Nerdapalooza 2010

Wow… we somehow made it to the other side of Nerdapalooza 2010 intact. As you may have read from a number of the articles about the past weekend, it was a pretty successful event! Our goal before the event was to have an attendance between 700 and 1000, which we reached with a final headcount of 747! Thank you so much to all of you that made it out to Nerdapalooza 2010!

Believe it or not, Team Nerdapalooza is already hard at work on next year’s event to ensure that we continue growing. Expect to see a lot of changes to the Nerdapalooza website.

While we’re working on everything, I’d like to take a moment and thank a score of individuals that made Nerdapalooza possible! First up, Aaron Yarhouse, Masurao of Krondor Krew, the Event Director of Nerdapalooza. Without Aaron I can guarantee Nerdapalooza would NOT have happened. He conquered so much of the logistical side of Nerdapalooza building up to the event, and at the event itself. Aaron and I were somehow able to tackle every problem that came our way. Nina Talley, our Press Director, Andrea Rangel, our Volunteer Director, Josh Thew, our Artist Director, and James “HT” Ianelli, our Lead Sound Engineer, constitute the rest of the Nerdapalooza Director Staff, and without them Nerdapalooza would have collapsed into chaos. Melissa Mays and David Celis tag-teamed as our Event General Managers for Merch and the Front Desk, respectively, helping keep order. Massive thank yous are also in order to Marc “with a C” Sirdoreus, Chapski, and Charles for your awesome sound assistance day of, ESPECIALLY to Nash of Sci-Fried, whose tireless energy kept the Enemy Ink stage running on time and sounding pretty awesome. Big thanks to all of Sci-Fried for not only the use of their equipment, but overall support of the entire event. They acted as the unofficial security response team and made us know that whatever happened, we had backup. Thank you VERY much for all of the volunteers that kept the gears running at Nerdapalooza.

Thank you so much to the amazing artists that constitute what Nerdapalooza is about. Without them, the festival would not be the epic edifice to nerdy music that it is today. Thank you so much to the new artists that keep the show vitalized and thank you so much to the veterans that show the new guys how it’s done! Thank you to all the sponsors who supported the event in so many ways, be it Cloudspace with their hail of footballs or TShirt Bordello classying up the place, be it with Twinkies, sexy shirts, or zombies! This was definitely Nerdapalooza’s best year for vendor space and we appreciate you making it a fun environment! Thank you to Charles Wardle and Diana Cox, the Nerdapalooza auxiliary staff team! Charles is our Graphic Artist and Diana is our Editor. These two are the unsung heroes who make sure Nerdapalooza is pretty and grammatically correct! Honestly, without them… no one would  take us seriously.

Thank you to Rob Tobias, Nick “Sir-Up” Carman, and “Spork,” the previous directors of Nerdapalooza who helped us build a foundation upon which to grow . Working with them in the past has helped us develop to where we are today. Thank you so much to Z. of Hipster, Please!, Genoboost of GameMusic4All, and B-Type. While Geno couldn’t make it to the event, these three have been like pillars for me to rely on since the inception of Nerdapalooza. Without your constant support, Nerdapalooza wouldn’t have been able to continue on its path. Thank you so much to Janet Jacobs of Play N Trade Orlando Square and Mike Herz of FX Show, who kept reminding me during the event of all the awesome things to work towards in the future. Look forward to Nerdapalooza at FX Show and some FUN things with PNT Orlando Square!

Those are all the people that Nerdapalooza needed to thank for all the help they put towards the event. Personally, I need to thank the following for my own personal reasons: my mom (first and foremost), Cap and Triforce Mike (my Nerdy Show bros), Captain Dan, Corey Clark, the MegaFans, Steffo and Krista, MC COOL WHIP, DJ, Nick, Brandon Cylon, John LaValle, the Megas and the Protomen, Geo, Shael and his “entourage” (lol), Chozo, Schaffer (for being the nicest guy EVER), ZeaLouS1 (for competing with him for that title), and Front. As well as those I had already listed (especially Aaron, Nina, Andrea, Diana, Marc, Nash, and a few others), you personally helped me through this weekend, whether you knew it or not. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

With one last thank you for everyone who attended this year’s event, ensuring that we are on the path of growth towards becoming the Number ONE festival in Orlando AND the Number ONE Nerdy Event of 2010, I’d like to end this wave of sappy thank you’s. Please be patient with the Nerdapalooza Staff in the next week or so in responding to your emails as we’re STILL trying to catch up on sleep (or fighting off a case of #nerdapafluza as I am).

