[Railway Dash]

Eine deutschsprachige Version dieses Threads wird in noch heute nacht (Link kommt dann hier rein) verfügbar sein auf bronies.de .

The Big Plushie-Meetup at GalaCon 2015.

In a few hours, it will officially been announced by the GalaCon orga as one of this year's panels/events. Here's the appropriate news and discussion thread for it, it will be on this year's GalaCon:

The Big Plushie-Meetup!

What is it about?
It's simple: if bronies and interested visitors are meeting, why not their plushies, too? We all know about the high personal value that's represented by such a plushie, and it even multiplies when you see many plushies gathered together... besides, it simply is nice to look at. For hand-sewn plushies, it also provides an overview about the range of different kinds of plushies, personal styles of the plushie-makers and their creativity, their abilities - or, shorter: an overview about what people from the fandom are able to create in the plushie sector.

I first saw that idea, carried out by Anna, at Blackys Bar Meetup in March 2014 (please read more in the "Q&A-Panel" below), followed by two more plushie meetups at the Winter Wrap Up (WWU) Meetups in Wildflecken (Germany) in 2014 and 2015. This year, it's going to move on to the next step: to GalaCon 2015.

On Saturday evening, plushies (hopefully many of them) are going to meet each other and gather around - and not just somewhere, but at the main theater hall, at the main stage in the bright spotlight!

Collecting/accepting the plushies will be on Saturday afternoon and the early evening, return, however, can only be done on Sunday morning - that's just because available rooms and time doesn't allow anything different. Besides, on this year's GalaCon the Forum Ludwigsburg demands that it's cleared of all people on Saturday at midnight. Accepting the plushies, showing and returning them all in just one day simply isn't possible if we want to have some time for visitors, photographers and movie makers to visit and enjoy the plushie meetup. For further details, such as the timetable, please have a look at the "Q&A-Panel" below.

As you can imagine, such an event cannot be realized by just one person. Therefore, I'm in need of help and supply - and am officially starting the call for applies as volunteers at the plushie meetup, either via PM or here in this thread. Become a member of the plushie meetup team at GalaCon 2015!


Important note: Only members of the plushie meetup team do have access to the plushies. This means: no one is allowed to re-arrange or touch the plushies on his own; I'm getting guards from the Con-orga at my disposal who would intervene if necessary. And, of course, each member of the plushie meetup team is fully aware about the high personal value a plushie has for its owner - we will handle your plushies with the utmost care and respect, this I guarantee for with my name!

So far for a first survey - now let's go a bit more into the details: at the

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[spoiler=''''Q&A-Panel''.'']

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What does the timetable say?

We are getting a separate room for accepting and returning the plushies; the exhibition (this is the plushie meetup itself) however will be at the main stage at the theater hall.

This is the timetable as approved by the GalaCon orga team:


Saturday (all times given are pm):
3:00 - 3:30 Meeting of the plushie meetup team for briefing and introducing the tasks in the accepting room. This is not open for the public but only for the briefing of the team - I do, however, mention it here for people who might be interested in becoming a volunteer so they see I do request and demand the presence of the whole team at 3 pm.
3:30 - 7:30 Collecting / accepting the plushies. How exactly this will be done: please have a look at the next "spoiler" box down below.
7:30 - 8:30 Setting up the plushie meetup, that means: the plushies are transferred from the accepting room to the theater hall and are set up there.
8:30 - 10:30 Plushie-Meetup at the main stage in the theater hall. During this time (two hours should be a good amount of time for it, I think), each one who is interested may visit the meetup of the plushies, take pictures, make movies... also, re-arranging the plushies (only by members of the plushie meetup team!) is possible as far as the situation at the location at this time allows it. Anyone who wants some sort of re-arrangement: please ask someone of the plushie meetup team.
10:30 - 11:30 Deconstruction. The plushies are brought back to the accepting room, this room will be safely locked up after the plushies are back there. Returning the plushies to their owners is not planned for this time - time would be too short to do so. If we'd plan to do so, most likely after the end of the Gala or the party, a run for the plushie return would start - and we wouldn't be able to guarantee the location is cleared at midnight , which GalaCon orga has to ensure by their contract with the Forum Ludwigsburg. Besides, on doing such a rushed thing, there wouldn't be a thought of careful working - but careful working is mandatory when dealing with idealistic values. So please understand we aren't able to return the plushies on Saturday night.

Sunday:
10:30 am - 1:30 pm Return of the plushies at the accepting-returning-room.

