No More Side Quests: Brain-Friendly Planning for Puppeteers & Creatives
Summary:
Level up with tools & strategies that work *with* your brain, not against it. You'll pick a project & leave with a customized roadmap & tools that turn your creative ideas into finished main quests!
Description:
Stacey Gordon is no stranger to missed deadlines or ideas that never left the page (if they even made it there in the first place). But she's also picked up & figured out strategies that have helped her work with the brain she was given, not the one her teachers "saw potential" in. She's figured out how to use her neurodivergence for good (never evil) (ok, maybe a little bit of evil), and live a life with less stress and less burn-out.
Stacey has been coaching other creatives like you to achieve their creative goals for over half a decade. Together they've been able to celebrate hundreds of accomplished goals! Come learn the strategies to hone in on your priorities, stay focused, and be inspired to level up, finish those quests and be proud of yourself!
Pizza books with Reading Rainbow host & librarian, Mychal Threets, & creating your own mouth-watering pizza puppet with puppet-maker & Sesame Street puppeteer, Stacey Gordon? YESSSSSSS!!!!!!
Description:
Special guest, Mychal Threets is going to be reading stories and then we'll have a Pizza-Puppet-Making Party! You'll love creating your own mouth-watering pizza puppet Stacey Gordon (Sesame Street)! Some of the skills required to take this workshop include: cutting round, straight, and wavy lines in fabric; following two-step verbal instructions; tracing, and using a hot glue gun without assistance. Age requirement is firm!
Join professional puppeteers & voice actors for a snuggly hour of bedtime stories. Come in your PJ's, soft clothes, or cosplay and settle in for a loving wind-down to your busy day.
Description:
Described by the press as the best hidden gem at Gen Con, you can come in your pj's, bring your favorite stuffed animal, blanket, pillow, or lovey, and settle in for a relaxing wind-down from a very busy day of gaming and con-going. Let our puppeteers with special puppet guests soothe you into a sleepier state so you can wake up refreshed and ready for the next morning.
Puppet building pros with seriously great credits will talk about various puppet building techniques for multiple styles of puppets, such as the wedge method, flat patterning, sculpting, and more!
Come one, come all to the first-ever Gen Con Puppet Costume Contest! Come see puppets wearing their favorite cosplay! Enter your own puppet into the mix and find out who will take home the prizes!
Description:
Enter silly contests & win silly prizes! Grab your puppet, slap a costume on it (with care, integrity, and attention to detail), and be prepared to get judged by both celebrity and non-celebrity judges judging your every move. The judges' judginess is gonna judge up your judgee somethin' fierce! So fiercely it could win you a prize! Or just come to cheer on the silliness and see what these craftspeople have come up with. Is your alligator puppet dressing up as a carrot? Is your rabbit cosplaying as Jessica Rabbit (who is not actually a rabbit)? Are your finger puppets dressing up like actual fingers!?!?!!? Whatever it is, we want to see your puppets in their finest costumes! The entry form is emailed to everyone who gets a ticket, just in case you need to make a very wise last-minute decision to enter.
Join our guest DM, Mark Meer (some video game/castle guy), and enjoy watching or playing in this improvised quest with gamers and their puppets! 2 audience participants, plus 2 lawful good puppeteers!
Description:
Mark Meer (known best for the 2025 Gen Con Puppet Slam & being Canadian) will be your dungeon master in this epic quest for winning and probably something else. (Dude, I really need to take another DnD class.) Pick your race and pick your class & pick your spells & chemtrails...(?) and bring a puppet to cheer on the players, or don't bring a puppet and just watch alone without having a puppet with you (weirdo). 2 (TWO!) lucky audience members will get to play alongside our very seasoned puppeteers, one of whom is also very seasoned at DnD, and one of whom is....very not-seasoned. Find out how much Lowry's seasoning we're gonna need in this legendary adventure that unfolds before your very eyes! THE SHENANIGANS WILL BE SHENANIGAINING!
CAN TRIPS! They're called cantrips. Because you take a trip in a can in order to cast a special spell. (I remembered! And then made etymology!)
With an amazing cast of puppet characters & professional puppeteers to boot, you'll not want to miss watching or even participating in Puppet Karaoke. Bring a puppet, let loose, & join in on the fun.
Description:
Puppet Karaoke is a relaxed, fun evening where professional puppeteers, newbies, and everyone in between can put on a show together that you won't soon forget. Come to watch or come to participate. Either way, you'll have a great time. I mean, just imagine a sandwich singing your favorite Taylor Swift song. Glorious. Some puppets will be provided, however we highly encourage you to bring your own--because GEERRRMSSS! No actual singing required. In fact, we prefer you not. (NO MONOLOGUES FROM PRESIDENT'S DAY, ALAN!)
Got a joke, song, or short sketch you've been dying to put in front of an audience? Make us laugh, cry, or stare in utter confusion for up to 3 minutes! You do the work, your puppet gets the glory!
Description:
You've got a giant desire to be on a stage--but also you've got a giant desire to not have the attention on you. We get it--that's why we've created a puppet open mic, so you can do all of the work and have the puppet get all of the glory! Try your stuff in front of an audience. Or come to be in the audience and see what happens! BYOP if you intend to perform.
Come connect with puppeteers from your area and around the country. Plus you can bring an unwanted puppet-themed item for the unwanted-puppet-stuff giveaway!
Description:
We can't wait to reunite with our puppetry fam & meet new people at this year's puppeteer social! This is a time for human puppeteers & those interested in the art of puppetry to socialize, talk shop, & connect. Feel free to bring any current work you want to talk about & we'll do our ever popular, unwanted-puppet-stuff giveaway!