&

are proud to bring you

GEN CON LIVE 2010

LAS VEGAS (August 3rd, 2010) — Known for bringing cutting edge new media to social games, NeonCon is proud to partner with Gen Con, Pixel Corps, LiveStream and LiveU to bring you Gen Con Live … streaming video updates from the floor of Gen Con 2010. Using technology provided by the Pixel Corps and LiveU, Team NeonCon will be on the floor covering Gen Con 2010 from every angle. Interviews, product announcements and behind the scenes extras … all brought to you as they happen via LiveStream.

For the first time ever, worldwide viewers will be able to participate in the Gen Con Indy in real-time. Co-hosts Doug Daulton and Juliet Meyer will cover all the action from the opening ceremonies on Thursday to the close of the Exhibit Hall on Sunday evening. Along the way, you’ll meet your favorite game designers, publishers and other special guests from across the industry.

“Since the early days in Wisconsin, Gen Con has a long tradition of excellence. And, there are no better fans. After covering NAB, CineGear and Siggraph with the Pixel Corps, I knew we had to bring this technology to Gen Con. When I mentioned it to Scott Elliot, he got it immediately, which is one of the reasons we are proud to have Gen Con as a partner.” — Doug Daulton, NeonCon

Gen Con Live will be streamed simultaneously on www.neoncon.com, www.gencon.com, www.livestream.com and infrno.net. Viewers can tune in to watch and chat live online or through social media tools Twitter and Facebook, allowing producers to engage participants, interact with their audience, and viewers to virtually share the moment with others. Online publishers will be able to embed the Livestream video player along with its social media tools on their sites and make the webcast available to their communities.

Gen Con is about connecting gamers. People come from all over the world to play games here in Indianapolis and to meet their heroes: game designers, writers, publishers and world champion game players. We are excited to have a strong partner in NeonCon, who can help to extend the reach of the Gen Con Indy experience to people who could not attend this year.” — Scott Elliott, Gen Con LLC

Where to Watch

Gen Con Live will begin at 10:00 am on August 5th, 2010 and end at 6:00pm on August 8th, 2010. The show will be available at www.neoncon.com, www.gencon.com and www.livestream.com, infrno.net and many other websites. Additionally, Livestream offers widgets of varying sizes for bloggers, webmasters, and digital media outlets to embed in their own sites as a source of fun and entertaining content. For more information on the variety of non-commercial widgets available and the embedding codes, please visit www.livestream.com/neoncon.

Appearing on Gen Con Live

The Gen Con Live schedule includes interviews with special guests like Stan! (with fellow Super Geniuses Hyrum Savage and Owen K.C. Stephens), Matthew Grau (CthulhuTech & Infrno), Monica Valentinelli (Hack/Slash & Queen of Crows), Adam Jury (Eclipse Phase), Justin Gary (Ascension & World of Warcraft Minis), Rob Doughtery (Ascension) and many more. Additional interviews and special event coverage will be announced shortly.

If you would like Doug or Juliet to cover your product or event on Gen Con Live, please email the producers at live@neoncon.com.

About Gen Con

Gen Con, LLC produces the largest consumer hobby, fantasy, sci-fi and adventure game convention in North America. Its operations include Gen Con Indy and licensees for European and Asia Pacific Gen Con shows. It was acquired in 2002 by former CEO and founder of Wizards of the Coast Peter Adkison, who owns the company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Gen Con is a consumer and trade experience dedicated to gaming culture and community. For updates, follow Gen Con on twitter @gen_con.

For more information on Gen Con, contact:

Stacia Kirby
206.363.1492
stacia@speakeasy.net
www.gencon.com

About Livestream

Livestream provides everything needed to easily live stream video and engage an audience. Producers can use Livestream to stream live, linear and on-demand Internet television to multiple devices through a single, highly customizable player. The service is available in both Free (ad-supported) and Premium (ad-free, white-label, higher-quality) packages. Unique features include the ability to mix multiple live cameras, overlay graphics, desktop streaming with 3D effects, and social chat. Founded in 2007, the Livestream is based in New York and includes Gannett Co. as a minority shareholder and investor. For updates, follow Livestream on twitter @livestream.

