The difference engines
May. 17th, 2010 09:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
debgeislerLast Saturday, puttering around Make:Blog, I read a notice about a Steampunk World's Fair, to be held this weekend (the one we just finished) in Pisssscataway, New Jersey (a place name that cries out for extra sibilants). Mike also thought it sounded like fun, so we booked a hotel a few miles away, packed up the car, and headed south on Friday late afternoon. We volunteered a bit at the convention; we spent a bit of time in program; we shopped; we people-watched; Mike took photos; we chatted.
This is my (not so) short note on what we experienced.
First, the people-watching and people-meeting: extraordinary. The folks at the event were a fascinating blend of makers, Victorianas, edge-pushers, horror fans, SF fans, cosplayers, and so on. They don't come from any single headspace; there is no particularly iconic literature or mass media product that spawned Steampunk. It is too spontaneous and protean for that.
We (Mike and I) were terribly mundane in casual clothing, but that's my disguise. We were in a small minority: Top hats were much in evidence, as were steampunky aviator's clothing, goggles, hats. Some folks wore the truly creative (one woman had built a bamboo structure that strapped to her back...and held a blimp (a very steampunky blimp, of course) over her head. She had to bend wayyyy forward in order to get through doors.
There were gears and clockworks much in evidence. Some women wore full Victorian dress, complete with lace parasols (and weren't *they* lucky the weather was fine?). Some folks were dressed steampunkily in clothing from that same imagined era in China, Japan, Africa, and, of course, the American West. Jewelry was clunky, with more gears and leather and wood, although there were also some elegant pieces owing more to Victorian elegance than the era of steam. (I bought a lovely pocket watch, carved out in such a way that the works are visible on both sides.) Steampunk blasters, made from all manner of creative things. One woman had built a mock-camera in the bellows style, using a vegetable strainer(!) as the basis for her flash. It worked, and worked very well.
We did see a few familiar people, but mostly these were folks completely unknown to us.
Second, the makers: they were everywhere. Almost everyone was willing to stop and answer questions about "where did you get that?" or "what is that made of?" or "did you have any particular inspiration for crafting this?"
Not everyone who was there was a maker. Only about 15-20%, I would guesstimate, made their own bits of costume. But I didn't mind the lack of an art show, when so many people were willing to show folks how they created a large blaster (repurposing a leaf blower), a funky machine made of modern bits ("I got this at Home Depot. I have no idea what it's for, but it was cool and $3.50...so I bought two of them."), hats, jewelry, canes, neck pieces, and so on and so on.
Some of the makers sold their items (a very small dealers' room was amply offset by a very large dealers' row; quite a few things were hand-tooled). Most just built stuff because it was cool, and they really rocked on feedback from admirers like me. :-)
Third, the performing talent: mixed, varied, interesting. In the 4 hours we worked at the outside tent, the program included belly dancing lessons by an incredibly talented woman (she was talented both as a performer and a teacher -- a rare combination), a man playing Irish harp (he played *Jimmy Buffet* on the harp!), a pair singing what appeared to be Steampunk standards, and an opera singer. Yes. A professional opera singer about to start an MA in Operatic Music. She was utterly brilliant.
Fourth, the program: a blend of performance, panel discussions, big events, and how-to. We saw too little of it, I'm afraid. But what we did see was interesting, thought-provoking, and often spiffy.
It was great fun. But, like any event in its first year, there were teething pains. (The event organizers sent email last week to everyone registered, apologizing in advance for problems. They had gotten rather more attendees than they'd planned for.)
Bravo for a first con.
This is my (not so) short note on what we experienced.
First, the people-watching and people-meeting: extraordinary. The folks at the event were a fascinating blend of makers, Victorianas, edge-pushers, horror fans, SF fans, cosplayers, and so on. They don't come from any single headspace; there is no particularly iconic literature or mass media product that spawned Steampunk. It is too spontaneous and protean for that.
We (Mike and I) were terribly mundane in casual clothing, but that's my disguise. We were in a small minority: Top hats were much in evidence, as were steampunky aviator's clothing, goggles, hats. Some folks wore the truly creative (one woman had built a bamboo structure that strapped to her back...and held a blimp (a very steampunky blimp, of course) over her head. She had to bend wayyyy forward in order to get through doors.
