New York Bronycon Writeup #2, and Huge News for September!

I know some of you don't like meetup posts, so if you read nothing else just know that Jayson Thiessen himself will be attending the September meetup.  That is amazing.

A Full writeup of the last one can be found after the break, courtesy of Purple Tinker.

Hello, everypony!

So, this time, we're making the effort to get out our post-event wrapup email done in a timely manner for once! (Shock and awe!)

Yesterday was our Bronies-NYC July meetup, and by all accounts it was a success. Here's what went down, in a nutshell.

The day began with all the staffers and artists arriving at the venue starting approximately 30-45 minutes before the event. Tables were set up, a monitor began playing pony episodes, and ponies started to file in by the dozens. The Artist's Alley this time featured Samantha Neukirch, Lady Abraxas, Aura, Autumnalone, and Gluestick. Registration went rather smoothly this time, thanks to a better staffer-to-attendee ratio. (i.e.: There wasn't a ridiculous backup at the front desk this time!) A pony store was available, selling a wide variety of official and unofficial (this time, mostly official) pony merch, including the much-coveted crystal keychains, which sold out. Strawberry Spice, a.k.a. sticker brony-- maintainer of Equestria Gaming-- finally managed to attend, and distributed many of his wonderful stickers.

This time, since it wasn't a formal con (but, rather, a large meetup), there weren't that many scheduled events. One notable exception was our video appearance/tutorial by the one and only Egophiliac, the well-known pony comic and cartoon artist. In addition to answering questions about her art and the way she works, she made a number of amazing "ponicatures" of various attendees. (See the 28 ponicatures on her deviantArt!) She also did a number of sketches live during the con! "Plus, I'd like to thank Egophiliac for drawing this adorable picture of me!"

Shortly after Egophiliac's two-hour-plus gala presentation ended, Steve's Minty gave a special screening of the new documentary, 'My Little Obsession', which attracted a fairly wide audience. (NYC local and frequent Bronies-NYC attendee Kar was, in fact, one of the ponies featured in said documentary!)

We also featured a surprise Bingo game towards the end of the con, at which one lucky brony won $72.50. Before the competition, Kurosuwako announced the upcoming PMV contest for September, the winner of which will be announced at BroNYCon September. (A full writeup about this competition, and how to enter, can be found on Equestria Daily here.)

After said Bingo game, I disappeared to a nearby Taco Bell, coming back with almost two dozen food items (most of which to give away) plus a bucketload of hot sauce. Meanwhile, a number of bronies engaged in an impromptu singalong of the Cutie Mark Crusaders theme song, with a powerslide by Punchline as the grand finale (which ended up becoming the first time we had to use our First Aid kit.)

We had over 50 attendees, including two members of the press. In fact, in a happy coincidence, the grand prize was won by one such journalist, JoeStrike, who had previously written about the brony phenomenon. This time, the grand prize included a pony backpack, a miniature 'Bridlemaids' billboard, a $50 Visa card, and a complete set of McDonald's G4 ponies, in an original McDonald's Happy Meal G4 box. Congratulations to all of our winners!

Last but not least, in what was definitely the day's biggest news of all, I made a very special announcement regarding our first announced Guest of Honour for BroNYCon September: One Jayson Thiessen, Director of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic! A full article on Mr. Thiessen's appearance is also being posted on Equestria Daily.

Our afterparty was, as always, awesome. In addition to the usual pony video watching and singing along (including some epic metal pony singing), staffers Punchline and Nanashi managed to come up with two amazing new pony drinks, the Great & Powerful Trixie and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, recipes for which were recorded in my journal and will be posted with a future pony drinks update.

All in all, a wonderful time was had by all! Looking forward to our next big meetup next month, and especially the next full-scale BroNYCon in September!

In the spirit of friendship,

Purple Tinker