Ever wonder how to build a thriving community around a shared passion? This week, we journey to a galaxy far, far away with Spencer from The Virtual Cantina Network (VCN), a Facebook group boasting over 100,000 Star Wars fans!
Get ready to explore the secrets behind building such a massive and engaged online community. Spencer shares his own Star Wars origin story, sparked by seeing Empire Strikes Back with his dad, and how that experience shaped his lifelong fandom. We’ll delve into the magic of seeing a new generation discover the Force and how that fuels the VCN's mission.
Beyond the digital realm, VCN is famous for its epic in-person meetups, especially the legendary "Boonta Eve" parties at Star Wars Celebration. Spencer paints a picture of the electric atmosphere and offers encouragement for any hesitant dads to join the fun. We also explore the strategies VCN uses to cultivate a welcoming and inclusive environment, and how the community extends beyond Star Wars into deeper connections.
Plus, Spencer shares invaluable advice for anyone looking to build their own community around a shared interest. Tune in to discover how VCN helps dads carve out time for personal enjoyment, what exciting plans lie ahead for the network, and the one piece of Star Wars wisdom that resonates most with Spencer as a fan and community builder.
May the Force (and this episode) be with you!
Looking for more episodes? https://podfollow.com/tatooine-sons-a-pop-culture-podcast/home
Join our Facebook Community SPECIFICALLY for Star Wars Dads! > https://www.facebook.com/groups/starwarsdads
Get ready to explore the secrets behind building such a massive and engaged online community. Spencer shares his own Star Wars origin story, sparked by seeing Empire Strikes Back with his dad, and how that experience shaped his lifelong fandom. We’ll delve into the magic of seeing a new generation discover the Force and how that fuels the VCN's mission.
Beyond the digital realm, VCN is famous for its epic in-person meetups, especially the legendary "Boonta Eve" parties at Star Wars Celebration. Spencer paints a picture of the electric atmosphere and offers encouragement for any hesitant dads to join the fun. We also explore the strategies VCN uses to cultivate a welcoming and inclusive environment, and how the community extends beyond Star Wars into deeper connections.
Plus, Spencer shares invaluable advice for anyone looking to build their own community around a shared interest. Tune in to discover how VCN helps dads carve out time for personal enjoyment, what exciting plans lie ahead for the network, and the one piece of Star Wars wisdom that resonates most with Spencer as a fan and community builder.
May the Force (and this episode) be with you!
Looking for more episodes? https://podfollow.com/tatooine-sons-a-pop-culture-podcast/home
Join our Facebook Community SPECIFICALLY for Star Wars Dads! > https://www.facebook.com/groups/starwarsdads
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Tattoine Sons, a Star Wars podcast, the only
fan podcast to name a canon Star Wars creature and
to be endorsed by the writer and director of The
Last Jedi, Ryan Johnson. Get ready to explore a galaxy
far far away across the generations. Here is your host, David,
the bow Tie Jedi Guy, along with his special guest,
(00:24):
the founder of the legendary Virtual CANTEENA Network, Spencer Jowitts.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hey there, Star Wars fans. David here, your Bowtie Jedi Guy,
and welcome to another exciting episode of Tatooine Sons. So
have you ever wondered how somebody could build a thriving
community around a shared passion like Star Wars.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Well, this week we are.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Taking you on a journey to a galaxy far far
away with Spencer from the Virtual CANTEENA Network. Most of
you are probably familiar with VCN and Spencer. It is
a Facebook group that has done something pretty amazing, gets
united over one hundred thousand Star Wars fans, So get
ready to hear Spencer's own Star Wars origin story, Learn
(01:10):
a little bit about the magic of introducing a new
generation to the forest, and then the unforgettable in person
meetups that bring the VCN community to life. Plus he's
going to share some tips on creating a welcoming space
for all fans and how to carve out time for
personal enjoyment as a dad. So grab your lightsaber, stay tuned.
(01:35):
This is one episode you won't want to miss. This
is tattooed Suns.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Call up. I have my head, Colvetch, I have an idea.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
A couple of weeks ago, you told me an amazing
story of your first experience of Star Wars in a
movie theater. And you know, obviously going to Star Wars
with your dad is a cool thing, but your story
is unique and hilarious all at the same time. Tell
me tell everybody listening about so.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Obviously, my introduction to Star Wars was a lot of
saying that a lot of people had. If you were born,
you know, in the mid seventies, which was my introduction,
was Kenna. That's how I learned Star Wars. Darth Vader, obviously,
Luke Skywalker find out from there. But my first experience
in the theaters was actually Empire Strikes Back. And I
(02:23):
know a lot of people might say, oh, I don't
remember my first experience at going to see a movie,
you know, at the age of four. But this was
something that I distinctly remember because if you're in the
opening sequence of Empire Strikes Back and you're in Rebel
based on howth there's that scene where Showbacca is obviously
(02:44):
welding the falcon. So my recollection is I actually thought
that Chewi was gonna either electrocute himself or sinch his
first with the welder. So I started crying. And I
was four, three and a half, four years old. I'm
(03:08):
concerned about Chubaca and his well being. So I started
crying my eyes out, and my dad's like, you're embarrassing
me and took me out of the theater. So that's
my first, you know, recollection of watching Star Wars in
the theater. But since then, not only is Empire Strikes
Back my favorite Star Wars movie, but it's also my
(03:28):
favorite movie of all time. And it's funny how I
have that memory of how troubled I was by this movie.
It turned out to actually be the movie that kind
of shaped my fandom and also shaped my life as well.
So it's kind of cool in that, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Aspect and It's cool that you had a dad that was
willing to not only take you to see it as
a four year old, but willing to take you out
of there because you were having a complete meltdown at
that moment.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
That's funny.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
So a lot of our dads like that are ours
our listeners or dads introducing Star Wars to their kids.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
What's it like for you to see.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
A new generation and now, you know, being an Original
Trilogy fan like you were growing up in that area,
seeing a couple of generations discovering a galaxy far far away,
and how does that influence what you guys do over
at the virtual canteena network.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
So a little insight for myself personally is going into
celebration twenty nineteen for Chicago. I wouldn't say I was
a prequel hater per se, but I was an Original
Trilogy loyalist, you know, in the capacity that you know
(04:51):
nothing will ever touch Dot, you know, how dare they
blah blah blah. And seeing the love that I'm at
best got in Chicago.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
Was a.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Wake up call really for me and the fandom in
the capacity that I was like, you know something, this
is not my Star Wars anymore. It really isn't that
the kids of the prequels were now the parents that
were bringing their kids to celebration and the love that
Hayden got, that Ahmed got, that Daniel Logan got, that
(05:29):
Ray got, that Youing got. That was their Star Wars.
Who was not the There's always going to get props
given to Harrison carry Mark, Peter Anthony, Ian Kenny, you know,
the whole old school traditionalists, you know, ot people. But
people are going to harbor more on the prequels. And
(05:50):
if you watch Mandalorian, you know it's after Return of
the Jedi. Dave Filoni is heavily prequel oriented. He's very much,
especially considering the fact that he worked on the Clone Wars,
so he's got invested interest in that timeline of the prequels.
(06:12):
So with that in mind, I kind of like I
went back home and I rewatched the prequels in the
new eyes under the eyes that it's not my Star
Wars anymore. This is just Star Wars period. This is
the new norm. So in my mind it kept on,
you know, rolling into what every you know, new era
(06:35):
of content is someone to other gateway into Star Wars,
and that includes Right Now, the sequel generation. I also
found that, just like yourself, I am very much a
fan of Ryan Johnson and The Last Jedi absolutely absolutely
adore that film for many a reason because it was
(06:56):
something different, it was something bold, there was something that
was changing the way we scoped Star Wars. I looked
at that in the next now, in the next ten years,
that movie's gonna be a catalyst for where Star Wars
is gonna look like for the next twenty to thirty years.
(07:18):
And honestly, we would not have had and Door and
the themes of and Or, I particularly think without Last
Jedi being so shaking the tree a little bit. But
the someone else's entry point into Star Wars is going
to be Mandalorian Grogo next.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Year, so absolutely so.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
To me, I looked at it as like, I don't
have to. I'm not gonna stand up and try to
explain to someone why they should like Last SHEDI I'm
more along the lines of right now, like you know,
something that was a waste of energy for me. I
was exhausted. I said, I love what you like, hate
what you like. But at the same time, no matter
(07:59):
what you say, it's still Star Wars. I don't care
if you say, I don't look at it from there.
It's Star Wars, so love would you like have a
good conversation about it? And I want you to have
a good conversation within the fandom because initially George wrote
the original three movies as a response to the Vietnam
War for a twelve year old kid, and they maintained
(08:22):
that Star Wars is for the kids. Now you can
make arguments about every property is like, is this really
a kid's property? When you even look at Skeleton Crew,
it really wasn't a kid's property because obviously at the
same time where the kids were in it, it had
that feel of ambulance, which had that sense of danger.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
It was almost a nostalgia play towards our generation, watching
our generals exactly.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
So the fact of the matter is that if we're
gonna be fighting over a twelve year old show and
we're in our middle ages right now, maybe we should
have either on getting over ourselves really yeah, and realizing
that there's a bigger roles out there and you know,
have an open mind that you know they're You don't
(09:09):
have to like vanilla, you don't have to like chocolate.
You don't have to like Strawberry. But at the same time,
those slavers are out there, so you're good, they're gonna
be there. Why you choose them if Bascom Robbins or
not Well's.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
And the one way I've heard it described numerous times
it makes a lot of sense to me, is don't
yuck in somebody else's you know, right, You don't have
to like something, You don't have to like everything, but
be okay with the fact that this has expanded into
something that people from lots of different backgrounds can like.
And that kind of goes into what's going on with
Virtual canteena network because you guys have this massive I mean,
(09:42):
you guys are If it hasn't already happened as we speak,
it will within the next day or two. I think
you're clearing one hundred thousand members in your Facebook group.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Yeah, so we're in ninety We're at ninety seven to
one as it when you and I are recording this
right now. We gained eighteen thousand since I got back
from Japan, and five thousand crazy from when I got
into Japan, which is interesting because when I arrived in
London in twenty three, we weren't at fifty by the
(10:18):
time I got to London, but day by day one
of London we hit fifty thousand. By a time I
left London on Monday morning, we gained ten thousand in
four days.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
During comm so we knew that we had we had
a fifteen thousand dollars sorry, fifteen thousand members swing during London.
