Spokane Comicon 2010 Update #1

Hello Fans of the Spokane Comicon! The Holidays are upon us as is the New Year. That being said it won't be long until it's Comic con season again. Now I present to you all with a nice big virtual bow our first 2010 update.

First off let's cover the basics for those of you that don't already know.

4th Annual Spokane Comicon
Next show: Saturday May 22, 2010
Location: Spokane Community College Bld 6 Lair
Time: 10:00am-5:00pm

Now let's get into some news for 2010!

Special Guests:
Dustin Weaver (Guest artist) Born in Alaska, Dustin moved to Portland in 2006. He’s worked on a whole bunch of prestigious comics projects including Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, King Kong, Indiana Jones, and Jodi Picoult’s NYT best selling novel The Tenth Circle. Hot off doing the covers for the X-Men mini series Nation X, Dustin is hard at work on the upcoming Marvel series SHIELD due out in April 2010. You can watch an exclusive clip about it from Attack of the Show http://g4tv.com/videos/42954/Exclusive-Peek-at-Jonathan-Hickmans-Shield-Wolfskin--More/

Eric Trautmann (Guest Writer) Eric Trautmann is a comic book writer, editor, and graphic designer. Eric recently completed writing chores on the six-issue DC Comics miniseries, JSA Vs. Kobra: Engines of Faith (illustrated by Don Kramer and Michael Babinski). The series launched on June 10th, 2009. The final issue of the miniseries hits store shelves on November 11th.
Matthew Southworth (Guest Artist) is the acclaimed artist from the hot new sold out series "Stumptown" from Oni Press.

Charlie Schmidt is a local graphic artist who's arguably most famous for his "Keyboard Cat" video on Youtube that has turned into an international phenomenon. Charlie and his cat Fatso have been seen everywhere from The Colbert Report, CNN, and Attack of the Show to name a few. You can read Charlie's impressive bio here http://charlieschmidt.com/bio.asp

Spokane's own LARS BROWN is making his amazing fourth appearance at our con is the creator/writer/artist of the Oni Press series North World. He's contributed stories to the anthologies small town/BIG CITY and also PopGun. He also has created the webcomics Diamond of Khandai, Cloud Story and Acorn War. You can check out more of Lars work on his page http://www.north-world.com/

2010 Sponsors:
In addition to the return of DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics I am very excited to announce the addition of ONI PRESS as a new 2010 sponsor.

Another new Sponsor and returning guests will be the 501st Garrison Titan! I am so excited to have them back after a one year absence. The 501st will be on hand to take pictures and force choke any unruly fanboys.

In addition to Craig and the Comic Book shop sponsoring Best Adult and Child Costume Contest categories, the 501st will offer a cool prize pack for a (TBD) 3rd category for the Costume Contest. Because we had so many great costumes last year we will have more categories for people to win in 2010. More details coming soon.

The one issue we had last year which was both good and bad was that it was crazy crowded at SFCC. Thanks to Spokane Community College's ASB President and Mega Comic book fan Mike Watson and his Sasquad Comic Book Club they have helped bring our 2010 show to his much larger house. The goal moving the con to the SCC will help us give all vendors, artists, guests and attendees the room they deserve soak in the con comfortably.

Dealers/Artists:
2010 Dealer/Artist Contracts are now available. I mention this because last year we sold of tables for the first time almost 6 weeks before showtime. As a result a waiting list was created. I've revised the contract and now have it available for download straight off of our website. You can click on either the Dealer tab or Artist Alley tab to view it. I am also encouraged to see that some of you are thinking ahead and I've already filled a dozen tables so don't hesitate.

Finally, take a look at our website, facebook and twitter for further details.
http://www.spokanecomicon.com/

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Holiday season where ever you call home. I look forward to sending you all our second update come mid to late January with more details about Special Guests, programming, gaming, etc.

Best,
Nathan

Hello fans of the Spokane Comicon. I wanted to send out this brief update to announce (for those of you who haven't heard) the 4th annual Spokane Comicon date is set for Saturday May 22, 2010.

We are also moving to a larger venue to keep up with the rapid growth we are experiencing. The show will be moving to Spokane Community College's the Lair Student Center in Building 6. It's a first class facility with larger square footage for more tables and comfortable isle ways, plus we will have use of a full auditorium for panels and the costume contest.

Finally the dealer contract for 2010 is currently available now on our website for you to download. Just a friendly reminder that last year we sold out of tables almost two months before showtime. Don't miss out to be a part of the "2nd biggest comicon in Washington"

I am hard at work planning to make our 2010 show even better than our last con. Keep checking the website for more updates.

