About this project

How The Wandering Geek's Con Journal Came To Be.
Hello, my name is Lorenzo (aka Professor Mordarm), one who is a part of (and loves) the geek culture. This love started out in my early teens when I was invited to my very first geeky convention (a RPGA con). During that weekend my young mind got hooked with everything geeky and the gatherings, known as Cons, that result from it.
But as I grew older, I missed out going to Cons, mainly because I tended to move quite a bit and I missed out on discovering the local conventions in my area. But it turns out I was not the only one. Quite a few of my friends were lamenting that the only Cons they knew were the "big" Cons (SDCC, PAX, Dragon*Con, GenCon, etc) and that they were out of their reach.

So The Quest Begins
Curious on the "lack of" local Cons I did a little research and found that many local Cons do exist, but tended to get missed or ignored for the larger ones. So, if that was the case here, I wondered, how many other fellow geeks are missing out on local Cons in other areas they live in due to lack of knowledge? So the question then became that I wanted people to know about geeky local Cons, both big and small, but how would I do it?

The Answer
Well, since I could not go to each and every Con across the US by myself and then inform people, I decided to use the very ones that go to these Cons: You; the geek, the cosplayer, the artist, writer, GM and many others. How? By giving out Con Journals. This way, fellow geeks can record their geeky convention experiences in one for others to read and learn from. But it doesn't end there. When a holder of a journal is done, he or she can either continue recording for their next convention, or give/mail the journal to another, or return it to me to send out to another person willing to write about their local Cons. Then I take the completed journals and publish them in a useful book/ebook/web format for others to read, share and discover.

So with that, The Wandering Geek's (TWG) Con Journal was born!

So Why Do This?
I wanted people to have a way to discover about these geeky Cons and the people that attend them. So by give geeks a voice; by handing out journals to record their experiences that they want to share, it would help others to learn a little about the geek culture and maybe demystify it to the layman. In the end though, I hope that TWG Con Journal would become a resource for others who want to learn about potential local geeky Cons and meet people who share their interests.

How I Plan Start I plan to give journals at the next convention to friends to start off, but backers will help expand my ability to gather stories and share them quicker. So funds will help cover journals, postage, and some publishing fees. So donate as much as you can every dollar helps!

The Rules & FAQ
To help ease the process for me, I have a set of rules for journal holders to follow as well as a FAQ for any immediate questions:

Rules -
1. TWG Journal is used to record your geeky convention experiences.
2. A copy of these rules are kept at all times in the Journal.
3. The journal holder records his or her name (or pseudonym) and the name/location of the convention as part of that first journal entry.
4. Send an email to [email*] with "TWG's Journal has arrived at [convention location]!" in the header (and if possible, a picture of the Journal itself and it's current location).
5. Then the current holder will make a daily entry in the Journal until the end of the convention.
6. After the convention passes, the holder can:
A. Use the Journal to record another geeky convention that is within a month max or,
B. Mail the Journal to someone he or she knows that is going to a geeky convention or
C. Return the Journal to TWG's address.
7. Repeat step 2-6 until Journal is filled.
8. When the Journal is full, the last holder mails the TWG's Journal back to TWG at [address*]

*As the project moves along, the email and address for TWG will be added to the actual rules.

FAQ - Q: What happens to TWG Con Journal when it is full and returned to you? A: When the journal is returned, I plan to post various entries and it's travels on the future TWG website for all to see and enjoy. But until then, I will do my best by keeping track of TWG Con Journal via Google Maps and by email. But that does not mean TWG Con Journal will end it's travels then. More on that later.



Q: What do I enter as a journal entry? A: Anything you like. It can be something about you. Or a doodle of some cosplayer you saw. A flik about the Con. A signature of a famous geek artist/writer/creator. Your rant on Con drama. A funny Con story. A taped picture of you and your buddies at the Con. A newspaper clipping of the Con itself. Finger-paintings of Con life. It can be anything as long it's about the Con you are at and also that can be put into TWG Con Journal easily (and also mailed legally and safely).You can even make more that one daily entry if you like, but you MUST at least put in one entry per day. The possibilities are endless.

