Happy Tuesday, my friends!
We are back with another installment of Tuesday Tidbits, where I try to track down events that I think would be of interest to you, my fellow Geeks here in Indiana! Plus, pictures of the Geek Pets!
It has been a busy weekend here at the Geek Cave, and we’re rolling into “Hell Week” for area Geek Bloggers. That’s right, it’s Gen Con Week! So, not only will we have the new episode of the Indiana Geeking Podcast on Friday, featuring part two of Jarred and TJ talking Magic: The Gathering, but we’re also going to have my yearly post with tips and tricks for Gen Con, gathered over the years. Make sure you take a look down towards the bottom of the page, where I give thanks to those who have thrown money at the fees for covering Gen Con, like parking and food, including our new sponsor for the event coverage!
But first, let’s look at what’s on the calendar!
What’s happening for Hoosier Geeks?
August starts on Thursday!
- August 1st – 4th: Gen Con! It’s the Best Four Days in Gaming (trademarked)! Taking over the entire downtown area of Indianapolis, if you want to play it, it’s probably there.
- August 3rd: Harry Potter Day! The Indianapolis Art Center will be hosting a Harry Potter-themed community day, including a costume contest, trivia, and a bunch of other activities! A great option for a Geek who doesn’t want to deal with the crowds around the Convention Center!
- August 16th: Monster Mash at the Melody Inn! Head over to the Melody Inn for an evening of monster-themed music and burlesque, with The Shake Ups, Benny and the No-Goods, Team Void, and Nerdlesque! Ages 21 and over.
- August 17th & 18th: BatCon! Fiberglass Freaks, makers of the licensed 1966 Batmobiles, are hosting another Batparty at the Logansport/Cass County Airport!
- August 23rd – 25th: Indy Fur Con! Indy’s own Furry Con is back for their tenth year, with a Hawaiian theme, and once again raising money for the Exotic Animal Rescue and Pet Sanctuary!
- August 24th: Makevention! Hosted by BloomingLabs in Bloomington, this is a family-friendly “maker” event held at the Monroe Convention Center!
- August 24th: Expecto Festo 2019! Held at Books & Brews in Brownsburg, this is a day of crafts, trivia, costume contests, and even beer tappings, all based around your favorite Boy Who Lived!
- August 29th – 31st: Star Wars at the Athenaeum! The Athenaeum in Indianapolis will be hosting a screening of the original Star Wars trilogy over these three days, with one movie each night. Star Wars Indiana will be in attendance (at least, those not at DragonCon!), and there will be themed cocktails, food, and other fun stuff!
- August 30th – September 1st: Indiana Comic Convention.
Looking at September!
- September 6th – 8th: HorrorHound Weekend! They’ve grown! This year, check out HorrorHound at the Indianapolis Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis, for all of your horror, pop culture, and mask needs!
- September 7th and 8th: Hall of Heroes Comic Con! Hosted by the Hall of Heroes Museum, this is a cool pop culture show up in Elkhart!
- September 7th: Five Year Mission, Yavin 4, and Hot Rod Nebula at Radio Radio! Catch three great local bands over at Radio Radio in Fountain Square! Ages 21 and over.
- September 20th – 22nd: RamenCon! South Bend’s annual fan-run anime convention!
- September 21st: Indy Disney Meet! Join a bunch of your fellow Disney fans at this annual meetup at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Noblesville!
- September 29th: Fort Wayne Hobby and Collectibles Show! Head up to Fort Wayne if you’re looking for cool collectibles and records! This one day show just might be where you find that elusive gem! You never know!
Now, what’s happening with the blog, the blogger, and friends of the blog?
- Today’s Picture: The Geek Pup sticking to the letter of the law, and staying out of the kitchen while I cook. Note, she’s just over the edge, and watching, waiting for some tasty morsel to hit the ground.
- Gen Con 2019 Thanks: I’ve been putting the call out to get help covering bills at Gen Con this year. Thanks to a bunch of folks buying me a Raktajino through Ko-fi, and a local business who took my “sponsorship” joke seriously (disclaimer, it is the business I run social media for), Lizz and I won’t have to stress parking fees during the show. I’d love to give a shout-out to the following people for helping me!
