Episode 307: The Evolution of 221B Con

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 1 (00:32):
I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, Episode three hundred and seven,
The Evolution of two two one b con I head
of Sherlocke very well, since you became a drumming man
in a world where it's always eighteen ninety five. It's
I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, a podcast for devotees of

(00:54):
mister Sherlock Holmes, the world's first unofficial consulting detective.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
I've Heard of You before, Holmes, The Medland Holmes, The
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Stockland Yard, Jacket Office.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
The games afoot As we interview authors, editors, creators, and
other prominent Sherlockians on various aspects of the great detective
in popular culture. As we go to press, sensational developments
have been reported. So join your hosts Scott Monty and

(01:32):
Bert Walder as they talk about what's new in the
world of Sherlock Holmes a time. I'm Mill Curtis. This
is I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. Now Here are your hosts,
Scott Marty and Bert Walder. Hello, and welcome to I

(01:53):
Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, the first podcast for Sherlock Holmes
devots where it's always eighteen ninety five. I'm Scott Monty.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
And I'm Bert Wolder. How about that you.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Are the fully evolved Bert Wolder.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
I am. It's the kind we like, completely evolve, totally evolutionary.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
You're walking upright, I'm glad to see it.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Much of the time, except after certain Sherlockian events, then
we tend to be crawling home. Yes, yes, yes, Well,
we have a lovely show ahead for you today. We're
going to be talking about, well, some of the events
that you may be getting ready for this spring. There's
always certain Sherlockian events happening in the springtime, and we're

(02:39):
just going to remind you of what some of those
are one of those, of course, is a big one.
It's two two one becon happening on April eleventh, the
weekend of April eleventh in Atlanta, Georgia, now in its
twelfth year. We have with us Joanna Draper Carlson, who
is one of the lead volunteers in helping to make

(03:00):
that a reality. She's going to talk with us about
her history with cons with two to one BCN, what
to expect this year, and what to expect beyond if anything,
so stay tuned you won't want to miss that interview.
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friend of the program. Be sure to visit their entire

(06:16):
website at mxpublishing dot com. Johanna Draper Carlson has been

(06:37):
reviewing comics for over twenty five years and running Comics
Worth Reading since nineteen ninety nine. She has a Master
of Arts degree in Popular Culture with focus areas on
online fandom, and the portrayal of hackers in popular culture.
Her credits are numerous, including as a contributor to the

(06:58):
Guide to United States Post deular Culture, graphic novel reviewer
for Good Comics for Kids, a school library journal blog
since nineteen since twenty seventeen, a graphic novel and manga
reviewer for Publishers Weekly from two thousand and three to
twenty fourteen, a moderator for Doctor Who and Theology, a

(07:21):
monthly discussion group from twenty fifteen to the present, and
co host of the Manga Out Loud podcast from twenty
ten to twenty twelve. And she just founded the Sherlock
Holmes in Comics site at Sherlockcomics dot com. Joanna Draper Carlson,
Welcome back to I hear of Sherlock everywhere. Thank you.

Speaker 4 (07:45):
It is always great to talk with y'all.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
Well it is. It is nice for you to be
here with us once again. Now you were here in
I want to say it was episode well, season sixteen,
I think it was EPISODEAD. Do you remember your number?

Speaker 4 (08:02):
Oh gosh, no, I remember. It was about Sherlock Comics
dot com, which is now like four years old.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
It's three years ago.

Speaker 4 (08:13):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, yeah, So I'm glad you're back. Yeah. So we've
got an interesting show lined up this time, an interesting
episode talking with you about the evolution of two two
one bcon now. Crystal Noll and Heather Holloway were with
us I think on episode one sixty three to talk

(08:36):
about two two one bcon, which if folks aren't aware
of that, I don't know how you can be at
this point. Go back and listen to that episode and
get a sense for it. But Joanna talk with us
about where two two one BCON is now because I
know we've got an upcoming event. What correct year will

(08:58):
we end? What's the significance?

Speaker 4 (09:00):
Well, so the coming show this year, it's in about
a month. It's the weekend of April eleventh. It's the
twelfth year of the show. Certainly the show spun out
of fandom for BBC Sherlock the TV show, so the
audience has changed a lot over the years. It's the
only Sherlockian event of its kind, and that's why I

(09:22):
love it so much. It's very media friendly, queer friendly, diverse.
It's basically a group of Sherlockians take over a hotel
in Atlanta, Georgia for a weekend, and it's wonderful because
there's a ton of fan created programming. Over half of
it is Sherlockian and that ranges from the original canon

(09:44):
literary to media versions. Obviously, Watson is a big topic
this year because of the new CBS show, but there
are also other panels on other fandoms people are interested
in past years have had good Omens or our flag
means Death, or doctor Who. There are panels on creation
in terms of cosplay or writing or art. So it's

(10:07):
a really nice blend and it's very fan driven. I've
been going to conventions of various kinds for over twenty
years now, mainly in the comic book world, but this
one is very much, as I said, fan driven, because
fans volunteer. They put in ideas for panels they want
to talk about, and then they volunteer for other people's panels.
So we've got some people doing presentations. I'm doing one

(10:30):
on how everything we know about Microft Holmes is a
lie because Microft is one of my favorites. But then
you also have people doing roundtables and discussions and sharing experiences.
It's just there's, like I said, there's nothing else like
it in the Srilokian world, and that's why so many

(10:51):
people love it.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
How do you how do you go Jermana? How do
you go about organizing? And from an editorial stand point,
you know the planning. I mean, it's with all those
things in flux and so much change.