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[spoiler="How exactly is this supposed to work / how do you ensure everyone gets his plushie back?"]
We're getting a supply of numbered ribbon bracelets (which we use to mark the plushies) made of paper with an adhesive spot. Anyone who wants his plushie(s) to attend the meetup has to sign an exclusion of liability (please have a look at the next spoiler: "Legal Notices") - which is at the same time a "sign-up form" for each single plushie. Further on, we have a block of GalaCon officially stamped but otherwise blank papers on our desk.

Your plushie wants to be at the meetup? So this is how it works for you:

• You fill in the sign-up form as far as you can (obviously, you can't fill in the signature of the meetup team member and the number your plushie is given), then you come with this form and your plushies to our accepting desk.
  
• Each single plushie gets one of the numbered ribbons mentioned before. Don't worry - we won't stick it on the plushie's coat, instead we will wrap it around its hoof, leg, mane or the neck - depends on how large your plushie is and how it is designed.
  
• The number on this ribbon is written on the sign-up form (which we will keep), into an "Attending Plushie List", where we will keep track of all attending plushies, their owners and, of course, the numbers given, and on one of the officially stamped papers mentioned before.
  
• You are given this paper with the number (one number per plushie). Please keep it safe and well - this is your receipt, you are getting your plushie back on presenting us this receipt.
  
• Now your plushie attends the plushie meetup!
  
• On Sunday, you come to our desk again with your receipt. With this receipt, we will return your plushie(s) to you - thanks to the number there will be no doubt which one is your plushie.
  
• The fitting line in our list will be struck out with a red pen (but will still be readable), and we will keep the numbered receipt.
  
• All done!
  

It is, of course, possible that someone loses his numbered receipt. Oops... but we have this situation under control, too. On the sign-in form, we have your name, the name of your pony and the assigned number. With this data we will be able to find your pony - in that case, however, we must insist that you legitimate yourself with a passport, drivers license or something else like that because, you see, someone could come along: "lost my receipt", and demand a certain plushie to be his own whilst the real owner doesn't have a clue on what's going on. Nasty thought, I know... but we have to think of anything we can think of as possible before we start...[/spoiler]

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Legal notices.

As mentioned in the spoiler box above, everyone who wants his plushie to attend the plushie meetup is obliged to fill in and sign a sign-in form. This form is a liability exclusion at the same time.

Unless in cases of gross negligent or culpable behavior, neither GalaCon nor I as personally signed-in panel presenter can be held responsible in any way.

Of course, we will work with the utmost care - let me personally assure you of that. But you see: each plushie can have weak hidden spots that aren't to be seen on first look from the outside - maybe it has an aged seam which rips just during the time while we are taking care of the plushie I'm sure you'll understand neither we nor GalaCon can be held responsible for something like that - that's why we have to insist on the liability exclusion.

The plushie meetup takes place at GalaCon 2015 but is not organized by the GalaCon orga - it is an event organized by myself which takes place during and with the approval of GalaCon. I myself signed a panelist contract with GalaCon which makes me a legally independent panel presenter.

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Which and how many plushies can I bring along?

You understand: the plushies must be MLP-related in some way.

Most plushies surely will be ponies - be it "classic" standing plushies, shoulder ponies, lying ponies; giant, tiny (but, please, not so tiny that we aren't able to fix the number ribbon somehow on it) - everything of this kind is welcome. But of course, other characters from the MLP:FiM-universe are welcome as well: maybe someone has a Discord as plushie or a griffon. Why not? All are welcome!

Plushies that aren't MLP-related, however, will not be accepted. That means that there will be no Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cubes, random teddy bears, random plush foxes, Pokémon or other characters that aren't MLP:FiM-related in the meetup. In cases of doubt, the plushie meetup team will decide.

Furthermore, the plushies have to comply with GalaCon's rules - that means: keep them family friendly and fitting for everyone, for every age. So: no gore plushies (sounds absurd, but they exist!), no explicit porn plushies (maybe even with obvious and built-in for "it" body holes ), and, please, no overly creepy plushies (there are e.g. Pinkamenas that can be too creepy for some people - in short: complying with GalaCon's rules. Again, in cases of doubt the plushie meetup team will decide.

How many plushies everyone is allowed to bring? - Well, I don't want to set a limit for private persons. But you have to fill a sign-in form for every plushie (no exceptions!), and every plushie has to be labeled and registered by the meetup team. So, if someone comes along with 17 plushies (no joke, I had that before!), of course they all can be registered and be part of the plushie meetup, but it will take a few minutes longer.