For those of you that this was your first event, I want to look back two years ago to a post by Z. over at Hipster, Please! that seemed appropriate…

In the absence of (Nerdapalooza) … we attendees are left with what Anthony (Genoboost) has termed Post-Nerdapalooza Depression. PND is a disorder marked by malaise, listlessness, and the feeling that you’ve just left your 300 700 closest friends behind. I’m just afraid it will take them a year to find a cure.

Until then, keep your eyes open, folks. Whether it’s catching a local con that’ll host someone from The FuMP, seeing our headliners again over at PAX, or catching a smaller nerd musician touring like Marian Call, you don’t have to let Nerdapalooza be something that happens once a year. Remember, I just started doing this thing cause no one else would. Doesn’t mean you can’t start your own awesome show.

Also, don’t forget about our Nerdapalooza Youtube Challenge for a chance to get Final Boss treatment at Nerdapalooza 2011!! If you got an EXTRA sexy video that you MUST have us look at, email us at hex AT nerdapalooza DOT org

Much nerdy love,

[hex]

Well, here we are! A week away before the AMAZING Pre-Party we have planned over at A Comic Shop! If you’ve never gone before, it is DEFINITELY not something to miss out on! I’ve been assured by the boys at A Comic Shop (who, I should mention, were nominated for a FREAKING EISNER AWARD!!) that there will be plenty of free beer (for those of age) as well as free pizza while it lasts! Don’t forget the EPIC music that’s going down, too!

Now, for all those that were looking for more information on the video game competitions, what I got for you is right here, compliments of Mobile Gaming Events. Please note that BEFORE Nerdapalooza, entry costs $5, while AT Nerdapalooza it’ll cost $10. There WILL be some free play going down, so don’t worry about missing out on gaming if you want to save your coin for the merch that’s going to be flowing.

Just to remind everyone, this is the ONLY year we will be making the Final Boss Package available! Now is your only chance to get a lifetime VIP pass to Nerdapalooza and all the prizes that will come with it. Here on out, any Live CDs we make? You get a free digital copy. Any exclusive merch offers? You get first dibs! Any special non-festival events? You ALSO get into those with VIP passes! Take advantage of this while you can! I shouldn’t be mentioning this… BUT… we have had some talks with some pretty large artists who have shown interest in performing at Nerdapalooza. Artists that HAVE HAD AND STILL HAVE serious radio play, CONTINUE to tour nationally, and that we guarantee you have heard of. They will be coming to Nerdapalooza, and much sooner than you might think. So why not get in on the ground floor of Nerdapalooza while you can, because once the doors open for Nerdapalooza 2010, the Final Boss Package is gone forever.

Now, you may want to take advantage of our Formspring page and try to ask WHO these big names are. Well, I WON’T TELL!! However, perusing the Formspring page is a pretty good way to get boned up on what to expect for Nerdapalooza, as is taking a peek at my good pal Z’s new tradition of the N00b’s Guide to Nerdapalooza! I don’t know how he does it, but he has once again done a phenomenal job at summing up what to expect at Nerdapalooza, for those that might have been out of the loop until now!

For those of you bloggers and microbloggers out there that are hip to the hashtagging and whatnot, we’ve gone and “made” an official hashtag for ya: it is #nap2010. #Nerdapalooza2010 was too long, and since this event isn’t really restricted to being a “South East” event, #napse2010 is no longer applicable, we thought #nap2010 would succinctly sum up “where you is.”

This year we have two (count ‘em: TWO) raffles that friends of ours are coordinating! As we’ve pointed out before, we have the Geek Peek Post Raffle (now with the chance to guest star in a Dr. Awkward music video), but we also have our pal Matthias of MagiTek has offered to coordinate the “MegaRaffle”! It’s simple to enter: just buy some MegaMerch! That is, merch from either The Megas or The Protomen. Purchase a t-shirt, CD, WHATEVER, and you get a raffle ticket for the chance to win a free MegaMan Art Book (as shown to the right). And that’s it!! The raffle will be announced again at the Pre-Party and the winning ticket will be drawn during the Sunday lunch break!