Speaker 4 (11:05):
Well, speaking of change, it was announced at last year's
show that this year would be the final one, and
I immediately went through the five stages of grief that weekend, denial, bargaining.
I went up to Heather and Crystal and said, do
you need money? Can I give you money? Keep it going?
And as a result, I wound up helping them out.

(11:27):
I'm a project manager in the day world, and so
I helped them get some organization going, help them delegate
some work. You know, spending twelve years of your life
getting this going is a lot of investment and a
lot of time and energy, and it's certainly understandable that
they maybe want to move on and do something else

(11:48):
or just get some of that time back. So this
year they've let me help them out. I've seen a
good deal of how the organization's going behind the scenes.
I'm not the only one, there's another Heather who's been
handling social media. And there's still a great group of
people that help volunteering and staffing and all that. So
I don't want to make it sound like, you know,

(12:09):
I came riding in or anything, but I love the
show so much I wanted to do what I could
to help. So to get to back to your question
about the organization, it's just a matter of hitting certain deadlines.
At this point. There's a very dedicated crew that come
every year. It's kind of like a like a reunion
of that sort of fellow fans and friends, people who've

(12:30):
made friends during this weekend, people who maybe can use
this weekend to try new things. But there's a period
of time where as I said, people put in ideas
for panels. There's some that tend to show up every year.
There's certain segments of fandom that always want to talk

(12:50):
about their things, like Molly Hooper for example, from the
BBC Show. And then we take that list and and
see do these all sound good. One that I'm particularly
interested in this year is when good art is made
by bad people, which is going to be a way
of talking about what happens when there's sort of a

(13:13):
metwo situation with a creator of a favorite fandom, So
there's all kinds of topics and then we put out
Once we have that list sort of pared down. As
we said, people can volunteer to be on them. If
there are panels that nobody volunteers for, then they kind
of get cut. And then there are several tracks of
programming that are put on a staggered schedule. There's several
panel rooms going at any given time, so sometimes the

(13:36):
challenge is, wow, I want to see both these things,
but I have to pick one. So it's just you know,
keeping on top of it. And I think we have
about sixty some panels on the list this year. We
are because it was going to be the final year.
There is a sort of cut down space at the hotel,

(13:57):
so there aren't as many as there would normally be.
But the panels run generally from five pm Friday to
generally about two pm Sunday, because Sunday there's always Ashley
Politech and Curtis Armstrong always do a panel together that's
really great whatever subject they pick, and then there's what
they call the Last Bow panel where everybody comes together

(14:18):
who's still there on Sunday afternoon and talks about here's
what we liked, thank you for doing this, here's some
suggestions we have. Like last year, they suggested they open
up the hotel reservations for the next year immediately, so
they went and talked to the hotel and did that.
So it's a feedback and how can we help continue
to make the show better.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
That's really great. You know that that kind of real
time feedback. You don't see that very often. Usually it's
you know, people go away where they they're sent to
survey and it's it's a little removed from the experience.
So yeah, the emotions run hot, but you also get
immediate feedback.

Speaker 4 (14:56):
Well usually it's a little bit of a love fest
because people enjoy being there so much, so they do
they just say, you know, I want to appreciate the
volunteers who are helping do registration, or I wanted to
appreciate the person who helped me do this, or you know,
so and so had a great costume or whatever. But
it's a really great way to sort of wrap it
up in sort of a joint encounter session.

Speaker 1 (15:18):
So how many people typically attend to to one beacon
And have you seen growth over the years well.

Speaker 4 (15:26):
As I said, it's it's not what it was during
sort of the peak of Sherlock fandom. One of the
things the show's been coping with is during that peak,
they didn't have to do a lot of outreach because
people would just search for and find them. So now
as the show's matured, there's a little bit more of
how do we make sure that the people that will
find this great know about it. For instance, at the

(15:50):
New York Sherlockean Birthday weekend, we had some bookmarks and
Belander Books is our first show sponsor. We added sponsors
this year and they kindly stepped up and agreed to sponsor.
The kN Ludwiod Group is our other sponsor of the playwright.
But Bilanger Books had at their table some giveaway bookmarks.

(16:11):
But as I was saying, it's a different kind of
event from sort of some of the more traditional Scion
based Sherlockean events, So I want to make sure that
the right people are finding it. And if people are
not going to be comfortable, my shorthand version was, if
you don't want to be somewhere where people have pronoun buttons,
this is not the show for you, And that's okay.

(16:32):
You know, it's a matter of finding the right mix
between the event and the attendees. But to answer your question,
we had about three hundred guests last year, and the
room block closes March nineteenth, as we record this on
March fourteenth. But I think most of it sold out already.
And again we had a few we had we had

(16:53):
we cut back a little bit because it was going
to be, you know, a slightly smaller show. But yeah,
I think it's all sold out. I mean there's still
I think there's still rooms at the hotel, you may
not be able to get within the show discount block.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
So just to be clear, if people want still want
to register to attend or register to stay there, there
are still rooms available in the hotel.

Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yes, but they may not be at the discount right,
got it. So, I mean, you know, it's the Marriott
Atlanta Airport Hotel, so it's really easy to get to.
Everything goes to Atlanta, so a lot of people never
leave the hotel. But there are other things to do
in Atlanta, including a really cool puppetry museum that has
muppets in it and a really great aquarium, And for

(17:39):
some reason, some people are fascinated by the fact that
there are waffle houses.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
Okay, well, and there is a waffle House Scion Society basically, yes,
and I think.

Speaker 4 (17:52):
That's where they formed, Yes, So you know, it's whatever.
It's a great way to meet up with people and
learn about new things. I'm always I find it interesting
seeing what the panels are for, to be like, oh,
this is an up and coming fandom I was not
aware of, so you can see that the But then again,
there's always sherlock too, So you know.

