Brocon 2013

Woo! Party, party, party! – I know who I’m going as, do you?

The rules for the cosplay competition have been newly updated. We are currently in the process of amending the last section of the rules, regarding RIFs (Real Imitation Firearms) so just keep an eye out there!

To surmise; the rules are pretty much the exact same as last year’s cosplay rules. I’ve added a few things about weapon-props and their usage at the con to keep everyone safe and informed.

Also, this year, I feel that it is appropriate that I should participate in the festivities so I’ll be cosplaying… thing is… who I’m going as is a closely guarded secret, known not even to other members of the committee! Since this is going to be the first time I’ll be properly cosplaying ever, how about we try and convince the rest of those ‘badass Brocon committee people’ to do so too?

We’d also love to hear from you guys too! Who are you going as? Are you going to buy a cosplay especially for BroCon 2013 or are you going to make one for life? Tell us all on our Brocon Facebook page!!

Oh! Please feel free to take a guess as to who or what I will be cosplaying as, and for those of you doubters out there; I already have the cosplay!

See you guys tomorrow with updates on Artist Alley and more!

Pauline Kenneally

BroCon 2013 A&M Officer

screenings@ulbrocon.com

Hey guys! Your friendly neighbourhood Anime and Manga Officer here to inform you about the latest A&M news!

Site updates and breakdowns, work experience at the opposite end of the country and limited internet have all delayed me from updating things from my end, so I hope that you’ll all forgive me.

This post is in regards to…. BroCon’s 2nd ever AMV competition, but keep an eye out tomorrow and the next day for for more updates with Cosplay and Artist Alley (still accepting entrants!!!)

——————————————————————————————

First off, some of the rules have changed so just look up there at the top of the site and hover over the old “Events and Guests”, click on the AMV Competition tab and read the updated rules!

I am now putting a deadline for submissions of your work: Friday 22nd June 2013  after this time no more entries will be accepted.

There will also be a quorum on entries for this year; that means that for the competition to go ahead there must be at least 6 entrants to the competition.

What happens if the quorum is not reached?

The competition will not go ahead but the AMVs will be shown for everyone’s viewing!

If anyone has any questions about the updates, please don’t hesitate the contact me at any stage, I’m back for good now!

Looking forward to meeting you all again this year,

Pauline Kenneally

A&M Officer BroCon 2013

screenings@ulbrocon.com

Hey everybody,

I am glad to say that I am finally going to update ye all with stuff that we intended to update you on a while back but couldn’t do it properly due to technical difficulties which have thankfully been taken care of thanks to the help of our good hardworking friends.

Moving on! What should I put first hmm…
GUESTS!

Firstly, we are proud to announce that the lovely DestinyBlue shall be returning to do drawings, panels, smiling, etc. It was fantastic having her over last year and this year shall be no different.
 

Check out her latest works of artsy shtuff on her deviant art page HERE

Also returning we have Diamanda Hagan from ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com

Last year she was an attendee and a cool one at that, fun to talk to and all that good stuff so this year we saw it fitting to invite her back this year as a guest! Diamanda is a film critic who reviews the strange and obscure. So expect some interesting panels coming our way. Give a few of her videos and reviews a look HERE

More guest news to come in future guys so bare with us ;D

Next up, I must tell you about our upcoming event on the 13th of April, BroDay! If you can’t wait until July for BroCon, or trying to decide whether or not to go to BroCon, well this is your chance to experience the convention early and get an idea of what to expect
It’s only for a day so there is no need for accommodation nonsense, you’ll get the opportunity to pre-reg with us in person and get our even cheaper prices without the need for paypal and stuff! In addition to those perks there shall be many games, screenings, console tournaments, card game tournaments and also, cosplayers are of course welcome ^^

Also it’s free entry! Can’t go wrong. We will be charging for tournaments though to help cover expenses.

Now, back when I originally tried to do this update I promised that if the facebook post had enough ‘likes’ on it I would throw up the T-shirt design for BroCon 2013 so yeah, since ye gave me more than enough ‘likes’ I must keep to my word so that ye shall receive, hope you all like!

Last thing i’m gonna mention is that we are looking for some more RPGs and LARPs to enjoy at the convention so please, send in your blurbs to rpg_gaming@ulbrocon.com

All GMs getting half price entry into the convention, free entry if they do 2 or more games.

That’s all for now! Later Days!

-Neal “Bubbles” MacConmhara
PRO/RPG/LARP

Pre-registration for BroCon 2013 is now open! Book your tickets now in order to secure your discount as well as your official BroCon 2013 T-Shirt.

(l-r) John Fallon, UL Games Society President, Gearóid Harrahill, Brocon Games Events Officer, Maximilian Raetz, BroCon Director, Kieran O’Brien, Pieta House Volunteer and Fundraising Co-Director, Liz Gabbett, UL Clubs and Socs Liaison Officer, Paul Lee, UL Clubs and Socs Development Officer

BroCon, an annual convention bringing together lovers of all things gaming and Japanese anime, held in the University of Limerick, was proud to present voluntary organisation Pieta House with a cheque for €2871 this week, raised through events run during the three day convention last July. The organising committee of BroCon is happy to support Pieta House, which supports and provides specialised treatment for people suffering from suicidal or self-harming ideation – “We all know someone who has felt left out or bullied in their lives or in school merely due to being interested in things considered ‘nerdy’ or ‘uncool’, such as video games, anime, manga, card gaming etc. Many of those people among our attendees at BroCon can relate to feeling isolated or picked on to the point of depression or worse and, as such, we feel the great work being done by the volunteers at Pieta House holds relevance to BroCon and we are proud to make this contribution” expresses Maximilian Raetz, current director of BroCon.