It doesn't matter whether your plushie is an industrial-made mass production plushie for $2.99 from the toys store or a handmade one for a thousand or more Euros - only thing that matters is the personal value

Industrial-made mass production clone troops, however, are undesired. That means: if, say, a vendor who sells official MLP merch and wants to, say, contribute 50 or even 100 identical Fluttershys: thanks, but rejected. Not only would the registration take TOO long at some point, there also is nothing left of the personal value. - Otherwise, vendors may of course take part: say, on Saturday, 7 pm, a vendor has some still unsold plushies at his desk and wants one or more of them to be part of the meetup. Well, of course - from my point of view, there are no arguments against this. The vendor just has to fill the sign-in form as the owner of the plushie(s) (which he is) - it is stated nowhere that plushies at the meetup mustn't be for sale. Just, as said, please don't send in clone troops from one single owner - I don't believe some private person has dozens of identical ponys, so this restrictions only apply to official merch vendors.

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You keep talking of a sign-in form all the time. Where can I get this?

Right ---> >>>here<<< ; )
Of course, it will also be available at GalaCon itself - at GalaCon you may get it at the info desk or in the accepting room.

At this form, two plushies will fit on one of these sheets of paper. If someone signs in an odd number of plushies (1, 3, 5, ...), the empty half of the sheet will be crossed out with red color by the meetup team whilst signing in the other plushie.

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Railway Dash, you're acting as if you were the boss around here. How do you even come to do so?

Quite simply: because I am in charge of this plushie meetup.

Sounds arrogant, but that's the way it is

It's a fact: I myself signed a panelist contract under my real name and with my real address with GalaCon. That means I am solely responsible for the smooth run of this whole story - and I'm accountable to GalaCon.

Of course GalaCon demands this whole event to be as pleasant for all visitors as possible - and this is obviously clear since GalaCon's reputation is at stake. Please try to see it from the Con orgas point of view: you're organizing a huge convention, for the 4th time already, which has an excellent reputation - and has something to loose. If so, you surely wouldn't want to earn bad reputation because of a poorly organized or badly held panel and make sure everything runs smooth by all means - and nothing else did GalaCon do in my case.

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Do I have to wait in line to sign in or get back my plushies?

Depends on how many other people do have the same idea at the same time... Both acceptance and return of the plushies are open for several hours.

Depending on how many volunteers I get (no, I couldn't start earlier to ask for volunteers because too many details were unknown and it wasn't even certain if the plushie meetup would even take place after all) I will have to see that more than one person is working at the same time. They will be working in parallel, that means each process of acceptance or return will completely carried out by the appropriate volunteer. That doesn't mean you have to wait for the volunteer you gave your plushie to when returning it - instead it means that the single process of an acceptance or a return will be carried out by one volunteer, and I intend to have more than one volunteer working in parallel at the same time.

At this time, I don't know how many volunteers I get... - depending on their number and on how many people want to contribute their plushies or get them back at the same time, there will be waiting times. I'll try my very best to keep them as short as possible, but I can't promise too much at the moment.

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Oops, it's saturday at 7:45 pm. May I still quickly sign in my plushie?

Nope.

I'm sorry, but I think it's of utmost importance to keep track of my timetable - in the best interest of all visitors, I especially don't want to delay the begin of the plushie meetup at the main stage itself, therefore I cannot offer a last-minute sign in.

Also return will be closed on Sunday at 1:30 pm. These are three full hours from 10:30 am on - during this time, a complete return of all plushies is entirely possible.

For the "forgetting ones" there surely will be some "emergency possibilities" - but please note what the (signed by you!) sign-in form says about picking up your plushies in time; a later return (e.g. at the info desk) can only be the absolute emergency exception.

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I'm interested in helping with the plushie meetup! Tell me more.

With pleasure!

Anyone may apply - either via PM or here in this thread. Even if you're already a GalaCon volunteer, you may apply for the plushie meetup team - in this case, 404compliant and I will synchronize our schedules, maybe you can even serve both as a GalaCon and a plushie meetup team volunteer at the exactly same time, e.g. as a guard.

But please keep in mind: being a member of the plushie meetup team doesn't automatically makes you a GalaCon volunteer (with the benefits for GalaCon volunteers), too; but as an approved GalaCon volunteer, you can become a plushie meetup team volunteer, too.

I'm expecting two things: punctuality (this is mandatory to ensure it will be a pleasant event for anyone!) and that you are aware of the priceless personal value of the plushies - no matter whether it's a mass production plushie for $2.99 from the toy store or a handmade one for a thousand or even more Euros. I expect every member of the plushie team to handle the plushies according to this.

On the advice of the con orga there will be a volunteer contract for every volunteer who isn't a GalaCon volunteer already. Sadly it has shown on other huge brony events that some volunteers are only boasting in advance but don't even show up for actual work without even notifying anyone. Sorry, but I don't want or need something like this, and neither does GalaCon - hence the contract (I'll give applicants a link to a PDF file). - But since applicants are reliable persons, they surely don't have an issue with that, I guess. People who already are approved as GalaCon volunteers don't need to sign a volunteer contract with me since they're already bound by the far more comprehensive GalaCon volunteer contract.