Speaker 2 (18:16):
Joanna, how do you reach out to people who are
not in the orbit of all of this?

Speaker 1 (18:22):
Now?

Speaker 2 (18:23):
How do you get the Because interestingly enough, you know,
this is sort of a recurring theme among Sherlockian societies.
You know, the membership comes and goes. And I always
am surprised by finding the number of avid people who
have a real interest in this stuff, even today, And
when you tell them about it, they're absolutely you know,

(18:44):
they had just no idea there were organized You would
think it would be hard to hide, but there are
a lot of people you come across who say, gee,
I never heard of that. Yeah, that sounds interesting.

Speaker 4 (18:55):
There are a lot of events these days and a
lot of a lot of shows and conventions and things,
So yeah, that was one of the challenges. Normally, when
I've helped with promotion for other things in the past,
it's a matter of if you like this, you'll like that.
So you know, I'm trying to promote that, let's find
the people that like this well. As I said, this
is kind of unique in its approach, so a lot

(19:17):
of the traditional Sherlockean media and outreach is not necessarily
the perfect match. I did write an article for Sherlock
Holms magazine recently about international visitors coming to two two
one B because that magazine is based out of England,
and I happened to know a couple that had come
and had a great time. Of course, I did that

(19:38):
right before travel the US became potentially dangerous for some
of the audience, so that's kind of an unfortunate situation.
It's Atlanta is a big convention town, especially in media,
so I know that they've done outreach at various other
local conventions, Dragon Con, that kind of thing. But yeah,

(20:00):
getting the word out is tricky. There's a lot of
word of mouth in this case. You know, I have
friends who I know would love this come on. We
got someone to come from Italy last year just because
we were talking it up and she had a fabulous
time and is planning to come back this year, I think.
But that that is that is always a challenge to
make sure people hear about it, especially if you're doing

(20:22):
it without a lot of advertising budget or any advertising budget.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
Actually, always a challenge.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
Have you seen the fan? Well I know the answer
to this, but I'm curious what your perspective is on
how the fandom has changed, Where the fandoms have changed.
You know, that's that's what's out. What's is it more
cosplay less cosplay?

Speaker 1 (20:47):
Is it?

Speaker 4 (20:49):
Well, so it's it's it's fractured. But that's not a
bad thing.

Speaker 1 (20:53):
You know.

Speaker 4 (20:53):
Instead of everybody being into BBC Sherlock, we have we
have a panel that's going to be about Sherlock on stage.
So that's got some historical aspects to it, particularly ephemeral form. Unfortunately,
because you know several years ago that not a lot
of those were recorded. One of the big big drivers
right now is Sherlock and Co. The podcast slash audio drama.

(21:16):
And in fact, here's a piece of I'm going to
check real quick to make sure that I can. Okay,
here's here's a scoop for you. We are trying this
year an AV hook up. Normally it's just basically live
who you know come to the show and do a presentation,
but we are trying a live AV hookup with one

(21:36):
of the creators of Sherlock and Co as a as
a sort of remote guest.

Speaker 1 (21:42):
They have been remarkably dialed into the fandom. Yeah, yeah,
very responsive. I know. We talked with Joel back on
episode to seventy five, and we talked with Harry who
plays Sherlock on episode three hundred. He really was and
to us that show is like an audio version of

(22:03):
the BBC Sherlock and to your audience at two two
one beak on. It would seem almost like a natural
extension to go from that televised version of a modern
Sherlock Holmes to an audio version that still has years
of runway in front of it.

Speaker 4 (22:21):
Yep, yep, yep, and a lot of people. Someone last
year was Couse playing as John Watson and actually had
the same kind of recorder and microphone that he mentioned
in the show. It was it was amazingly well done.
They were carrying that and a takeaway coffee cup that
said junk on it, so it was it was a

(22:42):
great great godsplay. Yeah. No, we actually have two panels
set up for that. We have one with the with
the av that we're crossing our fingers at works. It
is an experiment, so I hope people will be will
be generous to us. And then we're also doing a
discussion in terms of the fans, you know, who like
it and what they like about it and all that
kind of thing. I'm trying to think what other fandoms

(23:04):
we are promoting or we do have panels on this year.
As I said, Watson is popular.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
Is Watson outside the US at this point or is
it just in the.

Speaker 4 (23:18):
I don't think so. I don't think so. I think
it's I think it's the US. We're having one on
the fiftieth anniversary of Jaws, which was surprisingly popular. Oh,
we are talking to Brian Belanger for about how to
succeed as a Schrilokian publisher. Since he's one of our sponsors.
We wanted to talk to him about. I think they're
having their ten anniversary this year, so that's that's good

(23:39):
timing for that. Oh and our other guest one of
our other guests is Helen Greatham, who has created The
bee Keeper's Picnic video game. I don't know if you're
familiar with this. It's releasing this month. There was a
very successful Kickstarter about it. But it's basically cozy or

(24:01):
cottage core. It's basically you are Sherlock Holmes. You are
trying to give Watson a nice picnic and people keep
trying to get you to solve cases for them, and
you're like, I just need to get him some food
so we can go sit by the shore in Sussex
and have a picnic. But it's got it's got audio acting,
and it's it's adorable. It's just wonderful. But she's coming
in from England actually to talk about you know what

(24:24):
inspired this game? What are some of the Easter eggs.
I don't want to spoil those for you, but there's
some hilarious ones, so that that's going to be exciting.
But there's all these aspects of what people are doing
with the characters. One of one of my one of
my friends is doing a panel called can You Do
That and Live? They're both doctor? They're two people in

(24:44):
the panel are both doctors and it's for people who
want to write medical scenes into into Fick and so
here's some sort of things they've seen over the years
in terms of yes, this is research and no, don't
do that. So that ought to be amusing. And then
there's also one on autism and neurodiversity in Sherlock Holmes,
the character is often uh seen by a number of

(25:07):
people as on the Spectrum and one on Agatha all
along the Marvel the Marble Show.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
Yeah, yeah, I mean so there's a.

