Nerdapalooza 2010

Welcome back for another Nerdapalooza Blog! This week, the biggest project is that we’re starting a new wave of contacting sponsors. Several key Nerdapalooza staffers are unleashing a deluge of emails and phone calls, making as many connections as we can. The goal is to build such a media presence to make this the most talked about nerd event ever.

Where we need you is help with sponsorship and press contacts. If you have a fresh idea for a good sponsor, let us know! Of course we’ll be contacting the usual suspects (Apple, Blizzard, Capcom and the likes), but if you know of more obscure companies that might want to get exposure at Nerdapalooza, let us know! If you have contacts for any company, now is the time to hit us up. If you know of anyone in a press outlet, the same goes there, we’d love to contact them! You can throw any emails to hex AT nerdapalooza DOT org.

Next is this week’s amazing nerd music video, a new segment designed to psyche people up about the Nerdapalooza Music Video Awards. Not all of the videos spotlighted have been submitted, but this is kind of a way to encourage submission. This week, we’re taking a look at Grammar Club’s Bank Holiday, a clever and catchy tune on its own accord. The video is pretty phenomenal, playing on a fantasy story archetype many are familiar with. The video hosts a thought-provoking industrial fantasy world which utilizes an interesting technique for starring the two cross-continental front men of the group, Shael Riley and Beefy, who had not yet met each other in real life as of the filming of the video. Enjoy and watch for a guest cameo near the end:

I threw another book review up over at Nerdy Show. Michael Crichton’s Next was too good not to review. Read it here! Next week, I promise that I’ll return with an album review.

On Nerdy Show this week, the Nerdy Crew and I reunited after a month hiatus from recording. We were also able to have Brian on with us via Skype. It’s a pretty solid episode of cobweb dusting. Next week, we get back to serious business, where we reveal the winners of the Tetris Rap Attack competition. It was a pretty close one! We’ll also have Astronautalis, the “grand prize” of the competition, on the show with us for an interview!

For those that, like me, are fans of EMPulse Records as well as their amazing RPRadio, well do I have news for you! RPRadio has returned! You can check it out here for streaming and the like. They’re also accepting applications for DJs and shows. As the former Station Manager, it brought a tear to my eye talking to the boss man, HT, over there about all the improvements they’re making to the station. Talks are that I may have my own radio show over there in the future… so keep your ears to the stream.

This week’s Twitter #FollowFriday is a #NerdyShowEdition: @NerdyShow @bclevinger @capblackard @michaelpandel and (since I’m a vain bastard) @hexWarrior. We all have our own bit of infotainment to give to y’all, so follow away!

Anywho, that’s all I got this week! Thanks for reading as always! Much nerdy love

[hex]

Here we are, at the end of another week and only 22 more Fridays until Nerdapalooza 2010! Saying it that way makes me all tingly with anticipation. We’re still keeping our collective noses to the proverbial grindstone, so expect great things from this year’s Nerdapalooza. To wet your whistle and remind you of how awesome last year’s Nerdapalooza was, here’s a phenomenal vid from Corey Clark (@dudevideo on Twitter):

We would also like to announce that our buddies over at Enemy Ink have helped us get the Nerdapalooza 2009 poster back in stock! For anyone interested, you can go over to the Nerdapalooza Store and buy one. With every purchase of a 2009 poster, we’ll throw in a 2008 poster to help decorate your walls!! Previously $20 for the 2009 poster alone, we’ve decided to mark the two of them together for half the price. Only $10 for both Nerdapalooza Festival posters. This is a limited time offer while supplies last!

As Nerdy Show, the official Nerdapalooza podcast, gears back up for Season 3 next week, I have posted my first ever (not-for-school) book review. I recently finished Marc J. Seifer’s opus to everyone’s favorite (and historical) mad scientist in his book Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius. You can read the review for yourself over there. The question now arises: when am I gonna review another album on this blog. The simple answer is, probably never. I’ve always had mixed feelings about doing album reviews on the Nerdapalooza blog, feeling I would be giving an opinion on behalf of the music festival instead of just myself. Don’t get me wrong, though, for I am still insistent on doing reviews (especially for the many amazing artists that have recently sent me albums to review). Fortunately, Nerdy Show thrives on the forceful opinions of the four of us hosts, making it the perfect home for new reviews. You can look forward to album reviews there, possible rehashes of old reviews, and other types of reviews besides albums and books, and not just from me, but the other three knuckleheads as well.