Of course, there can always be some issues on the short term - sudden sickness, stuck in traffic and the like; everything can happen - but please tell me about it as soon as you know it. After all, we're living in the era of communication.

I posted this whole post in German on bronies.de, too, so I may have volunteers at the team who don't speak English. Please don't be harsh on them - I simply cannot expect anyone to speak English.

If there will be any issue during the work you don't think you can decide or handle on your own: I will never be gone for a long time. Maybe I'm absent for a few minutes to eat or drink something, but I will always be back soon and at your disposal for any questions and your support.

Length of the shifts: really good question. Depends on how many applicants I get - and how many people will work with the team for real.
In general, I'll try to keep your shifts as short as possible and to keep your interests and requests (maybe there is another panel at a certain time, a panel you don't want to miss for anything, or something like that) in mind - as best as I can. Let's just talk about it... I'm sure we'll find a solution anyone can live with. At the moment it's just too soon for me to build exact shift plans.

What I can't offer: any kind of payment. The event is free of charge and included within the GalaCon, which means: I don't get anything for it, either. And what I don't get, I can't share :shrug: I don't get free tickets for the con or something like that, either, because I'm legally independent - that's why I can't offer you anything, nothing except the good feeling of making an important contribution on an important and huge event. That's not much, I know...

In any case, there will be a briefing and an instruction for your work - that's why we meet on Saturday at 3 pm, 30 minutes before acceptance of the plushies officially starts. Nobody is thrown into the cold water: "there you got your items, now make something outta it", no, we'll talk about it before with an instruction and briefing where questions can be asked and answered. It is only after this briefing that we're unleashing ourselves to the public

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The history of the Plushie-Meetups:

As mentioned above, the first plushie meetup I encountered was at Blacky's Bar Meetup in Magdeburg in March 2014 - organized and held by Anna. Plushies were gathered on boards alongside the walls, and at a certain time during the evening, I wanted to know it: how many Fluttershys, Rainbow Dashes, Pinkies, Twilights, ... are present at all? So I started to walk around and made (much to the amusement of some visitors) a scribble list The next morning, there was an actual plushie meetup on two tables for the photographers.

Some of the Winter Wrap Up Meetup (WWU) orga team were at Blacky's, too. The idea came up: why not having such a plushie meetup at the WWU? Because Anna wasn't attending the WWU, I said: well, I'll do it - and so, the plushie meetup at the WWU 2014 in Wildflecken happened.

It was back then when some visitors who were planning to visit GalaCon 2014 as well were asking me if I couldn't held a plushie meetup at the GalaCon? Well, I said, I only can ask... I put it in last year as a proposal but it was ultimately rejected at last. If you're interested, you may read the whole discussion (mostly in German) here.

For the WWU 2015, the orga team asked me if I could do a plushie meetup again? But of course, I said - and thus, there was another plushie meetup at the WWU 2015. Truth to be told: many things ran really poorly, and I am responsible for some of them. But I learned from my failures, I know what went wrong (sorry Derpy ), and I know what I had to improve and to do different. - Part of the GalaCon orga was at the WWU, too, and one of the orga team said he really wanted the plushie meetup at GalaCon - well, I said, why not, won't not be because of me. GalaCon orga team has partially changed since last year so the plushie meetup had another chance to reboot... okay, I said, but you have to make things clear with your fellow orga teammates.

He did exactly this... in the following weeks, there was some discussion - and now it finally is set: Plushie-Meetup goes GalaCon

[/spoiler]

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Well - that's it for the time being.

I think best is: updates, e.g. for new questions or new information, will be posted by me either as a separate post in this thread and as addition in this start post here. For a better survey I'll separate the updates by horizontal lines.

And now:

Bring in the plushies and let their meetup begin!

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Update, July 3, 2015:

There's news:

The plushie sign-up form with liability exclusion is now online!

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Copy of the post for a quick survey:

You see: it's bilingual, half german, half english. The content is the same in both languages.

Which part you fill in is your decision. At the beginning, the whole thing was s'posed to be in English but I said: at least half of GalaCon visitors will come from German-speaking countries so I'll made this form bilingual and everyone may fill in the language that suits him better. Besides, now everyone should be able to understand what exactly he is signing (not all Germans speak English).

On each sheet, two plushies can be signed in if someone wants to bring more than one plushie. Empty half parts of the sheets (which will be if someone brings an odd number of plushies) will be crossed out in red color by the plushie meetup team.