Speaker 4 (25:17):
Whole range of topics.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
And yes, that is fascinating, and you know, the idea
that they're not all like bored down into the hole
that we've dug for Sherlock Holmes, but are adjacent and related.
And you know, we all every Sherlockian that we know

(25:38):
has other interests and they find ways to bring them
into you know, their writing or their presentations or whatnot.
So it's fascinating to see that it's coming to life
that way too.

Speaker 4 (25:53):
Two one becon well, but I want to be clear,
there's also room for I mean, we have a panel
on B s I and ASH and other societies you
know there it's not all just sort of you have
to love the media version I mean, my my panel
on Microft comes from from sorry, comes from the Arthur
Conan Doyle Cannon in terms of what John Watson tells

(26:15):
us versus what we see about the character.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
Well, and I wanted to ask you about that. Everything
we know about Microft Holmes is a lie. What's the
premise there? I mean premises would.

Speaker 4 (26:29):
John Watson is not a reliable narrator when it comes
to the big brother of Sherlock Holmes. It comes from
I mean, he tells us things like, oh, he never
leaves his tracks, and then we immediately see him at
two two one B. It's he can't get his eye
color straight. He you know, he can't. They're gray, but
they're light gray, and then they're steel gray. It's it's,
you know, we see him twice and yet there's these

(26:51):
immense contradictions in the characters. So this is this is
actually an idea that I have been telling Dan Andreacho.
I want to write for the Bigger Street journ for forever.
So I figured if I had to do a presentation,
I might actually start.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
That's great. It sounds like a lot of fun if anything.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
Now is it? How is it? Joanna? You don't know
that the odd converse of this is true that Watson
is a very reliable narrator, but it's Micraft who is
actually shape shifting.

Speaker 4 (27:25):
Well, you see, I actually wrote a piece for a
book once where there was a shape shifter. But it
wasn't Microft. It was Grimsby Roylott. And that's why you
have all those animals at his place. It doesn't here
he's actually turning into the cheetah and the baboon and
the and the snake.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
So oh, I like that.

Speaker 4 (27:40):
That was Brad and Robb's monstroum Opus. You had to
put a monster in Sherlock.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
Holmes and yeah, I think that was the same edition
where Ray Betzner had oh who was a little Edward
Rucastle is werewolf?

Speaker 4 (28:01):
Yes, the werewolf of the dog.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (28:04):
But you can you can be playful and still be
you know, interested in traditional Sherlock Holmes cannon, which is
an approach I have to. It ought to be fun
if nothing else. So the other presentation I'm giving is
brother mine, how you've changed a comparison of the Holmes
brothers across time and visual media. But I'm giving that

(28:26):
in Dayton first, and I mentioned that, and people were
like I can't go to Dayton, but I want to
see it. I'm like, okay, I'll give it a get
it too.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
Two one be oh good? Forward to that. Yeah, well
there's there's a double plug right for all of you,
for all of you Sherlockian travelers out there who happen
to be doing it all, like like Joanna, if you're
going to be in Dayton next weekend, that's a great plug.
And if you're going to be in Atlanta in April,

(28:54):
in mid April, that's a plug as well.

Speaker 4 (28:57):
Well, I didn't even mention the fun of the social events,
because there is there is There is a geek prom
where the theme is Heavenly Bodies like the met Gala,
and we also have a karaoke night.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
So wow, coming out with your fellow shock.

Speaker 4 (29:15):
And of course there's always the bar, but.

Speaker 1 (29:18):
That goes without saying. Yeah, the geek prom, this is
something that happens every year.

Speaker 4 (29:25):
There's usually a dance.

Speaker 1 (29:26):
Yeah, what are some of the standout costumes or outfits
that you've seen?

Speaker 4 (29:31):
Well, I don't think there was a theme last year,
although I did end up teaching some people how to
ballroom dance for some reason that I was briefly a
ballroom dance ta in college. So they set up this
thing and I don't know if the instructor didn't show
or what was going on, but I was like, Okay,
let's here's a box step. So that was fun. Yeah,
it's people bringing all of themselves to this and all

(29:52):
their unique talents and interests. As you said, so yeah,
or you know, and then there's always the thing about
it being in the same location is that you can
always just wander through and see somebody. The first year
I went, I was there kind of early. There were
not a lot of people around. There was someone sitting

(30:13):
by themselves. I could tell they were one of us,
you know, because it is an airport hotel in Atlanta,
so you occasionally get the delta, you know, costume, sorry,
not costume outfitted flight uniforms. Yes, not costumes anyway, So
this person was sitting by themselves, and so I went
over and said, do you mind if I sit with you?
You know, this is my first time. Can we talk
a little bit? And she started telling me how she

(30:36):
was an artist. And it turns out that the phone
case I had on my phone she had drawn the
art for. So that's the kind of kind of place
it is where you're like, oh my gosh, you're so
and so. I love your work. I read your fic.
I you know, yeah, because the thing that the thing
that I love about this aspect of fandom is that

(30:57):
after spending so long in comic books where it's very
you know, heavily mail, it's very you know, can you
answer this trivia question driven? Do you know where the
first appearance of so and so? Which issue it was?
To come into this fandom. When I did, and specifically
the media fandom, it was immediately encouraged to be creative.
You know. It was like, uh, oh you have that idea,

(31:18):
why don't you write that up? Oh I couldn't write FI.
Oh yeah you could. It's fine. I'll hope you all
BETA for you, you know. And it's just it's it's
just encouraging to bring your visions and bring your interpretations
and let's talk about them and let's create more out
of it, you know. AO three and the Association for
Transformative Works.

