The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part V: Final Stretch: the week before

Ever wonder what goes into creating a convention? Stephen Zimmer has agreed to take us through the steps. He has agreed to do a six week series about what it took to put together Imaginarium which will make its debut this September. 

http://www.entertheimaginarium.com/

Final Stretch: the week before 

It is just one week out from the debut of the creative-writing centered Imaginarium Convention! The couple of weeks leading up to a convention are quite the maelstrom. All kinds of things are being finalized, involving a mountain of details and confirmations pertaining to everything from the programming, to events, to the venue itself.

On the programming side, Susan Roddey has been coordinating with over 130 guests whose collective schedules involve coverage over 140 workshops and panel sessions. Each of them has an individual itinerary, and there are always questions, changes, a few guests having to cancel due to emergency situations, new ones coming in as replacements in the last hour.

The juggling and slotting of a group this large is no easy task in the final stretch. With a print program involved, it is important to get the schedule as accurate as possible as of the deadline for the printing run, in addition to setting up mechanisms for up to the minute updates. For Imaginarium that will involve the website, a PDF, and an app for mobile phones that will be kept current throughout the event to make sure that attendees have the best information possible.

The programming schedule is not the only schedule or list of assignments that has to be finalized in the final approach to the convention. The final grid of table space assignments for the vendor hall has to be completed, the gaming schedule, involving hosts, types of games, and time slots, has to be done, the film festival screening schedule has to be finalized and judges coordinated with, volunteers have to be assigned and scheduled, and there are details involving a fair number of events ranging from many book launch parties to a film premiere to the Saturday night Masquerade.

In addition, a lot of physical items have to be brought in for the event. There are customized event banners, lanyards, the program (a 60 pager, full-size, on glossy paper, no easy feat!), film festival award trophies, t-shirts for the staff, t-shirts for the convention itself, audio equipment, projection gear, menu plans for the award banquet, badges for vendors, guests, and attendees, and much more. Most of this converges in the final stretch and it takes a lot of checking and cross-checking to make sure that everything is accurate and looking good.

Meanwhile, there is the final media and publicity push, which ranges from outreach to regional media to online promotion. Every bit counts, from tweets and Facebook posts about workshop signups, film festival screenings and Masquerade information, to blog posts featuring guests, to link sharing for everything from convention registration to hotel reservations.

As you can see from the above paragraphs, the final stretch leading to a convention is an exercise in mass details. The goal is to make sure that everything possible is tacked down, as live events have things that happen that you do not expect or plan for. The better you have prepared everything else in advance, the better prepared you are to deal with the surprises that inevitably emerge throughout a convention weekend.

At this point, we are seeing the details setting into place and are looking forward to next weekend’s kickoff. Our goal is to deliver attendees a very rewarding experience on many levels when they participate in Imaginarium 2014! Thank you for following along with this mini-series of posts involving the development of Imaginarium and we hope that it has given you some insights into the preparation of a convention.

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part I: concept and venue
The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part II: The Building of a Guest List

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part III: The Programming (part 1)

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part III: The Programming (part 2)

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part IV: Convention vs Conference

About the Author:

website-FB-twitter-blog
Born in Denver, Colorado, Stephen Zimmer is an award-winning fantasy author and filmmaker based out of Lexington, Kentucky.

Stephen has two series being published through Seventh Star Press. One is the epic fantasy Fires in Eden Series, which was launched with Crown of Vengeance (winner of the 2010 Pluto Award for Best Novel). Book 2, Dream of Legends, was released in January of 2011. The other is the epic urban fantasy series The Rising Dawn Saga. The Rising Dawn Saga launched in spring of 2009 with The Exodus Gate (nominated for a 2009 Pluto Award). The next step was taken in June of 2010 with The Storm Guardians. Highly prolific, Stephen is adhering to a release schedule that sees a new book approximately every seven months!