These sign-in forms are mandatory for your plushie to be part of the meetup. Not only both GalaCon and I have to secure ourselves from lawsuits of any kind, but maybe a plushie isn't picked up back in time. In this case, we have to know the owner of the plushie and where to send it. And maybe someone looses his receipt - in that case, we'll check the owner's identity with his passport, driver's licence or else like that to make sure he is the rightful owner of the claimed plushie, we will see the plushie's number and will be able to find the right plushie.

Of course, we are bound to the right- and lawful Privacy Agreements. After GalaCon ends, I'll give the forms to the Con orga (if they get demands in the Con aftermath) - they already have all your data based on your tickets anyways.

So anyone who wants may print out his sign-up form(s) at home and fill it in in advance - but of course they will also be available at GalaCon (as of now: at the information desk and at the plushie room; the plushie room will be signposted at GalaCon and mentioned in the Con guide).

[ricardofr-200]

Very nice idea! I think we just need a tagging system so bronies don't take the wrong pony back, for example, there may be other people taking TY ponies like me. My idea is to put a small color bracelet with a little code or number and give the same code or number to each brony. It would be simpler in terms of organization.

But still, I like this idea and I'm looking forward to it!

[Crash Override]

I Think, that's not a Problem. As i see on another event, it goes with another System (taken an "bracelet" of a cloth tape with a self written Number on it) not soo good.

But, another Idea - for those, who d' like to had been a bit Safety: Take a Necklace for Puppies on our Plush and take there a adress Tag at it (the little cardiges, who can be taked at the Necklace, where's the Adress is in it, in case the Dog / Cat walk away).

more information about the Necklaces

For the Most plushies did that work (i had something like that on my AJ-plushie); the only thing what you must know, is what for a Scope did the Position have, where you will make it. That's only for that People, who didn't have a Problem with it (and like that "idea"). in the Most Cases, the Puppie - Necklaces are as a board of 6 in 6 colors ( of course, i don't must be these colors: Orange, Pink, Yellow, Blue, Silver and Brown). For the most Standard Plushies, the size must be fitted between Sand M - 17-25cm / 6,7" - 9,8" inch.

I can make a Photo of my AJ to show you, who it looks with the Necklace.

At the End are only the "Plushie Meetup Team" the only persons, who give you our Plushie Back.

[ricardofr-200]

I Think, that's not a Problem. As i see on another event, it goes with another System (taken an "bracelet" of a cloth tape with a self written Number on it) not soo good.

But, another Idea - for those, who d' like to had been a bit Safety: Take a Necklace for Puppies on our Plush and take there a adress Tag at it (the little cardiges, who can be taked at the Necklace, where's the Adress is in it, in case the Dog / Cat walk away).

I can make a Photo of my AJ to show you, who it looks with the Necklace.[/spoiler]

At the End are only the "Plushie Meetup Team" the only persons, who give you our Plushie Back.

Oh, I didn't think about it, sounds very good too, and more safe!

I have to found some small necklaces for my little two 7" plushies.
Oh if you can show me that would be nice!

[Leon]

Nice idea. I hope there will also be enough space for specators etc. to see the whole plushie glory.
(The location on WWU 2015 was "a little" narrow.)

[LightningGear]

While a plushie meetup may be sound like a neat idea at first, I personally think it's too risky. The chance of a participating plushie getting lost or being stolen is way too high, especially considering the demand plushies are in.

[Crash Override]

@ Geartight: i think, while it's been approved from the Galacon-Organisators, they have a Way found, that the Galacon say "Ok, we'll check that, if that goes."

I - for my person - think, it's a Test - if anything go wrong, the Galacon would never make that, and the Panelist didn't do that on a Event similar to the Galacon (only a way smaller - like the WWU). The WWU can be seen as a rehearsal for that; but, at the ending, we don't know how it's going out.

I'm say not, that you're right - but, i don't say that you're wrong. It's good to see, that people think theyr ways and say it.

[spoiler=A bit to that "problem", what can happen...]
If it goes a bit like the WWU, there will nothing go wrong (if you were there and see who they did make that, than you'll be maybe understand me. But, we can't say that it goes good. That's why i have the "Idea" with the Puppy - Necklaces (or, if they were Smaller, you can work with one for kitten).

I see that 2 Years on the Camp-Site Meetup, where 2 of my Plushies "walk around" - and came back, as i give them out. No dirt, no Humidity - dry and clean. That's why (besides, i had a pair of them already on a "Stammtisch", and they were lovely treated from the Persons, as they were they'r Plushies) i trust them People from the "Plushie Meetup Team".