We had over twenty five between the time I got
to Japan and yesterday at fifteen thousand. Of that, it's
fifty to eighteen thousand of that was since I got home.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
It's like these events that you know, surrounding celebration itself
kind of pull in this interest and everything else. But
it's also going back to what we were talking about a
moment ago. It's this when you have a group that
is as massive as it is, not just in the
number of people, but globally. It's people all around the world.
(11:17):
It's people from all different generations and backgrounds, and some
people love the movies and some of the shows and
some of the books and the comics and the games
and all those different types of things. The level of
different opinions and all of that is amazing. How do
you feel like you guys have found sort of a
secret sauce for creating a environment where people that have
(11:42):
much varying opinions all across the board can find a
safe place to discuss these things. What are some of
the things that you guys have been able to do
in order to make that happen.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
So first and foremost, there are many Star Wars Celebration
fan pages out there. We're not the only one, and
we all pretty much have the same name when it
comes to the Facebook page because it's easy to find.
What differentiates us more so than any other group, and
nothing against any other group, they're all great in their
own capacities, is the fact that we are a full
(12:12):
fledged community that does not stop at celebration. We keep going.
We keep the spirit of Celebration going three sixty five
twenty four to seven, whether it be with podcasts on
the Virtual Canteen Network on YouTube, or whether it be
events at other conventions or you know, meetups or anything
nature that we keep going to the family vacation that we
(12:34):
do every other year from Celebration, which we're in the
plans right now for twenty six. So literally coming to Celebration,
especially if you're coming alone could be quite jarring, it is.
My first Celebration was twenty seventeen and I came alone.
And I remember coming off of we ran our first
(12:56):
event in twenty seven at Celebration, and that was my
first celebration, So I had a hutzpah to actually run
an event, not knowing what Celebration was, because I was
just like, yes, I want to hang out people, you know,
That's all I want to do. I want to meet people.
So I remember lining up for the fortieth anniversary panel
and a little bit inebriated and having people behind me
(13:18):
philosophize about the Star Wars at four o'clock in the
morning online to get into the panel, And in my mind,
I was like, shut up, shut up, shut up. How
am I the most normal person here? And I'm a
Star Wars guy in my family?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
And because in that line with you, maybe we were
having that conversation.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
But that was my mindset. I'm like, come on, man,
at four o'clock in the morning. By the end of
that weekend, I was one of those people. I got
I got the bug, you know. And so to me,
it was like Star Wars Celebration is a religious experience.
In the fact that it's also unlike any other convention
(13:55):
you'll go to in the entire world period. You can
go to your fan expos, New York Comic Con, La
Comic Con, Sandio Comic Con, Dragon Con, and nothing is
like Star Wars Celebration. However, I tell everybody, if you
prep for Star Celebration, you'll be great. And every other couple,
we all breeze compared to celebration unless you're trying to
(14:16):
like the whole age in San Diego. So the way
I look at is this is that we have an
opportunity that we go to a lot of my friends
and I go to con together all around the country
or all around the world, not celebration esque, and we'll
have meetups. And then other people wont to have meetups
(14:37):
at their local con or a then nature so they
can meet members and get to know people. So by
the time we come to our events a celebration, whether
it be Boot' Eve, whether not so virtual Cantina or
even going to celebration, you know five to a couple
one hundred people, not just by name on you know,
a Facebook page, but you have to face. You know,
(15:00):
one of our members has some property out of Asheville,
North Carolina, and every year he'll have like fifteen to
twenty of us come out and go do you know
a tour of the Biltmore State or wine tasting or
you know, water rafting or anything nature. But it's like
twenty of us from the group. Last year we had
(15:22):
a saber meet up right in front of Biltmore State,
like at night. So there's pictures of us with sabers
with the Biltmore State behind us, Like, look, this all
stems from we all found our tribe. You know. I
have members who will fly said to me that they were,
you know, very macho in their you know, in their temperament,
(15:47):
that society dictated that that's how they had to be.
They had to deny their inner child. And once they
found a tribe per se that accepted them for who
they were. I've had their families say that it's changed
their lives to the better because they could finally be
(16:07):
who they wanted without society dictating. But I've also seen
how I love to tell the story is one of
our members has a son who's on the spectrum, was
very introverted when I first met him and sang at
our Aldron idol competition, at Buntive Anaheim in twenty two,
(16:29):
which you and your boys were at.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Absolutely we were there and he was very.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Much an introvert at that show. By the time we
got to twenty three London, he was dancing on the
stage during the competition doing the worm like going absolutely nuts,
and since then joined the choir at his high school,
joined the theater department, and basically found himself because of
(16:58):
the work that we do and his father his mother
both said to me several times, and his father and
I have become really really good friends. He's you know,
he's up here in Boston. You change our family's dynamic
and I can't thank you enough. Before you did for
my son, who is completely interested and now he's an
auditioned with theater. No he's going to college next year
(17:20):
and wants to go to a liberal arts school. Like wow,
you know. To me, I'm like, I just I just
did it because it made me feel good about myself.
I mean, I found myself through this group. You know,
I was always looking for my tribe. I've been in
different groups, different clicks, if you will, trying different hobbies
to try and get myself in. And I found myself
(17:41):
in the midst of finding this group. So to me,
I feel like I owe the group its own set
of honor and gratitude purely selfishly because it's helped me.
But if I can help someone else, you know, you know,
go out to you know, hey, you know, let's tell
(18:02):
you too many conversation about stars or I'm gonna be
fanexual Boston or Rebel scum Con or icc con or
whatever Com'm going to and hey, we're gonna go out
for dinner or drinks at the hotel or whatever. Come
with us. Because by the time we get to twenty seven,
you're gonna know at least five people, and that five
people that celebrate by celebration. By the end of Natso
(18:23):
or Bunta, you're going to know twenty to thirty people.
And then when you're on line, Hey, I Mitchell, lest
are you saying? Or I did carry out with you?
Or yo, we did shots together last weight. That was fantastic.
It's a conversation you're having while you're online, you know,
for two hours for Hayden or anything in nature. And
I love that because and then we get to keep
that spirit around for the two years in between celebrations.
(18:46):
That's just that much more, you know, when we go there.
We unfortunately I couldn't go to icc Con this past weekend.
We had a fan table there and a lot of
people either who were members or knew about the work
we did, came up to that table or knew about
what we're playing on doing with Rebel Scum cont August
down in Frisco, Texas. So it's really about keeping the
(19:11):
spirit community Celebration alive. If anything else, it's a love
letter to Star Wars because, like we said, we all
come from different backgrounds. We all love star for different reasons,
but we all came in to Star Wars. Whether we
like the prequels and sequels, Mandalorian Resistance, Rebels, Clone Wars,
you know, Young Jedi Adventures, we all love Star Wars.
(19:33):
So that's the core of what we like, and that's
the core we love. And that's what we tried to
push is that it's okay. It's okay to like or
dislike something, but you might have a friend who might
not like that. That's completely okay as long as you're
not you know, yucky, as you said, yucky someone else's
youm and destroying Star Wars for them for that particular reason.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
You know, you you guys have seen.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
This online community as you were kind of as you
were describing, there become a offline community or real world
community where people meet up and get to know each
other and those types of things. And one of the
ways that that has manifested that is honestly becoming pretty
legendary in the Star Wars community. Are these Boon to
Eve celebrations you guys have went, And that was the
(20:21):
first one that was that not so virtual cantina. What's
the difference between not so virtual and Boon to Eve?
Speaker 5 (20:26):
By the way, so not so virtual cantina and it's
correct form is the night before Boon to Eve is
us going to a bar at the local hotel and.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
Just hey, for me, it's one our swag trainlet's hang out,
tell a couple of drinks. That's it. No pressure. When
we decided that we were doing Japan, which initially I
could fly out and say I did not want to
do just because the logistics, I didn't want to run
a show at all. And one of my right hand man, Dave,
was like, Spency, you know you're gonna be running a show.
(21:01):
I'm like, I don't want to run a show. Do
you understand that the anxiety that I'm heavy about runing
a show in Japan, I'm like, we can't do Bunta
righte and what Honestly, we love karaoke to be part
of our events, but the main issue with karaoke is
it's not a draw by itself, especially when you're in Japan,
(21:23):
when it's karaoke all around the country. What differentiates Bunta
from any other event we do is the fact that
we have been able to get a number of guests
throughout the Saga to show up to do meet and
greets at our events. So I was not flying anybody
(21:45):
to Japan. That was another thing I was not gonna do.
So I was like, I can't get it. But between
Ice se Kan last year, where I had one conversation
actually Chris Parsons from Empire Strikes Back and a couple
other people, I found out a lot of actors were
actually flying themselves to Japan because they want to experience
(22:06):
celebration in Japan. And they were calling me and say, hey,
what can we do to subsidize our trip? And I'm like,
You're making this very hard for me to say that.
That's where it really turned out to be that's fun
so and not so virtual cat like I said, is
typical bar night. But the thing was, fortunately and unfortunately,
(22:29):
is that celebration in Japan was one hundred percent will call.
So in my mind, I was like, well, I'm coming
to a different country in order to do a boon
to correctly, we need to have eight hours of availability
for us if we are having to do will call,
(22:50):
and I'm limiting them all of my time that I
can actually be in country due to personal you know issues,
or and work and you know, life and all that jazz.
There was no way in hell that I was gonna
be able to run a traditional bunda. So initially we
were just going to do a not so virtual canteen
at the local hotel bar. But there was no local
hotel bar. The bar is attached to a restaurant, and
(23:14):
the restaurant was not going to close down to the
hotel for us. So what we decided was I found
a location that was willing to work with us, a
fifteen minute walk from the main hall for celebration, and
I was like, well, I have a three to four
hour you know, time span that could play with. That's
(23:36):
not conducive to a full Boonta Eve at all. A
special addition, sure, but not a full boot to Eve.