There were gears and clockworks much in evidence. Some women wore full Victorian dress, complete with lace parasols (and weren't *they* lucky the weather was fine?). Some folks were dressed steampunkily in clothing from that same imagined era in China, Japan, Africa, and, of course, the American West. Jewelry was clunky, with more gears and leather and wood, although there were also some elegant pieces owing more to Victorian elegance than the era of steam. (I bought a lovely pocket watch, carved out in such a way that the works are visible on both sides.) Steampunk blasters, made from all manner of creative things. One woman had built a mock-camera in the bellows style, using a vegetable strainer(!) as the basis for her flash. It worked, and worked very well.
We did see a few familiar people, but mostly these were folks completely unknown to us.
Second, the makers: they were everywhere. Almost everyone was willing to stop and answer questions about "where did you get that?" or "what is that made of?" or "did you have any particular inspiration for crafting this?"
Not everyone who was there was a maker. Only about 15-20%, I would guesstimate, made their own bits of costume. But I didn't mind the lack of an art show, when so many people were willing to show folks how they created a large blaster (repurposing a leaf blower), a funky machine made of modern bits ("I got this at Home Depot. I have no idea what it's for, but it was cool and $3.50...so I bought two of them."), hats, jewelry, canes, neck pieces, and so on and so on.
Some of the makers sold their items (a very small dealers' room was amply offset by a very large dealers' row; quite a few things were hand-tooled). Most just built stuff because it was cool, and they really rocked on feedback from admirers like me. :-)
Third, the performing talent: mixed, varied, interesting. In the 4 hours we worked at the outside tent, the program included belly dancing lessons by an incredibly talented woman (she was talented both as a performer and a teacher -- a rare combination), a man playing Irish harp (he played *Jimmy Buffet* on the harp!), a pair singing what appeared to be Steampunk standards, and an opera singer. Yes. A professional opera singer about to start an MA in Operatic Music. She was utterly brilliant.
Fourth, the program: a blend of performance, panel discussions, big events, and how-to. We saw too little of it, I'm afraid. But what we did see was interesting, thought-provoking, and often spiffy.
It was great fun. But, like any event in its first year, there were teething pains. (The event organizers sent email last week to everyone registered, apologizing in advance for problems. They had gotten rather more attendees than they'd planned for.)
Now, with that said, let me clarify: it was fun. They should take the lessons learned here and make sure that future events get even more fun. (And I really hope there will be future events...but maybe not. One of the joys of something like this -- for the organizers who do the work -- may well be doing it for the first time.) They've provided a space for people with this shared enthusiasm (for a past reimagined by the future) to come together. Good vibe; neat people.The facility. The space is too small for an event that drew more than 1000 people (I have no idea what their final total was, but their pre-reg was over 1000). They were clever in getting the large courtyard space, and they were even more lucky with the weather on Saturday and Sunday. The badges. This one's been solved a lot, but these folks appear out of the loop: don't spend all of your capital on spiff art that makes an unreadeable badge. Have more than one type of gizmo to attach the badge to people's bodies, since most people didn't want to wear these around their necks. Volunteers. We were gophers. We liked it just fine. A bit more formal structure to the whole volunteering thing would have helped. (The volunteer coordinator had his schedule on a computer, but not on paper...so we had to read over his shoulder to find out what options might be available. Hint: at con? Ditch the 'puter. Scheduling volunteer slots isn't that complicated.) I suspect they didn't really have a good clue what to do with lots of the volunteers. There were no formal instructions; we were told to "report to the folks in charge of the tent," but without any names attached to that. Finally, no one mentioned, until we got there, that gophers got free admission. We didn't ask for reimbursement, because we didn't plan to work more than 4 hours each, and we didn't want to take advantage of the con. (Some sort of freebie just for your volunteers is often more appreciated than a free membership.) Lack of detailed information. More stuff needed to be in the collateral materials. Tell us who's going to be on panels (bios woul help), what type of music so and so plays, provide a brief precis of the panel contents, etc. The at-con guide should have a bit more information in it than was there.
Bravo for a first con.