Of the hundred or so events and conventions our website gets to cover every year, nothing truly treats geeks the respect and enjoyment they truly deserve like NexCon does. Always innovative and always a step ahead, NexCon, organized by cosplay.ph, has striven to be an event unlike any other, being the Geek Event of the Summer for the third straight year. NexCon 3 is the ultimate celebration of science fiction and fantasy fandom in the Philippines, and it happens this weekend, April 2 and 3, 2015, at Function Room 5 of the SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia.
The Geek Event of the Summer is back! Cosplay.ph and Stompworks Media Studios present the gathering for all fans of pop culture, sci-fi, fantasy, comics, TV, film, games, and animation… NEXCON 3! While a lot of events cater to anime, cosplay, or toys, NexCon brings fans and creators together under one roof, fostering a highly engaging atmosphere of creativity, fun, and excitement.
NEXCON 3 is top-billed by international guest CASPER VAN DIEN, star of the science fiction movie Starship Troopers. Starship Troopers was one of the most talked-about films of 1997 and maintains one of the largest cult followings in film history. He was also in Tim Burton’s critically acclaimed film Sleepy Hollow as Brom Bones. He was the 20th Tarzan and the only one to ever film in Africa and ride an African elephant in the Warner Bros. film Tarzan and the Lost City. Most recently, he just finished shooting the action thriller Showdown in Manila, co-starring Iza Calzado and directed by Mark Dacascos.
Special guests include TV director MARK REYES and lead artist NOEL FLORES for a special presentation on the upcoming Encantadia “requel” on GMA NETWORK; superstar comic book artist LEINIL YU (Star Wars, Superman: Birthright, Secret Invasion, Wolverine); premiere cosplayers JIN JOSON, MIGUEL MERCADO, and GUY SINGZON; independent comic book creators TEPAI PASCUAL, MEL CASIPIT, RH QUILANTANG, and GIO PAREDES; YouTube sensations CHRIS CANTADA (Chris Cantada Force) and DIWA DE LEON (String Player Gamer); Filipino scientists RON CRUZ and UZZIEL PEREEZ and science journalist TJ DIMACALI; and entrepreneurs FREDDIE TAN (Neutral Grounds), JAY MATA (Ludo), and IVAN GUERRERO (Filbar’s). The PHILIPPINE GARRISON OF THE 501ST LEGION and PHILROBOTICS will also discuss DIY robot-building.
Captain a spaceship and blow up your fellow geeks in the ARTEMIS SPACESHIP BRIDGE SIMULATOR GRAND TOURNAMENT! Slug it out for geek supremacy at GEEK FIGHT BATTLE ROYALE! The best of the best in cosplay compete in COSPLAY RUMBLE and COSPLAY MASQUERADE! Cosplayers will also battle it out in the performance of their lives in LIP SYNC KOMBAT! Winners of the TAKE COVER Photo Contest will be announced!
NEXCON 3 happens on April 2 and 3, 2016 at Function Room 5 of the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. General Admission tickets are Php 350 per day only and can be purchased at all SM Tickets outlets nationwide and online at https://smtickets.com/events/view/4210
MAIN STAGE EVENTS
“One-on-one with Casper Van Dien”
o Get up close and personal with international actor Casper Van Dien, star of the cultfavorite
sci-fi film Starship Troopers! April 2, 2016; 4:15 pm
“Silipin ang Mundo ng Encantadia”, presented by GMA Network
GMA Network will have a special presentation with director Mark Reyes and lead artist
Noel Flores on its upcoming Encantadia “requel” April 3, 2016; 5:00 pm
“Geeks of YouTube”
What makes a YouTube star? How do you get noticed? What makes YouTube a perfect
outlet for your fandom? Top Filipino YouTubers Chris Cantada (Chris Cantada Force;
www.youtube.com/chriscantadaforce) and Diwa de Leon (String Player Gamer;
https://www.youtube.com/user/mangdiws) discuss how they made it and what keeps
them going. April 2, 2016; 2:00 pm.
Robots, Rockets, and Ray Guns: The Science of Science Fiction”, presented by The Mind Museum
Join us as Filipino scientists Ron Cruz (biologist) and Uzziel Perez (experimental particle physicist), and science journalist TJ Dimacali discuss the science behind our favorite moments in science fiction. Can you physically hit someone with a lightsaber? Who’d win in a fight: a Star Destroyer or the Enterprise? Is time travel possible? Is alien life likely to incubate in your chest then bust out when grown? All your burning questions answered! Panel will be moderated by Pecier Deciderio, physicist and The Mind Museum Mind Mover. April 3, 2016; 1:00 pm.
“Rise of the Machines”
What’s cooler than robots? Building your own robots, of course! The Philippine R2 Builders’ Club and Philrobotics discuss the ins and outs of tinkering and creating your own robots at home, whether it’s incorporating electronics into your mecha cosplays, building a robot out of a trash can, or going all-out and building a life-sized R2-D2. How to build Skynet not included. April 2, 2016; 3:30 pm
“Geeky Business”
Yes, it is possible to turn your hobbies into a full-time career. Be inspired as the proprietors of some of your favorite geeky establishments – Freddie Tan (Neutral Grounds), Jay Mata (Ludo: Boardgame Bar & Cafe), and Ivan Guerrero (Filbar’s) – talk about why they chose to amp up the geek and become entrepreneurs, how they got started in the business, and the pitfalls and triumphs of doing what you love for a living. April 2, 2016; 2:45 pm.