For more information on Livestream, contact:

Jennifer Levine
646.495.9707
jennifer.levine@livestream.com
www.livestream.com

About LiveU

Based in Paramus, NJ and Kfar Saba, Israel, LiveU (www.liveu.tv) designs, develops and provides a real-time video uplink solution at broadcast quality which provides instant setup time and connects to any video camera. LiveU frees video broadcasting from uplink limitations and allows the color and excitement of live broadcasts to be shared by TV Broadcasters, Web Platforms and Video Prosumers, anywhere and at anytime. LiveU’s services have been deployed successfully by leading TV networks and other media companies to transmit news, live sporting events, concerts, and reality shows. LiveU is a privately held company, backed by top tier international technology investors. For updates, follow LiveU on twitter @LiveU.

For more information on LiveU, contact:

Ken Zamkow
Director of Sales and Marketing
917.623.3739
ken@liveu.tv
www.liveu.tv

About NeonCon

Founded in 2007, NeonCon is a celebration of geek culture held each fall in Las Vegas, Nevada. Built around social games, NeonCon brings together players and publishers, fans and creators for a weekend of fun and learning in the entertainment capital of the world. For updates, follow NeonCon on twitter @neoncon.

For more information on NeonCon, contact:

Doug Daulton
Founder & Executive Director
702.767.8025
doug.daulton@neoncon.com
www.neoncon.com

About Pixel Corps

Pixel Corps is the global industry guild for the next generation of digital craftsmen. Devised to create a global production community capable of generating content around the world, Pixel Corps offers production training designed to create production artists. Pixel Corps is preparing artists for the next media revolution by blending extensive training, access to the industry’s most advanced applications, real-world challenges and community participation unlike anything else available. Founded in 2002 by industry veteran, Alex Lindsay, Pixel Corps has grown to more than 1,500 members in over 35 countries. For updates, follow Pixel Corps on twitter @pixelcorps.

For more information on Pixel Corps, contact:

Alex Lindsay
Founder & Chief Architect
415.495.4775
alex@pixelcorps.com
www.pixelcorps.com

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It seems like only yesterday that I sat across the table from Mike Sanchez, my co-founder, and talked about what we both wanted from NeonCon. Almost four years later, NeonCon has become everything Mike and I planned and so much more. As a regional gaming convention, it has already met or exceeded every plan we put on the table, despite the difficult economy that has touched us all these past few years.

Now, on the eve of our first official appearance at Gen Con, I am excited about how far we’ve come and what the road ahead has in store for us. You see, 2010 marks a major turning point for the show.

If you are one of our many partners, you’ve already heard much of what I am about to share publicly for the first time. And, for those close to the show, you have surely heard the rumblings of the coming changes. Change is good.

As of this moment, NeonCon is no longer just about games. We are now a full bore celebration of geek culture.

What does that mean? And, why are we changing? I’ll answer the last question first.

There Can Be Only One

When evaluating the performance of NeonCon 2009, it became clear that we had already accomplished everything we set out to do in those early days. It was also clear that we needed to grow and change. So, I started looking at other shows for inspiration and a model for the future of NeonCon.

How about Gen Con? After all Gen Con SoCal was no more and the West Coast needed a major gaming convention. Almost immediately, I rejected that model. Aside from the fact that they are a valued partner, there is now and ever shall be only one Gen Con. Will we learn from Gen Con, absolutely. Could we ever be Gen Con? Never. The same holds true for the San Diego Comic-Con. Like the Highlander, there can be only one. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to keep my head. ;^D

As I went down the list, I saw many shows I admired and knew we could learn from (PAX, Dragon-Con, I-Con etc.), but very few I thought it made sense to emulate. Why not? Mostly, it has to do with my philosophy that, in the convention space, we need more cooperation and less competition. If you want to know more of my thoughts on the subject, ask me about the cupcake axiom when you next see me.

Suffice to say that I felt modeling NeonCon after these other shows would only produce more of the same and, therefore, breed more competition between all of our shows. Instead, I thought we needed a new spin on the old pop-culture con. Armed with this epiphany, it did not take me long to realize that South By Southwest (SXSW) was the ideal model for us. For the uninitiated, SXSW is a Music, Film & Interactive festival which attracts 36,000 people to Austin, Texas every spring.

