Two quick bits of news for us to announce! First, we’re really excited to announce a new member to the Nerdapalooza Team! Bryan Kissel, one of the coordinators of the Nerdcore Now community is joining as our Director of Business Operations. He’s going to add a lot of insight to our team and we’re looking forward to continue on our growth trajectory with him.

The next real exciting news is that the Nerdapalooza Forums are now open in a “Beta” level. We were already planning on having these ready for everyone to scope out, but the level of activity that was still going on at the since expired Nerdapalooza 2012 Facebook page and other areas of the internet told us that you wanted to continue the dialogue from this year’s event. We’re glad to be able to open these. There might still be some bugs, but that’s why it’s “Beta.”

Anywho, back to work with me! Have a great weekend! Much nerdy love,

~John Hex Carter

This year’s Nerdapalooza had an attendance of 889, which is actually less by the year before by 130. There are a lot of reasons why this might have happened, yet despite all that Team Nerdapalooza still look back at this weekend as an incredible and invaluable success. Part of that is the big announcement.

February of next year, a milestone in Nerdapalooza history is coming: Nerdapalooza NYC. The site is still under construction, but will be up very soon. Look forward to seeing that. We are already working with previous sponsors and potential new sponsors for Nerdapalooza NYC. If you are interested in getting in on the ground floor of Nerdapalooza’s branching out to the greatest city on Earth, you can check out the Nerdapalooza NYC Sponsorship package here. And for all you worrywarts out there, the main Nerdapalooza will always have a home in Orlando.

As we do every year, we peek over at the Nerdapalooza Wikipedia page to see how it’s going. We were very sad to see that the 2011 event didn’t happen, because, as we all know, if it’s not on the internet, it didn’t really happen. Team Nerdapalooza is asking some of the wiki obsessed of you out there to help us out and populate the Wikipedia page with information. For those of you who don’t remember the line up for 2011, we fortunately don’t get rid of pages. As well as that we still have the 2012 Schedule kicking around and the big wins for coverage building up to the event were from the Orlando Weekly, the Orlando Sentinel, and FOX 35. Including those articles so that you got evidence on why we’re newsworthy. We’re going to try to do some tinkering on it too, but every bit helps!

In case you haven’t seen it yet, this year Nerdapalooza has an Exit Survey. This is the first year that we’ve been able to cobble one together and it’s giving us very good information. We’re getting close to having enough entries so we’ll be closing it on Monday. Now here’s the deal – if you fill out this survey before Monday and leave us your email, you will be eligible to win a pair of tickets to Nerdapalooza. Now that’s your choice of either Nerdapalooza 2013 in Orlando or Nerdapalooza NYC. So go and fill it out!

Final bit before I go, we have a guest writer coming in early next week with a new take on the event wrap up. Should definitely be a fun read! Thanks everyone for a great year! We’re already hard at work on both NYC and 2013. This is the earliest we’ve been working on the main event so you can definitely expect big things for next year! Much nerdy love,

~John Hex Carter

You might be wondering what the big announcement I teased over the social networks yesterday might be. You might also be wondering what the new image over on the sidebar is. You might have also already put two and two together to realize that Nerdapalooza 2012 will be streamed live on the internet. You would be correct! This year Nerdapalooza is teaming up with Starbound Creative and Nerdy Show to stream as much of the event as we can! We’ve been working together on solving the problem of getting the music out onto the tubes for the better part of a month and we’re very proud to be able to announce this! Starbound Creative will be producing the event and Nerdy Show will be hosting it. You can watch it during Nerdapalooza itself over at Nerdy Show Live.

For those of you attending the event in person we would like to once again direct you to @NerdaSchedule, our twitter account that is dedicated to ONLY live tweeting when acts are about to get on a stage. It will be going all weekend and is meant to help attendees not miss their favorite acts. We’d also like to take a moment to once again announce that our merchandise will be done by Enemy Ink and that they are returning as a sponsor of Nerdapalooza.

Oh, one last thing: we apparently made it onto the cover of the Orlando Weekly. YAY!!! We’ve always had this as a silent goal of ours and we’re indescribably proud to finally have it come to fruition. The photo was taken in The Geek Easy and the models were Nerdapalooza’s own Amanda Beisler, our Merchandise Director, and Nerdy Show’s Cap Blackard. Both will be running around at the event, so you can tell them how snazzy they look (and maybe even beg for an autograph). The Orlando Weekly will also have a truckload of issues at the event itself, so don’t forget to pick one up!