You can say, that you don't trust in "Humans", but a proverb says:

"If you will be know, that you can trust a Person, You must trust her"
(German: Wenn du wissen willst, ob du jemanden vertrauen kannst, musst du der Person vertrauen. ) that's from Ernest Miller Hemingway - and it hat a bit true in it.[/spoiler]
I hope, that you can understand me - i'll try to understand you.

So, and now - the promised Picture of a "Test subject" (with Necklace):

[Spoiler=AJ WET Mane "Rarity Style" w. Necklace]


High Resoultion link: Klick here
that's a sight of her - i know, she don't like to be "photograped", and my Smartphone is a bit do dark - but, what you see, is the "system" with the Necklace.

All allusions be back - i don't ordered her with socks, but became her with. The Manufacturer is "Varonya", and she will be as Vendor by the Galacon. nope, that's no surreptitious Advertising [/spoiler]

[Railway Dash]

(I just don't get it why there has been no official announcement of GalaCon for the plushie meetup yet? It was s'posed to be announced yesterday in the evening, I was asked to publish this thread (which had been sitting at the ready "in the cloud" for about a week already) so the Con orga had something to refer to, but now I have a look - and no official announcement That's why there is still no thread in German on bronies.de, only if you wonder. - Last night, I was too drunk... indisposable to check that out or to publish on bronies.de, but now I see I hadn't to hurry anyway.)

Thanks for your replys! This way, I see there is a certain interest in this plushie meetup - I was afraid I'd be all alone there, with only a few plushies, but I think we'll have some plushies there... it's impossible to predict their number, maybe 20, maybe 200, maybe ober a 1000 - we'll just have to see.

Nice idea. I hope there will also be enough space for specators etc. to see the whole plushie glory.
(The location on WWU 2015 was "a little" narrow.)

It will. The plushies will be collected and returned in a separated room, but the whole plushie glory will be seen in the theater hall, at the main stage!

While a plushie meetup may be sound like a neat idea at first, I personally think it's too risky. The chance of a participating plushie getting lost or being stolen is way too high, especially considering the demand plushies are in.

That's why each plushie will be labeled when we (the plushie meetup team) accept it for the meetup. Each plushie will get its own number, this number will be written on the sign-in form and onto a list of our own, and the rightful owner gets this number on a receipt, too - and plushies are returned only if the receipt is presented.

The sign-in forms aren't ready in their final form yet, so I'm not allowed to publish the link to the draft. But in any case, the owner will have to note his real name (not "Railway Dash" or "Crash Override" but the real names) and address (not for our personal interest but for the case plushies aren't collected - in this case, the plushies will be taken into care by GalaCon / Bronies Stuttgart e.V. and sent back to the owner on his expense).

If the owner looses his receipt, we can find the plushie by our list, but in this case, we insist the owner legitimates himself, e.g. by passport, drivers licence or another official document.


As for the necklaces: really a neat idea If someone wants to equip his plushie with such a necklace where something is written on it only the real owner knows, this is of course fine with us - we'll do the acceptation with the numbers anyways, but you're right: it's an additional piece of security.

[Crash Override]

I must Look; it can be, that i have one of the Necklaces (that was a bord with 6 Necklaces) for others in "Reserve".

In he most Times, specially the OCs or big Plushies can be ordered right to the Owner - that was too dangerous, to steal one of those. By the Smaller ones it can be Possibile - but it don't have to be. That's why i said that with the Necklaces; so the Plushies can be a bit Safer for the Owners to get them back.

[tomtenberge]

I'd volunteer, but this will be my first galacon, so i'd better not (to much to see :P)

however i am more then willing to offer my flufflepuff for the meet!

i will make sure she is nice and clean for ya (she has been to a fiew cons and stuff and in in urgent need of a good scrub)
it's a handmade (partly by ripping apart a spagettihair pinkypie) plush with build in bluetooth speaker (wich can be turned off :P)
i am sure she will be more then exited to join...
only down side... i will have to do without my flufflepuff for a full day! and during the gala and stuff? O_O
wait, i changed my mind! your not getting her! i can't sleep without her! (bestest pillow ever!)

[Crash Override]

You must it Know; i'm a Volunteer (Volunteering the First Year - but that was my third Con), but i'm doing that if i'm must do (and if i must to watch over all Plushies, then it's so).

I'll bring between 5-7 Plushies with me to the Con. Thats what i will - at the end it can be 3 - 5 (if i forget a few). But Plushies as A Pillow? Then i need a Lifesize - Plush; then i have Big Pillows.

[Meganium]

I guess I already put in a 'yes' for participating, right? Could be a hard day both being a staff member and being a plushie meetup member.