So what I decided was this is, like, we have
a three hour window. Let's just call it a not
Soo Virtual Canteen, a special edition whereas we will do
the best of the NASO and the best of Bunta
into a three hour span and and you know it's been.
(24:03):
It was an incredible experience. I could say that we
sold out tickets for this event on the first of
the year in four minutes. I did not have an
opportunity to do like twenty five percent sold. We're sold out,
like what And that's before we even announced one name,
(24:24):
by pure name, by pure reputations people. Yeah right, we
did the same thing in London, but we sold out
in a day and a half in London by pure
name recognition before we announced one name. And then when
we started announcing names, people got really antsy and got
the fomo about coming to the event. So we actually
(24:50):
ended up doing what we call a hyper space ticket,
which is basically like if someone leaves, our doorman will
cut their their bracelet. All right, two people, half price ticket.
You don't get the buffet you don't get a swag bag,
but you get to come in, get autographs, place the box,
all you can drink. You know, in Japan, we had
to line one hundred deep in Japan outside to the
(25:13):
point where and also carry on a crowder from the
skeleton crew had a line that wrapped around the building
three times just to get her Autographile. So I spoke
to management at the at the bar and I actually
I had had to do a Google translator to talk
to the manager doesn't like we extend because we have
one hundred people outside and they are like one more hour.
(25:37):
I was able to get everybody in it was in
that time span and they had at least two hours
in there, you know with the half price ticket. So
really it's a difference between a let's show up at
a bar and say hey, how are you? Are you
having fun? You excited? And the next day let's set
off celebration. Right. So Boonti Eve has now become a staple,
(26:02):
you know, when people are saying that we're as synonymous
as the Fible First Bash when it comes to events.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
To go to a.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Celebration, that's a that's an honor to me. Yeah, I
mean I remember going to the Bash in twenty seventeen,
first time ever, and they rented out that big ballroom
and had weird al apt there. I'm like, I'm seeing
Saga again with three thousand people. This is fantastic. And
when people are saying that Bunta is now like synonymous
(26:30):
with the Bash, I'm like, like, dude, like that's an honor.
That's a complete honor for me because I'm a traditionalist
when it comes to celebration. I remember was like just
being a fan going to celebration and running a small,
little event. And when people are saying we're on the
same level, I'm like, you know, we don't want to
be better than them, we want to be better than ourselves.
But the fact you we're in the same conversation, that's
(26:52):
pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
You know. So if you're a dad or somebody that's
going to one of these events for the first time,
right like it's your first celebration, maybe you're going you're
already thinking, all right, fiftieth anniversary. That's what motivated us
to go to Orlando in twenty seventeen was it's the
fortieth anniversary of Star Wars. We've never done anything like
(27:14):
this before. It was my first con of any kind,
not just Star Wars celebration. We went with it for
that and so I know that there are lots of
people that are already starting to think about twenty twenty
seven in Los Angeles for the fiftieth anniversary of Star
Wars and that type of thing, the you know, the
Fible first Fashion, Boot to Eve and those types of
(27:36):
things were a bit intimidating if you've never done anything
like that before it what would you say to encourage
somebody to come to an event like a VCN event
like Boot to Eve or something like that.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
So if you go straight forward to Straightford Celebration and
you're a newcomer to the experience of Star Wars celebration,
it's going to be dawned hands. What Where's saying is
come to one of our events, whether it be the
NASO or come to Bunta, and we're gonna do both
in La by the way, so you can start to
(28:10):
meet people. Because you had one hundred and twenty five
hundred and fifty thousand people in Japan and I can't
tell you how many people I ran to that many people,
you know, but just because of the community itself, but
just coming to one of our events, especially Bundo or Natso,
which are pre con events on purpose. By the time
(28:35):
you go to opening panel and you're lining up for
opening panel or throughout the entire weekend, you are going
to run into people that you met and you could
have been at Bunta or not Soo and be like,
oh my god, I met you online. I met somebody
when I was in London on the tube the night
of the NASO Virtual CANTEENA I said, listen, we're gonna
(28:56):
be at this bar next to the convention center coming
to the members, and I, you know, I forgot about
them later on the day, but as soon as I
walked into the bar, they're sitting there with members talking
about celebration and I'm like, oh my god, you came.
Like that's amazing, Like you know, I just all this
guy that was talking to on the two about our group.
(29:17):
You know, I have on my phone case. I have
a specialized case for when I go to cons or
I'm on trips that has a QR code that goes
directly to our link. Trade some always publicizing, you know,
at events. I have regular one for you know, my
every day life. So I'm always trying to push members
or people to our group. So coming to our events,
you're going to meet people who are going to know
(29:38):
and be line buddies, but might end up being your
best friend for life. Quite honestly, I can tell you
that I have friends that live twenty minutes for me
that I probably see maybe once or twice a year.
But yet I'll fly to Asheville, North Carolina once a
year or two cons around the country to see people
(29:58):
a lot easier and a lot more willing that I
am to drive twenty minutes from my house. That's how
much my friendships mean to me from the virtual CANTEENA network.
And that's just me being pure selfish about wanting to
spend time with people who I have a common bond with.
I mean, I grew up and I was I seem
(30:20):
very extrovert. I was very much involved in theater and
the arts and Anthea Natcher. But as I got older,
I became more of an introvert and very careful about
I opened myself up to when I found my love
of Star Wars and in the last ten years or
so eight years that we are right now, since my
(30:41):
first celebration, unless I found a common thread, common denominator
with somebody small talk actually exhausts me and I can
have a conversation. But if someone is a Star Wars fan,
I can talk whatever I want with them because I
feel comfortable in myself that I could be myself around
(31:04):
them and I don't have to put up a facade
of someone who I'm not and I and I hate that,
and I want people to be able to feel like
they finally have a group of people that they want
to spend time with that you know, we go on vacation.
We had a massive vacation in twenty four up and
(31:24):
down the California seacoast, you know, for an entire week
with eighty of us, you know, on a you know,
a bus or wherever. We have stories and now we're like,
oh my god, you know, I'm going to celebration or
I can't go to celebration, but I'm gonna go to
Rebel Scumcon because I can at least make it to
bunta there. I have members who are literally just flying
in to come to our bunta and not even go
(31:47):
to Rebel scumcom Like literally coming in just to hang
out best for four hours and then not even getting
a hotel room uberring back to the DFW and going home.
Like to me, I'm like, you know, you should definitely
come to con because you know, obviously we're working together,
but it's an honor that you're even coming at at
(32:07):
all for us, you know, So I want to encourage that.
You know, there are friendships and relationships to be made
in Star Wars, whether you're coming for your first time
or you've been to every single celebration since Denver. You know,
we have members that have been to everyone and they
have not had an experience like they've had until they
(32:29):
join the VCND. That's amazing and they're like, oh my god.
There's more than just a schedule that it is given
to you by the convention. There's a community. There are
banks out there and some people, some people it's the
events there after hours that they thrive on to go
to more so than the.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Con So because they're getting the community that they're looking for.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
That's what it is is. I think we all have
that innate, you know, desire, whether we like it or not,
or say it or not out loud, that we want
to be part of a community, that we want to
be part of something that's bigger than we are, and
Star Wars is bigger than all of us.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
That's amazing and.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Virtual, but it also becomes a shared language, right, It's
like what you were talking about. It gives you something
to have conversations about. That opens up the opportunity to
build relationships that extend beyond this to where it's not
just coming to a con, and it's not just coming
to a meetup at a con. It's not just talking
about a specific franchise or property that you love so much.
It becomes something that you guys have relationships that extend
(33:35):
online and offline. You go do vacations together, you do
these different types of things, and this is a place
for people to have to build these relationships that become
lifelong friendships.
Speaker 4 (33:44):
Well, I mean you can attest to this as well
as that. As you get older, it becomes tougher and
tougher to make friends outside your inner circle because you're
dealing with you know, okay, you know, you're parents, you're
dealing with you other parents, or you're doing with work colleagues,
and you don't have much time outside of your nine
to five to go out and you know, go to
(34:06):
a bar or go to you know, go to the
you know, a movie unless it's scheduled at that particular time.
It becomes increasingly difficult to do that. But if you've
got an inner love of Star Wars, then you you
make friends. Ok Hey, I can mess aroun on Facebook
and can text them. Okay, you know, Rogue one or
Seff is back in the theaters. I can get a
group of like ten of us together. We know exactly
(34:28):
that we're gonna meet at this theater at this time.
We got the tickets already set. You got this community
of friends that, like I can go and nerd out,
you know, for a couple of hours. But people who
actually believe, who are the same like belief structures I do,
and want to, you know, welcome their inner child. And
I think that honestly. Right now, overall this is the
(34:51):
renaissance of the geek. Everything that you and I grew
up with is cool again. But the thing is, we
knew it was cool back then, but we couldn't talk
about it in public because our asses kicks. Let's just
let's call it as it is. And now everything from
the eighties and nineties is like pop culture. It's like,
oh my god, Like we're like, yeah, it was cool
for us back then. Right now we can actually be
(35:13):
ourselves and talk about it and have a good time.
And you got you know, you could share your love
with your boys of Star Wars and bring them in
to whatever level from there. But the fact of the
matter is that it's no longer it accepts you know,
not inaccessible, but also not cool. Like it's cool now.
(35:36):
Like people were like, oh my god, I want a celebration.
Oh I want to hit hall h over at San Diego.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
I mean everybody was, you know, to commenting on May
the fourth this year and posting about it and stuff
like that. It's just everybody's talking about these.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
Things it is. And that's just just an indicative society
right now. And it's because you know, like you talk
about generational and you know, maybe you want to talk about,
you know, the psychology or the philosophy between you know,
the Gen xers like us and the millennials, you know
Gen Z's, you know, the decomuy of that is all
(36:11):
right now. Society is based upon the philosophies of Generation X,
which was our generation, the things what we loved, you know,
and that's what's going to drive I think where things
are going in the convention business and the movie business
and the live app theater business. Everything is going to
(36:33):
be as far as that, you know, that's gonna be
the determination and go from there. And we at the
VCN are encouraging that these communities can come together and
go and do this. You know. We go down to Florida,
we go to Disneyland, you know, and I can run
into twenty members walk around Goal's deedg and yes, maybe
I'm always wearing a VC and hat that I'm always marketing.
