Oni Hartstein and her husband, James Harnell, are owners of Onezumi Events, an event production company. Oni was gracious enough to sit down and answer some questions for us about putting this great event together.
What can fans attending
(Re)Generation Who expect to see?
Lots of stuff! We will have fan discussion panels, panels with the actors, and the opportunity to meet and get autographs and photos with the actors. We will have a video room playing Doctor Who-themed videos. On Friday and Saturday night we will have geeky performances, bands, plus a dance party featuring Doctor Who fan videos.
The TARDIS photo booth will be there offering green screen photos inside a TARDIS with different Doctor Who-themed backgrounds that you can choose from. At least 2 TARDISes, 2 K-9s, and a mechanical Davros will be at the con for photo ops.
Costumes are encouraged all weekend! We will have prizes at some events for the best costumes. Our Social Media department will be out and about interviewing and photographing the guests but we will also be featuring the fans. It's a big deal with us to spotlight the awesome work of our fellow Whovians.
We will also have a mobile phone based QR code game that we designed in-house specifically for (Re)Generation Who called The War Games. This is optional to play, but a lot of fun. We plan to evolve it every year. Did I mention that fan creativity is a big deal with us and that our most important thing is supporting the community? Yes, I believe I did. :)
We are so incredibly grateful that Tom Baker and his wife Sue Jerrard were kind enough to work with us for our first year. We are creating a (Re)Gen 1 exclusive Tom Baker career retrospective print which he will sign a limited number of. These must be ordered by Feb. 15, 2015 and are available for pick up at the con only. You can see some preliminary images here.
We will also have a mobile phone based QR code game that we designed in-house specifically for (Re)Generation Who called The War Games. This is optional to play, but a lot of fun. We plan to evolve it every year. Did I mention that fan creativity is a big deal with us and that our most important thing is supporting the community? Yes, I believe I did. :)
We are so incredibly grateful that Tom Baker and his wife Sue Jerrard were kind enough to work with us for our first year. We are creating a (Re)Gen 1 exclusive Tom Baker career retrospective print which he will sign a limited number of. These must be ordered by Feb. 15, 2015 and are available for pick up at the con only. You can see some preliminary images here.
Mr. Baker will be doing his first-ever (and possibly only-ever) Skype Q&A Session for his American fans at our con on Saturday, March 28, 2015 at 12 noon. This is available to every regular attendee with no extra change, but the room can only fit about 1100 people so I recommend you pre-register and get there early on that day.
We have more than this that will be released in the next 2 weeks. We aren't looking at any other con's grid. We are designing fresh panel programming and working closely with the guests to bring you things they have never done anywhere else to this con.
If there is one thing that sets us apart, it would have to be the innovation we bring to fandom. We really love what we do and always try to make everything more awesome than it already is.
Now this is not your first Con that you have organized, but it is your first Dr Who Con. What challenges have there been and how has organizing a Dr Who Con different then what you have done in the past?
Tom Baker was my Doctor whom I watched when I was very little. It was during a pretty awful time when my Dad was dying of lung cancer. In many ways I kind of looked to Doctor Who to get me through that. The kids in school made fun of me for watching it.
Having grown up and learned to like the parts of me that the other kids made fun of - it meant a lot to me to have Tom Baker here in some way for the first year of my con. I hope that any kids coming to the con realize that bad things aren't forever and sometimes the things that make you different are what makes you special and where you find your family.
This is really the main reason I work all of these long, unpaid hours to make cons happen. I hope that we can help those who may be going through bad things to smile. Having Tom Baker and Sue Jerrard's support really made my life go full circle in a way. Not only did the show I get made fun of for watching as a kid become a major thing I did something with as an adult, but my doctor chose us to get behind.
I like to think that Tom Baker and Sue Jerrard get what we have been doing for all of these years with our events. At least I hope they do. I kind of want to go to one of his appearances in the UK specifically to thank them for it. Such a small gesture on their part meant a lot. It also supercharged my entire staff to stay focused on the humanitarian reasons that we work so hard.
It all comes back to one thing - stay positive, do things out of kindness, and you can make the impossible happen.
Explain to our fans what the
"War Games" Game Event is
Yikes, since I am personally involved in all of the guest selection it's safe to say that I can't wait to meet all of them. I have to say that Nicola Bryant and Terry Molloy have been so fabulous in helping us get the word out in this first year. We will never forget that. It means a lot. I owe them drinks or something.
Now this is not your first Con that you have organized, but it is your first Dr Who Con. What challenges have there been and how has organizing a Dr Who Con different then what you have done in the past?
I actually think that in many ways this is easier than organizing, Intervention:The Premier Showcase of Online Creativity. Intervention is based on the idea of supporting geek creativity and sharing our knowledge with each other in a fun atmosphere. It's kind of like a combination of Maker Faire and Woodstock for geeks. That was a new concept that we had to get across. (Re)Gen is understandable from the beginning because even my Mom knows what Doctor Who is. If anything our biggest challenge is managing the quick growth and training all of the new staff as well as implementing a more robust infrastructure. These are the main things my meetings are about right now.