As a filmmaker, Stephen has credits in fantasy and horror, including the supernatural thriller Shadows Light (feature), The Sirens (horror short film), and Swordbearer (fantasy short film). Swordbearer debuted in early 2011 and is currently being exhibited on the convention and festival circuit. Featuring a special appearance by former WWE wrestler Al Snow, the film is based upon the H. David Blalock novel Ascendant.

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part IV: Convention vs Conference

Ever wonder what goes into creating a convention? Stephen Zimmer has agreed to take us through the steps. He has agreed to do a six week series about what it took to put together Imaginarium which will make its debut this September. 

http://www.entertheimaginarium.com/

A Convention, Not a Conference

One of the main elements in developing Imaginarium for its debut was to be sure that even though it offers an immense amount of programming content it still retained the relaxed air of a convention atmosphere. We wanted it to be different from a traditional writer’s conference, in a way that would make the event attractive to readers and others from the public who might come across Imaginarium.

Imaginarium is designed as an all-genre event, one that is open to all areas of creative writing. As that includes things like screenplays, game-design, comics and graphic novels, there were some obvious areas that we could build onto the core of programming to create a convention environment.

We put in a film festival component, complete with awards, to go along with the screenwriting elements in the programming. This first year we wanted to be sure we did not spread too thin, so we are only doing one screening room, but it has a full array of activity beginning on Friday evening and running all throughout Saturday. Short films, features and documentaries of a variety of types and styles are included and will offer a very enjoyable activity to those who are not writers.

Similarly, we are doing a gaming room, for those who enjoy table-top games, Role-Playing games, card games and things of that nature. It is a room that will be open to the wee hours of the morning and will likely be the only room of the entire convention that some of the more serious gamers experience! But all humor aside, the gaming room connects to the game-design portion of the programming and adds a definite activity that non-writers can participate in.

Another main element to the event is the vendor hall itself, which will have a variety of exhibitors from artists to authors, publishers, filmmakers, jewelry designers, and others. The vendor hall, in my view, will serve as a central area anchoring the event itself with all of the activities and programming surrounding it. We’ve been careful to make sure there is good aisle space so there’s no congestion, so it will be easy for people in the vendor room to talk, browse, and interact. It will be a great area for panelists to gather following programming sessions and for attendees to find panelists/presenters they enjoyed to continue conversations.

There are also special events within Imaginarium designed to be enjoyed by all types of attendees. One is our Masquerade, which will include a costume contest. We encourage costumes to be related to something creative-writing related, so they can come from books, movies, games, comics or graphic novels. The wonderful Selah Janel is spearheading the Masquerade, which will great fun for the attendees to either participate in or come watch.

On Sunday we will have our first awards banquet where we will give out awards for the film festival and unveil the literary awards associated with Imaginarium that will begin in 2015. The banquet will be a classy and enjoyable event for attendees that will cap off a content-rich weekend and bring Imaginarium’s first year to conclusion on a high note!

So you can see that we have worked to make sure that Imaginarium offers a fun and relaxed convention environment alongside the rich programming content. It has a lot to offer everyone, whether readers or writers, and we hope that those who can make it join us this September.

-Stephen

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part I: concept and venue
The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part II: The Building of a Guest List

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part III: The Programming (part 1)

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part III: The Programming (part 2)

About the Author:

website-FB-twitter-blog
Born in Denver, Colorado, Stephen Zimmer is an award-winning fantasy author and filmmaker based out of Lexington, Kentucky.

Stephen has two series being published through Seventh Star Press. One is the epic fantasy Fires in Eden Series, which was launched with Crown of Vengeance (winner of the 2010 Pluto Award for Best Novel). Book 2, Dream of Legends, was released in January of 2011. The other is the epic urban fantasy series The Rising Dawn Saga. The Rising Dawn Saga launched in spring of 2009 with The Exodus Gate (nominated for a 2009 Pluto Award). The next step was taken in June of 2010 with The Storm Guardians. Highly prolific, Stephen is adhering to a release schedule that sees a new book approximately every seven months!

