The Midwest BSI Canonical Conclave 2025 -- Getting Ready To Go

 Holmes, Doyle, and Friends 2025 (a.k.a. "Dayton") is done.

221B Con 2025 is done.

Next up? The Midwest BSI Canonical Conclave. What's the Midwest BSI Canonical Conclave, you ask?

We'll see when we get there.

That's really been the thing about the third Sherlockian event in March/April of this year. Dayton was yet another in an ongoing thread of symposiums. 221B Con was the last of a good con run turned into a renewed promise of one next year. And the Midwest BSI Canonical Conclave is something new we're all trying to wrap our heads around.

So what draws us to a mystery event, where most of us signed up before any details were known or a description was understood? For some it might have been the "BSI" in the name that drew them, as the old Irregularity does not oft move from New York. For me, it was the "Midwest" and the ease of driving to Indy from Peoria.  And the mystery . . . I mean, there's apt to be a story to tell, no matter how the event turns out.

Details slowly made their way across the sundry channels: "A scion society gathering of scion societies." ("Scion" being the term for local Sherlock groups recognized by the Baker Street Irregulars. "Recognized" being kinda  "You told someone at BSI central that your group exists and they recognized that it did.") Things like "a scion roll call" were mentioned.  Rumors of a talk on a particular subject filtered out.

More official details were sent out.  An info letter. An FAQ. A shape for the event started to form, but still pretty nebulous. A social event to be sure. The usual Sherlockian travelling set is bound to be well represented, given all of the folks mentioning it in conversations at other events of the past month. But does anyone have a good idea of what awaits in Indy? Not among the circles I move in.

Uncharted territory. For everyone, really.

The Baker Street Irregulars have never really worked with its scion societies, other than certifying them. No rules. No suggestions as to what they should be. A free blank canvas for organizing local Sherlock Holmes fan groups as worked for your local populace. This event doesn't look to be changing that, just offering an opportunity to connect, exchange ideas, maybe demo a bit of how some societies like the Illustrious Clients do what they do. 

It's putting a focus on the scion society aspect of Sherlockian life, and whenever you focus on something, there are bound to be questions: Why do societies do this or that? Is this particular thing still relevant? Are societies providing opportunities for new fans or just marching forward with old habits?

I'm going to make some notes during this event and blogging once it's over, rather than trying to live-blog moment by moment, so more to come.

221B Con 2025: Sunday -- The Rest of the Story

 When we last left our hero, he had two sessions left in Sunday's 221B Con Experience -- "An Hour with Ashley & Curtis" and "Our Last Bow," two big favorites to wind up the con.

You never know what Ashley Polasek and Curtis Armstrong are going to come up with, given their wealth of Sherlockian and theatrical knowledges, but you do know it will entertain. Last time it was defending the stories of Casebook. This time it was a look at the less-featured females of the Canon and what things looked like from their point of view. Hatty Doran, Mary Sutherland, Mrs. Neville St. Clair, Effie Munro, Isadora Klein, and Agatha the maid were all considered, but the hour just couldn't be left with just that. Apparently when Curtis first told his family he was going to the BSI dinner, the idea popped up that there was some kind of Sherlock Holmes dance that Sherlockians did at these things. So, Curtis, being an imaginative fellow, had to come up with that dance -- and then, not for the first time, teach it to the 221B Con attendees.

Somewhere there exists a full video of this event, and I have about a dozen still pictures of the many parts and pieces of the dance, but I will just tease you with the one above. Does it have a name? I don't know. But I really feel like it should replace "We Always Mention Aunt Clara" as a new Sherlockian standard.

Oh, I should explain something if anyone else saw what Rudy Altergott managed to take a photo of during Curtis and Ashley's presentation . . .

Curtis and Ashley did NOT put on a presentation so boring that it was putting two older gentlemen to sleep. Sunday afternoon at 221B Con comes after a long weekend of pushing one's limits, and the five hours of sleep I had gotten the night before did not do the job. As soon as the session was over, I made it to my room, set an alarm, and passed out for twenty minutes.