Speaker 1 (31:36):
Yeah, so well, and that kind of brings to mind
you mentioned before twenty years worth of con attendance from
your own interests, obviously commolunteering.

Speaker 4 (31:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
And comic con looms big in that. But of all
of the cons that you've gone to over the years,
how many are more of that corporate comic con type
and how many are you know, like, fandom driven, and
what are the differences that you've seen?

Speaker 4 (32:07):
Uh big, yeah, No, I basically went to there. There
are what I consider three types of comic book conventions.
There's your super huge San Diego, New York C two
E two in Chicago that are very much here's, you know,
comic books, but here's also video games and movie promo

(32:28):
and people who were in a movie twenty years ago,
or pro wrestlers signing autographs, and very big, media driven
and huge, almost like Disney World, and that you walk
around and you look at people in costume and you
stand in line for a lot of things. The second
type is your more regional conventions, your Heroes Con, your

(32:49):
Baltimore Con. I think Wonder ConA I've never been there
in California, in which case it's still sort of a
bit more comic focused, but it is. It is big,
and there are lots of lines, and they do bring
in special guests, but it's just a more comic focused
version of the larger shows. And then there's the art festivals.

(33:09):
You're a small press expo in Bethesda, Maryland. Your Toronto
Comic Arts Festival, which is more creators and publishers only,
so it's more like going to a craft show, but
they're making comic books. Those are my favorite. All of
these are great kinds of shows as long as you
know what you're getting into when you're prepared for it.
The Fan Driven Con I had never seen before, and

(33:30):
so my first time there it was like, wow, this
is really kind of interesting. This is just people talking
about what they like. The closest one I know of
here in Madison, Wisconsin, they do something over a Memorial
Day called wiz Con, which is a feminist science fiction convention,
but it's very much similar in terms of I want
to talk about this, Does anybody else want to talk
about this? Great, let's get a room and have a panel.

(33:52):
It's a very different atmosphere, but it's also very welcoming.
Did that answer your question?

Speaker 1 (34:00):
You answered my question and more? You know, That's what
I love. It's just fascinating to me because as an
observer from the outside, you know, I haven't gone to
any cons like this, haven't had the chance yet to
go to two two to one bcon So I was
just curious as to how it all worked together. And

(34:23):
you know, you mentioned earlier in the show that last
year the announcement was made that this show, this twelfth show,
might be the last. And you've talked about so many
people volunteering here. But if people want to see this continue,

(34:45):
how do they get their voices heard and what's the
reception like?

Speaker 4 (34:50):
Yeah, there was a lot of dismay at last year's
show when they announced it. I saw somebody on social
media recently say, you know what, this is the last one.
I say, we all just go down at the same
time next year and we blew it ourselves. I don't
think that would really work, because there's a lot involved
in putting a convention together. But there are some plans
in place to try and continue this. And I'm trying

(35:14):
to be very careful about this because there were some
people who said, well, if this is the last one,
I need to make sure I go. And I don't
want people to feel like it was a bait and
switch continue as going out of business sale kind of situation.
It was really you know, the organizers rugs. Yeah, the
organizers have put a lot of time and money into this,
and as I said, it's been a big part of
their lives, and one might understand that they needed some

(35:36):
time to step back. We're trying to work out a
way that it can continue. It's not entirely set yet,
so I don't want to make promises to anybody, but
fingers crossed that we're hoping that it will be able
to get because so many people love it. And I
mean I was telling them, given where I was over
the past few years and everything that was going on
in my personal life, this show literally saved my life.

(36:00):
It's one of the things that finding this and finding
fandom and finding the wonderful people. I have made some
best friends out of people I've met because of this,
that it's really important to me to try and find
a way to continue. And that's why I pitched in
this year to try and help take some of the
load off of them. And I told them, you know,
I'd love to help. I have these skills, even if

(36:21):
it's still the last one. At least maybe I made
it easier for you. Maybe you had some more fun
this time, so you can leave on a high note.
But we're trying to see if we can find a
way for it to continue. What there are always people
that want to volunteer. You know, con Weekend is a
high and so people are like yes, and so in
order for this to happen, people have to be really

(36:42):
realistic about what they're able to do and commit to
and contribute. They'd had some problems in the past, apparently
before my time, where you know, people had said I'll
do this and they just either overestimated, or they flaked
or other things happened in their lives, which you know,
this is.

Speaker 5 (37:00):
Kind of a.

Speaker 4 (37:02):
Volunteer event. I mean, it's it's it's run based out
of an llc uh, you know, a company, because you
have to because there are taxes involved, there's insurance involved,
there's contracts with the hotel. It's not just a let's
get a barn and put on a show kind of thing.
So there's a lot of detail that goes into it
and and a lot of responsibility. But as I said,

(37:23):
it's it's such an amazing thing, and I understand that
a lot of people came forward and said can I help,
can I donate? We were we were looking into sort
of a personal sponsorship kind of thing, kind of like
a crowdfunder, but with more benefits. But luckily, you know,
fingers crossed right now, it looks like the show is

(37:44):
going to be in the black this year, so we
didn't need to do that because there's always a thing
about I find in cases like that sometimes the people
that are most generous are the ones least able to
afford it. And so you know, we we we set
up the two sponsors this year, which we are thrilled
that people were willing to do that to enable us

(38:05):
to continue. That's something that I want to continue looking
into if the show does continue. They're the dealers. We
have a number of dealer tables where there's there's exciting
things to buy, whether it's books or crafts or jewelry
or artwork or costume pieces. It's it's really cool. And
I should have mentioned them long before because they helped

(38:27):
fund a lot of this.

