Steampunk Canada

Now that I have had a week to recover, I would like to tell you of our adventures at Fan Expo 2010.

My daughter Rowan and I made the trek from Ottawa to Toronto on Friday morning with miraculously very little interruption.  We left quite early expecting accidents (not our own) and construction and estimated we would arrive just before the early opening to help set up.  Instead, we arrived by 10:30 in the morning.  Needless to say we had lots of time to set up the Steampunk Canada/TSS table before the hordes began to descend.  The set up was a thing of beauty with the most popular items being member Adam Smith's incredibly large weapons.  Another popular item was the photography backdrop.  A number of steampunks dropped by to have their photo taken, as well as a number of regular folks who came by and took photos of themselves with Adam's weapons.

After getting settled at the hotel and getting changed into outfit number one (I wore a total of 5 different outfits over the weekend), we had a delightful time meeting many new people interested in learning more about steampunk and other people who already knew about it and were dressed to impress.   The Meet and Greet held later in the evening had an initial bump in the road which was quickly taken care of.  The hotel was very accommodating and the evening went quite smoothly. Many people attended the Meet & Greet, in costume and not, enjoyed each other's company and got to know one another a little better.  Later in the evening we had the cast and crew of Riese join us for a pint and a chat.  It was most enjoyable.

Saturday was a long and crazy day.  We started quite early with the table set up and people began to visit us as soon as the doors opened.  My favourite visit was from a lovely mother and daugther who came to ask questions as the daughter was quite interested in steampunk.  By the end of the weekend the mother as well had gotten inspired and bought her first piece of steampunk jewellery from our member Daniel Proulx.  A little later Rowan and I attended the Riese panel where they informed everyone they will soon be shown through the SyFy channel as well as a yet unnamed Canadian channel.  They also sweetly gave a nod to Steampunk Canada encouraging the audience to join for information and to find their local groups.

After the Riese panel we had a short moment to catch our breath and then we were off to the Steampunk 101 panel.  A few on us who were on the panel decided to go some minutes early to get ourselves settled.  When we arrived we found people in the hall and the room full. We assumed the earlier panel had not finished and patiently waited with those in the hall...until someone from Fan Expo told us to get in there because the full room was for us!  Even after we sat at the front, more people kept coming in until every bit of floor space was also full.  We found out afterward that there were still people in the hall who had come for our panel but could not get in.  The panel went well and we have hopefully gained a few more steampunks.  At least more of the public is steampunk educated.

After the panel we had a little time to visit with more people at the table and then Rowan and I were off to prepare for the steampunk fashion show.  We had rehearsals and dressing and finally makeup.  The time went quite quickly and we were finally on stage.  There were approximately 30 people in the fashion show which was wonderfully run by Liana K.  I was thrilled by the variety and detail of everyone's outfits.  They were stunning!  Of course my favourite outfit was worn by my lovely daughter Rowan and it was made by a great Ottawa designer/seamstress and Steampunk Canada member, Edith Chartier.

By the time the fashion show was over it was very late and we were very tired and our day ended at midnight.

Sunday saw us packed and ready to go before the show opened.  While Rowan wore her fashion show outfit, I was much more toned down in my attire, mainly due to the fact I would soon have to drive back to Ottawa and it would be impossible (and uncomfortable) in my full steampunk regalia.  After helping to set up the table one more time, we spent some time answering more questions and then we were saying our goodbyes and heading home.

It was a fun filled and fast paced weekend, but worth every moment.

If you would like to see photos, be sure to look at the Fan Expo photo album in the Gallery.