Next up we have a bit from the merchandising marvels, I Fight Dragons. On my way home from work on Thursday, I received a panicked text from my significant other informing me that IFD were going to sell out of DVDs. Unaware that they even had DVDs in the first place, I later learned from the IFD crew (via Twitter) that they had almost sold 200 DVD’s in their first hour of sale! Still reeling from the lightning sale of their recent major bit of merch (a lifetime fan uberpass that earned lifetime access to shows and their music, priced at $100 a pop with only 100 units available) my girl quickly swiped up a copy of the DVD commenting: “I won’t miss out on IFD merch again!” I highly recommend following the nerd music phenomena both on Twitter (@IFightDragons) and on Facebook to ensure that you won’t miss out, either.

Well, I leave you now with some I Fight Dragons. If you don’t really know who they are, I have a feeling you may in the not too distant future…

Here we are in the year 2010, the dawn of a new decade. Another MAGFest has come and gone, ringing in the New Year in the most appropriate of nerdy fashions. Once again, I was sadly unable to attend, but according to all reports, it was a monumental success! It would be folly for me (or any of you if you didn’t attend) to miss it again. 2009 showed a larger yield of nerdy events, with fledginlings like Nerd POW, W00tstock, and Nerd Invasion standing alongside classics like PAX, Blipfest, and, of course, MAGFest. While some may say Nerdapalooza 2010 will still be an adolescent compared to the other more established events, this is the year where it will prove it not only belongs with the big boys of nerd conventions and concerts, but that it will be an event to remember in the annals of nerd music.

Well, with that pomposity out of the way, we can reveal what Team Nerdapalooza has been doing:

First off, I am proud to announce that less than three years since the conception of Nerdapalooza (coincidentally on Pi Day – March 14th, 2007), we are an official company! With our new official status as a corporation, we are still interested in contacting individuals, groups, and companies that would like to sponsor Nerdapalooza 2010. The return for sponsoring us would be an increased exposure to a nerdy (and captive) demographic. We’re already in talks with more than a few companies and are looking forward to working with more. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor for Nerdapalooza 2010, please contact me via email at hex AT nerdapalooza DOT org.

Now, a few of you may be aware of the podcast I’m involved with called Nerdy Show. I am proud to announce that Nerdy Show is now the official podcast of Nerdapalooza. Some of you may also be aware that in our final episode of last year, 2009 Final Boss, we declared what we thought to be the Top 20 Nerdy Events of 2009, and Nerdapalooza ranked number six on the list. While this looks like a bit more than a coincidence, the official status has been in talks for a while now. However, if Nerdapalooza were to crawl up the ranks for 2010 Final Boss, I can only hope it’ll be from merit.

Nerdapalooza 2010 is also still gearing up for the first annual Nerdapalooza Music Video Awards. All the facts are located on this page, however if you still have any questions, feel free to email me at hex AT nerdapalooza DOT org. We’re looking forward to many submissions, such as (already submitted) funky49’s video below:

While on the topic of submissions, many are still showing interest in applying to perform at Nerdapalooza 2010. The roster is being put together, but it is not yet finalized, so we’re still interested in hearing from you. Just send an Artist Application, as detailed here, to Josh, our Talent Director. His email is talent AT nerdapalooza DOT org. We look forward to hearing from you.

The biggest bit of nerd music related news that caught my eye since our break was that our pals over at Game Music 4 All (GM4A) not only have a spanking new website and forums, but are now a brand new net label, recently dropping their second release. We wish them luck and inform y’all that you should be keeping a trained eye on GM4A in the future, as great things always stem from there.

One last bit of news, this time more timely, Orlando favorite Marc with a C had a birthday yesterday, and in the halfling way, gave a present to all of you! Two to be precise! Over here on his website, you’ll be able to download two albums, one by the legendary “Glowy Stickers,” an amazing project between Marc and his amazing wife, Nicole. The second is an interesting return to his cover album, Share the Covers, Bitch!. Volume 2 comes with a prize for those that can pinpoint all the original artists. Marc even gave the hint that one of the tracks is an alternate version of one of his own songs!

Thanks, as always, for reading. As we get closer and closer to the event, you can bet the news will just get juicier and juicier. Until we have more to report, enjoy the following video, my favorite gem of 2009: