So much paperwork today that Fluttershy can't keep up! We've got quite a few announcements from a variety of convention today so check on after a break for their press releases. Today we have:
- Sweet Apple Acres Convention Needs Help
- Everfree Northwest Cut-Off Reminders
- Brony Fan Fair Announces Visual Novel
- Fiesta Equestria Announces Early Bird Event and More
Sweet Apple Acres Convention Needs Help
Hey guys! Sweet Apple Con Staff here!
Unfortunately, we come here today with a heavy heart. As some of you
may know, running a con isn't cheap. When it comes to: booking guests,
looking at the venue, making room block reservations, and so much more,
things can get a little dicey with pockets. This is something many first
cons deal with, and we're not different from the rest.
This is
why we're going to be completely upfront with you and honest right now –
we need a little bit extra money. Now, keep in mind we're not going to
let this con die. It will happen, one way or the other, at one location
or another, but at the end of the day we want to keep another Las
Pegasus from happening.
The reason that we are doing this is so
we do not have to look for another hotel venue this close to the time
of the convention. Not only would it be hectic to us, but you all would
have to cancel your hotel rooms, and book new ones.
What do we need?
Right now we are looking to raise $21,000 dollars by June 12th.Or an
extra It's a hefty amount, but I know if we all pitch a little, we can
do this.
How did this happen?
Now, when you first book
a convention, you set aside space for the rooms to be booked. If the
rooms are not booked before the convention starts, the convention has to
pay for it. Unfortunately for us, we were unable to meet the number of
rooms required of us. We are unable to force attendees into booking
rooms no matter how often we push the hotel or link to it in our posts.
“Well, what about ticket sales?” While they are doing well, they are
still slower than we would like to see.
Again, rest assured.
This convention is happening. Additionally, any guests we have invited
(Voice actors, musicians, community guests, etc) and promised
compensation to will be paid no matter what, even if we move locations.
We will NOT leave people’s hard work and travel empty-handed.
So, what can you do to help?
The first thing to remember is the importance of pre-registering your
badge as well as booking your hotel room. If you have been holding off
on those things, now is the time to do them. Keep in mind that the hotel
does not put a hold on your card. In the event of a personal emergency
where you would need to cancel, you can do so without worrying about a
cancellation fee as long as it is TWENTY-FOUR HOURS before the day of
booking (so by the 10th to be safe). You can register your room here: http://derpy.me/SAAHotel
It is worth noting that in our original contract, we were responsible
for 80% of the room block. As of June 7th, In order to meet that, we
would need 51 people to book rooms Thursday through Monday (Check in
Thursday, Check out Monday). It is possible that getting these rooms
filled would negate the $21,000 altogether, so don't forget to reserve
your room!
Additionally, we are opening up our paypal
(Payment@sweetapplecon.com) for your donations. When we break the
$21,000, the rest will be donated to one of the many brony charity
groups.
So what’s in it for you?
Aside from the
satisfying feeling of knowing you helped fellow bronies, anyone who has
booked rooms for at least two nights will receive a limited edition
autographed poster of our community guests of honor. This includes
guests such as Odyssey (Eurobeat Pony), dB Pony, FiMFlamFilosophy
(Rainbow Dash Presents Crew), Paleo (Brony Breakdown), Corey Williams
(Vinyl Scratch Tapes), Brony Breakdown, and many more! (Please note that
in order to receive your poster, you must print out your hotel
reservation and have it with you upon picking up your badge).
In Conclusion...
As we are Sweet Apple Acres Con, we decided to give you the truth and
be 100 percent honest with you. Because what would this fandom be if we
were dishonest? The amount of stress among the staff right now is
immense. Please spread this to everyone you know, and remember that
every cent helps.
We appreciate your time, patience, and dedication to our convention.
Thank you.
Everfree Northwest Cut-Off Reminders
Everfree Northwest: Cut-Off Reminders
Everfree Northwest is coming up soon (July 5th-7th), and we want to remind everyone of the following cut-offs coming next week for both pre-registration and the PMV contest.
