Trans-European Steampunk Meeting

[Albrecht]

Hello all,

I think it would be great if we could set up a trans-european steampunk convention. It need not be in one place (although this would obviously be great), we could instead gather at several places at the same day and hook up via the internet with streaming video chats etc.
Some of my friends in and outside the scene have already pledged their support, among them the informal head of the Austrian Steampunks. There is also very likely a location available in Vienna and one in the greater Frankfurt area.
Philippa Ballantine of Ministry of Peculiar Occurences fame has also signalled her interest in participating, provided she can fit it in.
Now we need to connect the scenes across Europe.
So, if you are interested in joining the crew and get this project on the road, if you can contribute, if you are a musician, a DJ, a technician, if you know, own or have access to a great location, get in touch. Everybody is welcome, the more, the merrier, the more diverse, the better. If you are a lonely steampunk somewhere in Transylvania or Anatolia, contact me and I will help you get to the event when it happens (A website is also already under construction)
Once a certain direction becomes apparent, I will also put something up on Kickstarter (in case we need more funding than expected).

For now, I am coordinating things, you can get in touch with me at webmaster@dailysteampunk.com

I will also check this thread, obviously, but some of you may have noticed, I have not been very active here in the last 18 months, this is due to the fact that I've got a little son now, and he gets priority.

[TimeTinker]

The Victorian Steampunk Society has been looking at organising a new European Convention - we have been talking to lots of people and investigating venues etc.  We have not tied down to a specific location and date yet but are leaning towards the Dusseldorf/Mainz/Frankfurt area or possibly Luxembourg since this makes it more accessible to people from France, Netherlands, Belgium etc too.

We hope that we can bring our experience and established infrastructure to the pot and make this all more likely to happen.  We would be delighted to have more partners to work with us.

The idea of an electronic link up is a superb one that would have to be incorporated.

[Albrecht]

Excellent!
Oh, I forgot to mention: Tentative date so far is Spring 2012, but this can change, obviously.

[Albrecht]

This is the official site:
http://eurosteamcon.com/

Edit October 4th:

And we have people from Norway interested in joining!

[Albrecht]

The Victorian Steampunk Society has been looking at organising a new European Convention - we have been talking to lots of people and investigating venues etc.  We have not tied down to a specific location and date yet but are leaning towards the Dusseldorf/Mainz/Frankfurt area or possibly Luxembourg since this makes it more accessible to people from France, Netherlands, Belgium etc too.

We hope that we can bring our experience and established infrastructure to the pot and make this all more likely to happen.  We would be delighted to have more partners to work with us.

The idea of an electronic link up is a superb one that would have to be incorporated.

I have contacts in the Frankfurt area who have organized conventions before and may have access to locations.

[TimeTinker]

That would be very helpful Albrecht.  It is many years since I lived in Krefeld

Can you put me in touch with them?

My email is majortinker(at)aol(dot)com

It would be great to have a cooperative movement to get this going.

[Albrecht]

Absolutely no problem. Just one question: How good is your German? I am not sure how good their English is.

[TimeTinker]

Not as good as it used to be but it will improve with practice.

Correspondence is no problem though. 

[Evelyn Adler]

Not as good as it used to be but it will improve with practice.

Correspondence is no problem though. 

In case you require assistance of a native speaker of German, I'm always glad to help. 

[TimeTinker]

Too kind ma'am.  I may well take you up on that.

[Mr Peter Harrow, Esq]

I will pass this on to a friend of mine who runs Eurocon the European SF Convention, he can put the word out to the fan groups and can funnel any interested parties your way. Eurocon travels all over Europe so it does bring the Convention to the fans rather than the fans to the Convention. 

Its nice to see something finally happening, and multiple event sites is an interesting idea, the UK scene is vibrant because we are all crowded on a single island and most people can make the annual pilgrimage to Lincoln. In Europe steampunks it would appear are more widely dispersed, like in North America, but they have all those huge convention centres touting for the Brass dollar which is why there are about half a dozen smaller regional cons over there. Saying that a mass of steampunks is something to behold, and a larger con means (if it is well run) you can get more bang for your buck due to economies of scale, paying for better facilities, equipment, acts, guests.

The spring UK Con this year was Waltz on The Wye, you might consider linking with them, they are looking at running it again.

[Albrecht]

Thank you, Mr. Harrow. Is there anyone on the Waltz team in particular, I should talk to?

[Mr Peter Harrow, Esq]

R Is For Rachel seems to be the lead organiser. Look on the UK child board for the threads.

[Albrecht]

Thank you for the info, good Sir!

[Herr Döktor]

Just throwing my hat into the ring, Europe is close enough for a jaunt, after all!

[Mr Peter Harrow, Esq]

Just throwing my hat into the ring, Europe is close enough for a jaunt, after all!

Yes, just fly by Ryanair to the nearest airport. Which if you are lucky, will be in Europe.

[Albrecht]

Just throwing my hat into the ring, Europe is close enough for a jaunt, after all!

Yes, just fly by Ryanair to the nearest airport. Which if you are lucky, will be in Europe.

Good one!

Thank you, Herr Doktör!

[Albrecht]

Update:

We have the people from www.steampunksp.es, www.steampunk.fr, Dale from BB Black Dog, Cambridge area Steampunks, Vienna, and the lis goes on interrested/on board. Things are moving like crazy!

[Albrecht]

And now, we have the great people of http://thegoldengear.foroactivo.net/ on board, and a steampunk group from Russia!

[Albrecht]

If you want to host an event, no matter what size, here are some simple

Guidelines for European Steampunk Convention Events

1. Get some friends together

2. Get a location
- The location does not have to be big. It can be someone's home!
- Make sure you have internet access to connect with all the others
- You also might want a beamer if you have a bigger audience, so everybody can see
- Make sure you have a webcam so the other parties can take a look at you, too.

3. Get a band or DJ or whatever you want
This is OPTIONAL. Since 2012 is the first event of this kind, we start small. If you manage to get a DJ or band, that's great but the main thing is about connecting Steampunks across Europe.

4. Organize what you want and how you want it.

5. Report back to webmaster(ARGH!)dailysteampunk.com how far your preparations are and what kind of thing you are going to do.

First update: 29.02.2012, please!

[Albrecht]

The fundraiser for the convention is up:

http://www.indiegogo.com/The-European-Steampunk-Convention


and we have a promotional video:

http://youtu.be/HWh0aEsHgFI

[wokka]

and we have a promotional video:

http://youtu.be/HWh0aEsHgFI

Not much fun if we cannot see it (it's private and requires login). When will it be public?