Reminder: TrotCon is a thing that exists!

Let me tell you about tots.

Psst. Remember that thing we did last year with the ponies and the things and the stuff? Yeah, we're totally doing that again, in case you didn't know.

Mark your calendars for June 14-16. TrotCon returns to Columbus for a weekend full of friendship, magic, spaghetti, and... tots? Why tots, Peanut Bucker? Whaddaya mean, "don't question it"?.... why are you looking at me like that? ... ... PB, you're scaring me.......

Scene 75 in Dayton

Mark your calendars for April 13 – TwilightZora is organizing a Dayton-area meetup at Scene 75. It's a huge entertainment center that has an arcade, laser tag, bowling, go-karts, and a ton more, and it looks like it'll be a lot of fun! Details after the break.

Peach's summary in your face!

A bunch of us decided we were going to Peach's and a Facebook event was made. Then more people began to RSVP and we began to wonder if Peach's will be accommodating.

We found out they were more than accommodating and they were such lovely folks for allowing us to take up eight tables worth of space. All chairs were taken. Shams joined the party in spirit with his name hastily written on a napkin since he couldn't make it. People ordered food, and a random Red Velvet cake was being passed around. Because nobody had a plate, but plenty of knives and forks, a good percentage just ate it straight off the plate, and a few people forewent the knives and forks. And yes, there were more than a few Portal jokes being tossed around. It's inevitable.

After much cake consumption and many had paid for their bills, a few of us that were more claustrophobic decided going to the park was our next venture. However the lull of a comic shop was much stronger. After loitering and ransacking the establishment's Pony merch, we decide to follow the rest of the people to the park.

The park, was more or less a skate park, and a few decided parkour was the mane event, including Kanke's epic fail with heelies. Razor pulled up Gangnam Style on his laptop and people danced to that. People were declared OTPs of each other, and random spooning (for warmth, they said!) on cold concrete was had.

It was decided a warmer establishment was needed since the sun had gone down officially and winter decided it wanted to join in on our fun. A few people tried to navigate sites that weren't meant for mobile use to find a nearby hotel that would at least fit our needs. Barring that, they decided that a Walmart was the next best thing. Since apparently all hotels were booked for some random hotel thing that was never advertised anywhere, a bunch went to Walmart because what else is there to do at 8 at night?

(The next bit is written by TwilightZora as some of us had decided going home at a reasonable hour since 6 AM happens. According to Zora:)

On the way, we missed Walmart. It was hilarious. I walked in, only girl surrounded by guys (later the others came up). We met in the little girls isle, observed ponies, then odd girls toys. Continued by taking pictures, going around... walking. Played (find Zora) no one found me, got bored.. Found them. sat at Subway in Walmart till it closed at 11 PM, THEN we stood next to subway till midnight, then jumped Brick's car, and went home.

— chaoticpix93 and TwilightZora

Peach's Meetup in Yellow Springs

Yo, Springfield/Dayton area peeps! There's a meet planned for this Saturday at Peach's Grill in Yellow Springs, starting at 4 PM and ending ... whenever, probably quite late.

For those who haven't been before, Peach's is an awesome little place with some pretty great food (and for interested parties of legal age, a great bar selection as well. It's right off of Route 68; here's a map. There's hardly any parking out front, but they have quite a bit more around back, and there's also ample parking by the community center which is about a two-minute walk.

Mocha Meetup

Pinkie Pie discovers coffee.

Hay you people from the northeast! Tired of driving south all the time because everything is always all the way down in Columbus? Well, I've got great news for you! You get to drive in a totally different direction for a meetup now, because we're going to have a meetup that's far away from everyone! Or so we think... let's find out.

On Saturday, January 26, at 1pm, let's meet at the Mocha House in Warren. This is a neat coffee house – one of my favorite coffee places, actually. They have a full menu, and also a huge selection of cakes and giant cookies and many delicious pastries. They also have a lot of space, which means we can move a few tables around, take over the place, and then buy all their art.

After that, we can venture over to the Eastwood Mall, about a ten-minute drive from the Mocha House. This is a fairly massive complex featuring an aquarium, a minor-league baseball stadium and at least two movie theaters. Most importantly, yes, there is a Toys'R'Us. We can wander the mall, go see a movie, whatever. There are also a ton of good restaurants where we can go for dinner, and a few more places we can just hang out. Once everyone's together, we can figure out what we're doing.

