The joy of blogging

Rule 32 rules for a day…

Lovelies, I’m in Minneapolis at the moment for CONvergence. Here’s my crazy schedule there. Today is also the very first day of a new Indiegogo campaign that I want to support, so I’ve invited Su Haddrell over to tell you all about it whilst I stumble around in a fog of jetlag on another continent.

Over to you Su!

Hello!

My name is Su and I’ve been given kind permission by Emma to hijack her blog for the moment to bring to your attention a very special project. Presumably you are here as a fan of Emma’s work, of fantasy or sci fi fiction, and of the genre in general. If you enjoy board and card games, tv programmes like Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead or Doctor Who, comic books, role playing games, watching movies, collecting miniatures, crafting, cosplaying, or tea drinking, then I think this will appeal to you. I think that covers all the bases, but the general term that has become more mainstream in recent years is “geek.” I could go into the interesting debate about those who call themselves geeks and those who don’t, but that’s a conversation for another time, and I’m supposed to be introducing you to our project.

Sometime ago, my team and I had the ‘What would you do if money was no object’ conversation. One of the items on the list was to open a geek café. Somewhere to go to watch films, to play games, to hang out with friends and drink tea. The idea had been sat in our subconscious for many years, but a combination of career frustration and an explosion of geekdom around the UK allowed the idea to take root. The more we talked about it, the more serious we became. We didn’t just want the café, we wanted the events too. The Sci Fi Weekender and the UK Games expo gave us a taste, and there was definitely scope for a more permanent venue for such things. It would appeal to publishers, traders, writers, artists and performers as well. We would provide a place to go to see a writer discuss their new novel, or compete in a tournament of your favourite tabletop war game. We want to create a ‘Hard Rock Café for Geeks’.

So a year later and we are in early negotiation for beautiful 1920s theatre in the centre of Worcester. Worcester is our home city, settled around the River Severn with the gorgeous Worcester cathedral at its peak. The theatre is perfect for our needs but is in need of some serious renovation and love. So our next phase is funding. In this day and age, you can’t request more money if you don’t have money already. So we are appealing to the Geek culture that we know is out there. We want to unite all the UK Geeks to help us launch the Ultimate Geek Events Venue. As friends, we all pool our money together to buy our mate an awesome birthday present. We’re upping the ante on this technique. We want to provide you with somewhere to go, and in order to do that, we’re going to need your help.

Our campaign at www.indiegogo.com/rule32cafe launched on the 1st July. We’ve already caught the eye of some of the bigger names in the geek industry and they’re helping us out. www.genkigear.com are designing us some exclusive R32 t shirts in their unique design. SFX Magazine are giving away a year’s subscription to their magazine, and www.qwertee.com have also donated to our cause. So now we’re turning to you. Donate to our Indiegogo, bag yourself some awesome perks and help us raise the funds we need! For more information on how your donation will be used and the perks you can receive, go to www.indiegogo.com/rule32cafe

We know some of you have more important things to pay for, like….y’know, food, or paying the heating bill. If you can’t afford to donate, that’s ok. If you think this is an amazing idea, then tell your friends. Like www.facebook.com/rule32cafe for more updates on how we’re doing (as well as the occasional silly picture, and youTube of kittens) and get all your friends doing the same. This proves we have the audience and market for our Geek Events Venue, and we’ll also be able to invite you to events like Geek Meets and Games Days that we’re putting on whilst we work on Rule32. So come and help us out! We need to get everyone together to make this work. UK Geeks UNITE!!

I will now handover control of her blog back to Emma. It’s been lovely talking to you, and you’ve been most gracious during this hijack. Thank you for your time and we hope to see you at the opening party of Rule32Cafe.

Su

www.rule32cafe.co.uk