Hi guys! It’s about time we talked about the biggest section in the convention – both in terms of size and its relative popularity. The Fan Artwork corner dominated last year’s Summer of Sonic, with fans so eager to get on board with drawing their favourite character that they were sitting on the stage doing it! Of course, you won’t be able to do that now, because the Fan Artwork corner has increased tenfold, with room for about 90 people to sit and scribble at leisure this year.

But the Fan Art corner was meant to be more than just sitting there drawing – we really wanted to showcase art made by fans as a creative homage to the Sonic franchise. This year, we’ll be setting up a few initiatives to celebrate Sonic a bit more.

Art Contest

First off, as last year, there will be an Art Contest. Attendees will be able to draw throughout the day and hand in their best work, with the winners announced on stage. Whether you win or not, we will have a huge wall dedicated to artwork made by fans on the day! So once you’re done with a picture you can get it stuck on the Fan Art wall and have everyone else admire your handiwork.

Featured Artists

Another wall will be present at the event, and will focus on ‘Featured Artists’. This is a section that the organisers at Summer of Sonic will arrange, as we scour the Internet for some incredible Sonic fan art talent! Jemnezmy, our resident Art Maestro, will be contacting several people on deviantArt very soon about putting your art in an extra-special showcase, so keep an eye on those inboxes!

Fan Favourites

More space on the walls will be dedicated to your own favourite pieces of artwork! Courtesy of Sega Europe, you – the Sonic fans and potential attendees – will get the chance to tell us about ONE piece of fan artwork that you would like to see displayed at the Summer of Sonic 2009. Send your chosen favourite to incoming@sonic-city.com with the subject “Summer Of Sonic Fanart Wall”. Remember, one entry per person.

We can now reveal that Lee Brotherton, also known as dance artist Bentley Jones, will be attending the Summer of Sonic convention for a second time to meet fans of his work. What’s more, he’ll be giving a special performance on stage! Those who missed his singing last year will be excited to get another chance to meet the man behind fan favourite theme, ‘Dreams of an Absolution’.

A Sonic fan even before he hit the spotlight, Bentley Jones was well known in online community circles as popular OverClocked Remixer ‘LeeBro’. After a string of dance remix hits via his Remix Factory label, he was offered to work on the soundtrack to Shadow the Hedgehog, and his feet hasn’t touched the ground since. Now a solo artist, he has released his first album to the Japanese market consisting of J-Pop covers, called TRANS//LATION. On top of remix work and continuing efforts in the Sonic franchise, Bentley is working on his second album whilst planning an assault on the UK music charts.

The artist will be more than happy to mingle with the crowd, as he has done at last year’s convention – and was rather surprised at the number of fans he truly has in the Sonic community. Be sure to give him a warm greeting if you bump into him.

Last year, we were surprised to find that so many people were already taking the opportunity to cosplay at the very first Summer of Sonic convention! We gave away a Nintendo DS prize to CloudChaser, who very bravely shaved her head and dressed as Dr. Eggman for the special day.

Noticing a good thing when we see one, we’re going to hold a proper Sonic Cosplay contest at this year’s convention. There will be a special prize going to the best costume as chosen by SoS staff and the crowd in general, so start creating your costume as soon as possible and try to be the best! You’ll likely find that the winner will be the one who is most imaginitive with their cosplay (I doubt that anyone will be able to truly ‘be’ Sonic the Hedgehog, lest they steal one of the suits at Sega somewhere!), so get creative!

Late in the afternoon, we will be hosting an event at the Stage area with a selection of cosplay finalists, at which point the audience will cast a vote as to their favourite! We hope you’ll be game enough to take part in this fun contest!

In other news, we have opened up a new information page – ‘What’ll Be There’. This is a page that will inform you of exactly what you can expect at the convention this year — although we’ve not announced everything yet…….. so bear in mind that page is subject to change. Multiple times. Enjoy!

~ Svend

A lot of you have been asking about places to stay and how to generally get around during Summer of Sonic, so I’ve created a little guide to help those who are a little lost organising their trip!

GETTING AROUND:

An absolute essential for those coming to London for the first time is an Underground All-Day ticket; this allows you unlimited travel on the underground system, which is a real asset for those who want to explore the place. A Day Pass will cost you £5.80 for travel within Zones 1 and 2 (central London); these can be bought from every underground station and are an absolute must if you fancy doing a little bit of exploring before or after Summer of Sonic. I recommend printing off a map of the underground or picking up a free map at a station, as they are of great assistance when getting from A to B. If you have access to the internet keep an eye on the Tube Status for updates on delays or line closures.

PLACES TO STAY:

If you are looking for somewhere cheap and cheerful, then the Travelodge is your best bet. All of the rooms have an en-suite bathroom as well as coffee and tea making facilities. The Liverpool Street Travelodge is about 400 yards from the Liverpool street, and another 400 yards from the bottom of Brick Lane from which the Truman Brewery is only five minutes up the road by foot. Rooms are about £85 a night but there is an option for a Saver room on Friday for £52. You can stuff up to 3 people in certain rooms if someone does not mind sleeping on the pull-out sofa, and this is a great way to split the cost! In the same area you can find the Hotel Ibis (I said Ibis, not Iblis!), which offers similar amenities for about the same price as the Travelodge, but unfortunately only have double rooms available.