BroCon is currently preparing for its fourth convention and has been increasing in attendance and popularity among the games and anime events in Ireland each year since its inception in 2009 as a joint project between UL Games Society and UL Anime and Manga Society. Each summer, attendees come from all corners of Ireland and beyond to participate in cooperative and competitive videogame, card game and roleplaying game events, attend panels hosted by professionals and well-known personalities from within the gaming and anime culture, get creative with costume play and artwork to display and sell on the convention floor alongside some of the most popular traders in the country, and just to have a fun three day weekend hanging out with hundreds of people who share their interests, all while helping raise money to support a worthy cause.

BroCon 2013 will take place July 12-14th in the University of Limerick. For more info and updates visit www.ulbrocon.com

Written by: Gearóid Harrahill
Source: University of Limerick’s student newspaper An Focal

So, here’s what’s been going on…

After a great weekend of terrific cosplays and lolz at Eirtakon last weekend, not to mention the equally good times had at Gaelcon a few weeks before that, we can now look forward to the next con, AKUMAKON!

…but we have some work to do before that since you can expect some big announcements from us at Akumakon in NUIG Jan 18th – 20th. Not much to say in relation to us other than that for the time being but it’s been a while since out last update so it’s only right to put up something… hmm… SPOTLIGHT!

Our good friends at GamerRules have taken on a couple of new peoples recently and one of them have done a pretty sweet review of Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box which you can watch here:

Next up, like I said before, Eirtakon was an awesome weekend, the biggest Eirtakon to date actually if I recall correctly so major kudos to the hard working staff, committee and con-director Shannon Walsh for doing such a great job! Well done guys! If you missed out on it you can check out the closing ceremony where a few of us Bros got up on stage with our charming personalities, an inflatable d20 and a fair bit of load noises along with the other great cons around Ireland to tell the wonderful attendees about ourselves. Check it out here:

Let’s see what else… Oh! We want to thank www.walshgraphicdesign.net for printing our awesome new flyers that some of you may have seen lying around Dublin recently ^^ Galway, you are next

Speaking of which, Akuma Day is almost upon us. Come join us in the Aras Na Mac Leinn on the NUI Galway campus in Galway city. We are gonna bring the thunder with some guitar playings! Wanna make any song requests tweet us @ulbrocon or just post on the BroCon Bros facebook!

Our staff officer Jim is also starting his overly dramatic hunt for staffers to join the noble Bro ranks for BroCon 2013 so if you are interested be sure to drop him line. Remember, there are some cool perks to helping out on the BroCon weekend. Email him at this address: staff@ulbrocon.com

One last thing, any GameMasters/DungeonMasters looking to run an RPG or LARP for BroCon feel free to drop me a blurb or two. Any GM who provides 2 games or more gets free entry to BroCon. Just email your blurbs to:
rpg_gaming@ulbrocon.com

That’s all for now anyways, hope you all have a great apocalypse Christmas and well shall give another update soon enough either after Akuma day or Akumakon or even Warpcon. Love ye all!

Later Days!
- Neal “Bubbles” MacConmhara
BroCon PRO/RPG/LARP

Are you interested in cosplay? Do you think you can create the best AMV? Think you have what it takes to enter this year’s competitions at Limerick’s only gaming and anime convention? Well then step right up and throw caution to the wind, be the first to sign up for Brocon’s Cosplay Competition and wow the audience with your costumes, be they bought or handmade!

As you know, last year Brocon held its first ever AMV competition which had a modest number of entrants. This year we hope to see a lot more entering with great videos so get innovative, you’ve more than enough time to put together a show-stopper!

At the moment the rules of both competitions are being reviewed and edited so if you’re interested please don’t go crazy with the ideas JUST yet.

I would like people to e-mail me with either “Cosplay” or “AMV” as the subject of the e-mail so I can easily see what you’re interested in and have a rough list of entrants to each competition compiled before the end of the month. For that reason, if you think you’d like to enter either competition please send me an e-mail. You can still enter after the deadline which will be the 1st December 2012 but, ideally, I’d like a good estimate of numbers before then!

Also, if you have anything you feel was good or could have been better, we’d appreciate the feedback on the rules and how things were run for each competition so get your voices heard!

The contact e-mail for preliminary entries (just let me know that you’re interested) and feedback is: screenings@ulbrocon.com .

Looking forward to hearing from all of you again!

Pauline Kenneally

Anime and Manga Officer
Brocon 2012

Good news! We have our dates booked and we are excited to announce that BroCon 2013 shall be taking place July 12th to the 14th and of course it shall be again bigger and better. We have learned many useful things about running a con over the past year and we are learning from our mistakes.

Also many many thanks to everyone who attended BroCon last July and those of you who couldn’t attend but wanted to, it means a lot to us and thus drives us to improve in anyway we can.

Be prepared, many more updates to come. Many plans for this year, new ideas and even more enthusiasm than ever before! To keep yourself in the loop easier why not add us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ULBroCon) and/or follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/ULBroCon)

And with that I shall leave ya and wish ye all an awesome Halloween!

Later Days,
-Neal “Bubbles” MacConmhara
BroCon PRO/RPG/LARP

Brocon AGM 01/10/2012
Agenda
• Con Director Feedback

• Election of new committee
o Con Director
o Vice Director
o Secretary
o Treasurer
o PRO’s
o Equipment and Safety Officer
o Staff Officer
o Screening Officer
o Console Officer
o RPG/LARP Officer
o Card Game Officer
o War Gaming Officer
o Web Admin

• AOB