I didn't take any pictures of "Our Last Bow," that final hour where the con that just happened is reviewed by attendees with 221B Con management, an amazing tradition that has helped make this con the truly special space it is. This being the last time Crystal, Heather, Taylor and the gang would be doing this session as they turn the keys over to Johanna and Northern Heather (who joined them up front), it was bound to be a bit emotional. I found a nice little space on the floor, back against a wall, behind most of the folks I usually sat with, kind of hidden away so any sniffles and tears could be dealt with semi-privately. It was, as always, both a chance to express both opportunities for improvement (and since the con will be held again next year, that was now possible) and to express just the love and appreciation both old and new attendees have for this very special gathering of Sherlockians. Nothing like it ever came before it, and nothing like it is apt to come after it, should it ever co away. I keep finding myself wanting to sing "Camelot" when I think about it of late, because I'm old enough to have Sir Richard Burton in my head singing some portion of that misty remembrance tune.

221B Con changed a lot of lives, mine included, and I might be blogging a bit more on that later, which would not be the first time. But even thought the con was over, Sunday at the hotel for those who remain was not. There's an informal pool party called "Nerd Soup" that's a tradition among the water nymphs among the Sunday nighters, which I have heard of but never seen. My own habit has been to head out and find some local dinner, more often barbecue than not, but since we'd found a great BBQ place the night before, a few of us went to "Curious Cantina" for tacos, tres leches cake, and flan.

After that, it being Sunday night for me no matter where I am, I needed to push an episode of The Watsonian Weekly to the web, and wound up gathering up anyone who crossed our path on the way to recording in a back room of the B+ area we had to ourselves for after-parties.

We used the Blue Snowball microphone that Johanna Draper-Carlson had given to me that afternoon, which did a fair enough job if I'd have taken the time to adjust the volume levels of the different voices at the table (apologies to any listener who had to adjust the volume as they played it this time around). But given my state of near exhaustion and desire to get the pod out, the audio for this episode was about as raw as it could be.

After that, I took one load of stuff out to the car, then returned to the bar where a bunch of friends were gathered for one last drink. Good-byes were eventually said, and went upstairs to collapse and charge up for my planned 6 AM escape from the Atlanta rush hour.

And now, I think I'm due to be sleeping yet again, without even having unpacked everything yet. So, as I should have remembered last night, I will say, "And goodnight, Watson."

Two other podcasters of note, who never lived, and so shall never die.

221B Con 2025: Sunday Morning, Worn But Still Going!

 At 7:30 AM on this Sunday morning, Steve Mason gathered his 221st Southumberland Waffleers for another expedition into the wilds of Georgia Waffle Houses. 

"I was up until about 1;20 AM," one said.

"I made it to 2:30 AM," another said.

And then Northern Erica arrived. 

"How late were you up?" I asked.

"4:30," she replied. This, my friends, is 221B Con.

After waffles, the con proper started at 10 AM, and the Sherlock & Co. fan panel is my first stop. Jones, Ace, Coat, and Madeline take the stage. In the past year, Jones went from one of the most visible Sherlock & Co. fans at con, and since then has become a part of the podcast's team. Coat is cosplaying John, even though he's a podcast character and none of us really know what he looks like. But she's ballparked the general image, just as Jones's art has come to be a part of my mental image of the characters.

As they point out, Sherlock & Co. has the most involved fandom, which is partly because John H. Watson is not only producing his own podcast in the world of the podcast, he interacts with fans in our world on Discord and Patreon. It's a new level of what old-time Sherlockians called "playing the game," and really bringing that fact/fiction meld into the current moment. Once the discussion gets rolling, folks in the audience start sharing their appreciation for the characters and what makes this Holmes and Watson special among the legions of versions of the characters.