As a filmmaker, Stephen has credits in fantasy and horror, including the supernatural thriller Shadows Light (feature), The Sirens (horror short film), and Swordbearer (fantasy short film). Swordbearer debuted in early 2011 and is currently being exhibited on the convention and festival circuit. Featuring a special appearance by former WWE wrestler Al Snow, the film is based upon the H. David Blalock novel Ascendant.

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part III: The Programming (part 2)

Ever wonder what goes into creating a convention? Stephen Zimmer has agreed to take us through the steps. He has agreed to do a six week series about what it took to put together Imaginarium which will make its debut this September. 

http://www.entertheimaginarium.com/

The Programming (part 2)

The programming (part 1)

Planning programming for an event the size of Imaginarium is no easy feat. It takes time, patience, and a very strong sense of humor. When Stephen and I first started kicking around panel topics and scheduling ideas several months ago, I thought I was ready for the job...boy, was I ever wrong. I've learned a lot in the last two months, though, and I've enjoyed every step of the process.

As Stephen mentioned last week, we have a wide array of panel topics and programming. There's guaranteed to be something for everyone at Imaginarium, from the how-to panels on writing your first novel to fun fandom trivia and Q&A sessions with our special guests. We offer so many topics I still have a hard time keeping all of them straight!

Not only do we have close to 150 separate panels and events packed into the weekend, we also have close to 130 guests. Matching up people to panels and slotting events to fit individual schedules isn't as easy as it sounds, either. If you were to ask some of our guests, they'd probably tell you that somewhere along the way I lost my mind and added them to unimaginable things. I've since apologized and done my best not to be crazy. I just hope they forgive me one day.

But that sentiment right there embodies the whole essence of my involvement in Imaginarium. Every creative writer has been to an event at some point in his or her career where it became painfully obvious that the creatives were the low guests on the totem pole. It hurts to think you're being taken for granted and given the raw end of what seemed like such a good deal. My philosophy from the start has been to make our guests feel like they're part of something. I want to see them happy with their schedules and excited to be involved in the event we're building. That excitement is catching, and if the guests show enthusiasm, our attendees will pick up on it. It's about building an atmosphere while offering a worthwhile event.

So anyway, that's what we did... now let's talk about the how.

It started with a series of spreadsheets. One was broken out to represent time slots in each panel room. The second was a listing of every panel broken down by track – with only enough slots beneath the headers as we had seats on the panel. The third, and probably most important, as the spreadsheet to represent individual panelists' schedules. Slots were determined based on the number of panels each person requested. If a workshop was offered, it went into the schedule. If a specific event was offered, it went into the schedule.

The next step was to make sure nothing conflicted on each. Every time I entered something on one sheet, it filtered over to the other two. If something was removed, I backed up and redid what I'd done. Back and forth, over and over, there were days when both my husband and Stephen thought I'd gone insane.

And of course, I made mistakes. Hence the panelists thinking I'm nuts comment earlier. As I said, wrangling that many guests isn't easy.

I started with the panels with the fewest number of requests. Those were assigned first, promising no conflicts and keeping them full. I moved through the list that way, building from the bottom up to ensure each panel got the love it deserved. Some of the decisions were extremely hard – there are so many wonderful, knowledgeable panelists that sometimes I literally had to flip a coin to determine which person got what seat. Those were the ones that hurt the most.

And then there were the “Ask an Author” lists. Almost every panelist we have signed up for “Ask an Author”, and I couldn't think of a fair way to assign those. Since we had several open slots (even as many times as we counted, we still undershot it!), I went crazy and set up multiple panels, each centered on a different genre – Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Urban Fantasy/Horror... and even then it was still so hard to decide!