Best,
Nathan

www.spokanecomicon.com

Spokane Comicon 2009 recap

Wow, I am still on cloud 9 after an amazing 3rd show. Each year the Spokane Comicon continues to grow in all areas such as attendance, tables, costume contest, new things to do and flat out hype! There was an electricity in the air early on. Maybe it was the line that started forming at 8am and grew and grew and grew. It was so cool seeing all the people lined up around the corner and coming back down the hall. We had 200 people through the doors in just the first hour we opened and the main show floor was absolutely packed.

Special guest artist Art Thibert is a true professional and a gentleman. He was so nice to fly in from California and do anything we wanted really. My personal favorite part of the day was when Mike Watson, Art Thibert and I conducted a Superman Panel. We discussed many things related to Superman including past and present comics, Smallville tv series, what direction should a new Superman movie go towards and what's next for Art Thibert to name a few things. The crowd erupted in applause when Art announced he would be working with writer Kevin Smith on a new Batman title.


Everything ran smoothly and the reason why is because I had the best group of student volunteers from both SFCC and SCC. Their willingness to do "whatever it takes" to make the con the absolute best made all the difference. They were on hand all day attending to the special guests needs, dealers, attendees questions and setting up and taking down of the rooms. Every single one of them showed maturity beyond their years. Special thanks to Oscar, Sheena, Mike Watson for their leadership and dedication from the start.
Nearly 600 fans came out for the 3rd annual Spokane Comicon. No matter their reason for attending, gift bags, special guests, costume contest everyone left having fun. With over 50 tables, and 5 special guests this was our biggest show yet. I can't wait for next year!

Visit Nathan O'Brien's Facebook page to view more pictures.

All photo's copyright Rachel O'Brien 2009

It's time for fans of comics and pop culture to unite this Saturday May 30th, 2009 at Spokane Falls Community College. We are in the home stretch of the 3rd annual Spokane Comicon and I can't wait. After many months of planning and preparation I am really excited to unveil to you all our best show yet! There is so much more to see and do this year it's scary. In this final email update I wanted to cover some basics along with a few more announcments.

When: Saturday May 30th, 2009 from 10am-5pm

Where: Spokane Falls Community College in Student Union Building 17 (SUB)
            3410 W Fort George Wright Dr. Spokane, WA 99224

Parking: Parking is free for the event! Parking lot P9 (First parking lot turn on the right after the digital reader board) is the closest to Bld 17. If you miss it you can turn into the second turn on the right too. Please see link for map http://www.spokanefalls.edu/College/_images/SFCCmap.gif

Set up/Take down: All dealers, artists and guests can set up starting at 7:00am until showtime at 10:00am. Please plan accordingly. All dealers, artists and guests are required to remain set up until the end of the show at 5:00pm unless first discussed with event coordinator.

Admission and gift bags: General Admission is only $5 which gives you access to the main show floor, all panels and free gaming. Children 10 and under are free with paying adult. Gift bags are free for the first 100 paid attendees. Attendees must pay full price per one gift bag. Children 10 and under will not receive a gift bag without purchase.

Gaming update: This year Spokane Comicon will feature both tournament gaming and free gaming across the hall in the cafe dining area.

The first will be a Magic card Type 2 Constructed tournament. Registration is will be happening from 10am-11am and costs $5 to enter. Tournament will begin at 11am.

The second type of gaming will be a Super Smash Bros tournament which begins play at 11am. $5 tournament fee.

Free gaming is included in the price of general admission. Make sure to get your hand stamped to you can freely go between the main show floor, panels and gaming area. Either type of gaming tournament will cost and additional $5 to enter.

Costume Contest: Craig from the Comic Book Shop is the man. Craig donated a $50 gift certificate and a $35 gift certificate for the costume contest. The $50 will go towards the best adult costume and the $35 will go for the best child costume!

Finally, a few other updates to report. Be on the lookout for our ad in the Spokesman Review in this Sunday's paper in the "Today Section" by the movie theater show times and in the Spokane "7" section this Friday 29th. There will also be a write up about the con in this Thursdays Spokesman Review too. I will post it on the web page once it is published.

The Hero Initiative will be raffling an exclusive print by local artist Levi Skeen which is really sweet. http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/81/l_b203051714704d219f87e083ea635c63.jpg

Also newly added to the con is WACOM Technology. WACOM is the world's leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays and digital interface solutions. They will be doing live deomo's at their table and offering up a great raffle prize of their own. Please take a look at our "What's New" section of our webpage for more details and watch a cool video of their product. http://www.spokanecomicon.com/

Last thing fans. DC Comics sent me their care package this past week. I was blown away how much they stepped up from last year. I won't ruin the surprise but I hope you all like buttons. There will be plenty of goodies in the gift bags and on the freebie table for everyone!

I can't wait to see you all there! Got con?