(36:54):
My wife's like, do you have any like civilian clothing?
And I'm like, very little. At this point, I said,
but I'm always marketing, you know, I'm always pushing the group.
I'm always pushing the community. And that's what's really important
to me, is, like you said, the community aspect. I mean,
you talked about it. Someone's going to go someone went
to Japan for celebration. I know people who flew Japan
(37:17):
for the first time ever to go to celebration. I
know people who went to London to London for the
first time who went over for celebration and caught the buck.
I honestly feel that with the fiftieth coming up in
twenty seven and it being back in the United States
sure is indicative of why we grew so much in
(37:38):
the last month is because there's so much riding on
Celebration twenty seven, and there's so much expectation, and I
want to pop a balloon right now and say, nothing
is ever going to beat the fortieth anniversary panel. I
don't care what you say. We've been hoping for something
better than that. Nothing will ever beat the forty first
(37:59):
anniversary panel. If you've never seen that, go onto YouTube
right now and type in Star Wars celebration for you
at the anniversary panel. That was my first experience celebration.
I don't care if you're a veteran or a newbie.
Nothing will ever touch that panel easily. Fiftieth might come close,
(38:19):
but it's not gonna touch for you. Right It's not
gonna touch for you at all. But I can save
this right now as an Easter egg. We booked the
location for twenty seven Buddha already, the deposit is in.
We signed the contract, and we signed that within two
(38:39):
weeks of being back from Japan. We start talks within
our group at the dinner, our group dinner after celebration
like the Sunday night after closing ceremonies. We started talking.
By the end of the first week, we had a
list of locations we want to be And I can't
(39:00):
tell you what location we're going to be at because
we're not We're a full year out from that announcement.
But what I can say is the Virtual Canteen Network
will be on the Sunset Strip love It in twenty
twenty seven, and it's going to be historical, absolutely, and
(39:21):
that's all I know.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
You and I have talked offline. I know what's coming.
I hope.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
I think I know what's coming, and I'm excited for
it for it's such it's it's it's really truly.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
Going to be.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
A celebration, not just from the official event to remember,
but a celebration when it comes to the Virtual Containa
Network that is unprecedented and unbelievable, so exciting.
Speaker 4 (39:49):
The philosophy that I have, and I work in events
marketing and event planning, you know, on a day job
as well, so it kind of lends itself to there
is I don't want any one of my events to
be cookie c are in the same event year after year, Honestly,
I don't want to that the same principle, sure, but
I'm never out to do as I'm out to do
(40:10):
better than the year before. I always say my favorite
celebration is the following one. My favorite Boonti Eve is
the next one. And you know, feather in my cap,
a feather in the cap of VCM. We sold out
three continents, so the United States, we sold out, Europe,
and we sold out to Asia. Like at this point
(40:31):
we realized that, you know, halfway through the not so
in Japan, and it's like wow, And that's indicative of
the fandom, and it's an addictive of our family members.
We're not just members, We're family. And that's the one
thing that I think differentiates us the group, going back
to what we talk about earlier, is that we treat
each other like family. And it's chosen family and family
(40:54):
that we could actually be ourselves around. And some of
us are a strained from our blood family and our
you know, our chosen family becomes our family, and we
encourage that that you finally feel like you have a
place of belonging and also something to look forward to.
So yeah, if you have something to look forward to.
Twenty twenty seven, we will be back in a big way,
(41:16):
uh with boot with Boot to Eve episode five. You know,
we're gearing up right now that we're running a massive
Boot to Eve's special edition attached to Rebel Scum Con
in Frisco, Texas this August, which is an after hours event.
And some people are like, well, is this an after
hours event or is this another con? I'm like, we're
changing the game where an after hours event can be.
(41:39):
That's not just an after hours event. It's not just convention.
It's experience that you can jump on outside and it's
all community building and we encourage that. And we're also
we put up on a new website which is Virtualcanteen
and neetwork dot com. There's a high hire US section
right now that if you want to bring us in
(42:00):
for your con and one to run a bunta or
us to help you with event management or event planning
or even helping booking talent, we're available for that.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Now.
Speaker 4 (42:08):
That's a whole new avenue that we're starting to get
involved in thanks to our involvement last year with ICC
Con as well as Rebel Scumcon this year. Is we
want to help everybody do better, you know, because it's
not just about us. It's not just about that con.
It's about the community and the fandom and keeping that
(42:29):
going alive and also branding. You know, if we can
help another con, you know, increase their gate, sure, and
we're going to do it. And it doesn't matter if
it's you know, one conversion other. It's about community at large.
It's not one versus the other. It's about all of us.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
So if someone wants I mean, obviously they're they're hearing this,
they're excited about what's going to be happening in twenty
twenty seven and hearing about that and all these live
meet up events at Rebel scum Con and other events
that you guys are a part of. But they want
to be a part of the community here and now
as soon as they get done listening to this, they
want to be a part of be a part of
the Virtual canteena community. What's the best way to get involved.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
So it's twofold obviously. First and foremost is our website,
which is virtualcanteena neetwork dot com. And then go to
our links and as a link to all of our socials,
including the you know, the Facebook page. If you're traditionally
on Facebook, type in Virtual Cantina and then see the
Star Wars Celebration Los Angeles twenty twenty seventh fan group
(43:32):
that is the largest in the world, which is over
at to date ninety seven thousand members. If you go
to the one that's over ninety seven thousand members, you
caught onto us. That's the easiest way to get ahold
of us is one or the other on those two
and get involved, get involved in the communication and the correspondence.
And you know, we're a very positive group. You know,
(43:53):
we vet just about everything on the page. Like we
start off as three people back in twenty sixteen, twenty
seventeen to a team of twenty five now, you know,
working on this, you know as a labor love. This
is not a financial gain for any of us. It's
a labor love because we believe in this fandom. We
drink our own kool aid, Like I said, you know,
(44:15):
we believe in this everything we do because we love
what we do, because we love the fandom. And that's
the easiest way to get involved, because you never know
where you could be. You know, while we're rebel scumcon
there's two cons in the New England area within an
hour of each other, including Fants with Boston and Terrific
Con of Mohegan Sound, which are two good size shows,
(44:38):
but they're happy at the same time as Rebel Scumcon.
So you know, we have members who are not going
to Rebel Scum Coon there going we meetups with those
two other cons while we're having fun in.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
Texas, you know.
Speaker 4 (44:50):
So we we encourage that because we want to meet
ups at any con, you know, just like hey, even
if it's just showed up, Hey, let's get a fit
quick selfie. You know, let's get a group shot of
fifty the man of us, fifteen of us, you know,
while we're walking to a pan. Let's do it and
then move on for our day, just to show that, hey,
we met up with this group. That's all it's about.
(45:11):
It's about the community. And you know, I'm very fortunate
to have met some incredible people in the last eight years,
including yourself and your boys, and consider you as part
of our VCN family at large. And you know, it's
it's humbling. It's humbling that you know, you can go
to any city in the world and probably find a
(45:32):
VCN member and actually, you know, have a conversation, or
maybe go out for dinner with them, or have a
drink at your hotel bar or if an int or
go down to any of the parks and be like,
I'm running to somebody right there. You know, we ran
to people throughout the city of Tokyo when we were
just you know, walking around you know, Shibuya or Shinjuku
(45:52):
or Kyoto or wherever we were just people love Star Wars,
and you know, we start talking about the group and
they're like, I'm already a member. Okay, cool, Well, thank
you for being part of our family. You know, that's
what's exciting about this is the fact that we're starting
to see the labor food of our labors for the
last eight years, and in fact, we're close to you know,
(46:14):
one hundred thousand members, and we're going to have a
contest at ninety eight ninety nine and one hundred of
prize packs special prize packs for all three milestones, and
we're gonna once we hit ninety seven five, we will
announce the first prize pack for ninety eight thousand, which
(46:35):
is a really really good one. All of them are great,
don't get me wrong, but the first one I'm Gonna
Do is really really good. But it's giving back, you know,
it's giving back to what we love, and that's what
really what we do is just loving what we love
and accepting who we are for what we do and
what we love.
Speaker 3 (46:56):
The around you.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
All right, everyone, What a blast that was Chatting with
Spencer from the Virtual Canteena Network seriously looking into how
our love for Star Wars can change as we get
older was fascinating. It's really cool to also see how
he's able to appreciate the younger generation and they're embracing
(47:19):
of all the movies, not just the original trilogy. It's
a great reminder that there is room for everyone's opinions
in our.
Speaker 3 (47:28):
Galaxy far far away.
Speaker 2 (47:31):
What Spencer said about building community really hit home for me.
The Virtual Canteena Network is doing something really special. They
are creating a real supportive place for fans to connect.
So whether it's through awesome events like Boonta Eve or
the not so Virtual Cantina, or their regular online meet
(47:56):
up opportunities, these are all more than just hang outs
there for some a real lifeline for people. It goes
to show how powerful a shared love for Star Wars
can be and that leads me to something we're really
(48:16):
excited about here at Tattooed Sons. We are in the
earliest stages of building a community specifically for dads who
love Star Wars, and we thought that this was going
to be something that was going to generate some interest.
We had no idea the response we would get. Talk
(48:38):
seven hundred people in a week raising their hand virtually
online and saying I want to be a part of
this community.
Speaker 3 (48:45):
How awesome is that.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
We really are trying to create a space where our
shared passion for Star Wars and our shared passion for
being dads and all of the other things that we
love so much can bring us together to connect with
each other, where we celebrate all the different ways that
we experience this amazing fandom. So if you're a dad
(49:09):
who loves Star Wars, then definitely, or if you know
somebody that's a dad who loves Star Wars, keep an
eye out with our socials and this podcast for more
details coming soon. Again, we're in the very earliest of stages,
but we've got some things in motion already and we'll
be sharing those soon. In the meantime, give us a
follow on all of our social media at Tattooing Sons
(49:31):
SO and s. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts
or Spotify or whatever you use to get your podcasts.
