Welcome to the Curiosities Exhibit!

The Curiosities Exhibit will return to the 2013 Steampunk Empire Symposium! Last year the exhibit was instrumental in securing the win for Airship Passepartout at the Airship Games. This year the Airships will have even more chances to secure points for themselves.

There will be a few changes to the Curiosities Exhibit this year. First of all, we will allow Airships to submit up to 3 items per category. (There is one exception to this, which addressed further down.) That means if your Airship has three pairs of goggles you may submit them. Last year we of the Curious Staff felt bad that some items had to be turned away because their Airship had already entered a submission. This new guideline should alleviate some of that.

We have also changed the voting method. Instead of one big ballot, we will have boxes for each category along with slips of paper. Each category will be color coded and each item in the category will have their own unique number. Voters will write the number of the item they wish to vote for on the appropriately colored slip of paper and put it into the box assigned to that category. We hope this will make things a little easier on the staff when it comes to tally time. (We will have to do a lot of counting, but we are prepared to make that sacrifice for you!)

In addition to items submitted for the Airship Games we will be having a space set aside for individuals wishing to display their work, without having to enter it into the Games. Those people will be given a ticket for their item. They may retrieve that item at any time they wish. In other words, if you have, say, a giant Time Travelling Backpack that you just want to show off when you’re not using it, feel free to drop it off. We’ll take good care of it.

Also, this year there will be a bonus category: Best of Show. This is not part of the Games. Best of Show will be chosen by the Curious Staff and a specially chosen Guest (that person will be chosen at a later time and will not be announced until the award is given.) As this category is not part of the Games it is open to anyone. We will select the winner from all submissions, not just from the ones that win in their category.

Now, the part you’ve all been waiting for! What are the categories this year? They are:

1. Modified Nerf (or similar) Sidearms

2. Modified Nerf (or similar) Large Weapons

3. Original Sidearms

4. Original Large Weapons

5. B.F.G. (Big Frakkin’ Guns): This would be your air/ground/sea to air/ground/sea weapons, cannons and so forth. This Category is limited to one item per Airship because of space reasons.

6. Goggles

7. Wearables (backpacks, hats, helmets, bracers, etc…)

8. Items of Mysterious Origins (these are items that do not fit into any of the other categories.)

So, there you have it, a new and improved Curiosities Exhibition! As the date of the Symposium draws closer there will be updates regarding pre-registration of items and more.

Ladies & Gentlemen, a while back the invitation was extended to have each airship and steampunk group within the vicinity of the Steampunk Symposium convention put forward a regular writer to post updates on their activities and general shenanigans; that invitation has been renewed! We want to hear from you!

We would like to post profiles of your airship or group with pictures and information regarding your regular gatherings and adventures.

So find your airship’s scribe and have them email me at [email protected] to get things rolling.