Since Sherlock & Co. is adapting the whole Sherlockian Canon, we get to see fresh versions of so many Canonical characters beyond the typical Irene/Mycroft/Moriarty thing, and consciously doesn't rush to get to those key, but over-used players. 

The minute that panel is over, we head over to "Brother Mine, How You've Changed" -- perhaps the third panel on Mycroft Holmes at this year's con, with Johanna Draper-Carlson running it, and I had to tease her a little about it. The room fills up fast, and latecomers are still wandering in, including Max Magee and the purple demon who has been silently attentive at panel after panel. (I'm not being metaphoric. She's totally purple and has horns and wings. Excellent costume commitment.)

The Sunday panel schedule is jam-packed from 10 to 4, and I have a feeling I'm going to have to miss some things to do things like eat and get to the dealer's room one last time. Johanna is rolling through all of the ways Mycroft has been portrayed on TV and film. Christopher Lee comes off a a more definitive portrayal from The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. I have to slip out of this panel early to hit the dealer's room for something I missed before the "Watson, Is That You?" round table.

Sometimes, when a panel doesn't get enough people to sit up front, it turns into a round table, where everyone gets to speak on the subject (which often happens anyway), but this time the chairs are placed in the round and the question "What makes a Watson?" really gets a good working-over, actually making it better than some of the more planned out presentation-based panels thanks to Rabidsamfam's attentive moderation.

Next, it's off to "Sherlolly: The Little Ship that Could" which is going to be very Molly Hooper focused on this time, which is great because Molly Hooper is the Sergeant Wilkins of BBC Sherlock, except that Wilkins came along before shipping, otherwise I'm sure there would be "Sherkins." (And if you don't know Sergeant Wilkins, Inspector Lestrade's right-hand man and caretaker whom Holmes seems to like better than Lestrade, get thee to some Ronald Howard Sherlock.) Okay, I'm rambling, back to Molly time.

Molly Hooper, who got 48 minutes of airtime throughout the series, has gotten a lot more than 48 minutes of discussion over the years, with her relationship with Sherlock thoroughly analyzed, and it's getting a lot more here. Molly is key to so much that happens off-screen. While this is going on, I'm actually playing with a Blue Snowball microphone that Johanna gave me when I walked into this panel. So, let me paint a picture -- at this point, I'm wearing a 221B Con t-shirt from a previous year with eight con badges (seven previous, one current) with about fifty or so badge ribbons between the lot of them, carrying around the Blue Snowball microphone and cute little stuffed dolls of John and Sherlock from Sherlock & Co. This is my life now. Meanwhile, Mycroft's interaction with Molly comes up.

Is this enough reportage for the moment? I think so, as I'm going to take things to the room and get food next, in the hour gap until the Curtis and Ashley show.

221B Con 2025: Saturday Night's All Right For Cloaking

 Ah, 221B Con.

My first blog post from the first 221B Con was typed at midnight in the bathroom of my hotel room so as not to disturb the nearby sleeper. But I had to write it, despite the hour, because . . . well, 221B Con.

Now I find myself at what was thought to be the last of the con's run, joyously turned into a celebration that this annual event will occur next year, at one A.M. typing again. Because I love this con. Always have. Its bright, shiny, sparkly inclusiveness, its inability to let you be bored for long, if you ever get there, and its creative energy. Even though I am way older than most of the participants, and, admittedly, are not the perfect fit for everything that goes on here, it just feels like a community where I belong, one weekend a year.

Because sometimes things just get fun.

This Saturday night was the annual "prom," a dance party with prom photos, where people dress up (or not) in all sorts of ways. One Sherlockian wild man wore a Christmas-themed tropical shirt that just never found a good moment back home, and that was perhaps the tamest outfit there. You'll probably see pictures on social media, if you follow anyone who was here. I was in a last minute rush, so I raided my costume supplies: A ruffle from a Ben Franklin costume, an old Hot Topic goth shirt, pirate boot leggings from another costume, a vest I got from the con costume vendor last year, and a lined dark green cloak from a winter solstice event.