Now I want to take a minute to talk about the panels themselves. With over a dozen separate programming areas, we've tried to incorporate chances to answer as many questions as possible. We have panels on gaming – both for writing games and running them. We also focus on the publishing world, editors and their functions, and the craft of writing itself. We have fandom favorites based on some of today's hottest books, shows, and movies as well. Our romance writers get to shine as they discuss the craft of writing true love, and our speculative authors will take our attendees on a walk through the improbable. We even offer panels and workshops on the creative writing areas people don't immediately think of when they hear “creative writing”. We have panels for poets and songwriters, screenwriters, and even those who specialize in blogging and non-fiction. Imaginarium is a place where any creative type can feel at home.

Stephen and I have had our heads together every single step of the way, and even now we're coming up with new topics we think would interest our panelists and readers...but I suppose we'll have to save those for next year.

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part I: concept and venue

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part II: The Building of a Guest List
The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part III: The Programming (part 1)

***

About the Author:

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South Carolina native S.H. Roddey has been writing for fun since she was a child and still enjoys building worlds across the speculative fiction spectrum filled with mystery and intrigue. She brings to the literary world a unique blend of humor, emotion, and wild ideas filled with dark themes and strong characters. Having already traversed the murky waters of both the independent press and self-publishing markets for short fiction, Susan is proud to have found a home with Seventh Star Press for her Soul Collectors novel series. In her spare time, she also writes paranormal and contemporary romance as Siobhan Kinkade.

In addition to writing she is also a voracious reader, wannabe chef, and video game addict with two full-time jobs: administrative social media professional, and mom to two cats, a teenager, and a precocious toddler with an affinity for computer keyboards. She also enjoys the perks of being married to her best friend and full-time muse. Check in on her any time at www.SHRoddey.com

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part III: The Programming (part 1)

Ever wonder what goes into creating a convention? Stephen Zimmer has agreed to take us through the steps. He has agreed to do a six week series about what it took to put together Imaginarium which will make its debut this September.

http://www.entertheimaginarium.com/

The Programming (part 1)

The next area concerning Imaginarium that we will discuss is the programming itself. The programming is the heart and center of this particular convention. In fact, the programming is so essential that this topic will be explored in two parts.

Today, I will take you on an overview of our goals for the programming for the debut of Imaginarium. Next week Susan Roddey will give you a look at the nuts and bolts of putting it all together, from slotting guests to scheduling panels.

Imaginarium is designed to be a fun and relaxing environment, but we are very serious about offering a wealth of content on a level that is hard to find anywhere else. The theme of the convention itself, being all about creative writing, has to reflect strongly in the programming content.

As such, we knew that the programming range would have to be broad enough to encompass things like books, screenwriting, comics and graphic novels, game-design, poetry and other areas that involve spheres of creative writing. From the foundation, Susan and I discussed having a definite core of topics covered from the outset while leaving room open for guest and panelist input.

Various topics on the craft of writing, the publishing business, and even the world of social media and how it applies to writers are, in our view, essential “must-haves” in the programming. The programming needed to offer opportunities for writers to develop their skill sets, learn about the industry, and find ways to use current media tools to most effectively to promote their work. The convention has to be timely, relevant, and edifying for any attendee.

We also wanted to be sure the core programming reflected the all-genre nature of Imaginarium. It was imperative to have topics pertaining to mystery writing, romance, and other sectors in addition to popular genres like fantasy and steampunk. Getting all of that on the map right away, in our view, set the right kind of tone for the overall event.

This year we decided to approach programming development by going through two rounds of surveys. One, the first, featured the core list that Susan was heavily involved in developing after we had talked about the overall convention programming goals. This survey was intended to gauge the interest of guests and panelists in the core topics and also open the door to panel and workshop suggestions.

From this survey, Susan was able to add in a number of new panel ideas and topics to the list that were derived from the input of the panelists themselves. This allowed our programming to be customized to a significant degree by the guests. Giving an opportunity for panelists to be involved with the development of the programming is a big positive, in my view, as it gives them a stake in the event itself.

