Extra Life is a tabletop game tournament that raises money for hospitals in the Children’s Miracle Network. Here in Seattle, this means all the money raised will go to Seattle Children’s Hospital–an amazing place where kids and their families experience so much every day, and they can always use our help. All the players and Dungeon Masters are taking pledges for their 48 hours of gameplay, starting this Friday, October 2, at 12pm!
Hiya, readers! For this installment of Artist Corner, we at GeekGirlCon connected with Nicole Dieker of Hello, The Future! She has been reaping the successes of her recent Kickstarter and took the time out to answer a few questions from us in between shows.
Hello, The Future! punching in the hours to make music for a nerdy world.
1: For folks not familiar with your music, how would you describe your sound?
“Nerd folk” is probably the most accurate statement. I say “geekrock” a lot too. Sometimes I tell people I sound like “girl Jonathan Coulton,” which I really don’t, but there’s a lot of overlap between people who like JoCo and people who like my songs.
2: You have recently completed a successful Kickstarter! What was the most rewarding part of the whole process?
Learning that I have a fan base willing to support an unfinished project.
By this point, I was nearly three years into performing as Hello, The Future! and I looked at the Kickstarter as a bit of a milestone marker; if I couldn’t get support for this project, I should step back from the full-time independent musicianry.
Then we not only funded the project, but also funded two stretch goals. It was an amazing feeling, knowing I had a team ready to support and back my work.
3: What are some obstacles you have faced as you were promoting The Geek Girl EP?
Boosting the signal is always the biggest obstacle. There are so many musicians and so many Kickstarters and so many tweets and videos and Facebook posts.
In my case, I started telling the story of the Kickstarter long before I actually announced the Kickstarter. I involved my audience in the process from the very beginning, showing them drafts of songs and drafts of rewards, letting them know how invested I was in this project and how much I wanted to give them the best work I could.
This helped because when we were ready to launch the Kickstarter, the audience was already ready to back. I didn’t have to spend the first week of the Kickstarter explaining it to people.
The other smart thing I did was get on as many podcasts and websites as I could. I would watch the stats, and every time I did an interview (even for a small podcast) the signal would boost and more people would back the project.
4: What is the most valuable advice you can offer for someone thinking of starting their own Kickstarter?
I have two pieces of advice.
1: Test your project and rewards with your fans before you launch the Kickstarter. I put an early draft of my Kickstarter online and asked my audience to tear it apart, which they willingly did (the internet seems to enjoy that kind of thing). They gave me a lot of useful information, including which rewards they liked (and which rewards they didn’t like at all) and helped me shape the final draft of the project.
2: Do the math, for both the money and the time. Make a budget. Create an estimate of how much it will cost to produce the main project, and then add on how much it will cost to produce and ship all of the rewards. Remember that Kickstarter and Amazon each take their cut, and that there’ll likely be taxes you’ll need to pay as well. Then figure out in which order you’re going to fulfill and ship the rewards, and how much time you’ll need to produce each of them (while you’re simultaneously working on the main project). That’ll help you create a realistic plan of action for the Kickstarter.
5: What are you geeky about right now?
I am coming late to the Song of Ice and Fire series, having discovered it through the Game of Thrones HBO show. Nearly finished with A Feast For Crows at this point. Because I am a redhead, I’m making a Hipster Melisandre costume for Halloween which includes a t-shirt that reads “I served R’hllor before it was cool.”
Thanks again for taking some time out of your hustle for GeekGirlCon, Nicole! Congratulations again on not only a great EP, but a successful Kickstarter!
Hey everyone, Shubz here and back from a fun-filled weekend of sleeping in, sun, and LEGOS! That’s right, this past Saturday, I got an opportunity to check out BrickCon with my husband and a few of our friends. Feast your eyes on some of these impressive structures!
This pyramid is no joke! Check out all the detail in the layers to give it that unfinished look.
You can’t go wrong with Ron Swanson.
There was a booth with blacklight and light up lego structures, and my favorite was this beautiful chessboard.
Now this was definitely another favorite! BEHOLD THE BATCAVE! This was complete with a rotating panel that held Batman’s other suits and all the vehicles the Caped Crusader cannot go without.
I never knew the Justice League decorated so minimally.
Folks, this is only a fraction of the Hogwarts structure.
Another view of Hogwart’s. How awesome is that?
Please check out BrickCon’s site to catch more of the fun and building that happened this past weekend.
If you are a builder of any of the structures I have added, please email me at prcontent@geekgirlcon.com so I can properly give you props on your hard work and creativity.
What’s on your Lego builder bucket list?
–
Shubz K. Blalack
PR Content Producer
prcontent@geekgirlcon.com
Hi folks, Shubz here! Recently, I got in touch with emcee LadyJ to ask her a few questions about her journey as an artist and to also discover what makes her inner geek sing (or in this case, rap)!
1: We ask everyone this: what are you geeky about right now?
All I gotta say is this. If you understand the term “Love & Tolerate” you are 20 percent cooler in LadyJ’s book! >:)
2: What made you choose rap as your preferred method of self-expression?
I found myself having a hard time understanding my own emotions. Like seriously, at the age of 9, I just never seemed to give a crap. Musically, it all came out, whether it was composing the music, lyrics, or otherwise.
3: What boundaries have you faced in your development as a performance artist?
Sacrifice, know what to sacrifice, when to sacrifice, and how to do it. Ya can’t reach where you want to be without it, so ya gotta become a juggernaut.
4: What song did you have the most fun creating?
Off my Our Fantasy mix tape, there’s a song called Lunar Cry. I got to act the most insane I ever got to act on a record. A couple of friends helped me alot with the concept and lyrics; one of them was even on the chorus. (Note: song contains strong language)
5: Are there any upcoming projects you have to share about?
I have a few commercial single dropping soon. Fat Trel and a few other local celebs will be featured. I plan on doing another project for my fellow otaku soon… It’ll be completed before the year is up in time for AUSA and MAGFest!
Thanks for taking the time to geek out with GeekGirlCon, LadyJ!