We have not seen Tom Baker in the
US for some time. You guys will be having him available via Skype for a Q&A
during the Con and having him pre-sign photos for attendees in advance. How did
this idea come about and what are some of the logistic challenges does this
present?
Tom Baker was my Doctor whom I watched when I was very little. It was during a pretty awful time when my Dad was dying of lung cancer. In many ways I kind of looked to Doctor Who to get me through that. The kids in school made fun of me for watching it.
Having grown up and learned to like the parts of me that the other kids made fun of - it meant a lot to me to have Tom Baker here in some way for the first year of my con. I hope that any kids coming to the con realize that bad things aren't forever and sometimes the things that make you different are what makes you special and where you find your family.
This is really the main reason I work all of these long, unpaid hours to make cons happen. I hope that we can help those who may be going through bad things to smile. Having Tom Baker and Sue Jerrard's support really made my life go full circle in a way. Not only did the show I get made fun of for watching as a kid become a major thing I did something with as an adult, but my doctor chose us to get behind.
I like to think that Tom Baker and Sue Jerrard get what we have been doing for all of these years with our events. At least I hope they do. I kind of want to go to one of his appearances in the UK specifically to thank them for it. Such a small gesture on their part meant a lot. It also supercharged my entire staff to stay focused on the humanitarian reasons that we work so hard.
It all comes back to one thing - stay positive, do things out of kindness, and you can make the impossible happen.
This is an optional mobile phone game that (Re)Gen staffer Wesley Mason designed and has been evolving for a few years at Intervention, our first con. We are working on a version specifically for (Re)Gen. Normally it's a scavenger hunt game that allows you to scan people who opt in, panel rooms, and items throughout the con to collect points. Sometimes a funny video might play on your phone. We are looking at building in a battle mode for (Re)Gen that will add on a family-friendly strategy level to it and we will decide this week if all of that gets rolled out this year or if we will do it in phases each year.
There are some prizes that we give out on the last day of the con those with the top scores. I'll be making a post on the (Re)Gen blog with the full details of how this is coming along in a few days. Every year it's definitely going to add more and more, so I encourage attendees to share feedback so we can make it even more awesome!
There are some prizes that we give out on the last day of the con those with the top scores. I'll be making a post on the (Re)Gen blog with the full details of how this is coming along in a few days. Every year it's definitely going to add more and more, so I encourage attendees to share feedback so we can make it even more awesome!
Out of all the guests coming to
(Re)Generation Who, which one are you personally excited to meet?
Yikes, since I am personally involved in all of the guest selection it's safe to say that I can't wait to meet all of them. I have to say that Nicola Bryant and Terry Molloy have been so fabulous in helping us get the word out in this first year. We will never forget that. It means a lot. I owe them drinks or something.
A good con. I owe them a good con...with drinks.
Even though we have not even had
the first (Re)Generation Who Con, have you thought about whether (Re)Generation
Who will be an Eastern Maryland Dr Who Con or holding it in different areas
every year?
We have no plans of relocating (Re)Gen out of the Maryland area. It's a great area with a lot of public transportation and parking. Also it's quite complicated and expensive to move an infrastructure and staff to another location. I don't recommend anyone try that without a lot of disposable income to invest.Why should a Dr Who fan attend (Re)Generation Who?
Our guest list is amazing and we've been running cons as a team (http://onezumievents.com/) since 2010 with nothing but amazing reviews. Most of our staff have been staffing cons for 10-20 years and we all love what we do.
Besides the quality we are known for and the great guest list we are working to innovate the programming and bring stuff that no one has done before in fandom, such as our QR code game. We are also working with the guests on programming that has never been done before at other cons.
Our events always have a friendly and all-inclusive atmosphere that sets us apart. Our cons were among the first to have an egalitarian anti-harassment policy. Everything we do is driven by my personal experiences growing up and finding my chosen family in fandom. We get a lot of emails about our cons and the thing I hear over and over again is that we have a personal touch that makes the experience pleasant and welcoming for everyone. I'm really proud of that. No matter how big we get this will always be #1 in my view.
Besides the quality we are known for and the great guest list we are working to innovate the programming and bring stuff that no one has done before in fandom, such as our QR code game. We are also working with the guests on programming that has never been done before at other cons.
Our events always have a friendly and all-inclusive atmosphere that sets us apart. Our cons were among the first to have an egalitarian anti-harassment policy. Everything we do is driven by my personal experiences growing up and finding my chosen family in fandom. We get a lot of emails about our cons and the thing I hear over and over again is that we have a personal touch that makes the experience pleasant and welcoming for everyone. I'm really proud of that. No matter how big we get this will always be #1 in my view.
Are tickets still available and
where can they be purchased?
If you already registered you can add onto an existing registration. Please note that you can only get Tom Baker's (Re)Gen 1 commemorative autograph if you're pre-registered for the event, and it's only available for pre-sale until Feb 15, 2015 (and with limited numbers).
I want to thank Oni for taking time out of her busy schedule and answering our questions. I hope to see everyone there.
I want to thank Oni for taking time out of her busy schedule and answering our questions. I hope to see everyone there.