Nathan
____________________________
Nathan O'Brien
Spokane Comicon Founder & Coordinator
http://www.spokanecomicon.com/

Hello fans, we are only 17 days away until show time. With a few days left everything is coming along smoothly. Special thanks to all of the students from both SFCC and SCC who have been a part of our comic con committee meetings from the start. Their enthusiasm and ideas have been refreshing. Here are some updates from the front line.

First off we are sold out of tables! This is a first for our show in only our third year.There are both new and returning artists and dealers to our show. Make sure you plan on spending some time here as we have over 50 tables to check out!!

This year we doubled our free gift bags for the first 100 paid attendees. These gift bags will come loaded with lots of goodies from DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics to name a few. This year's exclusive item is an unmounted 35mm film cells from the Warner Bros movie Watchmen. Each film cell strip is from a key scene in the movie. You can view some scene examples on our web page by clicking on our Gift Bag tab.

I am really excited to announce some additions to our program of events. First off our Special Guest of Honor: Art Thibert will be joining Neal Bailey at noon for the Superman Panel. Art is the current inker/finisher on DC comics weekly title "Trinity" featuring Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Neal is a writer from Supermanhomepage.com and Smallville the magazine. Come for some answers, stay for the stories.

Another addition to the program of events are the Barony of Wealdsmere. They will be outside of the Student Union Building 17 (SUB) all day. At 12pm they will be holding a full combat tournament for your viewing pleasure. Then at 3pm they will be going at it 3 on 3 style.

Finally, all three exclusive prints are now posted on our site to be viewed. These prints where created just for this years show. The three prints are done by artists Daniel M. Davis, Ben Hansen and Levi Skeen. These prints won't last long so plan on getting there early and picking one up. All three artists will be there selling the prints and signing them at their respected tables. Please visit our website and click on the Con Exclusive tab for futher details.

Keep checking our site for updates as we still have more announcments planned including details about our gaming tournament.

Best,
Nathan
____________________________
Nathan O'Brien
Spokane Comicon Founder & Coordinator
http://www.spokanecomicon.com/

HUGE Spokane Comicon update!

Wow, where do I begin. I have so much to report to you all, it's scary. Let's get it on.

First off, I jumped the gun today. I had stated on the website that I would make the program of events public on May 1st. With the drive in movie that I am sponsoring on Thursday 30th, midnight screening of Wolverine and work on the 1st and Free comic book day on Saturday I knew I might have the time to get the website update, so I did it today!
The program of events is up and about 99.9% complete. There are some really cool panels planned from Battlestar G, Web comics, Short Indie film screening and much more! Go to our site to read it all. http://www.spokanecomicon.com/

The guest list got a couple new additons today too. First off I am really excited to announce that writer Eric Trautmann will be coming over the mountains to join us. Eric is really hot right now and I am glad he can make the time. You can read Eric's full bio here.
http://www.eric-trautmann.com/bio
In addition we are happy to have John Aegard from The Comfort Guide. The Comfort Guide adapts Airline safety techniques to relevant subject areas. The Comfort Guide and artist Steve Lieber did a very funny guide in the back of this years Emerald City Comic con program. Check out more of these cool guides on thier site. http://www.comfort-guide.com/

A brand new category was added to the web page titled "Con Exclusives" In it we've got a brand new exclusive that was just emailed to me today. Daniel M. Davis of Steam Crow who will be coming all the way from PHX Arizona and he created a limited print titled Monroe Street Trouble - 12x18 print. Limited to 40 prints. Printed on 50 yr archival photo film. Signed and numbered by the artist Daniel M. Davis at the Steam Crow table. $20 each. You can view more of his work at http://www.monstercommute.com/

Finally, I added another great $1 raffle prize. From the insanely popular DC Comics series we have a copy of Green Lantern #25 1st Print signed by artist Ethan Van Sciver. I am jelous of whoever wins this.

We only have 33 days left until show time. For those of you who are thinking about getting a table or not consider this. I only have 4 tables left until we are sold out. The price break for a table expires April 30th. After that price for a table goes up $10 if there are any left.


Believe it or not I still have more news to report, but I will save that for another update.
Keep checking out website for more updates. The countdown is on!

Best,
Nathan
____________________________
Nathan O'Brien
Spokane Comicon Founder & Coordinator
http://www.spokanecomicon.com/

Hello and a very happy spring to you all. Now that we are less than 48 days until the third annual Spokane Comicon I thought it was time I sent out another update.

First off planning for the show is coming along very nicely. A huge shout out to everyone on the con committee for their support. As my show has grown it's nice that I have people who are just as excited as I am to bring it to life.

My email has been blowing up all week with many table questions and requests. I sold a personal best 5 tables on Friday alone. As we stand today we have 38/48 tables filled. That being said I have had other inquires about space from dealers and artists but they have not gotten back to me about what they have decided. If all of those people can get back to me (you know who you are) with in the next week there is a strong chance that we could be sold out of tables for the first time in the show's history! Here are some key dates if you are still on the fence.