Sign up for our Tattooing Sons Substack newsletter so that
you can stay in the loop. We've got some really
amazing and fun stuff planned. Thanks so much for hanging
out with us this week. May the Force be with
(49:54):
you I may you always have someone to share your
Star Wars love with.
Speaker 1 (50:03):
Thank you for listening to Tattoine Suns, a Star Wars podcast.
Please subscribe and follow Tatooine Suns on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube,
or your favorite podcast app. Tatooine Suns regularly publishes thoughtful
articles intended to provoke conversation about the larger themes in
Star Wars. Go to Tattooinsuns dot com to explore further
(50:25):
and May the Force be with you always.
Speaker 3 (50:28):
This podcast, website, and social media account are not endorsed
by the Walt Disney Company or Lucasfilm Limited, and it's
intended for entertainment purposes only.
Speaker 2 (50:34):
Star Wars, all names and sounds, and any other Star
Wars related items and properties are trademarks of Lucasfilm Limited
and its affiliates.
Speaker 3 (50:39):
All original contents of this podcast in website is the
intellectual property of tattooin Suns unless otherwise indicated.
Welcome to Tattoine Sons, a Star Wars podcast, the only
fan podcast to name a canon Star Wars creature and
to be endorsed by the writer and director of The
Last Jedi, Ryan Johnson. Get ready to explore a galaxy
far far away across the generations. Here is your host, David,
the bow Tie Jedi Guy, along with his special guest,
(00:24):
the founder of the legendary Virtual CANTEENA Network, Spencer Jowitts.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hey there, Star Wars fans. David here, your Bowtie Jedi Guy,
and welcome to another exciting episode of Tatooine Sons. So
have you ever wondered how somebody could build a thriving
community around a shared passion like Star Wars.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Well, this week we are.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Taking you on a journey to a galaxy far far
away with Spencer from the Virtual CANTEENA Network. Most of
you are probably familiar with VCN and Spencer. It is
a Facebook group that has done something pretty amazing, gets
united over one hundred thousand Star Wars fans, So get
ready to hear Spencer's own Star Wars origin story, Learn
(01:10):
a little bit about the magic of introducing a new
generation to the forest, and then the unforgettable in person
meetups that bring the VCN community to life. Plus he's
going to share some tips on creating a welcoming space
for all fans and how to carve out time for
personal enjoyment as a dad. So grab your lightsaber, stay tuned.
(01:35):
This is one episode you won't want to miss. This
is tattooed Suns.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Call up. I have my head, Colvetch, I have an idea.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
A couple of weeks ago, you told me an amazing
story of your first experience of Star Wars in a
movie theater. And you know, obviously going to Star Wars
with your dad is a cool thing, but your story
is unique and hilarious all at the same time. Tell
me tell everybody listening about so.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Obviously, my introduction to Star Wars was a lot of
saying that a lot of people had. If you were born,
you know, in the mid seventies, which was my introduction,
was Kenna. That's how I learned Star Wars. Darth Vader, obviously,
Luke Skywalker find out from there. But my first experience
in the theaters was actually Empire Strikes Back. And I
(02:23):
know a lot of people might say, oh, I don't
remember my first experience at going to see a movie,
you know, at the age of four. But this was
something that I distinctly remember because if you're in the
opening sequence of Empire Strikes Back and you're in Rebel
based on howth there's that scene where Showbacca is obviously
(02:44):
welding the falcon. So my recollection is I actually thought
that Chewi was gonna either electrocute himself or sinch his
first with the welder. So I started crying. And I
was four, three and a half, four years old. I'm
(03:08):
concerned about Chubaca and his well being. So I started
crying my eyes out, and my dad's like, you're embarrassing
me and took me out of the theater. So that's
my first, you know, recollection of watching Star Wars in
the theater. But since then, not only is Empire Strikes
Back my favorite Star Wars movie, but it's also my
(03:28):
favorite movie of all time. And it's funny how I
have that memory of how troubled I was by this movie.
It turned out to actually be the movie that kind
of shaped my fandom and also shaped my life as well.
So it's kind of cool in that, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Aspect and It's cool that you had a dad that was
willing to not only take you to see it as
a four year old, but willing to take you out
of there because you were having a complete meltdown at
that moment.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
That's funny.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
So a lot of our dads like that are ours
our listeners or dads introducing Star Wars to their kids.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
What's it like for you to see.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
A new generation and now, you know, being an Original
Trilogy fan like you were growing up in that area,
seeing a couple of generations discovering a galaxy far far away,
and how does that influence what you guys do over
at the virtual canteena network.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
So a little insight for myself personally is going into
celebration twenty nineteen for Chicago. I wouldn't say I was
a prequel hater per se, but I was an Original
Trilogy loyalist, you know, in the capacity that you know
(04:51):
nothing will ever touch Dot, you know, how dare they
blah blah blah. And seeing the love that I'm at
best got in Chicago.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
Was a.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Wake up call really for me and the fandom in
the capacity that I was like, you know something, this
is not my Star Wars anymore. It really isn't that
the kids of the prequels were now the parents that
were bringing their kids to celebration and the love that
Hayden got, that Ahmed got, that Daniel Logan got, that
(05:29):
Ray got, that Youing got. That was their Star Wars.
Who was not the There's always going to get props
given to Harrison carry Mark, Peter Anthony, Ian Kenny, you know,
the whole old school traditionalists, you know, ot people. But
people are going to harbor more on the prequels. And
(05:50):
if you watch Mandalorian, you know it's after Return of
the Jedi. Dave Filoni is heavily prequel oriented. He's very much,
especially considering the fact that he worked on the Clone Wars,
so he's got invested interest in that timeline of the prequels.
(06:12):
So with that in mind, I kind of like I
went back home and I rewatched the prequels in the
new eyes under the eyes that it's not my Star
Wars anymore. This is just Star Wars period. This is
the new norm. So in my mind it kept on,
you know, rolling into what every you know, new era
(06:35):
of content is someone to other gateway into Star Wars,
and that includes Right Now, the sequel generation. I also
found that, just like yourself, I am very much a
fan of Ryan Johnson and The Last Jedi absolutely absolutely
adore that film for many a reason because it was
(06:56):
something different, it was something bold, there was something that
was changing the way we scoped Star Wars. I looked
at that in the next now, in the next ten years,
that movie's gonna be a catalyst for where Star Wars
is gonna look like for the next twenty to thirty years.
(07:18):
And honestly, we would not have had and Door and
the themes of and Or, I particularly think without Last
Jedi being so shaking the tree a little bit. But
the someone else's entry point into Star Wars is going
to be Mandalorian Grogo next.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Year, so absolutely so.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
To me, I looked at it as like, I don't
have to. I'm not gonna stand up and try to
explain to someone why they should like Last SHEDI I'm
more along the lines of right now, like you know,
something that was a waste of energy for me. I
was exhausted. I said, I love what you like, hate
what you like. But at the same time, no matter
(07:59):
what you say, it's still Star Wars. I don't care
if you say, I don't look at it from there.
It's Star Wars, so love would you like have a
good conversation about it? And I want you to have
a good conversation within the fandom because initially George wrote
the original three movies as a response to the Vietnam
War for a twelve year old kid, and they maintained
(08:22):
that Star Wars is for the kids. Now you can
make arguments about every property is like, is this really
a kid's property? When you even look at Skeleton Crew,
it really wasn't a kid's property because obviously at the
same time where the kids were in it, it had
that feel of ambulance, which had that sense of danger.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
It was almost a nostalgia play towards our generation, watching
our generals exactly.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
So the fact of the matter is that if we're
gonna be fighting over a twelve year old show and
we're in our middle ages right now, maybe we should
have either on getting over ourselves really yeah, and realizing
that there's a bigger roles out there and you know,
have an open mind that you know they're You don't
(09:09):
have to like vanilla, you don't have to like chocolate.
You don't have to like Strawberry. But at the same time,
those slavers are out there, so you're good, they're gonna
be there. Why you choose them if Bascom Robbins or
not Well's.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
And the one way I've heard it described numerous times
it makes a lot of sense to me, is don't
yuck in somebody else's you know, right, You don't have
to like something, You don't have to like everything, but
be okay with the fact that this has expanded into
something that people from lots of different backgrounds can like.
And that kind of goes into what's going on with
Virtual canteena network because you guys have this massive I mean,
(09:42):
you guys are If it hasn't already happened as we speak,
it will within the next day or two. I think
you're clearing one hundred thousand members in your Facebook group.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Yeah, so we're in ninety We're at ninety seven to
one as it when you and I are recording this
right now. We gained eighteen thousand since I got back
from Japan, and five thousand crazy from when I got
into Japan, which is interesting because when I arrived in
London in twenty three, we weren't at fifty by the
(10:18):
time I got to London, but day by day one
of London we hit fifty thousand. By a time I
left London on Monday morning, we gained ten thousand in
four days.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
During comm so we knew that we had we had
a fifteen thousand dollars sorry, fifteen thousand members swing during London.
We had over twenty five between the time I got
to Japan and yesterday at fifteen thousand. Of that, it's
fifty to eighteen thousand of that was since I got home.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
It's like these events that you know, surrounding celebration itself
kind of pull in this interest and everything else. But
it's also going back to what we were talking about a
moment ago. It's this when you have a group that
is as massive as it is, not just in the
number of people, but globally. It's people all around the world.
(11:17):
It's people from all different generations and backgrounds, and some
people love the movies and some of the shows and
some of the books and the comics and the games
and all those different types of things. The level of
different opinions and all of that is amazing. How do
you feel like you guys have found sort of a
secret sauce for creating a environment where people that have
(11:42):
much varying opinions all across the board can find a
safe place to discuss these things. What are some of
the things that you guys have been able to do
in order to make that happen.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
So first and foremost, there are many Star Wars Celebration
fan pages out there. We're not the only one, and
we all pretty much have the same name when it
comes to the Facebook page because it's easy to find.
