Double Con Crunch: UWEC Barron County GEEKCon and No Brand Con

So I’m in the middle of prepping for two events: UWEC Barron County GEEKCon on April 25th and No Brand Con the weekend after from May 1-3. And yeah, it’s as exhausting as it sounds like.

The con prep for UWEC Barron County GEEKCon is pretty easy at least. I’m going to do a stripped down table setup there as an experiment, to see how well it works. It’s just a one day con up at UWEC Barron County in Rice Lake, WI, so the stakes aren’t super high if it doesn’t work out. I’ve never done this event (though I’ve done its sister event down here in Eau Claire several times), so it’s all a question mark to begin with. But it’s a little one day con at a college, and I usually have a really good time at those, so we’ll find out I guess.

What’s really occupied my time though is prep for No Brand Con, but if you know anything about me that should not be shocking. I’m a co-founder of that event, and have been one of the most public faces over our more than twenty years of existing. What makes this year even more challenging is that this really is our attempt to revive the event and bring it back to some of its former glory.

I’ve taken on some responsibilities with this year that I normally wouldn’t have in the past, but I’m super excited about the con. No matter what happens, I’m confident that the con will be a very, very, very good time for everyone who comes. Our prereg numbers were right within our targets, and I’m super excited. Like I haven’t felt this excited about a con I was helping run in at least a decade, and I’m practically buzzing sometimes.

Here’s the thing though, even when everything is going right, running an event like this is incredibly stressful. I am looking forward not just to the con, but maybe also the weekend after the con. I was, at least, smart enough to take the Monday after the con off of work.

Now, obviously I’m not tabling at No Brand Con, since I’m the one in charge of the vendor room and artist alley, and that would be a massive conflict of interest. Ethan is though, so copies of the new Peregrine Lake book will be available for sale there for anyone interested. I won’t have my novels on hand, but if you ask nice enough, maybe I’ll meet you in the Tony Caponey’s parking lot at midnight and we can make a deal. ?

So yeah, if you want to know why I’m exhausted right now, that’s why. And there’s more work to do right now…

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