That’s all we got for you this week. Many of you have a long road ahead of you before Friday, so keep safe. Looking forward to partying with you. This weekend: the nerds will rock. Much nerdy love,

[hex]

After what happened last week in Aurora, CO., we’ve received a number of questions about prop weapons. This is from Aaron, our Event Director:

“In light of the Colorado tragedies, The Beacham and Social have asked that attendees leave any and all prop weapons (cosplay or any other) at home. Prop weapons will not be allowed at this years Nerdapalooza event. We appreciate your compliance with this. Please feel free to email Aaron (aaron@nerdapalooza.org) with any questions you may have regarding this. Thank you.”

Cosplay is still welcome – and encouraged – but leave any and all weapons at home.

Next we are proud to announce that the geek news blog, GeekRest, is our latest sponsor! Not only are they a great source of nerdy news and entertainment, they recently won the Second Best Blog in Orlando in the Orlando Weekly’s 2012 Best of Orlando Reader’s Poll.

For all of those curious, Epic Win Burlesque tickets are now up for pre-sale at Ticketfly. Tickets will also be available for purchase day of AND you will be able to get in if you are not an attendee (as long as you buy a ticket). HOWEVER, if you are attending BOTH Nerdapalooza AND Epic Win, the team had a fun surprise for all of you:

That’s all we got! Expect one more blog post from us before Nerdapalooza 2012. We still have some fun for all of you. Until then, much nerdy love,

[hex]

Last week Nerdy Show hosted a live Q+A with us. In case you missed it it was recorded so you can check it out over there. That’s not all Nerdy Show has for us lately. Their first fan-driven podcast, All Nerds Must Be Eaten, was just launched. A role-playing podcast based off of the All Flesh Must Be Eaten system, All Nerds Must Be Eaten is a zombie survival role-playing game actually SET at this year’s Nerdapalooza!! It’ll have some cameos strewn about so it’s definitely worth a listen. You can check it out over there as well.

Next up, we have a survey for all of you. We are trying to collect as much data on you crazy people as possible to get feedback on how we’ve been doing, what to keep the same, what to improve, and whatnot. If you love what we’re doing or hate what we’re doing, we want to hear about it. Fill it out as honestly as you can. I personally read every single survey result, so your opinion WILL be put into consideration. You can fill it out over here.

We are proud to announce another sponsor! The Orlando Weekly is joining this year’s family of sponsors. As you know, we’re a big fan of the Weekly, getting the word out about their Best Of Orlando reader poll every year. There will be copies at this year’s event! Next up we got a reminder for anyone that wants a VIP pass: in order to ensure that your name is laser etched onto the badge, you will need to purchase it BEFORE this Friday. We’re sending off the names ON Friday, so make sure that you purchase the badge prior to that.

Finally, the nerd news blog, Geeklisted, just put together a Youtube playlist of almost EVERY single performer we have in our roster. YEAH!! It’s pretty crazy. If you want to get a taste of what August is going to be like, head on over here. Anywho, I gots to get back to working, so I’ll catch y’all later. Much nerdy love,

[hex]

RULES OF THE BEACHAM AND THE SOCIAL

• Proper ID MUST be shown for entry (incl. performers). No ID, no entry, no exceptions
• Absolutely NO Firearms or any Weapons allowed on premises (including performer security or bodyguards)
• Absolutely NO Fire or Pyrotechnics allowed in building
• Absolutely NO liquor can be brought into the building by promoters, performers, or patrons
• No bags, including (but not limited to):
  • backpacks
  • messenger bags
  • duffle bags,
  • oversize ladies purses
• Womens standard purses are acceptable, and are subject to inspection
• Friday Night pre-party is 18+ or with parental guidance
• All nights are 18+ after 12 midnight, due to city ordinance
• Saturday Night EPIC WIN Burlesque is 18+ ONLY, no exceptions
• Door security has final say on any rule
• EVERYONE INCLUDING PERFORMERS ARE SUBJECT TO SEARCH

These rules are set by the venue and are non-negotiable. If you have any issues with complying to these, I recommend you contact Ticketfly about a refund. Again, these rules are not subject to discussion or negotiation. And I have to stress the ID situation. Nina and I were in line just the other night for the Best of Orlando party at The Beacham. The girls behind us didn’t have their IDs, and the door would not let them in. Didn’t matter that they had a ticket, ID is a must.