If you are really trying to budget for SoS, then there is always the Piccadilly Backpacker’s Hotel. Here they can accommodate parties of 4, 6 and 10 people in one room – ideal if you’re coming in a large party of people! Costs are per bed (£16-£26 a night), and if you plan on travelling alone you can book a bed in a shared room with other backpackers for very little cost. The Hotel has many facilities including showers, 24-hour security and WiFi, so your stay would be by no means uncomfortable. My recommendation for parties of two or three however would be with the Travelodge as there is little difference in cost (and it also saves the underground journey in the morning!)

For those looking for real convenience, the infamous and award-winning Hoxton Hotel is a mere five-minute walk from the Brewery, and offers real luxury with a plasma TV, duck down bedding and breakfast in the morning! (Oh, did I mention free WiFi?) It lies two minutes away from the Old Street underground station, which in turn is two stops away from London’s Kings Cross. Unfortunately the rooms are not cheap; expect to pay £127 for a double room for one night.

PLACES TO EAT:

Although there will most likely be snacks and light refreshments going at the Summer of Sonic, you will probably want somewhere to eat in the morning and evening. Brick Lane (on which the Brewery lies) has a nice selection of restaurants and cafes and there are usually touts out on the streets shouting out offers of the day, so keep your ears open for good deals! Liverpool Street (next to the station) has many different restaurants catering for many different tastes… and a MacDonald’s for those who are less adventurous and want a quick bite to eat for little cost! There are also a little cafes (including one called Leonidas if you want to spend your morning quoting 300!) where you can pick up breakfast on the run as you pass on your way to the venue.

WHAT TO BRING TO SOS:

If you have signed up to SoS, at some point you will be issued a ticket which you will need to bring to the event itself and present to one of the staff on the doors; this will allow you and your party entrance. Feel free to bring things like cameras and your handheld games consoles. Certain items are prohibited, so please take time to read the terms and conditions for entry into Summer of Sonic. Although in some cases it is unavoidable, carrying large bags into Summer of Sonic is not recommended, as it will likely have to be checked by a member of staff, will slow admission, and will become an inconvenience if you have to carry it around for several hours. Small backpacks, courier-style bags and handbags are recommended if you need to carry large numbers of items around. There may also be a raffle for prizes (as the selling of merchandise will probably be unlikely), so remember to bring some money with you too, just in case!

If you have any other questions about getting around, such as specifics that apply to you, feel free to get in contact via this email address, and we will try and help you out as much as we can!

T-Bird, SoS Event Staff

For many Sonic the Hedgehog fans in the UK, one of the best ways of relaxing with the blue blur outside of the computer games was by reading the fortnightly Egmont Fleetway production, Sonic the Comic. ‘STC’ inspired both children and teenagers with a gripping storyline inspired by the Mega Drive games, coupled with occasional leaps beyond the confines of the joypad to expand on the background of the characters.

We’re very honoured to announce that two of the influential masterminds behind STC will be joining us at the Summer of Sonic 2009 convention. Nigel Kitching was the writer of many issues that changed the pace of the comic throughout its 200-odd issue run, and is revered for creating a canon storyline that benefits and complements the computer game series. He now contributes to the main cartoons in kid’s magazine Toxic.

Nigel Dobbyn is an illustrator and worked on the Tails and Knuckles substories that accompanied the comic’s primary Sonic strip. His artistic style drew a lot of darker influences into the Sonic comic universe, but still reflected the light-hearted nature of Sonic’s friends as they would journey to alternate dimensions facing their own moral challenges. Nigel now works on other comics including Spiderman and Friends and 2000AD.

The STC duo will be at the Summer of Sonic enjoying the festivities and willing to chat to adoring fans on the day! We will have a Question and Answer panel with the two Nigels early in the afternoon too, which will seek to learn more about the processes of comic making, their time with Sonic the Comic and their past experiences. Feel free to bring along any old comics you have to get their signature – there will be a dedicated Signing booth for all of our guests to use during the day.

Learn more about Nigel Kitching here, and catch up with Nigel Dobbyn’s thoughts on his blog.

NOTE: For those wondering when they will get their e-tickets from Advance Registration, you will receive them at the beginning of August.

Just a little teaser to truly kick off our little tidal wave of announcements – our first reveal will be made on this website later tonight. What exactly that is you’ll have to wait and see, but needless to say we have a LOT of things that will make SOS 2009 really awesome, so we figure we best start tonight. Those who like to read will be most excited.

In the meantime, and just to make this update rather interesting, take a look at a draft floorplan scribble I’ve been working on. Myself, Kevin/ArchAngelUK and main Security bloke for the event Joshua/Urtheart will be visiting the venue again tomorrow to make sure all these measurements add up. Bear in mind that this is a draft and subject to change – I’m showing you this as I figure it would be cool to give you a little peek as to what’s being done behind the scenes.