Speaker 2 (38:30):
Well.

Speaker 1 (38:30):
I mean, ultimately, it sounds like there's a little something
for everyone that two two one Bacon and quite frankly,
if you can't find someplace to fit in, and maybe
maybe you shouldn't be there at all. But it sounds
like it sounds like there is a little something for
everyone and a lot of something for people too. I mean,

(38:52):
boy karaoke on Saturday night? Is it is it sherlockean
karaoke or is it just carry out?

Speaker 4 (38:59):
I think last year Ira Mateski started us with Baker
Street so perfect. If I remember, I don't know, it
all blurs together. It's like I think I've only gone
like two or three times, but it seems like it's
just a you know, an essential part of my planning
every year every April be in Atlanta so.

Speaker 1 (39:20):
Great. So if thing about the.

Speaker 4 (39:23):
Hotel is that they actually have their own bee hives.
What last year one of the one of the panels
was going to be a tour of the bee hives
and because they take the honey and use it in
their recipes in their restaurant, but unfortunately the bees had
not survived the winter, so we weren't able to do
that last year. But yeah, so it's kind of a neat,

(39:44):
neat connection. You know, Hey, damn be.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
So so I guess I guess there was no plan
b h.

Speaker 4 (39:55):
They do call the volunteers the bees so.

Speaker 1 (39:59):
Perfect. Well, I hope all of the all of the
drones and worker bees down there that help out the
volunteers have a great time, and you know, we'll we'll
see what happens with two two one bcon going into
the future. But Joanna, I wish you all the best
in your role as as volunteer and sheep herder and

(40:22):
whatever else it is you're doing and all of ours.

Speaker 4 (40:27):
We decided that my title was guest and Sponsor coordinator
this year because I was I love talking to people.
That's the thing I'll ask anybody anything, basically, and it
was it was great fun reaching out to people and
trying to come up with ideas for who would be
a good match here. One of the things that unfortunately
fell through is that with all the Sherlockean programming coming out,

(40:48):
there's like six different things coming out with Sherlock and
Cohen Watson we know of, but then there's a Young
Sherlock Home show, and there's there's other things happening. I
really wanted to reach out to some of the media
services because I thought they would be this would be
a great match for them. It's the only sort of
uh uh, I don't want to say media focused, but
you know, media friendly Sherlock gathering for the most part.

(41:12):
So yeah, there's there's so there's there's more that that
could be done. That's why it's it's been like crossing
my fingers that we can find a way. But I'm
sorry I stepped on your on your.

Speaker 1 (41:21):
Ie thinking no, no, no, no, that I'm glad you
said that, because well, there is another media friendly platform
where these folks. What's the name of it. Oh, of
course it's IHOS.

Speaker 4 (41:36):
Yes, yes, we've we've talked about that, and I'd owe
you some book reviews for the blog because that's something.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
I will be talking for more. Yeah. Yeah, well you're
going to lift for our listeners. If you go to
the eye here of Sherlock everywhere website I hear here
of Sherlock dot com, you will be seeing more of
Joanna's name in the future. There she She and I
had a conversation about her role, and we're not prepared
to talk about it in length right now, but let's

(42:03):
just say we are mutual Admiration Society members, so that's
always a good thing. It's true, Joanna, We wish you
all the best in Atlanta. Please give our warm wishes
to Crystal and Heather as their leadership winds down there.
And it's bound to be a really remarkable gathering, and

(42:27):
I want to.

Speaker 4 (42:27):
Take one last chance to say, are there are a
lot more people involved in this. There are more people
behind the scenes, coordinating various things. I don't want to
just because I haven't worked directly with them, give the
impression that is just the three of us or anything
like that. There's a lot of people that make this happen,
and I don't want to downplay their contributions because it
really is a group effort.

Speaker 1 (42:47):
Excellent. Well, thank you for that, and thanks again for
being with us here, and I hear of Sherlock everywhere.

Speaker 4 (42:53):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 (42:54):
Thank you, Gumen. One of the fascinating things to me
is the themes that you see in two twenty one
b con, particularly the resonance. You know, we mentioned Sherlock

(43:21):
and co. And I never thought about this before, but
there's a theme that's been consistent with the character of
Sherlock Holmes, which is looking on Holmes as a contemporary,
someone who is in the same time as the readers
and the listeners and the viewers are. And that was

(43:42):
the case up until about nineteen thirty nine, when twentieth
Century Fox was the first one to do a period
film of Holmes Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. But in the
years before that, Holmes was always seen with contemporary clothing,
you know, in the streets of England in the nineteen

(44:04):
twenties and so on. And it just occurred to me
that this now after the BBC Sherlock has become a
continuing theme and you see that in Sherlock and Co.
That isn't that interesting? How It's another aspect I think
in which Wish Holmes is unusual because you can't that

(44:24):
certainly doesn't apply to Robin Hood and Tarzan and you
know popular other popular characters. Isn't that interesting?