ONE FINAL RULE

We WILL NOT be giving out replacement entry badges. We WILL NOT replace your badge just because you are on will-call purchase. There is no “secret Bubbleman” word this year. There is no excuse that you cannot remember to keep your badge on and safe.

So now that the rules have been laid down, lets get to the REAL survival details.
Personally, I like to prepare by making a map of all the things I would need to know at a glance. Oh, look, I did that for you. You’re welcome.

HOTEL! By now, you should have already gotten your hotel at The Crowne Plaza. If not, you snooze you lose, because it’s booked up and is the party hotel that many of the performers (including headliners) are staying at. If you look around, there are probably still rooms in other hotels. BUT I WARN YOU!!!!! If you book a room for anything around $50, remember you get what you pay for… so prep a tetanus shot and some antibiotics, and lock all 4 deadbolts on the door. I live here, I know these things.

FOOD! Oh man, anyone who’s been to previous Nerdapaloozas knows that lunches and dinners were a bit difficult (for many differing reasons). Now, you’re in the heart of downtown, and there are more restaurants than you can shake a master sword at, and all within smelling distance. Food will not be a problem, choosing will be.

PARKING! Where can you park your car? Well, if you stayed at The Crowne Plaza, you could just be parking there for $3 self parking (or $8 valet, ooh la la) and take the FREE SHUTTLE into downtown (no return shuttle, though. Boo.) But, if you aren’t staying there, there are many parking lots around that charge $5-$15 to park, and the city public garages have addresses that you out-of-towners can go to and not drive aimlessly around downtown.

TRANSPORTATION! We do not provide a shuttle. S However, The Crowne Plaza does have a shuttle into the downtown area, provided you are staying at the hotel. The other option is Lynx. Its only about $2 a ride, and say what you will about public transportation, but its there and it is accessible. Think you’re too good for it, then walk. Me, I’m bringing my bike!

CASH! Cash is king, and ask any person from years past, cash gets you through faster. Be it at the door (Y U NO BUY PRESALE?!?), at the merch booth, the bar, or the art gallery. Bring some greenbacks with you. We will have a credit/debit machine, but cash is so much easier. And for you drinkers, you better be tipping, especially you VIP’s with your fancy-schamcy 5pm-10pm open bar in the balcony.

@Nerdapalooza is the year-round, updated by hex, twitter account.
@NerdaSchedule is the event schedule feed. Add this feed, and we’ll alert you when the next act is going on stage. That simple!

RULE 621 (DAILY QUEST – 1,000 XP)

• 6 hours of sleep
  • Although the main event days end at 10pm, there are after events at The Social  until 2:30am. Therefore, get to sleep at 3-4am, sleep until 10-11am, and come back to Nerdapalooza at 12 noon when doors open. 6 HOURS, NO EXCUSE, COFFEE IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR SLEEP
• 2 square meals
  • Food selections are amazing this year, and candy bars, chips, and liquor are not meals. Your mother and I are ashamed of you.
• 1 shower
  • Every year we try to get a deodorant sponsor, because you smell bad. Tyler Durden invented soap, use it. There is no reason not to besides you are lazy. Do you wanna be the lazy, smelly con guy? That’s what I thought.

This all seems like common sense but once you get swept up in the Nerdapalooza mania YOUR BASIC SURVIVAL INSTINCTS DISAPPEAR so actively remember 621.
Credit to this tumblr: Pandamom Loves You

This should be a sufficient amount for you to prepare for the Nerdacolypse. We’re just around the corner from August 3rd, and then I want you all to get off my lawn the following Monday.

WRAPUP!

• No weapons, no bags, no fireworks, no outside beverages.
• No ID, no entry. No badge, no entry. No exceptions.
• The Beacham – 46 N. Orange Ave. 32801
• Parking, plan ahead.
• Bring cash.
• Sleep 6 hours each night
• Eat 2 meals each day
• Take 1 shower each morning
• It’s dangerous to go alone, take this map!

Now, don’t forget to tune in tonight to Nerdy Show Live! Nina, hex, and I will be fielding any and all questions you have going into Nerdapalooza! The Nerdy Show guys have been kind enough to set us up for this, so come take advantage of it by asking any srs bsnz questions, or inane questions. I like inane questions, so call me and ask why the sky is blue. I’ll come up with something. But really, ask us something about Nerdapalooza, since that is why we’re doing it.
You can tune in at this dang ‘ole linky link. Come call us and talk to us.
I like people… Really, I do…. don’t you believe me?