Wandering down to the bar, I found I was not the only gentleman in a cloak. Rudy Altergott was less pirate and fine urban gentleman, but when we went hoods up, it looked like some dark ritual was about to occur. Wonderful dresses and costumery of all sorts began to show up, and eventually, the DJ started playing something danceable, and a handful of us took to the dance floor. And I realized something.

Wearing a cloak to go dancing is the best thing ever.

Minimal motion is necessary to make a cape or cloak catch air and do its thing. And that means less physical exercise. And less physical exercise means . . . MORE DANCING!!

It seems like I was thinking just a few weeks ago that Sherlockiana needed more dancing. And like some magic genie was listening and owed me a wish, I got it. And there's nothing like a big dance party where you don't have to have a particular partner and everybody just goes for it. And we did.

There was no karaoke, but some songs got singing as well as dancing, and the whole dance floor singing at 221B Con sounds pretty darn good. And there were a lot of great surprises from the DJ. One song called "Marianna" was a fine tribute to Sherlock & Co.'s Mrs. Hudson. Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" was something folks got into heavily. And "Down the Witch's Road" from MCU's Agatha All Along? Heck, I sing that at home and I was now wearing a cloak. The stars were aligning.

The party was still going as some of us started one by one drifting off to get some rest. But next year's con management was still up and going, as well as the younger members of our usual suspects. And now, after showering and blogging for twenty-five minutes, I think I might finally be able to sleep myself.

I love this con. Have I ever told you that?

221B Con 2025: Food Truck, Afternoon Sessions, BBQ, and Three Patch

 Well, "A Timeline of the Holmes/Watson Partnership No Matter What Time" went pretty well. Chris Ziordan and I had a room full of attentive Sherlockians and we rolled around in Sherlockian chronology, basics, big questions, pet theories, oddities, and so much more, with the folks in the seats contributing so much and even inspiring new ideas as the best exchanges do.

After that was time for a quick run at the dealer's room, taking things back to my room, lunch at the food truck with some excellent brisket and large-cut potato salad, and then . . . just bouncing around. This year's charity "ship wars." in which you vote with cash in the bucket of your favorite choice, was not featuring relationship "ships" but actual ships (except for Sherlolly), whether it was the Lusitania, the Enterprise D, the barque Lone Star, or the Terror. Since the Terror had such a good panel earlier today, that bucket got some cash from me, along with some discussion of the ships, both there and missing from the line-up with the con volunteers at the table.

Very soon we got a panel with a great internet hook-up with the writer (Joel Emery) and the director (Adam Jarrell) of the podcast Sherlock & Co., which was much anticipated. Questions were asked, secrets were shared, and we learned of Sherlock, John, and Marianna coming to America on the show. We also hear that A.J. Raffles will be coming to the Sherlock & Co. universe. (But it's a secret so don't tell anyone.)

Unfortunately, since I volunteered to time-clock panels, I had to leave at the halfway point to go to a Lucy Worsley panel. Longtime con regular Joan Selacal is going solo on the panel and her daughter is handing out copies of an article on CBS Watson before it starts, so I'm wondering if it might wander that direction. But Joan gets to Lucy Worsley's PBS show Killing Sherlock and dives into the minutiae. My volunteer duties include closing the door at the ten minute mark, but I can't figure out how to unlatch the door from its fixed open position. When I get back from that attempt, Joan has move on to CBS Watson and is mentioning other current police consultant shows like Elsbeth and High Potential.

Okay, let's be honest. I slipped off back to the Sherlock & Co. session for twenty minutes, then snuck back in and gave the five minute warning as duty required. The food truck closes at five, but Johanna Draper-Carlson, Heather Hinson, and Chris Ziordan are doing a panel called "Everything We Know About Mycroft Holmes Is a Lie," and we know fights are gonna happen, so I don't want to miss it. But I'm hungry. And food truck. And the panel is stirring up trouble already. But I'm hungry.

