[Writer Post] SoonerCon Report
Better late than never, I suppose. SoonerCon was two weeks ago, and yes, I’m just now getting around to this. Only because of crazy busy life stuff – that doesn’t end until October. Right, then. So, SoonerCon was something that I both needed and needed to be great. I was not disappointed by either criteria.
My convention schedule is a bit light this year – these things go in cycles – so my opportunities to sell books are more limited than in the years where it seemed like I went to ALL. The. Shows. That’s partially budgetary (conventions are expensive – especially the comic cons) and partially looking at ROI (to be buzz-wordy). If a convention/show is no longer worth the investment for whatever reason, then you have to rethink attending. And then at least one convention I normally had in my schedule didn’t happen this year. All these together make the shows I am doing more important.
SoonerCon was the first convention I’ve done since February. That’s…a while. I was feeling the need to be back among “tribe” more than just yoga or FenCon meetings. This is also being around fans, fellow writers, and artists. We all get a good recharge from being around like minds. This was no exception. Loved being able to catch up with friends and colleagues – and meeting new folks like Ron Cheney – Lon Cheney’s grandson. There’s always networking and business doing – I’ve mentioned my whole conversation with Tex Thompson that’s leading in new and different directions. The panels were fun, thought-provoking, and generally bizarre — and that’s just from the panelist side. Most were well-attended. A couple were small but still generated good conversation.
Was it perfect? No. No convention is. EVER. SoonerCon, like ever other fan-run convention, has turn over and post shuffling every few years. This was one of those years. They kept the problems and chaos to the background. Likely I wouldn’t have noticed at all except for two factors: 1) I’m married to an art show who helps out here – so those things are visible to me; 2) I’m a conrunner myself and good friends with SoonerCon’s people, we help each other out and talk out things. Collaborative efforts, baby, not just for artistic endeavors. But these issues are transient and not deep rooted. No plan survives the first encounter with the enemy. But SoonerCon LEARNS. They evolve. They GET IT.
I’ve said many times before that SoonerCon is the convention to emulate. They combine the best of the “Old School” literary conventions with the relevancy of what “New” fans might want. The hybrid of media con with literary without sacrificing anything – having to spend more time sucking up to potentially high-maintenance media guests at the expense of the writers/artists who built the convention to begin with. They are fans. They’re professionals. They’re some of the most welcoming, open-minded folks I’ve ever met. And they’re doing pretty well at the Reed Convention Center — for now.
I will continue to support SoonerCon as long as they will have me, and I encourage anyone in the region to check them out next year (and the year after, and the year after). We need SoonerCon and they need us. Let’s keep making it happen!