Sunday: I dunno lol. We can come up with something depending on turnout.

So if you're any of the bajillion places that are within an hour of here (Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Ashtabula, and even Pittsburgh are all about the same distance away), come hang out! It'll be fun.

Ohayocon meetups

UPDATE: Good news and bad news: Ohayocon posted the schedule... but one of the MLP panels is scheduled against the photoshoot! Here's the breakdown of what's happening and when.

• Friday, 11 AM, Ballroom A: "Pony Panel 2: Wrath of Celestia" (1h30m) – seems like the same people who ran last year's panel. You'll probably still be in the registration line when this one's happening anyway.
• Friday, 6 PM, Grant/Harding: "My Little Headcanon" (1h)
• Friday, 7 PM, outside Grant/Harding: Meetup #1 (time/location moved due to panel)
• Friday, 8 PM, Union C-E: "Ponies & Bronies for Newbies"
• Friday, 8 PM, base of stairs: Photoshoot #1
• Saturday, 2 PM, base of stairs: Photoshoot #2
• Saturday, 6 PM, alcove behind stairs: Meetup #2
• Sunday, 12 AM (that's Saturday night), Union A-B: "Bronies Late Night" – this is the AlcoBrony panel, which you might know from Colossalcon. It also might or might not have been canceled.

Whew! That sure is a lot of pony. See you at the con!

(Original post preserved below for reference.)

Holiday-related meetup compendium

I was digging through the forums looking around for upcoming meetup plans, and found a bunch of stuff! I'm not 100% sure what the status on all these things is, but here goes anyway. Corrections and additions are welcome, of course.

(Edit: Okay, not all of these are strictly holiday-related, but close enough.)

Short version:

• December 29: Strat's birthday party at Dave & Busters
• December 31: RadarStorm's New Year's party
• January 5: Trickster's party
• January 12-13: Ice skating at the Chiller in Dublin Easton with SuperDSombrero
• January 18-20: Ohayocon
• January 26-27: Starshine's as-yet-unspecified northeast Ohio meetup
• Send us stuff!

Details after the cut.

Cleveland Zoo Meet

Hey all! We will be meeting at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo on November 17th at 11am. The group will most likely head into the Zoo between 11:30 to noon and stay until it closes, which is at 5pm. Zoo admission is $8.25 and parking is free.

After we are done at the Zoo we will be heading to Winking Lizard Tavern in Lakewood, OH for dinner.

Check out this meet on facebook!

Columbus Super Meetup: Blendon Woods + COSI

Hay, everypony! We've cooked up another meetup for you to attend, and this one's biiiiig, so mark your calendar, call off work, hire a stunt double, and do whatever else is necessary to make sure you're there! We have the largest area at Blendon Woods – Sycamore Shelter – reserved for Saturday, October 6th. Sycamore has capacity for well over 100 people (with sheltered seating for about 80), horseshoe pits, swings, a big kitchen area that we definitely plan on using, and ample parking directly nearby. We will be grilling some burgers, probably also ordering a big stack of pizzas, jamming to some music, watching ponies, playing games, and much more. There will also be table space available for artists to peddle their wares.

Come early and stay late; we've got the place for the whole day and will be there from about 9 AM until 7 PM. Afterward, we're not quite sure, but we can hang out somewhere else, catch a movie, invade a local restaurant, or just call it a night. We'll discuss that before heading out and will try to make sure no one gets all lost.

This is also your first (and cheapest!) chance to pre-register for TrotCon next summer: at this meetup, a mere $20 will get you a badge for next year's con, and you won't see that price again ... except maybe as a single-day rate. There will be details and hints of what's in store, some of which won't be posted anywhere until quite some time later.