What differentiates us more so than any other group, and
nothing against any other group, they're all great in their
own capacities, is the fact that we are a full
(12:12):
fledged community that does not stop at celebration. We keep going.
We keep the spirit of Celebration going three sixty five
twenty four to seven, whether it be with podcasts on
the Virtual Canteen Network on YouTube, or whether it be
events at other conventions or you know, meetups or anything
nature that we keep going to the family vacation that we
(12:34):
do every other year from Celebration, which we're in the
plans right now for twenty six. So literally coming to Celebration,
especially if you're coming alone could be quite jarring, it is.
My first Celebration was twenty seventeen and I came alone.
And I remember coming off of we ran our first
(12:56):
event in twenty seven at Celebration, and that was my
first celebration, So I had a hutzpah to actually run
an event, not knowing what Celebration was, because I was
just like, yes, I want to hang out people, you know,
That's all I want to do. I want to meet people.
So I remember lining up for the fortieth anniversary panel
and a little bit inebriated and having people behind me
(13:18):
philosophize about the Star Wars at four o'clock in the
morning online to get into the panel, And in my mind,
I was like, shut up, shut up, shut up. How
am I the most normal person here? And I'm a
Star Wars guy in my family?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
And because in that line with you, maybe we were
having that conversation.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
But that was my mindset. I'm like, come on, man,
at four o'clock in the morning. By the end of
that weekend, I was one of those people. I got
I got the bug, you know. And so to me,
it was like Star Wars Celebration is a religious experience.
In the fact that it's also unlike any other convention
(13:55):
you'll go to in the entire world period. You can
go to your fan expos, New York Comic Con, La
Comic Con, Sandio Comic Con, Dragon Con, and nothing is
like Star Wars Celebration. However, I tell everybody, if you
prep for Star Celebration, you'll be great. And every other couple,
we all breeze compared to celebration unless you're trying to
(14:16):
like the whole age in San Diego. So the way
I look at is this is that we have an
opportunity that we go to a lot of my friends
and I go to con together all around the country
or all around the world, not celebration esque, and we'll
have meetups. And then other people wont to have meetups
(14:37):
at their local con or a then nature so they
can meet members and get to know people. So by
the time we come to our events a celebration, whether
it be Boot' Eve, whether not so virtual Cantina or
even going to celebration, you know five to a couple
one hundred people, not just by name on you know,
a Facebook page, but you have to face. You know,
(15:00):
one of our members has some property out of Asheville,
North Carolina, and every year he'll have like fifteen to
twenty of us come out and go do you know
a tour of the Biltmore State or wine tasting or
you know, water rafting or anything nature. But it's like
twenty of us from the group. Last year we had
(15:22):
a saber meet up right in front of Biltmore State,
like at night. So there's pictures of us with sabers
with the Biltmore State behind us, Like, look, this all
stems from we all found our tribe. You know. I
have members who will fly said to me that they were,
you know, very macho in their you know, in their temperament,
(15:47):
that society dictated that that's how they had to be.
They had to deny their inner child. And once they
found a tribe per se that accepted them for who
they were. I've had their families say that it's changed
their lives to the better because they could finally be
(16:07):
who they wanted without society dictating. But I've also seen
how I love to tell the story is one of
our members has a son who's on the spectrum, was
very introverted when I first met him and sang at
our Aldron idol competition, at Buntive Anaheim in twenty two,
(16:29):
which you and your boys were at.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Absolutely we were there and he was very.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Much an introvert at that show. By the time we
got to twenty three London, he was dancing on the
stage during the competition doing the worm like going absolutely nuts,
and since then joined the choir at his high school,
joined the theater department, and basically found himself because of
(16:58):
the work that we do and his father his mother
both said to me several times, and his father and
I have become really really good friends. He's you know,
he's up here in Boston. You change our family's dynamic
and I can't thank you enough. Before you did for
my son, who is completely interested and now he's an
auditioned with theater. No he's going to college next year
(17:20):
and wants to go to a liberal arts school. Like wow,
you know. To me, I'm like, I just I just
did it because it made me feel good about myself.
I mean, I found myself through this group. You know,
I was always looking for my tribe. I've been in
different groups, different clicks, if you will, trying different hobbies
to try and get myself in. And I found myself
(17:41):
in the midst of finding this group. So to me,
I feel like I owe the group its own set
of honor and gratitude purely selfishly because it's helped me.
But if I can help someone else, you know, you know,
go out to you know, hey, you know, let's tell
(18:02):
you too many conversation about stars or I'm gonna be
fanexual Boston or Rebel scum Con or icc con or
whatever Com'm going to and hey, we're gonna go out
for dinner or drinks at the hotel or whatever. Come
with us. Because by the time we get to twenty seven,
you're gonna know at least five people, and that five
people that celebrate by celebration. By the end of Natso
(18:23):
or Bunta, you're going to know twenty to thirty people.
And then when you're on line, Hey, I Mitchell, lest
are you saying? Or I did carry out with you?
Or yo, we did shots together last weight. That was fantastic.
It's a conversation you're having while you're online, you know,
for two hours for Hayden or anything in nature. And
I love that because and then we get to keep
that spirit around for the two years in between celebrations.
(18:46):
That's just that much more, you know, when we go there.
We unfortunately I couldn't go to icc Con this past weekend.
We had a fan table there and a lot of
people either who were members or knew about the work
we did, came up to that table or knew about
what we're playing on doing with Rebel Scum cont August
down in Frisco, Texas. So it's really about keeping the
(19:11):
spirit community Celebration alive. If anything else, it's a love
letter to Star Wars because, like we said, we all
come from different backgrounds. We all love star for different reasons,
but we all came in to Star Wars. Whether we
like the prequels and sequels, Mandalorian Resistance, Rebels, Clone Wars,
you know, Young Jedi Adventures, we all love Star Wars.
(19:33):
So that's the core of what we like, and that's
the core we love. And that's what we tried to
push is that it's okay. It's okay to like or
dislike something, but you might have a friend who might
not like that. That's completely okay as long as you're
not you know, yucky, as you said, yucky someone else's
youm and destroying Star Wars for them for that particular reason.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
You know, you you guys have seen.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
This online community as you were kind of as you
were describing, there become a offline community or real world
community where people meet up and get to know each
other and those types of things. And one of the
ways that that has manifested that is honestly becoming pretty
legendary in the Star Wars community. Are these Boon to
Eve celebrations you guys have went, And that was the
(20:21):
first one that was that not so virtual cantina. What's
the difference between not so virtual and Boon to Eve?
Speaker 5 (20:26):
By the way, so not so virtual cantina and it's
correct form is the night before Boon to Eve is
us going to a bar at the local hotel and.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
Just hey, for me, it's one our swag trainlet's hang out,
tell a couple of drinks. That's it. No pressure. When
we decided that we were doing Japan, which initially I
could fly out and say I did not want to
do just because the logistics, I didn't want to run
a show at all. And one of my right hand man, Dave,
was like, Spency, you know you're gonna be running a show.
(21:01):
I'm like, I don't want to run a show. Do
you understand that the anxiety that I'm heavy about runing
a show in Japan, I'm like, we can't do Bunta
righte and what Honestly, we love karaoke to be part
of our events, but the main issue with karaoke is
it's not a draw by itself, especially when you're in Japan,
(21:23):
when it's karaoke all around the country. What differentiates Bunta
from any other event we do is the fact that
we have been able to get a number of guests
throughout the Saga to show up to do meet and
greets at our events. So I was not flying anybody
(21:45):
to Japan. That was another thing I was not gonna do.
So I was like, I can't get it. But between
Ice se Kan last year, where I had one conversation
actually Chris Parsons from Empire Strikes Back and a couple
other people, I found out a lot of actors were
actually flying themselves to Japan because they want to experience
(22:06):
celebration in Japan. And they were calling me and say, hey,
what can we do to subsidize our trip? And I'm like,
You're making this very hard for me to say that.
That's where it really turned out to be that's fun
so and not so virtual cat like I said, is
typical bar night. But the thing was, fortunately and unfortunately,
(22:29):
is that celebration in Japan was one hundred percent will call.
So in my mind, I was like, well, I'm coming
to a different country in order to do a boon
to correctly, we need to have eight hours of availability
for us if we are having to do will call,
(22:50):
and I'm limiting them all of my time that I
can actually be in country due to personal you know issues,
or and work and you know, life and all that jazz.
There was no way in hell that I was gonna
be able to run a traditional bunda. So initially we
were just going to do a not so virtual canteen
at the local hotel bar. But there was no local
hotel bar. The bar is attached to a restaurant, and
(23:14):
the restaurant was not going to close down to the
hotel for us. So what we decided was I found
a location that was willing to work with us, a
fifteen minute walk from the main hall for celebration, and
I was like, well, I have a three to four
hour you know, time span that could play with. That's
(23:36):
not conducive to a full Boonta Eve at all. A
special addition, sure, but not a full boot to Eve.
So what I decided was this is, like, we have
a three hour window. Let's just call it a not
Soo Virtual Canteen, a special edition whereas we will do
the best of the NASO and the best of Bunta
into a three hour span and and you know it's been.
(24:03):
It was an incredible experience. I could say that we
sold out tickets for this event on the first of
the year in four minutes. I did not have an
opportunity to do like twenty five percent sold. We're sold out,
like what And that's before we even announced one name,
(24:24):
by pure name, by pure reputations people. Yeah right, we
did the same thing in London, but we sold out
in a day and a half in London by pure
name recognition before we announced one name. And then when
we started announcing names, people got really antsy and got
the fomo about coming to the event. So we actually
(24:50):
ended up doing what we call a hyper space ticket,
which is basically like if someone leaves, our doorman will
cut their their bracelet. All right, two people, half price ticket.
You don't get the buffet you don't get a swag bag,
but you get to come in, get autographs, place the box,
all you can drink. You know, in Japan, we had
to line one hundred deep in Japan outside to the
(25:13):
point where and also carry on a crowder from the
skeleton crew had a line that wrapped around the building
three times just to get her Autographile. So I spoke
to management at the at the bar and I actually
I had had to do a Google translator to talk
to the manager doesn't like we extend because we have
one hundred people outside and they are like one more hour.