[Much later]

My trip to the food truck turned into fried okra in the bar with Steve Mason and Crystal Noll. 221B Con is well know for hijacking your time in unexpected directions. Fried okra into the bar turned into an excursion to a mythical Mexican restaurant that turned into a visit to The Ohio Hog Company in Tyrone, next to the Publix we always get supplies at. (Quick review, great BBQ, meaty tender ribs, definitely recommended!) 

Anyway, upon returning from food, I headed into yet another Mycroftian panel: "Mystrade: The Grown-ups in the Room." This was one of the fullest panel with six enthusiastic Mystraders up front. After much discussion of Mycroft and Lestrade, their roles in the lives of Sherlock and John, all the fanfic out there, etc. the session ends with a quiz on BBC Sherlock and fic related topics. I scored 7 out of twenty, which was enough to win a rainbow Peeps on a stick, which "Southern Erica" helped my open and eat immediately. (We have two Ericas, and our best differentiation was "Northern Erica" and "Southern Erica" even though the latter is not from the actual South. Just far south of Northern Erica.)

A half hour later, I'm at one of my must-go panels, the Three Patch Podcast, talking about their upcoming book project covering their years podcasting and generally being the most creative and energetic bunch of Sherlockians you will see anywhere. (I know that's a bold statement, but if you haven't been at 221B Con, gone to their suite, listened to most of their podcasts, seen it all, you just don't know. Seriously.) They have the largest room for their panel with nine of their legion up there, including artist Fox Estacado, who usually is busy manning her dealers table at con. (I'm wearing one of Fox's shirt right now.)

Three Patch Podcast's panel

I mean, right now they're talking about harpooning a pig in a hotel suite with an actual harpoon and a pig pinata full of . . . well, adult items. Oh! And there's video. Damn, they know how to do it. But they always have. I remember the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes talking about their heyday, and if you take that energy, move it forward thirty or forty years, and multiply up the numbers and turn the levels up to eleven, you get Three Patch. Their energies have brought so much to 221B Con, and their upcoming book is going to be a wonderful documenting of an era that future Sherlockians will wish they had been here for.

The 221B Con Prom is coming up next, and I brought a bag of costume that I'll be putting on, so I'm going to go ahead and post this. More to come.

221B Con 2025: Waffles and the First Two Panels

After another expedition of the 221st Southumberland Waffleers to the Waffle House just off the  Fairburn/Peachtree City exit of interstate 85, with two Ericas, a Max, and a Rob joining the standard Steve and Rich, Saturday of 221B Con 2025 started at 10 AM. I almost got distracted by Brian Belanger and the Belanger Books table, which has been doing brisk business. (Currently worried he’s going to sell out of a few things before I get back.) But my 10 AM goal was my first assignment as a 221B Con volunteer.

There are many duties of 221B Con volunteers, but as a newbie, I got the role of the person who sits in the back of a panel and closes the door after ten minutes, then signals when the speakers have five minutes left.

One thing I love about this con is the surprises, the panels I wouldn’t think I’d be into but then get surprised. The panel I’ve been assigned to sit in the back of the room on is “The Terror: Your New Favorite Show.”  For those unfamiliar with 221B Con at this point, yes, there are several panels that aren’t about Sherlock Holmes. But still very worth attending. 

This one begins with some Powerpoint and the first slide reads: “The Franklin Expedition, or how imperial hubris killed 129 people (and one monkey)” -- we get a verbal addition of “and also a dog and some ship’s cats.” This isn’t just TV show talk, this is about all the historical background upon which the show is based, the archeological finds that have come after the lost ships were finally found. The doomed Victorians that filled those ships and the TV show based upon them may not be Sherlockian Canon, but close enough and very cool.

I’ll be honest, I watched the first episode and thought it was a Dracula show, then figured out that it wasn’t and gave up. This panel is convincing me what a dummy I can be. Also, I’m currently reading The Ministry of Time: A Novel by Kaliane Bradley, a novel where a ship commander from the Franklin expedition was brought forward to the modern day with a time machine.