- Sponsor for Gen Con 2019 Coverage – FlexePark
- Mark Reddersdorf
- Team TrashBrigade
- Patrick Martin
- John Knight
- Geek Building! As I’m working on improving my building skills, finishing projects, and starting to learn how to use the equipment I have, I decided to expand my online presence even farther, by having a Facebook Page and an Instagram dedicated to what I’m doing. This is where I’ll be cross-posting my blog posts, plus posting pictures and bits about what I’m doing that really aren’t big enough for an entire blog post. So, feel free to let me fill your feeds at the following locations:
- Facebook Page – Pictures from Instagram post here, but it’s also where I post my updates that are too short for a blog post. Things like the issues I have with the printer, wins I have with the printer, who’s helping me out, stuff like that.
- Instagram – Did I build something cool? Did something backfire? Did I get a picture of it? This is where it’s going.
- Extra Life! For many years now, I’ve helped promote friends doing Extra Life, the 24 hours of gaming charity for (usually) Riley Children’s Hospital. This year, since I work with a bunch of gamers, my co-workers and I are doing it ourselves! We’re still planning our games, but I can guarantee we will be streaming. So, if you want to donate, and help kids, follow the link at the beginning of this bullet point to help us out!
- Feed a Blogger! Are you looking to support the blog? Do you want to help with accordion lessons? Here’s how you can!
- Ko-Fi (Immediate) – This enables you to “buy me a Raktajino” and the money immediately goes to PayPal. This will go into the blog’s account, and help me get a replacement monitor, because mine is starting to die.
- Patreon (Long-Term) – This helps long-term, month-to-month. I can not stress this enough, my friends! If people just gave a dollar a month, each, that goes so bloody far for a creator like myself! So please, if you can, throw in here! Bonus: Patrons get extra things, like free sticker offers, weekly blog updates, discounts in the Geeking store, and more!
- “Awesome Supporters” Tier – $1 a month – Gets you a shout out on the end of every Indiana Geeking Podcast (provided you’re an active supporter at time of the recording), addition to the Gallery of Gallant Geeking Givers with your name linking to a SFW, non-political URL that you’d like to promote, and a 10% off discount code for the Geeking Shop, as long as I’m still selling merch (not to be confused with the TeePublic shop). It also just lets me know people care about what I’m doing.
- “Polka Party” Tier – $5 a month – This was recently added, to help pay for my accordion lessons! Accordion lessons are $25 a week, up to $100 a month. Supporters at this level will help me pay for this, throwing more of my personal funds towards paying down my medical debt. In return, they get all regular Patreon benefits, plus a special “Polka Power” section on the Gallery of Gallant Geeking Givers. Finally, they also get monthly “update” videos, showing what I’m learning in the lessons I’m receiving at Arthur’s Music Store in Fountain Square.
- “Influencers” Tier – $10 a month – After your first successful month as a Patron (read: you’ve paid for your first month), you will get everything listed on the “Awesome Supporters” tier, and you can also recommend one piece of media, be it a book, a movie, or music, that you’d like me to consume, and then write about on the blog, every month. Certain restrictions apply, please refer to the Patreon page for details.
- Amazon Affiliate (Long Term) – If you’re shopping through Amazon, then please, feel free to use the Affiliate link! The money isn’t immediate, because I have to hit a “cash out” amount, and then it takes a month or two for the money to become available, to make sure they aren’t paying out and then someone returns a high-end item, but it helps boost the bank account!
- Geeking Shop – It turns out that while I’m a decent blogger and podcaster, I’m not great at the merch. I have a lot of stuff laying around the Geek Cave Office, taking up space, and I’m starting to drop prices to get it gone. Take a look! Note: I’m still going to be donating $2 from each Geek Dog and Geek Cat pin to EARPS until they’re gone.
- Geeking Wishlist – This is an Amazon list of tools I could use for blog stuff. Includes podcasting equipment, writing tools, and items for 3D Printing.
- Do you like how the blog looks? Then check out Studio 27 Indy and TikiKitchen Design. I just write this stuff. They’re the ones that make me look good. Also, check out the art page on TikiKitchen Design! There’s some great stuff on there! It’s TikiBitchin!
Am I missing anything? Use one of those contact links to give me a shout! Have a great week, and I’ll see you later!
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