(25:37):
I was able to get everybody in it was in
that time span and they had at least two hours
in there, you know with the half price ticket. So
really it's a difference between a let's show up at
a bar and say hey, how are you? Are you
having fun? You excited? And the next day let's set
off celebration. Right. So Boonti Eve has now become a staple,
(26:02):
you know, when people are saying that we're as synonymous
as the Fible First Bash when it comes to events.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
To go to a.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Celebration, that's a that's an honor to me. Yeah, I
mean I remember going to the Bash in twenty seventeen,
first time ever, and they rented out that big ballroom
and had weird al apt there. I'm like, I'm seeing
Saga again with three thousand people. This is fantastic. And
when people are saying that Bunta is now like synonymous
(26:30):
with the Bash, I'm like, like, dude, like that's an honor.
That's a complete honor for me because I'm a traditionalist
when it comes to celebration. I remember was like just
being a fan going to celebration and running a small,
little event. And when people are saying we're on the
same level, I'm like, you know, we don't want to
be better than them, we want to be better than ourselves.
But the fact you we're in the same conversation, that's
(26:52):
pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
You know. So if you're a dad or somebody that's
going to one of these events for the first time,
right like it's your first celebration, maybe you're going you're
already thinking, all right, fiftieth anniversary. That's what motivated us
to go to Orlando in twenty seventeen was it's the
fortieth anniversary of Star Wars. We've never done anything like
(27:14):
this before. It was my first con of any kind,
not just Star Wars celebration. We went with it for
that and so I know that there are lots of
people that are already starting to think about twenty twenty
seven in Los Angeles for the fiftieth anniversary of Star
Wars and that type of thing, the you know, the
Fible first Fashion, Boot to Eve and those types of
(27:36):
things were a bit intimidating if you've never done anything
like that before it what would you say to encourage
somebody to come to an event like a VCN event
like Boot to Eve or something like that.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
So if you go straight forward to Straightford Celebration and
you're a newcomer to the experience of Star Wars celebration,
it's going to be dawned hands. What Where's saying is
come to one of our events, whether it be the
NASO or come to Bunta, and we're gonna do both
in La by the way, so you can start to
(28:10):
meet people. Because you had one hundred and twenty five
hundred and fifty thousand people in Japan and I can't
tell you how many people I ran to that many people,
you know, but just because of the community itself, but
just coming to one of our events, especially Bundo or Natso,
which are pre con events on purpose. By the time
(28:35):
you go to opening panel and you're lining up for
opening panel or throughout the entire weekend, you are going
to run into people that you met and you could
have been at Bunta or not Soo and be like,
oh my god, I met you online. I met somebody
when I was in London on the tube the night
of the NASO Virtual CANTEENA I said, listen, we're gonna
(28:56):
be at this bar next to the convention center coming
to the members, and I, you know, I forgot about
them later on the day, but as soon as I
walked into the bar, they're sitting there with members talking
about celebration and I'm like, oh my god, you came.
Like that's amazing, Like you know, I just all this
guy that was talking to on the two about our group.
(29:17):
You know, I have on my phone case. I have
a specialized case for when I go to cons or
I'm on trips that has a QR code that goes
directly to our link. Trade some always publicizing, you know,
at events. I have regular one for you know, my
every day life. So I'm always trying to push members
or people to our group. So coming to our events,
you're going to meet people who are going to know
(29:38):
and be line buddies, but might end up being your
best friend for life. Quite honestly, I can tell you
that I have friends that live twenty minutes for me
that I probably see maybe once or twice a year.
But yet I'll fly to Asheville, North Carolina once a
year or two cons around the country to see people
(29:58):
a lot easier and a lot more willing that I
am to drive twenty minutes from my house. That's how
much my friendships mean to me from the virtual CANTEENA network.
And that's just me being pure selfish about wanting to
spend time with people who I have a common bond with.
I mean, I grew up and I was I seem
(30:20):
very extrovert. I was very much involved in theater and
the arts and Anthea Natcher. But as I got older,
I became more of an introvert and very careful about
I opened myself up to when I found my love
of Star Wars and in the last ten years or
so eight years that we are right now, since my
(30:41):
first celebration, unless I found a common thread, common denominator
with somebody small talk actually exhausts me and I can
have a conversation. But if someone is a Star Wars fan,
I can talk whatever I want with them because I
feel comfortable in myself that I could be myself around
(31:04):
them and I don't have to put up a facade
of someone who I'm not and I and I hate that,
and I want people to be able to feel like
they finally have a group of people that they want
to spend time with that you know, we go on vacation.
We had a massive vacation in twenty four up and
(31:24):
down the California seacoast, you know, for an entire week
with eighty of us, you know, on a you know,
a bus or wherever. We have stories and now we're like,
oh my god, you know, I'm going to celebration or
I can't go to celebration, but I'm gonna go to
Rebel Scumcon because I can at least make it to
bunta there. I have members who are literally just flying
in to come to our bunta and not even go
(31:47):
to Rebel scumcom Like literally coming in just to hang
out best for four hours and then not even getting
a hotel room uberring back to the DFW and going home.
Like to me, I'm like, you know, you should definitely
come to con because you know, obviously we're working together,
but it's an honor that you're even coming at at
(32:07):
all for us, you know, So I want to encourage that.
You know, there are friendships and relationships to be made
in Star Wars, whether you're coming for your first time
or you've been to every single celebration since Denver. You know,
we have members that have been to everyone and they
have not had an experience like they've had until they
(32:29):
join the VCND. That's amazing and they're like, oh my god.
There's more than just a schedule that it is given
to you by the convention. There's a community. There are
banks out there and some people, some people it's the
events there after hours that they thrive on to go
to more so than the.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Con So because they're getting the community that they're looking for.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
That's what it is is. I think we all have
that innate, you know, desire, whether we like it or not,
or say it or not out loud, that we want
to be part of a community, that we want to
be part of something that's bigger than we are, and
Star Wars is bigger than all of us.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
That's amazing and.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Virtual, but it also becomes a shared language, right, It's
like what you were talking about. It gives you something
to have conversations about. That opens up the opportunity to
build relationships that extend beyond this to where it's not
just coming to a con, and it's not just coming
to a meetup at a con. It's not just talking
about a specific franchise or property that you love so much.
It becomes something that you guys have relationships that extend
(33:35):
online and offline. You go do vacations together, you do
these different types of things, and this is a place
for people to have to build these relationships that become
lifelong friendships.
Speaker 4 (33:44):
Well, I mean you can attest to this as well
as that. As you get older, it becomes tougher and
tougher to make friends outside your inner circle because you're
dealing with you know, okay, you know, you're parents, you're
dealing with you other parents, or you're doing with work colleagues,
and you don't have much time outside of your nine
to five to go out and you know, go to
(34:06):
a bar or go to you know, go to the
you know, a movie unless it's scheduled at that particular time.
It becomes increasingly difficult to do that. But if you've
got an inner love of Star Wars, then you you
make friends. Ok Hey, I can mess aroun on Facebook
and can text them. Okay, you know, Rogue one or
Seff is back in the theaters. I can get a
group of like ten of us together. We know exactly
(34:28):
that we're gonna meet at this theater at this time.
We got the tickets already set. You got this community
of friends that, like I can go and nerd out,
you know, for a couple of hours. But people who
actually believe, who are the same like belief structures I do,
and want to, you know, welcome their inner child. And
I think that honestly. Right now, overall this is the
(34:51):
renaissance of the geek. Everything that you and I grew
up with is cool again. But the thing is, we
knew it was cool back then, but we couldn't talk
about it in public because our asses kicks. Let's just
let's call it as it is. And now everything from
the eighties and nineties is like pop culture. It's like,
oh my god, Like we're like, yeah, it was cool
for us back then. Right now we can actually be
(35:13):
ourselves and talk about it and have a good time.
And you got you know, you could share your love
with your boys of Star Wars and bring them in
to whatever level from there. But the fact of the
matter is that it's no longer it accepts you know,
not inaccessible, but also not cool. Like it's cool now.
(35:36):
Like people were like, oh my god, I want a celebration.
Oh I want to hit hall h over at San Diego.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
I mean everybody was, you know, to commenting on May
the fourth this year and posting about it and stuff
like that. It's just everybody's talking about these.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
Things it is. And that's just just an indicative society
right now. And it's because you know, like you talk
about generational and you know, maybe you want to talk about,
you know, the psychology or the philosophy between you know,
the Gen xers like us and the millennials, you know
Gen Z's, you know, the decomuy of that is all
(36:11):
right now. Society is based upon the philosophies of Generation X,
which was our generation, the things what we loved, you know,
and that's what's going to drive I think where things
are going in the convention business and the movie business
and the live app theater business. Everything is going to
(36:33):
be as far as that, you know, that's gonna be
the determination and go from there. And we at the
VCN are encouraging that these communities can come together and
go and do this. You know. We go down to Florida,
we go to Disneyland, you know, and I can run
into twenty members walk around Goal's deedg and yes, maybe
I'm always wearing a VC and hat that I'm always marketing.
(36:54):
My wife's like, do you have any like civilian clothing?
And I'm like, very little. At this point, I said,
but I'm always marketing, you know, I'm always pushing the group.
I'm always pushing the community. And that's what's really important
to me, is, like you said, the community aspect. I mean,
you talked about it. Someone's going to go someone went
to Japan for celebration. I know people who flew Japan
(37:17):
for the first time ever to go to celebration. I
know people who went to London to London for the
first time who went over for celebration and caught the buck.
I honestly feel that with the fiftieth coming up in
twenty seven and it being back in the United States
sure is indicative of why we grew so much in
(37:38):
the last month is because there's so much riding on
Celebration twenty seven, and there's so much expectation, and I
want to pop a balloon right now and say, nothing
is ever going to beat the fortieth anniversary panel. I
don't care what you say. We've been hoping for something
better than that. Nothing will ever beat the forty first
(37:59):
anniversary panel. If you've never seen that, go onto YouTube
right now and type in Star Wars celebration for you
at the anniversary panel. That was my first experience celebration.