The second survey was focused on the panelist’s individual preferences, regarding their own ideal selections of panels to be featured on. That stage of the process we will leave for Susan to tackle next week, as it gets into the adventure of setting the panel grid and guest assignments.

As it stands now, we are very confident in the programming being offered. Over 140 workshops strong, organized into twelve categories, and featuring over 130 guests from across the spectrum of creative writing, Imaginarium’s programming is comprehensive and offers attendees a tremendous amount of choice. Whatever areas of creative writing you would like to explore, we have something for you!

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part I: concept and venue

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part II: The Building of a Guest List

About the Author:

website-FB-twitter-blog
Born in Denver, Colorado, Stephen Zimmer is an award-winning fantasy author and filmmaker based out of Lexington, Kentucky.

Stephen has two series being published through Seventh Star Press. One is the epic fantasy Fires in Eden Series, which was launched with Crown of Vengeance (winner of the 2010 Pluto Award for Best Novel). Book 2, Dream of Legends, was released in January of 2011. The other is the epic urban fantasy series The Rising Dawn Saga. The Rising Dawn Saga launched in spring of 2009 with The Exodus Gate (nominated for a 2009 Pluto Award). The next step was taken in June of 2010 with The Storm Guardians. Highly prolific, Stephen is adhering to a release schedule that sees a new book approximately every seven months!

As a filmmaker, Stephen has credits in fantasy and horror, including the supernatural thriller Shadows Light (feature), The Sirens (horror short film), and Swordbearer (fantasy short film). Swordbearer debuted in early 2011 and is currently being exhibited on the convention and festival circuit. Featuring a special appearance by former WWE wrestler Al Snow, the film is based upon the H. David Blalock novel Ascendant.

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part II: The Building of a Guest List

Ever wonder what goes into creating a convention? Stephen Zimmer has agreed to take us through the steps. He has agreed to do a six week series about what it took to put together Imaginarium which will make its debut this September.

http://www.entertheimaginarium.com/

The Building of a Guest List

With the venue and date in place for Imaginarium 2014 (Part I), one of the first tasks we faced was building a solid guest list for the main programming. There were many considerations in regard to guests, from the number of guests needed, to the type of panelists required, to their personal styles, and even to how we would present highlighted guests and a Guest of Honor.

Envisioning the large number of panels and workshops we planned on incorporating, we knew from the outset that we would need a fairly large number of guests to participate as panelists and workshop hosts. Further, we wanted to build the kind of guest list that would be attractive and of interest to potential attendees.

We sought from the beginning to make sure our guest list featured a very wide range of genres to reflect the comprehensive nature of the event. We also had to be sure to include professionals from many areas of creative writing, including film, gaming, poetry, and comics and graphic novels.

Having attended a large number of conventions, participated on a host of panels, and having put together literary tracks at other events, I knew the kind of panelist we wanted for Imaginarium. From the outset, I had the advantage of already having a great number of individuals in mind to invite for the big kickoff weekend.

It is important that any Imaginarium panelist is high credible in their given areas as a professional. But it is also very important to the concept of Imaginarium that the panelists reflect the spirit of this particular convention. We wanted guests who are approachable, congenial, and of the type who are willing to share their insights, experience, and knowledge with the attendees.

Allan Gilbreath

There are some wonderful personalities all throughout this business, individuals who are both entertaining and engaging in a panel setting. Some examples of this type include Allan Gilbreath of Dark Oak Press, Sean Taylor, and Tony Acree of Hydra Publications. Panelists such as these three bring a great energy to a session and at the same time have a lot to offer to any discussion they are a part of.




There are also panelists who are extremely erudite in their fields of expertise, to the extent that they are a part of the academic world. Guests like this include L. Andrew Cooper and Michael Williams, both of whom are currently professors at the University of Louisville, and Brady Allen, who teaches at Wright State.

