OmniCon 2012, Cookeville

Top ten reasons to go all the way to Cookeville, TN for a little convention called OmniCon 2012:

10) Admission is only about 10 bucks.

9) Cosplay.  If you know what that is, you’ll probably want to go.  If you don’t know, you should go to find out.

8) The Bradford Pears are blooming, so Tennessee Tech campus should be gorgeous.

7) Voice Actors.  The featured guest Jason C. Miller and the special guest Lauren Landa are both voice actors (among other talents).  There’s a good chance you’ve heard them somewhere before.  If voice acting seems interesting (and who doesn’t want to get paid to come to work in pajamas and talk into a microphone), this could be your opportunity to learn more.Voice Actors.  The featured guest and the special guest are both voice actors (among other talents).  There’s a good chance you’ve heard them somewhere before.  If voice acting seems interesting (and who doesn’t want to get paid to come to work in pajamas and talk into a microphone), this could be your opportunity to learn more.

6) Spankies for lunch.  I made sure my Saturday schedule allowed me to get my garlic bread fix and a Reuben.  And…maybe a beer?  The best in campus dining just a short walk from the University Center (where the con is held).

5) Bands.  Do I know these bands?  No, but they are definitely bands.

4) No booze in the University Center.  Wait, weren’t these supposed to be reasons I SHOULD go?  Yes.  The 21+ crowd can still partake at local bars like Spankies (see #7 above), but the underage bunch and a lot of other people don’t need to be exposed to it, do they?  Do the ladies deserve to have some drunken oaf slobbering on them all weekend?  Of course they don’t.  OmniCon is a reasonable place for people of all ages to come and share their love of science fiction, fantasy, horror, paranormal, gaming, etc.

3) The panels.  History of Zombies, My Little Pony, NaNoWriMo, Finding Bigfoot, So You Want to Be a Ghost Hunter, Learning Japanese from J-Pop Culture, LARPing 101, and lots more.  There’s a big Meet the Authors panel too that appears to be sufficiently unscripted to be quite amusing.

2) Small cons are more intimate than big cons.  Can you really get face time with anyone at DragonCon?  Heck no.  Besides, every viable connection I’ve made has come from small cons.

1) Isn’t it obvious?  ME!  I’ll be doing somewhere between 3 and six panels.  For sure there’s the Flash Fiction panel, the Beginning Writers panel, and the big Meet the Authors panel.  I will either participate in or attend the History of Zombies, Science in Fiction, and Colonizing Space panels.  And who’s more interesting (and humble) than me?

So come to OmniCon!  It’ll be fun.  And what better reason is there than that?