I don't care if you're a veteran or a newbie.
Nothing will ever touch that panel easily. Fiftieth might come close,
(38:19):
but it's not gonna touch for you. Right It's not
gonna touch for you at all. But I can save
this right now as an Easter egg. We booked the
location for twenty seven Buddha already, the deposit is in.
We signed the contract, and we signed that within two
(38:39):
weeks of being back from Japan. We start talks within
our group at the dinner, our group dinner after celebration
like the Sunday night after closing ceremonies. We started talking.
By the end of the first week, we had a
list of locations we want to be And I can't
(39:00):
tell you what location we're going to be at because
we're not We're a full year out from that announcement.
But what I can say is the Virtual Canteen Network
will be on the Sunset Strip love It in twenty
twenty seven, and it's going to be historical, absolutely, and
(39:21):
that's all I know.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
You and I have talked offline. I know what's coming.
I hope.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
I think I know what's coming, and I'm excited for
it for it's such it's it's it's really truly.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
Going to be.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
A celebration, not just from the official event to remember,
but a celebration when it comes to the Virtual Containa
Network that is unprecedented and unbelievable, so exciting.
Speaker 4 (39:49):
The philosophy that I have, and I work in events
marketing and event planning, you know, on a day job
as well, so it kind of lends itself to there
is I don't want any one of my events to
be cookie c are in the same event year after year, Honestly,
I don't want to that the same principle, sure, but
I'm never out to do as I'm out to do
(40:10):
better than the year before. I always say my favorite
celebration is the following one. My favorite Boonti Eve is
the next one. And you know, feather in my cap,
a feather in the cap of VCM. We sold out
three continents, so the United States, we sold out, Europe,
and we sold out to Asia. Like at this point
(40:31):
we realized that, you know, halfway through the not so
in Japan, and it's like wow, And that's indicative of
the fandom, and it's an addictive of our family members.
We're not just members, We're family. And that's the one
thing that I think differentiates us the group, going back
to what we talk about earlier, is that we treat
each other like family. And it's chosen family and family
(40:54):
that we could actually be ourselves around. And some of
us are a strained from our blood family and our
you know, our chosen family becomes our family, and we
encourage that that you finally feel like you have a
place of belonging and also something to look forward to.
So yeah, if you have something to look forward to.
Twenty twenty seven, we will be back in a big way,
(41:16):
uh with boot with Boot to Eve episode five. You know,
we're gearing up right now that we're running a massive
Boot to Eve's special edition attached to Rebel Scum Con
in Frisco, Texas this August, which is an after hours event.
And some people are like, well, is this an after
hours event or is this another con? I'm like, we're
changing the game where an after hours event can be.
(41:39):
That's not just an after hours event. It's not just convention.
It's experience that you can jump on outside and it's
all community building and we encourage that. And we're also
we put up on a new website which is Virtualcanteen
and neetwork dot com. There's a high hire US section
right now that if you want to bring us in
(42:00):
for your con and one to run a bunta or
us to help you with event management or event planning
or even helping booking talent, we're available for that.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Now.
Speaker 4 (42:08):
That's a whole new avenue that we're starting to get
involved in thanks to our involvement last year with ICC
Con as well as Rebel Scumcon this year. Is we
want to help everybody do better, you know, because it's
not just about us. It's not just about that con.
It's about the community and the fandom and keeping that
(42:29):
going alive and also branding. You know, if we can
help another con, you know, increase their gate, sure, and
we're going to do it. And it doesn't matter if
it's you know, one conversion other. It's about community at large.
It's not one versus the other. It's about all of us.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
So if someone wants I mean, obviously they're they're hearing this,
they're excited about what's going to be happening in twenty
twenty seven and hearing about that and all these live
meet up events at Rebel scum Con and other events
that you guys are a part of. But they want
to be a part of the community here and now
as soon as they get done listening to this, they
want to be a part of be a part of
the Virtual canteena community. What's the best way to get involved.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
So it's twofold obviously. First and foremost is our website,
which is virtualcanteena neetwork dot com. And then go to
our links and as a link to all of our socials,
including the you know, the Facebook page. If you're traditionally
on Facebook, type in Virtual Cantina and then see the
Star Wars Celebration Los Angeles twenty twenty seventh fan group
(43:32):
that is the largest in the world, which is over
at to date ninety seven thousand members. If you go
to the one that's over ninety seven thousand members, you
caught onto us. That's the easiest way to get ahold
of us is one or the other on those two
and get involved, get involved in the communication and the correspondence.
And you know, we're a very positive group. You know,
(43:53):
we vet just about everything on the page. Like we
start off as three people back in twenty sixteen, twenty
seventeen to a team of twenty five now, you know,
working on this, you know as a labor love. This
is not a financial gain for any of us. It's
a labor love because we believe in this fandom. We
drink our own kool aid, Like I said, you know,
(44:15):
we believe in this everything we do because we love
what we do, because we love the fandom. And that's
the easiest way to get involved, because you never know
where you could be. You know, while we're rebel scumcon
there's two cons in the New England area within an
hour of each other, including Fants with Boston and Terrific
Con of Mohegan Sound, which are two good size shows,
(44:38):
but they're happy at the same time as Rebel Scumcon.
So you know, we have members who are not going
to Rebel Scum Coon there going we meetups with those
two other cons while we're having fun in.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
Texas, you know.
Speaker 4 (44:50):
So we we encourage that because we want to meet
ups at any con, you know, just like hey, even
if it's just showed up, Hey, let's get a fit
quick selfie. You know, let's get a group shot of
fifty the man of us, fifteen of us, you know,
while we're walking to a pan. Let's do it and
then move on for our day, just to show that, hey,
we met up with this group. That's all it's about.
(45:11):
It's about the community. And you know, I'm very fortunate
to have met some incredible people in the last eight years,
including yourself and your boys, and consider you as part
of our VCN family at large. And you know, it's
it's humbling. It's humbling that you know, you can go
to any city in the world and probably find a
(45:32):
VCN member and actually, you know, have a conversation, or
maybe go out for dinner with them, or have a
drink at your hotel bar or if an int or
go down to any of the parks and be like,
I'm running to somebody right there. You know, we ran
to people throughout the city of Tokyo when we were
just you know, walking around you know, Shibuya or Shinjuku
(45:52):
or Kyoto or wherever we were just people love Star Wars,
and you know, we start talking about the group and
they're like, I'm already a member. Okay, cool, Well, thank
you for being part of our family. You know, that's
what's exciting about this is the fact that we're starting
to see the labor food of our labors for the
last eight years, and in fact, we're close to you know,
(46:14):
one hundred thousand members, and we're going to have a
contest at ninety eight ninety nine and one hundred of
prize packs special prize packs for all three milestones, and
we're gonna once we hit ninety seven five, we will
announce the first prize pack for ninety eight thousand, which
(46:35):
is a really really good one. All of them are great,
don't get me wrong, but the first one I'm Gonna
Do is really really good. But it's giving back, you know,
it's giving back to what we love, and that's what
really what we do is just loving what we love
and accepting who we are for what we do and
what we love.
Speaker 3 (46:56):
The around you.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
All right, everyone, What a blast that was Chatting with
Spencer from the Virtual Canteena Network seriously looking into how
our love for Star Wars can change as we get
older was fascinating. It's really cool to also see how
he's able to appreciate the younger generation and they're embracing
(47:19):
of all the movies, not just the original trilogy. It's
a great reminder that there is room for everyone's opinions
in our.
Speaker 3 (47:28):
Galaxy far far away.
Speaker 2 (47:31):
What Spencer said about building community really hit home for me.
The Virtual Canteena Network is doing something really special. They
are creating a real supportive place for fans to connect.
So whether it's through awesome events like Boonta Eve or
the not so Virtual Cantina, or their regular online meet
(47:56):
up opportunities, these are all more than just hang outs
there for some a real lifeline for people. It goes
to show how powerful a shared love for Star Wars
can be and that leads me to something we're really
(48:16):
excited about here at Tattooed Sons. We are in the
earliest stages of building a community specifically for dads who
love Star Wars, and we thought that this was going
to be something that was going to generate some interest.
We had no idea the response we would get. Talk
(48:38):
seven hundred people in a week raising their hand virtually
online and saying I want to be a part of
this community.
Speaker 3 (48:45):
How awesome is that.
Speaker 2 (48:48):
We really are trying to create a space where our
shared passion for Star Wars and our shared passion for
being dads and all of the other things that we
love so much can bring us together to connect with
each other, where we celebrate all the different ways that
we experience this amazing fandom. So if you're a dad
(49:09):
who loves Star Wars, then definitely, or if you know
somebody that's a dad who loves Star Wars, keep an
eye out with our socials and this podcast for more
details coming soon. Again, we're in the very earliest of stages,
but we've got some things in motion already and we'll
be sharing those soon. In the meantime, give us a
follow on all of our social media at Tattooing Sons
(49:31):
SO and s. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts
or Spotify or whatever you use to get your podcasts.
Sign up for our Tattooing Sons Substack newsletter so that
you can stay in the loop. We've got some really
amazing and fun stuff planned. Thanks so much for hanging
out with us this week. May the Force be with
(49:54):
you I may you always have someone to share your
Star Wars love with.
Speaker 1 (50:03):
Thank you for listening to Tattoine Suns, a Star Wars podcast.
Please subscribe and follow Tatooine Suns on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube,
or your favorite podcast app. Tatooine Suns regularly publishes thoughtful
articles intended to provoke conversation about the larger themes in
Star Wars. Go to Tattooinsuns dot com to explore further
(50:25):
and May the Force be with you always.
Speaker 3 (50:28):
This podcast, website, and social media account are not endorsed
by the Walt Disney Company or Lucasfilm Limited, and it's
intended for entertainment purposes only.
Speaker 2 (50:34):
Star Wars, all names and sounds, and any other Star
Wars related items and properties are trademarks of Lucasfilm Limited
and its affiliates.
Speaker 3 (50:39):
All original contents of this podcast in website is the
intellectual property of tattooin Suns unless otherwise indicated.
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