like not attending this year might have an upside. Numerous con attendees are reporting they’ve fallen ill with the flu.
So far notable victims include web cartoonist Scott Kurtz (PvP), geek icon Wil Wheaton and Penny Arcade co-conspirator Mike Krahulik/Gabe. The San Diego Comic-Con may be overcrowded, smelly and expensive, but I can say that it has never gotten me sick.
Posted in: Conventions • Internet • flu • pax | 2 Comments »
September 3rd, 2009, 11:15 pm by Jayson Peters
 Jonathan Frakes (Wikimedia Commons) UPDATED with Jim Steranko and Jamal Igle.
Phoenix Comicon organizers announced the first round of celebrity guests for Phoenix Comicon 2010 on Thursday at an event that also showed off the con’s new digs at the Phoenix Convention Center.
I didn’t make it down there, but here are the highlights from Twitter. More official announcements should come Friday on the official convention Web site.
Star Trek: The Next Generation star Jonathan Frakes (Cmdr. Will Riker) and his wife, Genie Francis (Laura of “Luke and Laura” fame from General Hospital), will attend. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Comics • Conventions • Events • Sci-Fi & Fantasy • Phoenix • Phoenix Comicon | Post a Comment »
|
|
