The exciting news of an all SU convention has dropped! If you're looking to know more about the convention, check out the awesome interview below! BCB fan Bryce snagged this interview for us!
What
made you want to do a Convention with this theme?
Honestly,
we're both just really big fans of Steven Universe - the world, the
art, the music, and especially the characters. K-K started watching
the show in early 2014 and convinced Tara to start watching it not
much later. We kept getting into discussions about SU at Ice &
Fire Con and other gatherings, and more than once brought up the fact
that it would be awesome if Steven Universe had a convention of its
own.
How
long has this been something that you've been wanting to do?
As
we mentioned, we've been talking about it for a while, but we were
waiting to see what happened at other conventions and with the show
in general before jumping into things. Tara attends a lot of
conventions and the number of Steven Universe cosplayers and fans
seems to expand with each one, so we started talking about it in
earnest at Ice & Fire Con in April of this year. Of course
knowing that there would be new episodes soon (specifically the In
Too Deep event that aired in May) and more on the way propelled us
into doing some research. Once we knew that there wasn't another
convention like this out there already, we started planning. This
included launching Saga Event Planning, LLC, which is now the parent
company that will organize Ice & Fire Con, Beach City Con, and
hopefully other events as well. http://sagaeventplanning.com
Will
it be like a standard convention like SDCC, Momocon, Florida
SuperCon, etc.? What I mean by this is the format. Panels
and events with an Artist's Alley and vendors?
Yes
and no. We are a fan-run not-for-profit convention, so very different
from San Diego Comic-Con, which is an industry convention, or even
Dragon Con, which is a fan-run convention but is for-profit. Nothing
against any of those other conventions at all - Tara in particular
attends and enjoys many of them throughout the year - but we're
sticking with what we know, which means a smaller event focused
around one specific fandom that features activities that larger
conventions usually don't offer... such as an official Steven
Universe singalong hour, perhaps. However, we will definitely have
panels, and we're hoping to garner enough interest for an Artist's
Alley and vendors.
How
do you feel like the crowd will be at this event?
Our
ultimate goal is to mirror the kind of atmosphere Steven Universe
offers its viewers: inclusivity, diversity, friendship, and above
all, FUN! We want our venue to be filled with laughter and music and
attendees bonding over this wonderful television show and their
shared appreciation of its messages. The community that has arisen
out of Steven Universe is very special and transformative and we are
thrilled to have the opportunity to bring so many fans together in
one place to celebrate.
What
would you estimate the turnout to be?
Thanks
to our experience with Ice & Fire Con, we know what type of
conventions we love and want to organize - conventions that are by
fans, for fans, and foster a safe, welcoming, and intimate
environment that leads to lively and friendly discussion and fast
friendships between our attendees. Therefore, we are starting out
small - with 400-500 tickets available - and planning on growing
Beach City Con in the most organic ways possible.
The
organizers of Beach City Con plan to bring the first Steven Universe
Convention to its fans in October of 2017. This fan-run non-profit
event will offer traditional convention programming with a Crystal
Gem twist. Above all, the goal is to keep Beach City Con fun, keep
Beach City Con safe, and keep Beach City Con WEIRD!
Thanks again to Bryce! Don't forget to check out the Beach City Con website, as well as add your email address to their mailing list, so you can stay up to date on all the info about the con!
Twitter: Emerald