See you in 2 weeks!

• Nerdapalooza :: Best Local Music Festival
• A Comic Shop :: Best Comic Shop (6th Year Running)
• Nerdy Show :: Best Local Website
• The Geek Easy :: Best Kept Secret
• Random Encounter :: Best Indie Band
• Sci-Fried :: Best Metal Band
• Beebs & Her Money Makers :: Best Pop Band

BOOM!! We also had some great runners up including MC Wreckshin for second best Hip-Hop artist, A Comic Book – A Comic Shop’s Indie Anthology Comic Book – second best local publication, and GeekRest for second best blog. But, the big one we’re really proud of is that Triforce Mike won Best Big Shot. It looks like 2012 is the Year of the Nerd in Orlando. One of the Editor Top Choices was even one of our sponsors, FamiLAB, for Best 24-Hour Gym for Nerds.

Next up we have some great news for any of you that were afraid of getting sleep on the Sunday of Nerdapalooza: we just added another event! Starting at Midnight on Sunday (well… TECHNICALLY Monday, but you get the idea) there will be an extra Dj RoboRob performance going down. This will be offsite over at the Geek Easy, the OFFICIAL Best Kept Secret of Orlando. It can easily be found via this map, so don’t say you can’t find the place! A Comic Shop has traditionally been a great party location for Nerdapalooza, so we’re very glad that we can get a chance to boogie on down over there.

Next up as a quick news blurb, Cap of Nerdy Show was in attendance at San Diego Comic Con this weekend, and he was able to follow up with IDW regarding what we touched on in a previous post about Triforce Mike and the imminent My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic. Well, it is official now – the decision to make the comic was influenced by Mike’s letter. There’s still more to this story, but as Cap and Nerdy Show did the legwork, we’re gonna leave it to them to report on. Once they have anything, believe that we will post a link to that here.

Finally, while on the topic of Nerdy Show, the Nerdapalooza staff has been invited to head over to their studio on Friday for a live question & answer session. Aaron Yarhouse, Event Director; Nina Talley, Press Director; and myself – John “hex” Carter, Executive Director for Nerdapalooza, will all be in attendance and there to answer any questions you have for the upcoming event. It’ll be Friday, July 20th at 8 PM Eastern on their Livestream channel, Nerdy Show Live. Come loaded with questions so we can get you prepped for the event!

Well, that’s all I got for you now. Thanks for reading as always. Look forward to that guest article come Friday! Much nerdy love,

[hex]

The good news is that we have a schedule up! YAY! You can view it here! Our Web Master, Doug, has gone to great efforts to make sure it’s easily viewable from the the web, smart phones, and tablets. It’ll also highlight the performance that is going on in real time. Snazzy! We also know a lot of you were concerned because the website for the Social and Beacham explicitly state that reentry shall not be permitted. Well, we don’t expect you to be locked in the same room for 10+ hours without a break, so we were able to get that changed. As long as you have your badge on you, you will be able to come and go from the venue as you please. Remember – this is a legit venue with legit security. Any shenanigans will be met with a severity that you may not be used to, so let’s just have a fun weekend this year.

With that all stated, let’s announce some more sponsors! I know you’ve all been excited and asking if NOS Energy Drink was returning to this years’ event. Well, we are very excited to say “Yes. Yes they are.” They are bringing some fun gaming stations like last year and are setting up a custom area to fit the venue as well as a metric buttload of drinks. I think you’ll be very excited when you see it. Next up, we’re very proud to announce that the Nerdcore Meow Podcast is a sponsor for Nerdapalooza! They boast being the “Best Nerdcore Podcast Online,” and as someone who tries to pay attention to what media is out there on nerd music, I can back up this claim. These guys are some quality work and definitely worth the listen! They even interviewed me back in January, but I promise – they’ve improved their interview talent pool since then. Finally, I am proud to announce that ThaSauce is returning as a sponsor for Nerdapalooza! THE best website for aggregation of video game music news, they also host their own remixes and feature weekly “compos,” or friendly competitions where developing and accomplished musicians alike are given fun challenges for improving their skills. It’s a great addition to the VGIM community, filled with a lot of positivity, and someone we’re very excited to have back.