Q: Why only write entries during a Con and why give/mail it within a month afterwards? A: TWG Con Journal is made for the journal holder to have enough time to write his or her slice of the Con life they are at and at the same time, limit the time it stays at one location. TWG Con Journal is meant to travel and explore Cons, with you as it's tour guide.

Q: What if I don't want my my entries posted online/publicly? A: Just inform me by mailing me [email] with your name (and making an additional entry in the journal) stating which of your journal entries that you don't want publicly displayed. Although that does not make much sense as there will be other journal holders reading and making their own entries in TWG Con Journal. So simply put, if you don't want people to know or see, DON'T put it in TWG Con Journal.

Q: I don't know of anyone that I can mail TWG Con Journal to. What now? A: The answer to that can be easy or hard depending on your situation and/or determination. Go out and meet someone. Where? Well the Con is one place but what about your local game/comic book store? How about at a local collage anime club? Your RPG group? After that, the rest is easy: Mention TWG Con Journal and your involvement in it. Show it around and share the entries that have been put in there before. Heck, put out an ad in the paper. Be creative! Get and find person interested and mail it to him or her for their next Con! And as a bonus, you can make a new friend as a result. Also you can ask for future journal holders by commenting/requesting here at Kickstarter and at the future TWG site. Or you can send it back to the TWG address.

Q: Can my child make entries in TWG Con Journall?/I'm under 18. Can I get involved with TWG Con Journal? A: As I do not have full control of TWG Con Journal and what gets put in it as entries during its travels, parents/guardians must exercise discretion if their children want to make entries in TWG Con Journal. To play it safe, anyone under 18 or anyone not of legal adult age/status MUST get their parents/guardians permission before making entries in TWG Con Journal. Parents/guardians must make a separate entry in TWG Con Journal giving their permission and an email to professor_mordarm@hotmail.com with "Parent/Guardian Permission for (child's name)," in the header and stating their permission for their child to make entries that will be public read and displayed in the body of the email, with contact information for verification.

Q: What do use for mailing services for TWG Con Journal? A: Any service you wish but you must understand that TWG Con Journal depends on the kindness and willingness of others to pay for it Con travels. So most of the time the cost of mailing will come out of the journal holders themselves. But, if you are feeling generous, you can send the next journal holder a prepaid postage stamps/package with TWG Con Journal to make it financially easier for that future journal holder. But that is not required and future journal holders should not expect it. Also some services provide C.O.D. mailing services. I do not recommend this as this can get expensive for the next holder.So please, unless by prior agreement by both parties, don't send TWG Con Journal via C.O.D. Also of Note: Backers of the $75, $100 and $150 pledges will get free return postage for the journals (for their area only)!

Q:I received TWG Con Journal damaged?!/ I damaged TWG Con Journal! What do I do?! A: Part of the experience of TWG Con Journal is how it treated in it's travels from Con to Con. So unless TWG Con Journal is completely destroyed or it suffers so much damage to make it completely useless for journal entry, proceed as normal per the rules. If you like, fix it up. Tape/staple/sew torn pages back together. Glue new geeky covers. Pimp it up. Whatever you can, make it possible for TWG Con Journal to continue its quest for Con journal entries and travel. If that is not possible, please send the remains of TWG Con Journal back to me in some form with a letter and an email on what happened. I will make note of it's end here on Kickstarter and TWG site. Of course if it completely destroyed, the letter and an email to professor_mordarm@hotmail.com will have to do. But do not lose hope! That is why I have Backer awards that can award 2 or more journals for backup!

Q: I don't have access to an email/internet for step 3. What do I do? A: As strange as this sounds here, this question was actually asked online originally (and you reading this project how?)! My answer to this is that just send a snail mail letter to the first address in the Journal which will be TWG Con Journal return address and follow the rest of step 3 as best you can.



The Funds Pledged
As I mentioned earlier, the funds will initially help cover costs for getting journals in bulk and will also help get the postage so they can be sent out to Backers. Part of it will also cover publishing fees for the printed book and PDF formats of TWG Con Journal when I have enough material to publish.

And depending on your (and other community) support, this will help Kickstart another great secret project for The Wandering Geek for all you geeky Con goers! So get the word out, pledge, and write about those geeky Cons in The Wandering Geek's Con Journal!

-Professor Mordarm