Open and clear lines of communication are important in every endeavor of human society. Misunderstandings and wars have been waged over slights that were not intended nor even existed when spoken yet through tangled communication channels degenerated into what they were never meant to be. We have gone through one of these periods in Omaha fandom and I want to commend John Jaeckel for beginning the process to end that cycle.
I went to Capes Lounge, the newest comic book store in Omaha, yesterday to meet the owner and thank him for some recent things he had done to help OSFest this year. John happened to be there and overhead some of our conversation. I am glad that he decided to approach me outside.
After finding a place where we could hear each other over the traffic, we had a very good and productive discussion. We cleared up a lot of the miscommunication and misconceptions about what was being said because we could respond to each other in clear and correctable dialogue. A problem is that Omaha gets to be a closed community and generate closed internal communities very quickly. To avoid this, we hope to use the Anime NebrasKon BBQs as a venue to keep the dialogue going within fandom in Omaha.
Some lessons we took away from our conversation is that: what is written on the internet stays on the internet FOREVER; what you think is a closed venue probably isn’t, other people will find your words; tone of voice while writing may hide good intentions; and without give and take dialogue people will take away the worst possible meaning to your words.
Personally I think this is a great start. It will open up avenues that can only help all of fandom in the Omaha area. Working together Omaha fandom can bring both a general convention and several focused genre conventions, which working separately we might not be able to pull off. So I thank you John Jaeckel for getting this conversation started.
Anime NebrasKon: when are you having that next BBQ?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Invasion of the Replicas
Just four weeks until the second annual Omaha Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival. Do you have your memberships yet?
There are lots of things happening this year. I should know, I have been working on the programming schedule for the last few weeks and that baby is about to be put to bed. Some of the events I have already talked about that require you to register ahead of time.
Time is running out to sign up for the Star Wars Miniatures: Hoth Scenerio battle scheduled for Friday evening. If you ever thought you could hold back the Empire on a frozen planet, now is your chance. Sign up today by dropping Darth Moose a line at mailto:Darth_Moose74@yahoo.com?subject=OSFest.
Also, there is the Writer’s Workshop on Sunday morning moderated by Odyssey Writing Workshop graduate Matthew Rotundo. If you want to try this, check out the workshop guidelines at: http://www.osfes.org/2009OSFESTWritingWorkshopInformation.pdf.
But as we get closer to the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and the kickoff of OSFest 2, more events and opportunities are coming together. Moose Mendolia and his R2-Central Builders Club will have more droids than ever at OSFest
this year. But along with them we hope to have another robot on display, a replica of the B9 robot from the 1960’s Lost In Space TV series built locally by Brad Edmonds. Go to his website where he has documented his endeavors and accomplishments. And if that wasn’t enough, Brad has also replicated the Knight Industries Two Thousand (KITT) muscle car from the first and second seasons of the 1980’s Knight Rider TV series. It will be on display in the hotel’s back parking lot. And his friend, Jeremiah Keller will be bringing a third and fourth season version of the vehicle that he has recreated, so the two can make a joint appearance. Don’t forget to bring your camera. 
There are lots of things happening this year. I should know, I have been working on the programming schedule for the last few weeks and that baby is about to be put to bed. Some of the events I have already talked about that require you to register ahead of time.
Time is running out to sign up for the Star Wars Miniatures: Hoth Scenerio battle scheduled for Friday evening. If you ever thought you could hold back the Empire on a frozen planet, now is your chance. Sign up today by dropping Darth Moose a line at mailto:Darth_Moose74@yahoo.com?subject=OSFest.
Also, there is the Writer’s Workshop on Sunday morning moderated by Odyssey Writing Workshop graduate Matthew Rotundo. If you want to try this, check out the workshop guidelines at: http://www.osfes.org/2009OSFESTWritingWorkshopInformation.pdf.
But as we get closer to the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and the kickoff of OSFest 2, more events and opportunities are coming together. Moose Mendolia and his R2-Central Builders Club will have more droids than ever at OSFest
this year. But along with them we hope to have another robot on display, a replica of the B9 robot from the 1960’s Lost In Space TV series built locally by Brad Edmonds. Go to his website where he has documented his endeavors and accomplishments. And if that wasn’t enough, Brad has also replicated the Knight Industries Two Thousand (KITT) muscle car from the first and second seasons of the 1980’s Knight Rider TV series. It will be on display in the hotel’s back parking lot. And his friend, Jeremiah Keller will be bringing a third and fourth season version of the vehicle that he has recreated, so the two can make a joint appearance. Don’t forget to bring your camera. 
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