Every week day for at least the next two weeks, I will be spotlighting some of the awesome creators I have met over the last seven years of doing Legion of Sand. These creators produce a variety of different content and with the current state of affairs, I wanted to reach out and ask them all the same several questions.

You can check out the previous entry of Content Comrades right here:
Part 1 – Victoria of SaturnHex
Part 2 – Jason of Aquarium Drunkard & Zia Records
Part 3 – Author Beth Cato
Part 4 – Daniel of Steam Crow & Monster Rangers
Part 5 – DeAngelo of The Geek Lyfe
Part 6 – Jared of Limited Engagement
Part 8 – Kerry of San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog
Part 9 – Val of Mystery Babylon

When I started this site in 2013, there were a few people with the same concept but no one was doing it better than Shawn and his partner in crime Carmelle. I took a lot of inspiration from their model and to this day, they are still one of the leading sites for convention coverage (as well as theme parks). When time permits, we usually all grab lunch or dinner when attending the same convention as Shawn is always full of interesting convention and theme park stories. If you want to get a taste of some of those stories, follow Shawn and Carmelle on Twitter and check out their podcast in which they just released episode #499!

How are you spending the time at home?
I’m really trying to approach each day with a few different categories; 1. Work, 2. Parks and Cons, 3. Walks, 4. Chores, 5. Entertainment (reading, movies, TV). I think having all of these different categories helps my sanity. Each day I’m trying to spend a portion of time in each category.

What is a favorite of meal of yours that you could have multiple times a week?
I know they’re not for everyone, but I love boca burgers. It’s not fancy, but I really like them.

Any recommendations for other creatives struggling to make content while at home?
Definitely! When I had a bunch of surgeries on my feet I spent nearly a year bound to the house. There were some breaks, but there weren’t many. What I learned during that time is that schedules are really important. There needs to be little goals and things to look forward to each day. At the time, it was a challenge to even take a shower, but each day I’d crawl to the shower and crawl to make my bed., etc. Time can get really nebulous when you’re locked away, so having a schedule that designated time for creation helps. We are in a unique spot because all of our content is based on being at parks or conventions and that’s not an option right now. So, we are focusing on areas that we normally don’t as much. A big part of that is looking forward and backwards. For a site that is about the current moment, it’s weird but I think we will be better off for it.
Also, I think it’s really important that creatives look at this time as an opportunity. First, it’s an opportunity to give the gift of distraction to others. More than ever, the content we put out is helping people find some sense of hope or optimism in a scary place. We’ve never had a moment in Parks and Cons history where nearly everyone following along is scared and worried. Even for those not as concerned about the virus, the economic impact is devastating. If we know nearly everyone is scared and worried, we must ask ourselves what little thing can we give them to help battle that emotion. Secondly, I think this time presents creatives with a great opportunity to work on a weakness. Normally, most of us are too busy to specifically focus on a weakness in our game. The work itself can be so busy that it’s difficult to reflect on weaknesses and then take time to develop a plan and then implement the steps. Areas I’m specifically focusing on are vlogging, interviews and YouTube Live. I don’t like any of them and as a result I’ve allowed myself to be weaker in those categories. I hope to bolster these areas now, so that I can find ways to better integrate them into my game once everything gets back to normal. Basically, I’m treating this situation like I’m a right-handed basketball player that is going to try to learn to play more with my left during this time.

Anything you would like to promote?
Our goal is to continue to put out podcasts, videos and social as we have, so please subscribe and follow along. Also, we will start some YouTube Live shows in the next week or so. Our goal is to fill our feeds with optimism and distractions that are geared to the world of pop culture conventions and themed entertainment. You can find our content on YouTube, podcast feeds, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at “Parks and Cons,” or on our website at www.parksandcons.com

Be sure to return tomorrow for part 8 of Content Comrades

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