Everfree Northwest Pre-Registration Ending June 15th
Pre-Registration for Everfree Northwest 2013 ends in one week, on June 15th! After that, badges may only be bought at the door for $55, so visit our Registration page and buy now! Remember, creating a badge on our website does not guarantee entry to the convention until it has been paid for. Also, we have already sold over half of our Supporter Badges and have a limited supply of Patron Badges; be sure to pick one up before they run out! A Patron Badge gets you a full pass into the convention plus an exclusive T-shirt. A Supporter Badge will get you the perks of a Patron Badge, plus three autograph vouchers for Everfree guests, a specially-drawn, limited edition print, access to our exclusive Supporter Lounge, and priority positioning in event and autograph lines. To upgrade your already-purchased badge to a Patron or Supporter Badge, email registration@everfreenw.com with the subject "Supporter Upgrade". Include your account username, real name, and PayPal email address. We'll locate your badge and send an invoice for the price difference. If available, you can still upgrade your membership to a Patron or Sponsor Badge after the deadline as long as you have already purchased a badge.
PMV Contest Deadline June 16th
Do you make PMVs, Pony Videos, and/or pony animations? Do you want to see your creation shine on the Everfree Northwest stage? Your opportunity to share your PMVs with the Pacific Northwest is sadly soon coming to a close. The submission deadline for the Everfree Northwest Pony Music Video and Pony Movie Video contest is next week, June 16th. Be sure to submit your PMV while you still can. Don’t have time to make a new PMV in a week’s time? No problem! The EFNW PMV contest accepts entries from as far back as February 3rd, 2013. If you didn’t post your video online before that point, it could still be eligible for the contest. Those who win in one of our two categories will receive fabulous prizes, such as a free badge for Everfree Northwest 2014 for first place and more.
Below is a comprehensive primer of the contest guidelines. A complete guide of the official PMV contest rules can be found here. Submissions and questions can be sent to pmvcontest@everfreenw.com.
Categories:
• Pony Music Video
• Non-music Pony Movie Video
What you should know:
• PMV submissions must be received no later than June 16th, 2013.
• As a family-friendly convention, all submissions should rate no higher than a PG in the MPAA film rating system.
• The content of the PMV should be relevant to the convention’s My Little Pony theme.
• Music videos should try and be between two (2) and six (6) minutes in length and movie videos should try and be between one (1) and six (6) minutes in length.
• A previously released PMV must have been come out after February 3rd, 2013 to be eligible to enter.
• Entrants 17 and under must submit their entry using a parent’s or legal guardian’s email as a proxy.
Submitting Guidelines and Submission Forum:
Videos will only be accepted electronically in the following format. You may submit up to three PMVs total. Submit your PMV to the email pmvcontest@everfreenw.com. Each email must contain the following information:
• Email subject line: PMV <Your Name>
• Full legal name
• Nickname/Studio Name (if applicable)
• PMV Title
• PMV Category
• Email Address
• Song title(s) and artist(s) (Music Videos only)
• Audio title(s) and/or source (Movie Videos only)
• YouTube video link AND/OR a download link. If submitting via download link, consider a service such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Filezilla or other similar service that allows large file sharing.
• Will you be attending Everfree Northwest?
The above information must be received before your entry will be considered.
Video Format and Resolution:
All submissions must meet the minimum standards for video quality (applies to both download link and YouTube link submissions):
• Minimum video resolution of 640x480 (720x480 4:3 anamorphic).
• Minimum frame rate of 23.976 (24p) FPS (frames per second).
• Accepted video formats:
◦ MPEG: Mpeg2 codec (MPEG1 Layer 2 audio or AC3 audio)
◦ AVI: Uncompressed, DiviX/Xvid,
◦ MP4: H.264 video compression
◦ MKV: H.264 video compression
High definition PMVs are acceptable, but may be downscaled for contest viewing.
Disclaimer:
Videos that do not adhere to the established rules will not be considered for the contest. Attempts to contact a disqualified entry’s creator in order to resolve the issue will be made.
Remember to keep an eye on all of Everfree Northwest’s news and announcements by following us on our website, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. We have some exciting news coming up you don’t want to miss out on!