As a quick announcement, for those curious about more details for the Epic Win Burlesque – yes, you may take photographs of the event to rub in the faces of people that didn’t attend; no, if you’re under the age of 18 you cannot attend; yes, you may purchase a ticket AT the Nerdapalooza event; and no, tickets will not be available for purchase ahead of time. If you have any other questions, go ahead and send it over to us at the Formspring page. And for those that were curious, yes, there will be a bar at the event, the venue is even going to supply a mobile bar RIGHT next to the entrance to the event itself!

Now, real quick, if you are STILL interested in volunteering, head on over to the Nerdapalooza volunteer form and fill it out! You’ll be compensated with a free ticket AND a free Nerdapalooza t-shirt! Details are provided above the form! And our final thing, we want to remind you of the pretty exciting YouTube Challenge we’re putting together! Remember: post a vid to YouTube before August 1st, get a chance to win a FREE Final Boss treatment (including free VIP ticket) to Nerdapalooza 2011! Pack your camera AND your charger!

Well, that’s all we got folks! Nerdapalooza is only 8 days away and I won’t have time to blog before then. However, if you have ANY questions, let me remind you to hit up Formspring, and we will answer your question in a timely fashion. Much nerdy love, and in one week I look forward to rocking with you. Until then, this is your final countdown…

[hex]

Ladies and gents we are two weeks away from the big event!! Wow! This is getting exciting, folks! This is a massive week for announcements, so let’s get started…

The official Nerdapalooza schedule is now published for everyone to see!! You can view it here!! As you can see, we have two new artists to finally announce: we are very happy to have Zombies! Organize!! returning to the Nerdapalooza stage and proud to have the Ministry of Magic joining The House of Black and Fred Lives after Infinitus 2010! Remember, if you are attending Infinitus, show up on Sunday with your conference badge and get into Nerdapalooza for only $10!! Also returning to the Nerdapalooza stage is Orlando nerdcore group, MagiTek! They’ll once again be rocking the Pre-Party at A Comic Shop. That actually brings our total artists this year to 40 artists!! Forty nerdy musical groups from across the US are gathering to rock your faces in two weeks! Pretty exciting!! If you haven’t yet, go purchase your ticket for the event today!! OR purchase a Final Boss Package and take advantage of the ability to come to Nerdapalooza EVERY year!!

Now comes the bit about the hotel discount closing. On Tuesday of next week the Nerdapalooza discount will come to an end. Right now it is $89/night for a standard double but, as of Wednesday, the price will go to $129/night! If you are planning on taking advantage of the hotel discount, make sure you reserve your room RIGHT AWAY! Once again, the discount code is fnefnea. Follow this link to take advantage of the discount before it’s too late!

Now, for those of you that love Nerdapalooza videos and love taking them even more, we have a MAJOR treat for you!! We are announcing the Nerdapalooza Youtube Challenge!! All the details are there, but basically, whoever takes the best footage of Nerdapalooza 2010 and posts it online publicly by August 1st will win a VIP All Access pass to Nerdapalooza 2011! So get your cameras ready for your chance to win!

Finally, I just want to remind y’all of the two non-music events that’ll be going on during Nerdapalooza: the Video Game Competitions and the Epic Win Burlesque Show. The video game competitions will be going on throughout the entire event and are brought to you in part by Play N Trade Orlando Square and Mobile Gaming Events. You can see the full line-up of tournament games here! The tournament is going to have a cash entry, but also a cash prize for the winners! Then, as you can see on the schedule, Saturday night is gonna get closed up by the Epic Win Burlesque show presented by none other than Schaffer the Darklord! Scantily clad gals dressing up in nerdy costumes! It’ll cost a mere $5 to get in, with all the cash going straight to the girls!

Well, that’s all we’ve got this week, folks! Two weeks are going to run by quickly! Got any questions? Send em our way through this brand new Formspring account!!

Much nerdy love

[hex]