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!

We have some news for you guys! Although there are a few final niggles to iron out – t-crossing, i-dotting things – we’re far enough in the booking process to inform you the exact location of the Summer of Sonic 2009. I hinted in my Twitter account that it will be somewhere to the East of Zone 1 (‘Zones’ are London Underground areas). SOS 09 will take place in the colourful marketplace of Brick Lane, at Truman Brewery’s Boiler House (that image is of the inside, with stuff in it). We have more details on the location, including a handy map, on our newly opened Where Is It page – do give it a nose.

I’m going to drop a few more hints as to what you can expect in the lead up to SOS this year – after much deliberation, this event will be free to attend, just like the initial convention in 2008. So all you have to worry about is travel and snoozing down in London, if the mood takes you.

One of the biggest things we were asked was the facility of ‘merchandise shops’ for attendees to spend, spend spend. In fact, it’s one of the things I’d really like to happen too, but unfortunately I can’t comment on whether we can do this yet in SOS 09 or not. The problem being that there are all sorts of legal and property rights issues surrounding the selling of Sonic the Hedgehog licensed products (I’m not joking – SEGA are somehow in a legal tussle to sell stuff from their own brand) so it could put a damper on things. Having said that, there’s nothing stopping license holders from attending the event, but I can’t say whether that will happen or not yet, so fingers crossed!

We’re still fumbling through our list of Special Guests, so aren’t ready to comment on anything just yet… however, I can tease that legendary game composer Richard Jacques and the lovely singer TJ Davis were said to enjoy attending Summer of Sonic 2008. If you missed out on Richard and TJ’s magnificent performance last year, there’s a chance you’ll still be able to meet them this year…

There will be a legal requirement for us to have names of those attending the Summer of Sonic in case of a fire or other emergency – a page will be created soon where you can sign your name (much like last year’s registration page, minus the threat of not getting in), so if you want to get in smoothly and quickly on the day you should let us know your name/s on the upcoming page. If you turn up on the day, all carefree like a bird, we’ll have to take your names down on the door so it might slow things down for you. Just giving you a heads up.

Specific things such as fan interaction and special things that the community will be preparing for the convention will be revealed very soon – in the meantime, give us your thoughts on these latest developments! We’re listening!

If you’re reading this right now, congratulations! You’re one of the first people to catch a glimpse of the brand new website for the Summer of Sonic convention! More content will be added over the coming days, with this page being home to the latest announcements and updates. Please check back often to find out important information on the next convention, taking place in London (UK) on August 29th 2009.

What is the Summer of Sonic?

A very warm welcome if you are new to this website! The Summer of Sonic is an annual convention for fans of Sonic the Hedgehog to meet in a single location and enjoy the flagship SEGA mascot together. This event was created by Svend ‘Dreadknux’ Joscelyne, webmaster of fansite The Sonic Stadium and professional video game journalist, and the event is co-organised and supported by SEGA Europe and, specifically, Kevin ‘AAUK’ Eva (Community Manager for SEGA Europe).

The very first convention took place in Covent Garden, London UK, in the cosy Dragon Hall community centre. Over 300 Sonic crazed fans from all over the world attended this intimate and atmospheric gathering to play classic Mega Drive games, compete for Guinness World Record titles, play Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood before its UK release, and meet legendary names in the franchise’s history, including Nigel Kitching (Writer/Artist, Fleetway Sonic the Comic), Bentley Jones (Musician, ‘Dreams of an Absolution’) and the unmistakable Richard Jacques (Sonic 3D, Metropolis Street Racer) with TJ Davis (Singer, Sonic R).

What can I do here?

This website exists to provide attendees of this year’s Summer of Sonic event with information regarding special guests, shows, stage performances and travel details. We will be providing blog updates on a regular basis, beginning June 15th 2009. We will be reaching out to the Sonic fan community to help make their mark on the Summer of Sonic – the Comments system on this website will allow you to communicate directly with us and chat to other attendees.

More details are coming soon – we have only just launched this year’s website, so please take this time to let us know what you thought of the Summer of Sonic event last year in Dragon Hall (if you were able to make it!) and what you would like to see in 2009′s event (we take on board all that we read, but obviously we can’t do everything suggested – although we might be able to do it in the future…). Speak to you soon!

~ Svend