This Friday, we’ll have a special blog for you with a different author than yours truly. I’m looking forward to it and seeing all of you in eighteen days! Much nerdy love,

[hex]

Original Photo by Akulas Psyhos

As of the writing of this blog there are only twenty-one days left until Nerdapalooza 2012. Everyday this week, Aaron – the Event Director – and I have been dealing with a new disaster, a daily fire if you will. In our pre-event insanity, it prompted him to create the image you’ll see to your right of the two of us, posing at Nerdapalooza 2010. For those who attended, you may not need us to remind you, but for those that didn’t, that was a very… eventful year. Aaron and I could have easily worn those hats that weekend too. We’ll keep it together though, because we got a whole weekend of fighting in us.

But enough silliness! Let’s get on to business! First up, we’ve heard from several sources that our hotel, the Crowne Plaza, is filled to the rafters. We are currently in talks with the hotel to confirm that this is the case, and want confirmation before suggesting a backup hotel to any still needing a bed for the weekend.

Next up, we wanted to remind everyone that the Saturday after evening events starring Epic Win Burlesque will carry a separate cost of $10. Tickets will be available all Saturday at the Nerdapalooza Box Office and we are also looking into getting pre-sale tickets up on TicketFly as well.

Next up, I’d like to talk about another event out in California called Rockage. Based out of San Jose, they’re a celebration of indie music and classic gaming – something we at Team Nerdapalooza can definitely jive with. They’ll be doing their second iteration of the event this year for Rockage 2.0 during February 8th – 10th in San Jose. They have a cool relationship with Guitar Hero that is going to result in a Guitar Hero booth with some fun prizes at this year’s Nerdapalooza, so look forward to checking that out this August!

Now we have some sponsors to announce! First up we have Jeff Douglas Photography! Jeff has actually been a photographer at Nerdapalooza for many years now and we’ve loved working with him. We’re very excited to have him supporting the event even more. Next up we have OrLANtech, a local IT support company that boast being the number one in IT service in the area. If you’re looking for new support, they may be the guys to talk to!

Finally, we have FamiLAB, a local hacker and maker space that are going to be helping us in a very fun way. All our VIP ticket holders will be getting a unique badge – etched with lasers! If you purchase your VIP ticket prior to the 27th, you will actually have your name etched into your badge. Those that purchase their VIP tickets after the 27th or at the door will still get a laser-etched badge, but will not have their name carved into it. If you’re waiting to pick up your badge, you should go do it now! Thanks again, FamiLAB, for making this happen!

Last we have a bit of a news segment. This year’s event, as we have mentioned, is going to be in memory of several of our fallen friends – one of which was “Triforce” Mike Pandel. Someone with a finger on several facets of pop culture, he quickly took to the brony craze with zeal. He loved the new My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic show and would convince you to check it out too.

Days before Mike’s tragic accident, he wrote an article that was featured on BleedingCool.com that commented on how the comic company, IDW, who has publishing rights over Hasbro properties and has recently made damn good runs of G.I. Joe and Transformers, should cash in on the Brony craze and make an equally damn good run of MLP: FiM.

Most of us had thought it had stopped there. Just one of those “hey you should make an x of y” that no one listened to, even though Mike had a lot of good points. Well, yesterday at San Diego ComicCon, there was an announcement by IDW that they launching a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic.

I don’t know whether Mike’s article actually had any impact on this decision, if IDW was already making the steps to make it happen before the article, or if Mike actually had some sway on a comic business decision in the end. All I know is that yesterday I had a smile on my face as I realized I had a comic to look forward to. One that I would get to read and think about my friend.

Thanks for reading. See y’all in August. Much nerdy love,

[hex]

Also to announce, we have coming back to the nerdy stage for their fifth year,  Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew, the world’s only rap crew with bucaneer technique. You may have seen them show up recently on America’s Got Talent where the judges didn’t even give the poor guys a chance. Fortunately, we’re lucky enough to have just the right stage for them. As well as the pirates, we’ll have Benjamin Briggs joining our roster for the first time! Benjamin Briggs is an amazingly accomplished remixer and will be opening for DJ CUTMAN on Friday night set. You won’t want to miss the two of them in action together. Finally, we’re adding R_Garcia to the mix. Co-founder of Nophi Records and a very skilled electronic musician, we are very excited to see R_Garcia climb on stage and entertain all of you.

We’re still looking for volunteers, so if you’re interested in seeing Nerdapalooza for free, you should totally fill in this application! And if you are on the fence on whether or not to get the VIP pass, there are only a few left, so hopping on that sooner than later might be a good idea!

Excited to see y’all real soon! Much nerdy love,

[hex]