Brony Fan Fair Announces Visual Novel
Hey everypony! We’ve got a treat for you. An upcoming fan-made visual novel is in the works starring the pony mascots Rising Star and Heartland. Both characters are representatives of Brony Fan Fair, an upcoming convention in Austin, TX on September 13th-15th at the Holiday Inn Austin Midtown.
Lights in the Sky is the story of Rising Star’s journey to find her cutie mark. As a farm filly, Rising Star tries hard to fulfill the responsibilities given to her by her older sister, Heartland. But an opportunity arises where she finds that her heart’s desire may rest outside the boundaries of the Star Fields family farm. Rising Star will be put to the test as she is forced to decide between adherence to her sister’s wishes or the yearning to follow her own dreams.
The first part of the novel will be available by the end of June 2013. Players will be able to play Rising Star’s exploration of the Manehatten Astronomical Society building, the first leg of her journey.
Lights in the Sky is a creation of Peter Jiang, Chairman for Brony Fan Fair. The visual novel was a final project for the "Writing and Narration for Video Games" spring semester class at the University of Texas at Austin taught by Sheldon Pacotti (writer on Deus Ex) and is being developed for younger audiences. Pacotti comments: "...[A]s a work of interactive fiction -- from what I've seen -- it succeeds on every level. There is conflict, exploration, a sense of adventure, and the writing always stays safely in the established My Little Pony universe."
With the end of June a month away, there is some quite some time to wait. Get familiar with Heartland and Rising Star (as an adult) in this animation made for Brony Fan Fair entitled “Heated Competition,” which features Rising Star and Heartland as they discuss a rivalry with a certain apple-related family.
Find us on our social networks!
Website: www.BronyFanFair.com
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bff_fan
Tumblr: bronyfanfair.tumblr.com
Fiesta Equestria Announces Early Bird Event and More
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Howdy everypony! Now that we are less than three weeks away from Fiesta Equestria, our staff has been kicking it into high gear, so we have some awesome announcements to make! First, preregistration for Fiesta Equestria is closing today (June 7), so if you haven't already, hurry and preregister that you can save yourself some money. All the prices for purchasing our passes at the door are located here, as well as where you can preregister.
Maybe saving a few extra dollars insert enticing enough for you to preregister. Well, what if I told you that if you preregistered for Fiesta Equestria, you would be able to pick up your badge early on the Thursday before the convention and attend a special Early Bird event that includes meeting some of the voice actors? This is all happening on Thursday, June 27. You are also able to get into the event if you have a hotel room key, proving that you booked your hotel room at the convention. So more details on the Early Bird event here, you can reserve your hotel room at our discounted price here, and again, preregistration is here.
Who likes voice acting? Who would love to get into the business of voice acting? Who wishes that they could have a lesson from a professional voice actor from "My Little pony: Friendship is Magic" to show them the ropes? Well you'll never guess what Fiesta Equestria has in store for you! Michael Daingerield, who has not only voice Braeburn, but also done work on shows like Inuyasha and Transformers (many different series), is offering special voice acting lessons at Fiesta Equestria. Sadly these lessons are not free and cost $60 in order to participate, but the classes will be smaller to allow for more personal work and offer incredible information. You can find out more about Michael Daingerfield's voice acting lessons here.
Last, but not least, the Fiesta Equestria staff has compiled a tentative schedule of the convention for our wonderful attendants. Now this schedule is tentative, meaning that it is not completed, will be occasionally updated with more times, events and panels, and can be altered. With all of that said though, this schedule will give you a good idea of what should be going on on what days, what is available for you at the convention, and when some events are. Please keep checking back on this page because it will be updated as more information is finalized and set in stone. You can find the tentative schedule here.
I just want to thank all of you Bronies, even the ones who are not attending Fiesta Equestria, but support our endeavor, because none of this could happen without you guys. Be sure to stay updated on all the latest announcements about Fiesta Equestria by going to our website, following us Twitter, and liking us on Facebook. See you in three weeks!
Pickle
Fiesta Equestria! 2013