SXSW was not always this big. It started as a humble street festival for indie musicians. As it grew, it attracted more well-known bands which, in turn, started attracting film makers who were huge music fans. As a result, someone thought a film festival would be a great addition. This new, combined festival became a favorite of web developers, designers and other creative folks who were fans of both music and film. Not long after, Interactive became a core part of the show. The rest, as they say, is history.

That is the power of genre cross-pollination. It is what want to do as well, but with social games at our core, not music. What will emerge to run parallel to Games? Only time will tell for sure, but the first real contender is Creatives.

Rise of the Creative

Last year, we brought you GamesU. Each and every speaker blew me away as they generously shared their knowledge of the social games industry. I knew it would be great, but I did not know the impact it would have over the coming year. Every session was recorded. While we still have a few more edit, most sessions have already made it up to our YouTube channel. The response has been overwhelming and humbling.

Speakers tell me they have new designers approaching them to discuss the points raised in their presentations. Some have reported rewriting their business plans based on the advice and direction they were given at GamesU. Still others say the stories from the pros inspired them to pursue their creative dreams with a balance of passion and realism, which they feel is already helping them succeed.

As powerful as GamesU 2009 was, we learned a lot from the experience and the feedback we’ve received. Folks wanted more. More sessions. Longer sessions. More diversity. So, we went back to the drawing board and launched CreativeU … everything that GamesU was, and more.

CreativeU expands on GamesU both in format and focus; now including both talks and workshops.

Modeled after the TED program, talks will be short, 20 minute events where the speaker address one topic about which they are both well-versed and passionate. Talks serve one purpose … to ignite the creative drive of the listener.

Workshops will be “deep dives” into a broad range of the technical skills required to execute creative projects of all kinds, not just games. The guiding principle of every workshop is to “build better creatives”.

These two formats reflect the new focus of CreativeU or, perhaps, it’s lack of focus. As the name implies, GamesU focused on games. CreativeU addresses all creative disciplines, most of which can directly apply to the design and development of games. By addressing a broader audience this way, CreativeU actually serves game designers better.

In addition to accomplished game designers, CreativeU attendees have the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with seasoned artists, writers, web designer/developers, podcasters, film makers, actors, and many more.

The Keynote Speaker for CreativeU 2010 is already in the fold and will be announced at Gen Con. We are very excited to have him on board. Like Erik Mona before him, I am sure he will give you plenty to think about.

What Else Does The Future Hold?

To be perfectly honest, I do not know. And, I am OK with that. I am fairly certain they guys who started SXSW had no idea what lie just around the bend. Serendipity led them to a great place. I am sure it will do the same for us.

One thing, I know for sure. Like SXSW before us, we will look for natural cross-pollination within our audience and take most of our cues from there.

That is not to say we do not have plans. We do. Some will happen in 2010. Others are already in the works for NeonCon 2011. As these plans come together, we will announce them here and on Twitter and Facebook as well.

This much I can tell you. We have a huge announcement coming just in front of Gen Con. So, stay tuned. I am sure you will be glad you did.

See you soon. Until then, make this your mantra: “Create. Educate. Celebrate. Geek Life.” And, if you need a change of pace, “Play Games. Make Friends. Defeat Evil.” still applies as well. ;^D

Peace,

Doug Daulton
Executive Director
NeonCon & CreativeU

What you are looking at is a full-fledged social network, built just for you. We’ve created over 100 groups dedicated to the games you know and love. Use these groups to connect with other players before, during and after the show. And, there are more to come.

While we have been over the site with a fine-toothed comb, a few bugs may have slipped through the cracks. If you find one, don’t reach for a can of RAID! We are counting on you to let us know what you find by leaving us a message in Feedback.

Before I go, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge a couple of the fine folks who helped make this launch possible. FIrst, we have Will Hammock, from the Museum of Mythical History. Will took some rough notes sketched on a piece of scrap paper and created the gorgeous theme you see wrapping this site. Thanks Will!

While Will designed, we had a lot of help from John Hawkins (9seeds.com) and Brandon Dove (pixeljar.net). Both of these fine gentleman helped hunt bugs, clean up CSS and generally bend the WordPress platform to my will. Thanks to you both!