Still not convinced? Attend now, and we'll DOUBLE your meetup! On Sunday, those interested can join us at COSI. It's open from noon until 6 PM, and we're planning to make the most of the day and be there the whole time. Let us know soon if you're interested in this, as we can get a group discount for parties of twelve or more. For those unfamiliar with COSI, it's a nifty science center full of all sorts of exhibits and hands-on activities. While it's mostly targeted toward children, it also has a lot of cool stuff for people of all ages. (Besides, don't we all watch a certain kids' TV show? ;)

Facebook event page
Google+ event page

Cincinnati Zoo meetup

Hay, Cincinnati bronies! The next meetup in the area will be at the Cincinnati Zoo on August 18th, and is being organized by Joey Edwards (aka Bigjoe). It will start at 9:00 AM, but don’t fret! You are allowed to come late if you want. The price of general admission is $15.00 and parking is $8.00. After we get done at the Cincinnati Zoo, we could get something to eat at a nearby restaurant and possibly hang out at a hotel suite (even though last Cincinnati meetup we were hanging out at a bronies home lol).

You can keep in contact with the event organizer on Facebook and also on his cellular device at (513) 846-2843. Brony on my friends.

Momo's Needs Your Help!

Where: Momo2, 2885 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, OH 43202‎
When: Thursday, July 26, 5:00 PM

Almost exactly a year ago to the day, we held our first public meetup in Columbus at Momo's, and about 30 or so people showed up for it. Last weekend, we had a slightly bigger event, TrotCon, which had roughly 700 attendees. In other words, we've grown one heck of a lot in the last twelve months, and we owe this in part to Momo's for being such cool guys and letting us come in, set up a projector, and have some fun. Before we left, we chatted a bit with the staff, most of whom had never heard of the show and were at least a little confused that a big group of people just showed up to hang out and watch a little girls' cartoon.

After several meetups all around the state, we came back to Momo's last November, and Darkly Cute made them a custom pony, which we presented to them at the end of the night. They were pretty excited to get it, and they told us that some of their staff had gotten into watching the show in the few months between the two times we were there. Pretty awesome.

Now for the serious bit... We very recently heard some unfortunate news that Momo's is closing. The gist of what's happened is that the Kroger in the same plaza is apparently buying out the rest of the building in order to expand. We're not quite sure about some of the specifics, but Momo's is scheduled to pack up and leave on the 29th, and when we talked to their manager, he said that it might cost about $100,000 to either help secure their location or find them a new home. I fully believe we can make this happen. As a community, we collected over three times that in less than a month for BronyCon: The Documentary, and we pulled over $10,000 in one day for Inked! Art For Africa. Just this past weekend, after roaming High Street, about thirty of us stumbled into Dane's Dessert Cafe, more or less took over the place, bought some of the art from the walls, and gave them over 100% in tips – and we didn't even have a compelling reason, other than "this is a cool place." We even helped run the place and cleaned up after ourselves when we left. It's what we do as a group.

For those in the Columbus area or willing to drive, we will be having an impromptu meetup at Momo's this Thursday, the 26th, starting at 5:00 PM. We'll be doing what we do best, hanging out and having fun. We will also be finding out more details about the place closing and figure out what we can do to help, so expect a follow-up post from us soon, probably with a Kickstarter fund. Any help will definitely be appreciated, not only from Momo's but also from us, because we feel they were in some small part responsible for helping launch us as a group to where we are now.

Come hang out!

Summer Sun Celebration in Indiana

Princess Celestia and Luna by johnjoseco

The Indiana Bronies – you know, that state west of us? – are organizing an event that's coming up pretty soon. Their Summer Sun Celebration will run overnight from June 19 at 8 PM to June 20 at 8 AM. It's in Unionville, IN, a bit south of Indianapolis and just a couple hours west of the border. That's totally drivable for all you Dayton and Cincinnati folks, and it's still only about 4 hours from Columbus. Tickets are $15, and it is going to be worth it. I hear they've got live entertainment, panels, and games, and you even get breakfast!

Here's the description from their event page on Facebook:

Cincinnati meetup...s

Suddenly, lots of things are happening down in Cincinnati! First up, and this one is rather short notice, there will be a meetup on June 9, at Arcade Legacy at the Cincinnati Mills Mall. It's being organized by the Cincinnati meetup group. From them:

"I have been there many times and they allow you to play Pon3 songs on their Rockband, and plus the speakers are all over the place for that game and are SUPER loud so we could reach out to other Bronies. It is also VERY fun and it is a great way to meet people."