Speaker 1 (44:34):
It is? I mean, well, when you think about it, it
goes back to the original. I mean, Sherlock Holmes was
a contemporary of Victorian and early Edwardian London. Conangela was
writing in the moment in real time there, so we
again go right back to the origins. You know, the
modern interpretation of Sherlock Holmes is a parallel to what

(44:58):
was then a modern interpretation of Sherlock Holmes. And you know,
it's interesting. I was talking with a friend just yesterday
about the Reacher series by Lee Child and how there's
a limited window, limited time frame there, and she said
it's almost like Nero Wolf, where the characters don't age right,

(45:19):
they kind of remain the same age forever, and they
simply happen to or have to adopt the surroundings of
the modern world if you want to keep them that
same age, rather than keeping them bound to a particular
time period. So I guess that's what's happening with Sherlock Holmes. Ah, Yes,

(45:49):
it's the learned societies that time in the show. When
we talk about Sherlocke and events that are going on.
We know we've already kind of looked slightly into the future,
but since our show comes out every two weeks, we
thought we'd push it another two weeks beyond what we
looked at last time. So toward the end of March.

(46:09):
Of course, we have the Dayton Conference coming up next weekend. Bert,
you're going to be on hand for that last night.
I will be absolutely always fun Watson's Tin Box of
Ellicott City in Columbia, Maryland on March twenty fourth. What
else do we have? The Tourists International in Chicago have

(46:29):
their dinner meeting on March twenty ninth, and the Priory
Scholars have their lunch in New York City on March
twenty ninth as well. Moving into April, of course the
Ash Dinner Ash Wednesday. We mentioned that last time up
in Montreal, Quebec, the Bimetallic Question is having their meeting.

(46:51):
You can check them out at Buymetallic Question dot org.
And again we'll have all of the events here linked
in the Sherlocking Calm in the show notes. So if
you happen to catch one that we're mentioning here, just
go and check it out at Sherlockanclendar dot com. If
you happen to be in Canada as well. The Bootmakers

(47:13):
of Toronto, actually you don't have to be in Canada
for this one. It's a virtual meeting. They're having a
meeting on April fifth.

Speaker 2 (47:23):
Well, and then in Michigan in East Lands here, Michigan,
the Greek Interpreters. We're having a luncheon meeting on April
fifth as well. Are you going to that?

Speaker 1 (47:32):
I am not, because I am going to be overseeing
the meeting that evening in Warren, Michigan for the Amateur
Mendicant Society.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
And then in Denver. Well, you see there's a lot
going on in Michigan and in Denver, Colorado. Doctor Watson's
neglected patients will not be neglected for lunch on the
sixth of April. Virtual meeting at the crew of the
Bark Loans Star on April sixth, Good Grief. And then
the Redheaded League of Jersey in beautiful New Jersey meeting

(48:07):
on a dinner meeting on April ten that we are
looking forward to. And I'll tell you the subject of
that meeting is going to be the CBS series Watson.

Speaker 1 (48:18):
Oh, that could be a lot of fun. Yeah, let's
see what else do we have here? We've got, oh,
Columbia South Carolina. We're having a dinner meeting on April seventeenth,
the Handsome Wheels of Columbia, South Carolina. The Norwegian Explorers

(48:39):
are going to have their virtual study group on April
the nineteenth. Nashville, Tennessee. See we're all over the map.
This is lovely. Nashville, Tennessee going to have the Nashville
Scholars of the Three Pipe Problem luncheon meeting on April nineteenth.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
Well, and then at the end of the month, this
is probably a good place to stop. Als twenty sixth
in Indianapolis. You and I are going to make a
rare joint appearance at the Midwest BSI Canonical Conclave, where
the focus will be just Scions Scion meetings and how

(49:19):
we can strengthen local communities and expand them people who
are interested in Sherlock Holmes. I'm really looking for that
in Indianapolis.

Speaker 1 (49:27):
Yeah, it's a lovely concept put together by Steve Doyle.
And the idea here is that you've heard there are
so many of these science societies that are having meetings
all over the place. Well, when we can support each
other and strengthen each other and come up with ideas
and exchange structures, and I mean even how we're organized

(49:51):
as a business, there's all kinds of things for us
to talk about to help further the pursuit of Sherilockian
activities to the future. And we don't have to feel
as if any of us are isolated in what we do,
because there is this wonderful community of Sherlockians and now
of Sherlockian societies that are coming together. So we'll look

(50:14):
forward to that and I'm sure we'll have a report
coming out of the conclave, and I hope it's not
as controversial as Conclave with Rafe Fin, which is a
great movie.

Speaker 2 (50:26):
By the way, white smoke, what happens if white smoke
comes out of the chimney.

Speaker 1 (50:33):
It'll be blue smoke, blue, gray, and purple smoke.

Speaker 2 (50:39):
Smoke. Yeah, you know what that signifies in the world
of Sherlock Holmes. Don't you that he was smoking with
his dressing gown on?

Speaker 1 (50:46):
Again, he fell asleep with all three dressing gowns on.
That's right. It's a chance of listening with your correspondent,
Madeline Quinonez.

Speaker 5 (51:00):
Hello everyone, I'm Madeline Kenanis and today I'm here to
talk about another podcast that discusses the cannon story by story.
This one also got started in twenty nineteen and it's
still going, albeit on an irregular schedule. It's Sherlock from
Adler to Amberley. Each episode, co hosts Karl Koppak and

(51:24):
John Reese invited guests to come on the show and
talk about the featured story with them. Usually the guest
is are Sherlock in and they've had on Bonnie mcbird,
Let's Clinger, the late Nicholas Kuttaken, Katherine Cook, Rob Nunn,
me a couple of guys called Scott and Birt, who
somehow made the three students interesting. A handful of things

(51:47):
make the show unique. One is that they focus on
the short stories, hence the title, from Irene Adler and
a Scandal in Bohemia to Josiah Amberley and the retired Colorman.
Another unique element is their wantson watch, which is when
they zero in on whether or not Watson does anything
more in a story than take notes and follow homes