Benjamin Smith

There are many tremendous industry-side panelists, such as the Hugo-nominated Jason Sizemore of Apex Book Company, author/screenwriter Anthony Taylor, magazine publisher Benjamin Smith (Ertel Publishing) and Eric Beebe of Post Mortem Press. The inclusion of top flight industry professionals brings a cutting-edge perspective to various discussions as well as real-world advice and insights.

Lee Martindale

Panels are enhanced greatly with top level moderators and we wanted to be sure to put solid focus on bringing in some superb individuals in this capacity. Lee Martindale, who also happens to be our ToastMistress, is one example of an exceptional moderator, as is Carol Malcolm, who also runs the Urban Fantasy Track at Dragon*Con. We reached out and invited several individuals who are adept at moderating a panel discussion. The core of good moderators on hand for Imaginarium will benefit the attendees greatly with orderly, balanced discussions that allow for interaction with the audience.

Rose Pressey

Most every convention has some highlighted guests. For Imaginarium we decided to name a main Guest of Honor and then create a special type of spotlighted guest called an Imaginator. For the debut of Imaginarium, we thought it would be ideal to name a Guest of Honor who resided in the Louisville area. Our choice to be our first ever Guest of Honor was Rose Pressey, who is a fantastic author and also one of the big indie book success stories of recent years. Rose’s story is very inspirational to up-and-coming writers and definitely highlights the indie-friendly nature of Imaginarium.

For our Imaginators, we chose Maurice Broaddus, author of the Knights of Breton Court series from Angry Robot, Dan Jolley (I Smell Sheep interview of Don Jolley), an writer in multiple mediums who has done everything from write for Transformers video games to projects for Dark Horse Comics, and Jeffrey Reddick, Hollywood screenwriter who created the Final Destination movie series. Collectively, our first three designated Imaginators represent the worlds of books, movies, video games, and comics/graphic novels, reflecting the multifaceted nature of Imaginarium very well.

Looking over the guest list slated for Imaginarium I feel extremely confident that we have achieved our main objectives. From NYT Bestselling romance author J.M. Madden to our Guest of Honor Rose Pressey, our guest list reflects a full range of genres, including romance, mystery, thrillers, speculative fiction, and many more. It also includes screenwriters like Scott Sullivan, who wrote for The Tonight Show and NCIS: Los Angeles, game design creators like John Arcadian, poets like Sheri Wright and Bianca Spriggs, and comic writers like Bobby Nash and the aforementioned Sean Taylor. It is balanced and filled with expertise. With strong moderators and approachable, knowledgeable panelists participating in an intensive amount of programming (over 140 panel and workshop sessions), the stage is set for a wonderful creative writing experience for the attendees of Imaginarium!

John Arcadian (left) and Scott Sullivan (right)

-Stephen Zimmer

The Genesis of The Imaginarium Convention- Part I: concept and venue

About the Author:

website-FB-twitter-blog
Born in Denver, Colorado, Stephen Zimmer is an award-winning fantasy author and filmmaker based out of Lexington, Kentucky.

Stephen has two series being published through Seventh Star Press. One is the epic fantasy Fires in Eden Series, which was launched with Crown of Vengeance (winner of the 2010 Pluto Award for Best Novel). Book 2, Dream of Legends, was released in January of 2011. The other is the epic urban fantasy series The Rising Dawn Saga. The Rising Dawn Saga launched in spring of 2009 with The Exodus Gate (nominated for a 2009 Pluto Award). The next step was taken in June of 2010 with The Storm Guardians. Highly prolific, Stephen is adhering to a release schedule that sees a new book approximately every seven months!

As a filmmaker, Stephen has credits in fantasy and horror, including the supernatural thriller Shadows Light (feature), The Sirens (horror short film), and Swordbearer (fantasy short film). Swordbearer debuted in early 2011 and is currently being exhibited on the convention and festival circuit. Featuring a special appearance by former WWE wrestler Al Snow, the film is based upon the H. David Blalock novel Ascendant.