This past weekend, I had the immense pleasure of going to Minneapolis, MN for an event called NerdCon: Stories. What is this, I hear imaginary people asking? A con for Nerds? Well, yes you are right. But it is so much more!

Created by Hank Green, an online creator/ entrepreneur, and Patrick Rothfuss, author of the Kingkiller Chronicle which includes The Name of the Wind, NerdCon: Stories began last year. It essentially is about how we as human beings create stories. The way people write books, perform, and share their story. How are they created? What is a part of a story. It’s a broad topic. But because it is so wide, there are many people who can be a part of it. This year some of the highlights for me were Karen Hallion who is an artist and freelancer, John Green who is the brother to Hank Green and also wrote The Fault in Our Stars, Darrin Ross, the creator of SuperFight, and of course Patrick Rothfuss. There were also groups who performed in podcasts such as Improvised Star Trek and Dessa, a rapper and poet in the Minneapolis area. These are only a few people, but there were so many more! These were all amazing people and I feel so lucky that I was able to see them!

There were a couple of panels that I went to that were very interesting. The first was called “Listen Up!” which was about how stories are told in an audio format without sound or imagery. This includes podcasts and audio books. A strange topic to go to for someone who is going into the business of visual storytelling but at the same time, it was a very interesting and insightful topic. It was really all about how to convey a message to your audience without the help of visuals. We live in such a visual world, sometimes the message can get lost in all of this.

The second panel I went to was called, “Self-Promotion: Getting the Word Out” which is exactly what it sounds like. Yet, it was not quite what I thought it would turn out to be. None of panelists seemed to really know or enjoy self-promotion. This was interesting in the way that I too do not enjoy promoting myself. Yet, I know it is something that I have to do. Getting my voice out there is one of the most important things that I need to learn. Listening to people who also don’t enjoy this and how they move past it is helpful.

Lastly, I went to a workshop hosted by Karen Hallion. She went through her process on how she begins her illustrations and what inspires her. She has done licensed work for Marvel, Lucas, Cartoon Network, DreamWorks Studios, Cryptozoic, TOPPS, and Disney and has worked with HerUniverse, ACME Archives, and DFTBA Records. Her most recent project was creating the artwork for the game “Wizard School”. This was such a fun experience for me because I was able to meet her and ask Karen Hallion questions. She is a huge inspiration for me and to see how she begins her process is inspiring. Her artwork is just amazing.

The rest of the day included various performances by authors, poets, and a writing process with John Green. If you couldn’t tell by now, he is one of my favorite authors. This all happened on day one! The second day was even more intense and just as fun!