[Railway Dash]

Thank you so very much And the day won't be harder than my day... I'm on duty the whole time on saturday, I already know that. As for the staff member: 404 already got to know I want you, he's at work planning the staff shifts... and he hinted that maybe, maybe both duties can be united Just as you suggested when we met in May in Munich. It's even possible a "Badenser" would join you on the "combined" shift But 404 will tell both of you in good time, I don't want to spoiler too much.

Applications are open until July 19, two weeks before the Con - after that, I'll have to close them, double-check my schedules with 404 and publish the schedules to all my volunteers right in time, one week before the Con, just as I promised to do

---

There's news:

The plushie sign-up form with liability exclusion is now online!

You see: it's bilingual, half german, half english. The content is the same in both languages.

Which part you fill in is your decision. At the beginning, the whole thing was s'posed to be in English but I said: at least half of GalaCon visitors will come from German-speaking countries so I'll made this form bilingual and everyone may fill in the language that suits him better. Besides, now everyone should be able to understand what exactly he is signing (not all Germans speak English).

On each sheet, two plushies can be signed in if someone wants to bring more than one plushie. Empty half parts of the sheets (which will be if someone brings an odd number of plushies) will be crossed out in red color by the plushie meetup team.

These sign-in forms are mandatory for your plushie to be part of the meetup. Not only both GalaCon and I have to secure ourselves from lawsuits of any kind, but maybe a plushie isn't picked up back in time. In this case, we have to know the owner of the plushie and where to send it. And maybe someone looses his receipt - in that case, we'll check the owner's identity with his passport, driver's licence or else like that to make sure he is the rightful owner of the claimed plushie, we will see the plushie's number and will be able to find the right plushie.

Of course, we are bound to the right- and lawful Privacy Agreements. After GalaCon ends, I'll give the forms to the Con orga (if they get demands in the Con aftermath) - they already have all your data based on your tickets anyways.

So anyone who wants may print out his sign-up form(s) at home and fill it in in advance - but of course they will also be available at GalaCon (as of now: at the information desk and at the plushie room; the plushie room will be signposted at GalaCon and mentioned in the Con guide).

[Meganium]

July 19 → overdue. What are the results?

[Railway Dash]

As of now, I've got 3 "combined" GalaCon/Plushie-meetup-volunteers and 4 "free" volunteers. Constructing the schedule should be done by the end of this week, I sent a request for GalaCon volunteer's schedules to 404 last night. I also asked for the panel timetable since two free volunteers asked they wanted to attend certain panels.

My guess atm is that I'll do and distribute the schedule on thursday this week

[Crash Override]

We'll see what is going on.

My Assingments are Clear - but only one of the Three Shifts are not so Clear as much. I can Think, that i Know what "the Evil Overbunny" will say with that one, but so long i don't know, that my thinking is right, so long i must wait. The Irony is, hat only 1 Panel this Year is intrested for me - and thats the "Plushiecon". It can't better go for me this Year.

[Railway Dash]

The Irony is, hat only 1 Panel this Year is intrested for me - and thats the "Plushiecon". It can't better go for me this Year.

That's nice to hear - and, in any case, you'll be a part of it Can't fit much better now, can it?

[Crash Override]

That's what i mean. I don't oversee something while i Volunteer; it can't go better than i want. And i know, that i work with "Experts" in theyr business.

[Railway Dash]

This was a triumph
I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS. ...


Now it's done: GalaCon's first PlushieCon has happened, and as the responsible panelist, I guess I should write some lines about it.

First and foremost, I want to stress the point that PlushieCon wouldn't have been possible and would have never happened without my team - it has been a pleasure and honour to be in charge of this team, they did most of the actual work, came up with improvements and new ideas, and I'd love to have you back for next year's PlushieCon again: Crash Override, Meganium, Lux_Pony, Monchi5, Jake the Changeling, Wydec, spectreid and Risingstar!

For those who wonder how many plushies actually have been there: there were exactly 165 plushies, all of them ponys in some way except for one Angel Bunny. We had the main theater room of the Forum Ludwigsburg for PlushieCon, some people said it looked impressive - but there still can be many, many plushies more, I bet we can even handle a four-digit number of them!

If you want to know how many Fluttershys, Rainbow Dashes, Lunas, ... there were: I'll give you just our internal list of the plushies, I just deleted the owner's names and added the plushies that were given to us after the official check-in ended. The line numbers are the plushie's numbers - each plushie was assigned its very own number and labelled with it so we could find it back out and hand it back to its rightful owner at any time. There you go, it's a simple Excel list: clicky-click. - I just realized the list on my mobile hard disk drive (we were using one of GalaCons computers) isn't exactly up-to-date, after I took the last filecopy, about six more plushies arrived... sorry, I don't have the absolutely latest file version here on my private HDD.