Stick around for tonight’s announcement!

~ Svend.

Well, you know the date (29th August). You know the place (Truman Brewery’s Boiler Room). You know the time (10.30am~). Now it’s time for you to register your interest and plan to get to the Summer of Sonic!

This year, although it is an optional process, we will be offering an ‘advance registration’ system for those that want to jump the inevitably long queue on the day. We will need to take your contact details – either in advance or by filling in a form when you arrive – for safety purposes and legal obligations. The advance registration allows you to send us those details ahead of time so you can just slide through the queues.

You can find out how to register for advance tickets at the “I’m There!” section of this website, which will be updated regularly to reflect any changes in entry we may have to make. If you have any questions you can either ask them in the comments box below, or in our specific topic on the Sonic Stadium Message Board.

Hey guys! Svend/Dreadknux here, just writing a quick update to answer some questions that have been asked here, there and everywhere. First of all, sorry for the lack of updates on my part – we’ve been busy behind the scenes, getting some last minute things prepared! As you can imagine, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind trying to organise something like this, on a bigger scale than last year and while taking on board your suggestions to make it better! We’ve got enough stuff to announce over the next month so we’ll be spilling many a bean in regular intervals. Keep an eye out.

I’ll also be letting some other members of the SoS team have a say on this blog. At the moment Jemnezmy and myself (Dreadknux) are working on the floorplan alongside preparations for the new and improved Art Corner – stay tuned for an update from Jem about that! Anyway, onto your questions/concerns!

1. Will the venue be bigger than Summer of Sonic 2008′s?
   It will be much bigger. The Truman Brewery’s Boiler House is over twice the size of last year’s Dragon Hall venue. In fact, I’ve spent the best part of today drafting a floorplan for the place, and there’s lots and lots of room even after taking into account all the stuff I’ve had to put in it! The Boiler House can fit around 500 people in its walls. And to answer a related question, yes I’m personally making sure there will be many, many chairs in the hall this year.
2. Is there more than one room at the venue?
   Sadly, the Boiler House is one big happy room in itself. There aren’t any additional spaces that people can sift in and out of. We didn’t intend it to be this way, although I personally think that having more than one room kind of diminishes the nature of a convention anyway. The point, I feel, is that everyone who likes the same thing can kick back with one another. It seems a little strange to have separate rooms for groups of people to enter in such an environment – people may think you’re being somewhat anti-social!

   What we do have however, is a sizeable outdoor area towards the back of the venue. It would make for a great space for you guys to hang out if you want some fresh air and some food (more on this coming later). Let’s hope for some nice, sunny weather!

3. Will video cameras be allowed?
   Of course! We want people to be able to take as many mementos from the event as they can. If you have a really fond memory of this year’s Summer of Sonic, we would want you to take that away and keep that forever. Please note however, that certain special guests may be uncomfortable being recorded and having themselves put on Youtube – if we ask the audience to not film a particular part of Stage events I hope you guys will be able to respect this and put down the video cameras until it’s cool to play with them again.
4. Can we buy Sonic merchandise/toys at this year’s event?
   This was one of the biggest requests we got last year, and I’d love to jump right up and say “Heck yes, here’s a truckload of exclusive merch you can purchase!” Unfortunately, owing to licensing restrictions on Sega Europe’s part, we can’t do an awful lot to introduce merchandise to buy at the event. That doesn’t mean we aren’t trying though! There are many companies that have a license to produce and sell Sonic the Hedgehog products in the UK, and we’re doing our best to have them attend so you can buy some of their wares.
5. Any chance of voice actors attending?
   I can promise you we have a great list of special guests attending, but I’m afraid to say that nobody from the voice acting gang will be able to make the trip this time. The life of a VA is a very busy one indeed! However, we have had a message of goodwill from such actors as Mike Pollock, so who knows what the future may hold for the Summer of Sonic convention.
6. Rent a bar out so the adults can party too!
   We like the way you think! But the Summer of Sonic is for fans of all ages to get together and chat – last year we even had the adult fans get taught a thing or two from some of the youngsters! Renting out a bar on top of what we have as well would really cost us an awful lot regardless. Having said that, once we wrap up there’s a good chance we’ll want to unwind – if you have nothing better to do in the evening, you’re more than welcome to join us.
7. What time will the event start and finish?
   We haven’t finalised details yet, but we’re looking to kick proceedings off at around 10.30am. Pencil that time down, but be prepared for a slight delay if we’ve not got everything sorted yet. Sometime around 10.30am to 11am is a good time to think about. In terms of when the event ends, it looks likely that things will round off around 6pm.
8. Will a Live Stream go online?
   Last year it was possible to do a very rudimentary, crude live stream due to the fact Dragon Hall had wireless connectivity. The Boiler House has no such facilities, however we are working on solutions and are trying to get the foundations laid down for a live stream. We don’t want anyone unable to attend to miss out!

Hope I’ll get a chance to answer any more questions you have very soon! Stay tuned — we’ll be revealing a lot more about the event now that it’s little over a month and a half away!