With that said, I am off to get some much needed sleep. Get that Feedback coming!

Peace,

Doug

• The Bazaar – Our Dealer Room is open to the public
• Pathfinder Society – Play an exclusive special scenario
• Living Forgotten Realms – All of the latest releases
• Cthulhu Mythos – Call of Cthulhu and Cthulhu Live
• Games on Demand! – Indie Story Games Galore
• White Wolf Camarilla – Vampire, Changeling & more
• Magic: The Gathering – Exclusive tournament events
• D&D Miniatures – National Arena Championship
• Warhammer Fantasy/40K – Grand Tournament
• Board Games – The new hotness & all your old favorites

CreativeU — The unconference for professional and aspiring creatives

Ever watched or participated in a TED Talk, WordCamp or similar unconference? If so, then you know what to expect from CreativeU! Primarily driven by peer presentations, CreativeU is all about sharing information to inspire and empower creatives. Visit http://youtube.com/neoncon to check out all of the sessions from GamesU 2009, the precursor to CreativeU.

Thursday Pre-Con Events

All NeonCon alumni and early-bird registrants will recieve an invitation to exclusive pre-con events on the evening of Thursday, November 4th.  Not a NeonCon alum? Register before September 10th for your invitation.

Last Monday, I was interviewed by Devon & Jarvis for CHUM!, a “one shot” episode of Shark Bone, that focused on organizing your local gaming community. Specifically, we discussed the creation of Vegas Game Day (VGD), which in turn gave rise to Neoncon and eventually VegasGamers.org.

It was a lot of fun talking through the events of the last few years. Looking back, it is pretty exciting to see everything we’ve accomplished. Last month, VGD had over 40 people playing everything from RPGs to board games to CCGs. VGD has steadily grown each month and it is rewarding to see what this once RPGA-centric event has become.

In three years, Neoncon has grown from a 60-80 person Living Greyhawk bordercon into a full-service gaming convention providing RPGs, board games, CCGs, LARPs, seminars by industry pros and a dealer’s room to 450+ from all over the United States. Last year, we welcomed our first attendee from the UK.

Then, there is VegasGamers.org (VGO), our local online gaming community. Still a few months shy of it’s second birthday, VGO just surpassed 500 members, of which over 90% are local. Along with VGD, it has become Las Vegas’ gaming hub and an invaluable resource for new gamers moving into our city.

Along the way, I’ve picked up a lot of knowledge about how to run a convention and rally the local “troops”. Devon & Jarvis asked a lot of great questions from the perspective of a newbie event organizer. As a result, the majority of the hour is spent talking about lessons learned. We cover a lot of the tools, techniques and resources available to help with everything from organizing an in-store game all the way up to a full-blown convention.

I hope you find the episode useful. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Peace,

Doug Daulton
Executive Director
Neoncon & GameU

WEB: www.neoncon.com
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/neoncon
FACEBOOK: Fan Us! :: Friend Us!

WEB: www.neoncon.com
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/neoncon
FACEBOOK: Fan Us! :: Friend Us!

If you are not familiar with the project, Stan! & crew are adapting the OGL Pathfinder RPG rules to the modern era and they are funding it using the patronage model. If you love Pathfinder and miss d20 Modern, then you need to head on over to the P20 Modern Kickstarter website and pledge your support as a patron. We did! And, while you are at it, become a fan of the project on Facebook. Spread the good word!

Today, I found out that Jess Hartley, another GamesU alumnus, has launched her own patronage project … Shattered Glass. Like P20 Modern, it looks like a bag full of AWESOME! Go now, become a patron.

While I am certainly excited for two friends of the show, I am also terribly excited for the growth of the patronage model in general. It speaks well of the future of the industry as a whole and the power of crowds to bring good things to life (apologies to GE).

So congrats to Stan! and Jess. We are excited to spend time with Stan! at GTS; sad that we’ll miss Jess this time around. But, you can see both Stan! and Jess in the weeks to come when their GamesU 2009 presentations go live on our YouTube channel!

Peace,

Doug Daulton
Executive Director
Neoncon & GameU

WEB: www.neoncon.com
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/neoncon
FACEBOOK: Fan Us! :: Friend Us!