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SheVaCon
This was a small Con this past weekend in Roanoke, Va. , as far as
small Cons go, this was damned near perfect. SheVaCon had the
typical things I wish enjoy at a con. Enjoy Gaming, Costumes, a
damned good art room, a dealer room, a LARP, authors, good con suite,
and drumming!
The Gaming at SheVaCon was good. They were too numerous to name,
but all seemed to have had a great time. Dice rolled and people
laughed. This was damned good gaming in my view.
The Costuming was a bit meager this past SheVaCon. The few
costumes I saw were nice. Many beginner costumers made themselves
known. People ahve to start some place and this was a damned good
Con for it.
Allen Wold was at the Con. Allen ahs the look of a older, grey
haired wizard. he enjoyed his fans and spoke to his admirers with
great care.I have met this man several times and he never remembers
me. I enjoyed his writings in the past. Tony Ruggiero was there as
well, he gave a panel on vampires. This is one author I regonize on
sight and he knows me. He saw me as I entered the hotel and was
polite. These intimate small Cons is a perfect setting for authors
like this. The get to meet the people who read their works. There
were several readings in the Con Suite.
The art Room was fantastic. By nature, I am visually stimulated.
The one thing I hate about ConCarolinas is the lack of a good art
room. SheVaCon did not skimp here. They have my highest respects
for the art room.
The Dealer room was small but select. The dealers were busy, but
not over run with customers. They all seemed to ahve made money.
There were no obvious dealer complaints and they ALL had smiles on
their faces. There should be deals in the Dealer's Room. There is
nothing I dislike more in a dealer's Room than poaying full price
for the same items I can get at the store. What would be the point?
There was Live Action Role Playing game at the Con and the players
had a Great time. There was very little drama in the game on behalf
of the players. One of my SCA buddys ran the LARP with her team of
Judges. The LARP was Cthulu meets Vampire: The Masquerade. They
had well over 40 players enjoying this game. The players were in age
form 11 years old to over 50 years of age. The combat was minimal,
but the role play was immense. many of the players wore costumes for
this game. the Costumes were not the best, but the players did their
best and had fun at it. This game ran all hours of the Con. It
officially stopped 10 am on sunday morning.
The Con Suite was comparable to that of StelalrCon. The Con Suite
ran all friday and saturday night of the Con without closing. The
Staff of SheVaCon spent money on this Con Suite. The Con Suite Staff
maintained and Jar for donations. This Jar was full with dollars and
silver coinage. They had hot food. not just sanswhich meat and
peanut butter. This was a class act on a budget. the sado was all
poured from bottles, but the bottles were kept on ice. My hat is off
to this Con Suite.
ShevaCon has the best drumming of any Con. Period. Better than
DragonCon, that is saying allot in my view. They had a Djembe
drummer come to this Con with over a dozen drums for his students.
He taught African beats and people learned quickly. The drumming
stared at 11pm sharp both nights. Ok, It helps when Achbar is the
drumming Co Ordinator for the Con's drum circle. Wayne, thanks allot for asking me to do this. I have a better idea for next year if I am allowed to do this again. hell, even if I am not allowed, I wil come anyway ( smile)! Most of the
drummers brought their own drums. the Con set a room aside for this
activity. The drumming lasted well until 3am in the morning both
nights. I admire a Convention that allows this kind of planning for
drumming. There were members form the new band called DragonBane
playing in the drum circle. it is alwasy great to hear the sound of
Guitar played in drumming circles. In as much as i love drumming, it
is grat to hear different instruments played and loved./
The SCA was welcomed with open arms at this Convention. They ahd
two different Medieval organizations giving demonstrations. There
was rapier fighting at this Con. Unfortuantely for me, there was no
SCA heavy fighting. That was somehting i really looked forward to
doing at the Con. People enjoyed the SCA demo and they stayed
behind and asked many good questions. the barony of Black Diamond
held the demo. There was a dedicated market plan to get the SCA to
attend this Convention. One could not toss a brink and not hit a
member of the SCA at this convention. it was my hope to see this
sort of marketting done here in NC. As of yet, I have not seen any
Con in this are market their Con to the SCA. DragonCon does a GREAT
job of this. It is sad that many Con Organizers forget that the SCA
is full of Sci fi fans. This is an over sight I can never understand.
In Summary, I hope to attend ShEvACon next year. While this is a
small Convention of only about 500 plus people, I feel that is is
well worth the 3 hours of driving to attend it. this Con has all of
the things that is worth my attention, gaming, a fantastic Art Room,
a Good Dealer'sRoom, a Great Con Suite, a better than decent LARP,
wonderful Authors, decent Costuming and Wonderful Drumming! This
year's SheVaCon will leave a positive and lasting memory in my heart.



James Morrow
Achbar