“From Comics to Movies and Everything in Between”, presented by Komikon What makes a good comic book movie? Movies or TV? Have we achieved peak comic book movie saturation? Go behind the scenes as superstar comic book artist Leinil Yu discusses the art of comic book adaptations and what fans can look forward to in the
coming years. April 2, 2016; 1:15 pm.
“ Epilogue: A Sulyap Reunion”, presented by Komikon. Komikon launched its first independent comic anthology Sulyap back in 2010, featuring the works of eight comic book writer-artists. What’s happened since then? Has time changed their creative output? What can fans look forward to? April 3, 2016; 2:10 pm
OFF-STAGE EVENTS
Autograph and photo op sessions with Casper Van Dien. International actor Casper Van Dien will be available for autographs and table photo ops. April 2 to 3, 2016; exact times to be announced. Autograph: Php 1,250 (includes one 8×10 photo) Photo op at the table using your camera: Php 1,500. Autograph and photo op: Php 2,600.
Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator Grand Tournament, presented by The Mind Museum and IBM o Ever dreamed about captaining your own spaceship? Exploring new worlds? Engaging in epic space battles? Then join us for the Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator Grand Tournament! Teams of six people – the Captain and five bridge crew members (Helm, Weapons, Communication, Science, and Engineering) – play as the bridge crew of the spaceship Artemis, with the ultimate goal of blowing up the opposing team’s ship as many times as possible in 30 minutes. Each crewman has his/her own console that provides vital information on the ongoing battle, but the Captain does not. The Captain must rely on the information relayed by the rest of the crew to make those do-or-die decisions. A special prize will be awarded to the team with the Best Team Costume.
Artemis is open for play by the general public from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. April 2 to 3, 2016; 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
How to Program a Robot, presented by Philrobotics o Engr. Roma Mercado will discuss how to program a mobot (motorized robot) and a robotic arm using gizDuino kits. April 2, 2016; 1:00 pm
CONTESTS
Cosplay Rumble A Western-format cosplay contest that highlights characters from comic books, movies, TV series, and video games! April 3, 2016.
Cosplay Masquerade A freeform cosplay contest where secret judges determine your fate! Simply arrive at NexCon in costume and act in character. If one of the secret judges deems you worthy, you could win great prizes! April 2, 2106.
Take Cover cosplay photography contest: Showcase your cosplay photography skills and create your own NexCon comic book cover! Deadline for submission of entries on March 27, 2016; voting for People’s Choice award from April 2 to3; winners will be announced on April 3, 2016.
GeekFight Battle Royale Enjoy eight rounds of Geekfight! Trivia Night’s hallmark pop culture trivia and snarky competitive mayhem! April 2, 2016; 6:00 pm; Participation fee of Php 250 per person, minimum of three people per team.
Lip Sync Kombat Lip sync and trash talk in character as you go against your fellow cosplayers in an epic showdown! April 2 and 3, 2016.
NexCon ConQuest Go around NexCon, accomplish tasks set by the Exhibitors, complete your ConQuest Card, and win special prizes! April 2 and 3, 2016.
Droid Hunt These are the droids we’re looking for! Members of the Philippine Garrison of the 501st Legion will roam around NexCon looking for droid badges. Surrender your badges to the Empire and receive a raffle coupon for a chance to win prizes! April 3, 2016.
Hack-A-Superpower Two-day hackathon organized by DevCon, in collaboration with NexCon 3 and IBM. High school and college students will get a chance to build a “super app” for social good – an opportunity to be a superhero using their coding skills. The hackathon theme will be sci-fi in nature but the solution will help address real-world challenges. Participants will use Bluemix, IBM’s open-standards, cloud-based platform for building, managing, and running apps of all types, such as web, mobile, big data, and smart devices. The best thing about Bluemix is Watson, IBM’s famed artificially intelligent computer which can be operated using natural language. The computer has even beaten humans in a popular quiz shoe, Jeopardy. Watson is so powerful, it is now being used in cancer treatment, law, finance, weather prediction, and many others. The Top 3 finalists will pitch their winning apps on April 3, 2016, 3:00 pm.
These and more await at NexCon 3, the Geek Event of the Summer, coming right at you this weekend, April 2 and 3, 2015, at Function Room 5 of the SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia. arkadymac.com is an official media partner, and we hope to see you there as we have our special coverage.
NEXCON 3 is co-presented by Cosplay.ph and Stompworks Studios; made possible by Ludus Distributors, Inc., The Mind Museum, IBM, SM Cyberzone, CIIT College of Arts and Technology, Digipost, Snack Time, Bandai, Devant, and Yoshinoya; Content Partners Komikon, Philippine Garrison of the 501st Legion, Geekfight! Trivia Night, Warner Bros., Philrobotics, and Mobile IT for Youth; Media Partners GMA 7, Hero TV, GIST, Inquirer.net, WheninManila.com, Arkadymac, What’s a Geek, and FanboySEO; Venue Partner SMX Convention Center; Exclusive Ticketing Partners SM Tickets and SM Cinema.
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