TrotCon

Sonic Breakfast, Eurobeat Bacon, and more!

Do you have the MUSIC in your SOUL? We do, and so does our ever growing roster of musicians!

Eurobeat Brony - He was the first musician to release a remix of a song from MLP:FiM, and has been a staple of the scene ever since, with such hits as “Luna (Dream Mode)”, “Diamond Dogs (Euro Dirt Mix)” and “Discord (EuroChaos Mix)”. Super Ponybeat remains one of the most popular remix albums of the show, praised by My Little Pony composer Daniel Ingram and popular music magazine Rolling Stone.

Odyssey is also a prolific force for all things Eurobeat outside of MLP, appearing on the Initial D anime and game series, the Toho Eurobeat series, Most Extreme Ultimate Thunder, the Densha De D soundtrack, Super Eurobeat, and many more. He has also released two volumes of original music, the “My Life as a Pixel” series, and created the community-favorite remixes of “Spectrum” and “Clarity” by Zedd ft. Matthew Koma.

Sonic Breakbeat: Since 2010, he’s been on the scene remixing and spitting out his own tracks in energetic styles like drum-n-bass, electro house, and progressive house. Now experimenting in other genres and forms, he’s looking toward making a career out of music production. He’s ready to give it his all at TrotCon, are you?

DJ Lupo B: An upcoming DJ from Akron here in the Buckeye State whose main musical joys include dubstep, drum-n-bass, house, and new trap. He has been listening to such music since 2006, DJ-ing since mid-2010, and just recently started cranking his own tunes. Keep Calm and Bass On!

Sgt-Whip: An electronic musician who produces and mixes all sorts of bass-heavy complextro madness. As a controller enthusiast and lover of all genres, you can expect a very inventive live performance. Aftermath: An electronic musician from southern Florida that specializes in house and dance music, although he’s been known to make other genres as well. If you like nice melodies, electronic music, and ponies then you’re in for a treat!

Chang31ing: A creator of mixes, mixups, and mashups using DJ equipment. He likes to help support lesser known musicians when he can by using their songs in his mixes.

LizardRock: Hear the beats, see the lights, and drop the bass with Pony DJ LizardRock! A mix of some of the best pony dance songs, complete with lights and lasers, are sure to get you jumping!

PhillyPu: An improvisational pianist who has covered numerous MLP songs, he has also dabbled in other genres of music such as cheesy Asian piano, cheesy orchestral, and boontah. Slated to perform at BronyCon 2013, he is brewing some tunes that have never been heard before (perhaps for good reason…?), ready to be premiered at TrotCon! An album is still being tentatively put together due to excruciating peer pressure from other brony musicians. What is going to be unveiled on his set? Kazoo-influenced minimalist? Ill-tempered keyboard button smashing?? Profane Neo-Bossa Nu-Rap Garage-Step Baroque????? Find out at TrotCon 2013!

GreenTintedGoggles: An up-and-coming musician in the brony community whose dedication to his craft keeps a slow-but-steady stream of music in many different styles coming down the pipes. Though he generally sticks around the normal four-on-the-floor house tracks, he may throw in a few curveballs for those wanting some speed.

Mogul Dash: He likes ponies so much that he decided to start making music about them. He has always wanted to create works of art for others to enjoy, and he is honored that this community has accepted him and propelled him to where he is today! He feels that it’s really a pleasure to meet all his fans, and to see what other bronies create. These conventions offer him a median to do just that. He started creating music a year ago, and has worked his absolute hardest to harness his skills and present them to you all!

SMOR3S: An electronic artist, born and raised in Ohio. At the age of 16, he was in and out of local alternative/post hardcore and punk bands. When he was 18, the band scene died down, leading him to the discovery of electronic music. He had little success throughout the years of 2010 and 2011, but then, during the year of 2012, SMOR3S dedicated his time to producing and dropped his first official EP: the self-titled “SMOR3S”. He has since released a second EP: “Skies High”.

Steven, A.D.: Several months ago, there was a void in this fandom. A “Steven, A.D.”-shaped void. Luckily, Steven, A.D. came along to fill it. With his high-energy and generally light-hearted raps slapped on top of his chiptune-inspired instrumentals, he’s slowly made a name for himself. Literally. He literally typed out his own name at two words-per-minute. Nice font, though. I think they call it “Cosmic Sands” or something.

New Guest Announcement and Sponsor Badge Reminder!