Prepay prior to April 30th, 2009.
Vendor fee is $60 for one 6' table.
Artist Alley fee is $40 for one 6' table.
Additional table fee is $20.


Payment after April 30th, 2009.
Vendor fee is $70 for one 6' table.
Artist Alley fee is $50 for one 6' table.
Additional table fee is $20.


If you haven't been to our website lately then you've missed some recent updates. One update is our ad in Wizard #211 is out. It can be seen in the "Shows and Cons" section. Another update is we've released a few of the $1 raffle prizes with more to come. Three of the items made public is a rare Watchmen mini poster from Osaka Japan, Batman #442 lithograph signed by George Perez and Marv Wolfman and just announced Infinite Crisis #1 signed by Jim Lee and George Perez! Any of these valuable prizes can be yours for just one dollar!!

Spokane Comicon is proud to have Brain Randolph at our next show representing the Hero Initiative. Please make it a point to check out his table. He'll have some really cool items for sale as well as his own raffle for something I am sure to be awesome. All the proceeds go toward supporting those in the comic industry in need. For information about the Hero Inititive please visit their site. http://www.heroinitiative.org/

A guest note is that local artist Gabe Strine will not be able to join us all day as planned. Instead Gabe is still planning on stopping by to take part in a special Web Comics Panel. More details about that and other programming coming very soon!

Finally, Spokane Comicon will be sponsoring the drive-in movie of Twilight at Spokane Falls Community College on Thursday April 30th at dusk. Come by and check out the movie if you are a fan or want to see if for the first time. It'll be a lot of fun.

Please keep checking back on our site http://www.spokanecomicon.com/for more updates. As we continue to get closer to show time I have lots more updates to announce, including panels, program of events, con exclusives, gift bags, and more!

Check out this great article written by Lloyd N Phillips.
http://freepdfhosting.com/100c406027.pdf

Until next time fans.

Cheers,
Nathan
____________________________
Nathan O'Brien
Spokane Comicon Founder & Coordinator
http://www.spokanecomicon.com/

Table Fees

Prepay prior to April 30th, 2009.
Vendor fee is $60 for one 6' table.
Artist Alley fee is $40 for one 6' table.
Additional table fee is $20 for a 6' table.

Payment after April 30th, 2009.
Vendor fee is $70 for one 6' table.
Artist Alley fee is $50 for one 6' table.
Additional table fee is $20 for a 6' table each.

Set-up

Dealers may begin to set up at 7:00am and must be set up by 10:00am on Saturday May 30th, 2009. All dealers must remain set up until the end of the show, no acceptions.

Name Badges

All dealers, spouses, employees, and their children must wear name badges for admission during the set-up and duration of the show.

Dealer Limits

Each dealer shall be granted two free admission badges on a single-table contract. One additional dealer will be allowed free admission for each additional table in the contract. Additional helpers shall require full admission for entry. Please inform the coordinator either via email or on your contract for how many badges you will need prior to the day of the show.

Tables

Tables will measure eight feet in length for Vendors and six feet for the artist alley, and chairs will be provided. Table location will be determined by the sponsor.

Insurance

Dealers accept full liability for any injury or loss to themselves or their property while attending the show. Dealers expressly release the show coordinator from any loss or injury.


Taxes

Each dealer is responsible for collection and payment of Washington State Retail Sales Tax, including local taxes. To obtain a temporary tax number, call (800) 647-7706. There is no charge for this state service.

Cancellation

If you cancel 90 days or more before the date of the show, you are eligible for a full refund of your total payment. If you cancel within 31-90 days of the date of the show, you are eligible for a refund amounting to 1/2 of your total payment. If you cancel 30 days or less of the date of the show, you forfeit your entire payment and you are not eligible for any refund.


Reservations

To assure table space please return a completed contract with a check, money order or Paypal for the full amount due. All reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis. All table space must be prepaid prior to the event date. Any other special requests (payment arrangements) must be pre approved by the con coordinator.

Payment
We accept Check, Money Order, or Paypal.

Checks and Money Orders payable to:
Nathan O'Brien
2809 N Adams St
Spokane, WA 99205

Paypal
Payments can be sent to spokanecomicon@yahoo.com


Questions
If you have any questions, or request a contract, email Nathan at spokanecomicon@yahoo.com

I am so excited to finally announce that our new site is live!!!!!!


http://www.spokanecomicon.com/

Fly on over and check it out.


Cheers,
Nathan
Founder & coordinator
spokanecomicon@yahoo.com

I am very excited to announce that the Hero Initiative has joined forces to take part in the 3rd annual Spokane Comicon on May 30, 2009.
Take a second to view their site and see how you can help.


http://www.heroinitiative.org/