If someone would ask me about the most unique plushies: we had a LyBon (or is this "LyraBon"? ) as seen in the episode 5x13 "Do Princesses Dream of Magical Sheep?" (it belongs to a brony from the Netherlands, I'm allowed to tell this), and we had "AppleDash" - no, I'm not joking. There was a plushie that was both Rainbow Dash and Applejack at the same time, it kinda looked like as if someone had tried to beam a Rainbow Dash and an Applejack from one point to another and the transporter beams were mashed up together... now that's really unique. It belongs to a brony from the United Kingdom, and he hopes he can show "AppleDash" (actually, I gave this plushie this name; on the registration form, both RD and AJ were ticked and marked together) to Ashleigh Ball if she's ever on the same convention as he and have it signed by her. - Sorry, I took no photos since I had to work and only have a pretty cheap camera, but others took literally thousands of photos so they should to be found somewhere on the internet. - edit: some photos, one featuring LyBon and Appledash, can be found right here.

PlushieCon was marked as a panel in the Con-Guide, and technically, I was the panelist. Now some people wondered what kind of "panel" this was, what could have been done there... basically, it was just a come-together and gathering of the plushies, showing them all together to the public, showing the various kinds of them, from reeeeally big to very tiny, from official merch to the different kinds of hand-sewn ones - just having them all together. I admit there's not much else that can be done at such a "panel"; obviously, you can't have the plushies singing or dancing or telling tales of interest or having them do something entertaining at all. But many visitors just enjoyed to watch the plushies, their cuteness, their uniqueness... and it was a chance to relax from the gala or the gala-party, to just sit in the audience, talk to some friends in a friendly environment. - But maybe my team will come up with some ideas how to make this a "real" panel for next year... they already have ideas how to improve the hand-in/hand-out process, the registration, the whole handling... they're literally busting with ideas! Next year, visitors also will be allowed closer to the plushies (not close enough to actually touch them, of course).

Some people noticed the rainbow-colored arrangement of the plushies. Credits to this idea entirely go to Meganium - it was his idea to sort them up by their color to create a "plushie rainbow", and he and Risingstar did the entire setup themselves (Meggy even shooed me away! But I do trust him so this was okay with me) which took them something between one and one-and-an-half hour, I believe.

Was it safe to contrubite the very own plushie to this thing? - Yes, it was. On Sunday, we were able to return each and every single plushie to its rightful owner. At first, two plushies were left unclaimed, but then the orga crew announced them at the end of the Thiessen's panel; a small Pinkie Pie was claimed immediately, and Czequestria mascot Libuše (Libussa in english, they told me) maybe an hour after that. We had no lost plushies, no complaints from owners, no damages, no casualties... everything went practically perfect (thanks to my great team; every single member worked way more hours than I scheduled for them to do!), and this was only the first time ever such a PlushieCon was held at a convention of this size!

It makes me kinda proud even Equestria Daily wrote an article about PlushieCon, and it surely will make GalaCon's head orga, Saij, gleam with joy. After all, it was him who saw plushie meetups at smaller meetups in Germany, and it was him who requested me to do a plushie meetup at GalaCon - so this whole thing was sort of his personal project, too. Sethisto wrote in his headline about a tsunami of plushies - very well, it surely can be topped so this "tsunami" will just look like a small splashing wave!

We even managed to have Michelle Creber, BlackGryph0n and Monique Creber to have a look on it - I got the impression they liked it and were glad we told them about this little show, no one had told them before, and so, they had an exclusive PlushieCon tour after Michelle's and BlackGryph0n's show on Saturday evening

So, will there be another PlushieCon at the 5th anniversary GalaCon next year in Ludwigsburg? Yup, you bet! I already got the request (or was it more of an order or command? ) from GalaCon's orga team for PlushieCon 2016! So I look forward to see all of you again in summer 2016 in Ludwigsburg - and let's top the plushie number of this year; say, by a factor of maybe three, four or even five? We'll see...! :approve:

[Crash Override]

It was a Honor to work with All of the Team - Members of the "Plushiecon"; it were a Honor, to do the Same next Year.

I hope, we find Ways, that we can be stuffed better Next Year and i'm on Positive Ideas, that we can make it better and Safer for all. All of us are work on the Things, that we see, what we can make it better. I for my Person work for the Con; and if i don't must work as Volunteer, i work for the Panelist. First Priority: No Fails. And we did it - we don't make great Fails (only little things by the Hand-in, noting great), so that we can work on all.

I'll Hope, we see us all at Galacon 2016 - and make the Plushiecon better!