(52:09):
around brutal Sometimes that interesting. Also, this is actually one
of the harder show I can podcasts to find because
it runs in the feet of a different show called
ripper Cast. There's been some talk of tackling the novels
once they're done with the short stories, and I hope
they do that. There's also a long awaited plan to

(52:30):
have a panel of guests rather than one single guest,
to debate upon the Mazarine Stone. As for highlights, well,
you have all the short stories from Scandal up to
the Missing three quarter and an array of guests to
choose from. So I really think you should just pick
a story and a guest and go from there. But

(52:51):
I will say the extra long special episode that covers
the final problem in the Empty House and features both
Less Clinger and Burt Cool's. Is all a lot of
fun and that's all I've got for now. The next
Adler to Amberley episode should be the Abbie Grange and
I'm looking forward to it. Until then, play along at
home with pots and watch and I'll catch it later.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
Well, that was lovely, Madeline, thank you for that reminiscence
for us from Adler to Amberley. As you say, we
were happy to be guests on the show there talking
about the three students, it was a lot of fun.
And you can tell those guys actually have a lot

(53:36):
of fun regularly, which is why we're so pleased that
you're involved with that as well. Well, you recognize that theme,
that's right. It is canonical couplet the Sherilockean Quiz program
where we give you two lines of poetry and ask

(53:57):
you to come up with the Sherlock Holmes story that
we are talking about now. If you were around here
the last time, you may recall that we gave you
this clue. Do you can John Clay in his dark
room safely hid? That's a lot more than JPS Wilson did.

Speaker 2 (54:20):
Bert.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
Here we go I'm going to ask you, despite my
better judgment, if you know what the answer to this
episode's canonical couple it is.

Speaker 2 (54:31):
Oh, it's a terrific case. It's one of the early adventures.
It's where that poor fellow that challenged Victor Hatherley encounters
a frozen salesman at an estate sale. It's the case
Watson called the Auctioneer's Numb.

Speaker 1 (54:50):
Oh. Oh, I think I'm numb after that one. Oh.
As always a valiant effort on your part. But no,
we're going to have to turn to our friend Eric Deckers,
as always who helps us out, saying I've got it.
It's the story of when all the male bank robbers
were off fighting in the Manipuri Rebellion of eighteen ninety one,

(55:14):
so women began dyeing their hair and robbing banks in
order to keep the underground economy healthy. It's the story
Watson called the red Headed League of their own, except
I've likely struck out with that, guess, and it's more
likely to be the red Headed League. I'd be said

(55:36):
if I didn't win. But there's no crying in canonical couplet.
Oh crying, well done, good movie reference there, Eric, But
you are right. It is the Red Headed League. While
you are eligible to win, I'm going to pull out
the big prize wheel and give it a spear, and
here see if we can determine which of the many

(55:59):
and Trince was the lucky guesser this time. And it's
slowing down on number twenty two. I like that twenty two,
and that looks like it is Shana Carter. Welcome, glad
to have your contribution here. You will be receiving a

(56:20):
copy of the Golden Era of Sherlock Holmes and his
Contemporaries by Michael Cohen, so stay tuned for that. I
should also mention among the many entries that we got
here last time includes Hannah from Sweden. Always nice to
see some overseas participants, so welcome Hannah. You did get

(56:43):
the answer right, Unfortunately you were not chosen this time around,
but keep at it, and we encourage everyone else to
keep at it as well. So here's your chance. If
you happen to know the answer to this canonical couplet clue,
you will have a chance to win h something from

(57:06):
the vaults. I think it's something from the vaults this
time around. Yeah, So here we go. We gaily watch
a wicked Man's disease while Holmes and faithful Watson break
the peace. If you know the answer to this episode's
canonical couplet, put it in an email addressed to comment

(57:28):
that I hear of Sherlock dot com with canonical couplet
in the subject line. If we choose your Nate random
from all of the correct entries, you'll win. Good luck?
All right, Bert? What do you say? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (57:46):
What do you say? That's what I want to know.

Speaker 1 (57:48):
I've said all I can say at this point.

Speaker 2 (57:51):
Oh, you've got all those books behind you. Whyted you
pull one down? There are more words there, It's full
of words.

Speaker 1 (57:57):
Well, I'm afraid if I do that, they're to collapse
on top of me. It's always a danger, that's true. Well,
for everyone listening, please shore up your bookshelves. Wasn't that
a wasn't that from kiss Me?

Speaker 2 (58:13):
Kate?

Speaker 1 (58:14):
Sure? Up your book shows? Stopped reading them? Now?

Speaker 2 (58:20):
Now you're thinking of Dinah Shore up your bookshelves. And
she's always driving around the United States and her Chevrolet
so who knows?

Speaker 1 (58:29):
Who knows? Indeed, good old Dinah Shore. You know, I
hope they used a Chevy for her. Her final resting
place for her. Hearse to get her to the cemetery.
That would have been get her to the cemetery on time.
There's another musical reference. Oh my gosh, well, we better

(58:51):
get ourselves out of here on time before we get
ourselves into more trouble. Until we speak again. This is
the always on time Scott Monty and I'm.

Speaker 2 (59:01):
Closing in Boston, I'm Bert Wolder.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
And together we say the games afoot, the games are
a foot.

Speaker 4 (59:22):
I'm afraid that in the pleasure of this conversation I'm
neglecting business of importance which awaits me.

Speaker 3 (59:32):
Thank you for listening. Please be sure to join us
again for the next episode of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere,
the first podcast dedicated to Sherlock Holmes.

Speaker 1 (59:46):
Goodbye and good luck and believe me to be my
dear MAEMO. That is SINCENNI yours, Shelock Holmes,

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Episode 307: The Evolution of 221B Con

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