Hello friends! We are announcing a change in our guest roster. Sometimes, life changes without warning and sometimes these changes lead to new and better things. Lee Tockar has been nominated for an Emmy! This spectacular news comes with a price for us, however. The Emmys fall on June 14th this year, the first day of our con, so he will not be able to join us for Trotcon 2013. We wish Lee the best and we want him to get that Emmy! What does this mean for Trotcon? Well, it means we have to bring in a guest who’s every bit as whacky and wild as Lee is. We’ve found just the guy. Trotcon announces Peter New! He may play shy and reserved characters like Big MacIntosh and Sunil Nevla but he’s a pocket full of firecrackers in person. We are excited to have him!

Hold on to your hooves, we have another guest! He’s funny. He’s talented. He’s coming to his first pony convention as a guest at Trotcon! Announcing the Comedy Gag Master of Ponies, Dave Polsky! You may not know the name right off the tongue but you certainly know his work. This writer for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic brings us some of the most fun filled, zany episodes there are! Such episodes include: “Feeling Pinkie Keen,” “Two Many Pinkie Pies,” and “Keep Calm and Flutter On.” Trotcon will be the first convention at which he has panels. We welcome him and we will show him and all of you a wonderful time!

Sponsor badge sales will be ending on May 10th, meaning this Friday. So if you have been on the fence about getting one or upgrading to one now is your last chance. If you have one you will get to attend our VIP Dinner, with our newly mentioned guests plus all of the other guests we have announced. You get priority seating at events, half price admission to Zoombezi Bay, and one free autograph. There will also be a bunch of goodies that only sponsor badge holders get!

Register for your sponsor badge today!

TrotCon Livestream

Attention ponies! Now you can REALLY be a pony! In the magical land of… Second Life? Come pony with the staff of the pony convention known as Trotcon! We’ll be discussing the convention, our plans, and answering all those burning questions you’ve got for us. Join us Wednesday, May 8th at 6pm Eastern at livesteam.com/trotcon.

Equestria Inspired

Equestria Inspired is a gaming group dedicated to giving the Brony community more ways to enjoy the world of Equestria and be inspired. Established since the show’s beginning, it’s been their goal to give everypony outside of the show the chance to feel like they’re in it. Whether it be in Ponyville with the cast of the show, or back in Equestria’s past, EquIn is at the forefront of My Little Pony tabletop and party gaming - eager to make everyone feel just THAT much closer to the wonderful world that has inspired us all. Draìoct Neighsach and PonIver will be teleportalling you into the heart of Equestria all weekend long in our tabletop gaming room.

Being an avid con-goer, Draìoct Neighsach (Pronounced: ‘Dry-ekt’), the Founder of Equestria Inspired Gaming, has been enjoying various conventions for more fandoms than you can count on your hooves. This will be his 10th anniversary of bringing his love for gaming everywhere he goes - from video gaming to LARPing, tabletop to party gaming, and so much more! An avid Brony from the beginning, he’s worked long and hard to fill the void that is the roleplaying game enjoyment of the fandom. Thusly he has developed several titles, including “Inspireland”, “MLP: TOON!”, “Mass Effect: Unity”, and the fan favorite “Are You A Changeling?”. He would love nothing more than to share in these wonderful roleplaying escapades with all of you!

With three hit features, PonIver is one of the hottest names in pony fiction. Between writing about Equestria’s favorite ponies and working with Equestria Inspired, he’s also got his hooves full as a head of the Midwest Brony Division - one of the largest local fanbases around. He’s also founder of the Hearth’s Warming Care Package - a brony charity to benefit Kiki Havivy, a young girl battling brain cancer. They provide aid through events, auctions, and published fanfic. On the convention circuit, he’s known to most for his infamous ‘Raristache’ cosplay antics.

New Guests from YouTube

Confound those ponies, they drive us to YouTube and YouTube video accessories! What mashups are to music, YouTube poops are to videos: varied, creative, sometimes serious and often silly, but most importantly, a good YTP is filled with plenty of ssuss. It can be hard to come by, but fortunately for all of you, two of the most prominent MLP poopers will be joining us this summer to provide more than enough ssuss for everyone: Unanimous Delivers and SgtScrubnoob!

About two years ago, Unanimous Delivers started posting some silly YouTube videos with ponies in them. Since then, he’s surpassed 10,000 subscribers. Even if you don’t know him, you likely have come across his work at some point. By far his most popular video is Night of Pony, which alone has topped a million views, but there’s plenty more where that came from! You might have also seen Pinkie Trigger, 1000 People Clicked on the Subscribe Button, or his Sonic Rainboom perspective video.