It looks like getting there will be fairly self-explanatory, but if you need to contact someone for this, talk to Joseph Edwards at (513) 846-2843 (note: that was a typo before), or if you've got Facebook, you can also find him on there.

Deimos Foxx is planning a meetup next month, July 7–8, at the Cincinnati Museum Center. This one's going to be somewhat bigger, like one of our usual two-day things with a hotel and so on. Here's the details:

Cedar Point Summary

This weekend, we got to meet some of our neighbors from the north. Hello, Michigan Bronies! You guys are always welcome in our shed. We had about 30 people in our group at Cedar Point, and many of us were brohoofed by others at the park. The whole weekend was tremendous fun, and we'll definitely be doing this sort of thing again at some point.

Along with this writeup, here's some more photos. The platefics will be posted on this blog separately once they're transcribed.

Notable Quotes:

“I’ll acquire your satellites!” – Edinpony
“Are you bronies? What’s your favorite brony, uh, horse?” – Random Cedar Point girl
“I have a Vegeta forehead.” – DashAttack
“Oh wow, REAL BRONIES!” – Another random person

Pony Pin Pre-Orders #5

Going to BronyCon or TrotCon this summer? Well if you are you can pick up your pin order at either of the conventions!
And yes, there are still the traditional shipping options for those who cannot make it to the cons.

In this pre-order there are 5 new pin designs!
Princess Cadance and Shining Armour Cutie Mark Pins
A Queen Chrysalis Silhouette Pin
And the Traveling Pony Museum Airship and Trotting Peanut Bucker Pins

Proceeds from the Traveling Pony Museum Airship pin will go to helping the TPM.
And proceeds from the Trotting Peanut Bucker pin will go to helping fund TrotCon 2012.

Pictures of the rest of the pin designs and how to order are below the page break!

MLP:FiM Super Mare-athon Stream

Movie Night by ScruffyToto

Nothing to do this weekend? Have you been bored ever since the Season 2 finale? Well, we've got the perfect solution: a livestream SynchTube marathon of every episode! You don't even have to leave your house. Order some pizza, kick back, and prepare to pony hard.

This weekend, DashAttack will be hosting an MLP:FIM mare-athon, play all of Season 1 starting Friday, May 4, at 5:00 PM, and Season 2 starting Saturday around 6:00 PM. (We're crazy, but not quite crazy enough to watch all 52 episodes without a break!)

Come join us. It'll be secret but fun. (stream over, link gone)

Cedar Point details

Everypony Scream by egophiliac

Here's the rough plan for Cedar Point. We will be in the park on Saturday, May 19, though we'll be getting there some time Friday night so that we can travel up at our leisure and get some rest first. This way, we can get into the park early on Saturday and enjoy the entire day there. Then we'll hang out in the room Saturday night, probably get a bit more sleep, check out Sunday and go do whatever else there is to do in Sandusky (I hear there's a nice amusement park in the area.... oh wait)

Tickets for this will be $30 per person with a nice fancy group discount. For accommodations, the most sensible arrangement is probably a cabin at Lighthouse Point, which can hold eight people comfortably and works out to about $50 per person for the weekend. (This is probably an overestimate and the prices might go down quite a bit. I'll let everyone know.) I will have everything finalized and will take payments for this on May 7, and I will need the money by the 14th. If for some reason you can't pay me by then or don't know if you're going, ask me and we'll figure something out.

Want to go? Email me at starshine@derpymail.com and let me know! If you can only stay one night, tell me and I'll work with you.

Drawfriend: Yellow Springs

So there was a meetup recently in Yellow Springs, and art happened there!

SEASON FINALE PARTEH!

Yo Poneghs!  Dem royalties be havin' a weddin' all up in dat Canterlot shiznat!   And would ya believe, they be streamin' it live all across Equestria.  So we here at der Poneh Haus thought, hey, why don't we grab all our home pones, crack open some ciders, and see dem royals tie dat knot?

So drag yer flanks over to der Poneh Haus.  Saturday, April 21st, from like, 10am or some shiznat 'till whenever we pass out from cider overdose.  Ya dig?

GRUNDLE KING!!

TrotCon is proud to announce Danny DeVito, better known to the world as The Grundle King from My Little Pony: The Movie!  Just don’t talk to him about Smooze ^_~