Pure Speculation: The Last Best Hope For Geeks

By Jay Watamaniuk

Too long has the fine, fine city of Edmonton, Alberta been without a serious gathering of geeks. The call went out some years back and was heeded by one Brent Jans, who took up the lordly scepter of the Mountain Dew and multicolored dodecahedrons and got a darn convention organized. His event, called Pure Speculation, runs October 29-30 2005 and includes local luminaries and even the odd BioWarian thrall. Read on.

Website please:

www.purespeculation.org

What is Pure Speculation?

Brent: Pure Speculation is a celebration of speculation fandom. The purpose of the convention is to give the science fiction and fantasy fans in Edmonton an event where they can cut loose and really embrace their inner geek. However they are involved in SF&F, whether through gaming, movies, or literature, Pure Speculation is going to give them a glimpse of their hobby they might not have had before.

What is your role for this event and where did the idea come from?

Brent: I'm the Head Organizer for Pure Speculation. And I guess I have to take the blame for the idea as well. For a number of years, I mulled around the idea of this type of event, something that would allow the SF&F fans in Edmonton to come together and really immerse themselves in their hobby. Finally, about a year ago, I decided that the only way it was going to move from "thinking" to "doing" was if I committed to it. So I set the dates, put out the word for people to help me organize it, and set to work. Along the way, I encountered a number of people who were just as excited about this idea as I was, and they formed my core group of organizers. We are all huge geeks, so in a lot of ways planning the convention was easy; we just thought about the sorts of things we'd like to see and then figured out how to make it happen. That's a vastly simplified version of our organizational process, of course.

There have been SF&F cons in Edmonton before, but for one reason or another, none of them were able to keep running year after year. My goal is to make Pure Speculation self-sustaining, so that we can afford to keep it going and give the Edmonton fans something to look forward to every year. Believe it or not, I even have a 10 year plan laid out, so we're not going away anytime soon!

What events will there be?

Brent: What events won't there be? We have writers Minister Faust and Robert Richardson coming out to talk about their work. Diane Walton, the editor of On Spec Magazine, will be there to discuss the SF publishing biz here in Canada. Lewis Lavoie, a St. Albert-based fantasy artist will be on hand to display his work and talk about fantasy art in general. Mike Laidlaw (yes, one of yours, see next question) will talk about writing for the computer industry. The Knights of the Northern Realm will come out swinging with a demonstration of medieval fighting techniques. Members of the 501st Badlands Squadron, our local Star Wars costuming group, will be around the convention showing off their costumes as well as talking about how to get into SW costuming.

What else? Games! We have Dungeons & Dragons tourneys, the RPGA Living Greyhawk Retirement Party (run by the Edmonton Group of Roleplayers), Shadowrun, Cheapass Games (featuring Life-Size Kill Doctor Lucky), WWE Raw Deal CCG, Mechwarrior, D&D Miniatures, Nobilis, FRAG, Call of Cthulu...it's going to be a gamer's paradise.

Add to that the Pure Speculation Fan Film Festival, the Canadian Premier screening of "Uber Goober," the Saturday night Costume Party (featuring the Buffy-sing-a-long), the Saturday night Gamer's Basement (for those not party-ingly inclined), and the Charity Auction in support of Santa's Anonymous.

I think we've managed to pack a lot of geeky fun into one weekend. But keep checking back to the website, because even this close to the convention I'm getting people who want to run things.

I heard BioWare has a few staff members helping you out. Is this baseless lies and rumor?

Brent: Not at all! Bioware is the single largest concentration of geekdom in Edmonton, so it was no surprise to me to find a lot of help there. Stanley Woo has been with me on this pretty much from the beginning, and has been a key organizer. Mike Laidlaw, as I mentioned earlier, offered to come on board and run a writing workshop, and Mitchell Fujino is running the Mechwarrior tournament for us.

All in all, Bioware has been an amazing source of volunteers for the convention, and I can't thank these guys enough for giving their time to us. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank my other two organizers, Ron and Sylvia. They have both been invaluable to this event, and we couldn't have got as far as we have without them.

How is the convention shaping up at this point?

Brent: All in all, Pure Speculation is shaping up really well. I could rattle off a long list of events and guests, but the best idea is to head over to the website and check out our line-up there. But the organizers are pulling things together, the events are all lined up, and people have been pre-registering for the convention (which I highly recommend), so it looks like its going to be a great weekend!

Why should people attend?

Brent: If you look through the website, there are several reasons for someone to attend. But I can think of two general reasons.

First, Pure Speculation is an attempt to build a new event for Edmonton's SF&F fans. And we can only do that if the fans get involved, if they come to the convention and tell us what they think. There will be more of these conventions for as long as the organizers and I can make them happen. The single best way for a fan to have a positive impact on Pure Speculation is to come out, take part, and talk to us. That will give us a direction for future conventions, and help us keep the conventions about what they should always be about, the fans.

Second, and most importantly, it's going to be fun! Where else can you go and cut loose with your fellow geeks? Nowhere! There is no other event like this in Edmonton, and if you are a SF&F fan of any kind, Pure Speculation is where you want to be.