If you know Unanimous, you probably also know SgtScrubnoob, one of the more prolific poopers out there, with videos like Mega Mare, Apple Race, Rusty Bucket Neigh, and dozens of others. On top of that, he is also the creator of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic article on Know Your Meme, which has amassed over eight million views. If you were introduced to this crazy fandom by that article, you (and millions of others) have him to thank!

Unanimous Delivers and SgtScrubnoob will be hosting some video-related panels, showing off some of their favorite YouTube poops and PMVs, and talking about what it takes to turn a video into a video.

Click on their subscribe buttons by accident: Unanimous Delivers and SgtScrubnoob

Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’d like to take a brief moment to reflect.

We, TrotCon’s staff, agree (unanimously, if you may) that 2011 was a fantastic year in many ways. It has been incredible to watch a few dozen fans of an up-and-coming cartoon turn into hundreds, and then tens of thousands, all in the span of a few months. Some people had their doubts that the fandom would last through the summer once the season ended. It not only lasted, but thrived, with every kind of fan content imaginable: art, fanfiction, music, videos, games, and much more.

Part of our goal with TrotCon is to try to celebrate and recreate that feeling in a sense. We’d like to bring back the excitement, creative energy, and so many wonders of watching this talented fandom emerge from such a humble beginning, so that those who weren’t around can experience it, and those who were there can remember and enjoy it all over again.

Friendship Codes

Badge prices have gone up to $35, but if you registered before April 19, you can share the magic of friendship with your friends who missed the early-bird badge rate! Just enter the email address you used to register to get your Friendship Code, which you can share with up to five of your bestest friends. Using this code when registering scores them five dollars off their badge – so they can pay the same $30 rate you did. But wait, there’s more! When someone uses your Friendship Code, you can earn up to $5 back on your own badge! This cash will be sent back to your PayPal account after the pre-registration deadline on May 31.

Get your Friendship Code today!

VIP Dinner Announcement

Ever wanted to eat a dinner chock full o’ lotsa spaghetti with your favorite pony people? If you get a sponsor badge, then you’re in luck! We are hosting a VIP dinner for those with sponsor badges, which is just that!* As a sponsor, you will dine alongside Lee Tockar, Heather Breckel, Summer Hayes and many of our fandom guests! If you don’t have a sponsor badge yet, there’s still time but act fast, as there’s a limited number of them available and they are going fast!

*Meals are not included with sponsor badges.

As a reminder, your sponsor badge will also net you these fine perks: a free autograph, priority seating for events, half price admission to Zoombezi Bay, and so much more.

Make haste and get your sponsor badge now!

Remember, badge rates jump on April 19th, so act now! Additionally, art table applications will be closing on April 12th, so send those in ASAP. We will be sending out acceptance notices for those that make the cut by April 19th.

Trotcon! Stay brony my friends! June 14-16, Columbus, Ohio.

Deadline adjustments

Due to several requests, we are adjusting our submission deadlines for artists, musicians, and panelists. Additionally, we are introducing a second round of submissions, and will be filling a quarter of our art tables and performance slots one month prior to the final cutoff dates. We have had several submissions from talented artists and musicians, and simply don’t want to wait until May to tell everyone!

We’ll be sorting through all of our submissions and notifying some selected artists on March 15, and musicians on March 29. These initial selections will be made by a combination of jury and lottery. (There will not be a first round of selections for panelists.) Additionally, final selections and notifications will take place one week prior to the dates we originally posted. There’s still plenty of time, so there’s no need to freak out, but don’t delay either!

The first round of artist selections will be made on March 15, table applications will now close on April 12, and all artists will be notified on April 19. The full artists’ list will still be posted on April 26. The first selection of musicians will be made on March 29, auditions will close on April 26, all musicians will be notified on May 3. The final musical lineup will still be posted on May 10. Panel applications will close on May 10, approved panelists will be notified on May 24, and the panel schedule will still be posted on May 31.

Just as a reminder while we’re talking dates, badge prices go up on April 19, and pre-registration closes on May 31. Additionally, our room block will close on May 17 – that is, if any rooms are left by then! Don’t procrastinate; get your badge and room now while you’re thinking of it.

Unfounded rumors

There is currently a false quote being spread around that we are claiming that anyone who wishes to attend or support a certain other convention will be banned from our event and meetup group. This is both untrue and nonsensical. It’s impossible to control where people go and what they do, and the idea that we would even want to do so is entirely against the community spirit on which our group and convention were founded.

It is disappointing that someone has started such rumors, and even more so that others are propagating them.