This is really a fun presentation as we get a walk through the characters/historical personages in a clever, clever way.

The next panel is “How to Succeed as a Sherlockian Publisher” featuring Brian Belanger, introduced and hosted by Johanna Carlson-Draper. Since this is the tenth anniversary of Belanger Books and they have nicely jumped in as a sponsor of the con, it's a natural. Brian was pulled into the publishing and Sherlockian world by his brother Derrick, who isn't here, so we're getting a fun perspective on the whole endeavor. This session is more of an interview than a presentation, which is usually a more organic info-dump, and with Brian, this is perfect. Belanger Books has been selling a lot of books here and it sound like they'll definitely be back next year.

"Are there any books you wish you hadn't published?" is a great question, and Brian gentlemanly avoids naming names and still gives a good answer, even though Steve Mason tries to derail his answer from the peanut gallery and bring up Waffle House. (The peanut gallery is Rudy Altergott, Steve Mason, and Rich Krisciunas, sitting directly behind me.) The follow-up, "book you wish you had published" takes us to Mark Frost's works, and I remember how much I liked those. Cover art, the variety of books they've published, pastiche versus fanfic, sticking with your writing . . . some good perspectives.

I get a half hour break before "A Timeline of the Holmes/Watson Partnership No Matter When" after this, so I need to start thinking ahead.

221B Con 2025: Beginning With Cheers

You know things are a little diferent at this year’s 221B Con when the very first panel is named “The Future of 221B Con.” After the announcement at the end of last year’s con that this would likely be the last 221B Con, there's a lot of curiosity about the future of things here. After a little discussion of some room changes, an announcement gets made immediately: 221B Con will be back next year. 

The largest room at the con, full to capacity, breaks into the kind of response usually reserved for pop stars. Like so much about 221B Con, it's something I've seen nowhere else in decades of Sherlockiana.

There’s going to be some restructuring and Johanna Draper-Carlson and Heather Hinson are taking over from Crystal Noll, original Heather Holloway, and Taylor Blumberg. The con is going to continue on a year-by year basis, but a lot of continuity will happen along the way. After about ten minutes of announcement, more exuberant cheering, and one standing ovation, the rest of the first hour becomes a question and and answer session about the con itself. One thing about this event that has always been one of its greatest characteristics is the level of transparency and the open communication. 

After the panel about the future of the con ends early, everyone descends upon the dealer’s room in numbers never before seen. The special commemorative con pin that we got to see in the panel is a big draw, but all of the dealer’s benefited from everyone suddenly having free time. Since the room will be there all weekend, a handful of us head into the restaurant/bar to get drinks and appetizers and await the arrival of Rob Nunn before the Dynamics of a Podcast panel. The wait staff was extremely busy, and by the time Rob got there the appetizers were only beginning to arrive. Talk of the con news and some discussion of a future “Homes in the Heartland” conference help fill the wait for more food and drink, and as normal, our need for food causes us to miss panels on Sherlockian societies, artistic interpretations of Holmes, a screening of The Adventures of Jame Watson with FAQ, and a panel on the Sherlock Holmes anthology When the Rose Speaks Its Name, which I kinda wanted to get to.

The food truck that we get on Saturday and Sunday is much less costly in terms of time away from con programming.

But I finally got to the Dynamics of.a Podcast, that Moriarty-centric podcast, and Madeline Quinones, Dixie Parkinson (via Zoom from South Africa), and special guest Ashley Polasek discussing the villains of the Canon. (And even here the public villains of current events creep into the conversation.) Some great points are made, including how villains are given dark pasts as origins to make us feel safer that we couldn’t be like that. The Master from Doctor Who sneaks his way into the conversation, of course, as listeners to Dynamics of a Podcast might expect.

The fun thing about these panels is, while you have the featured trio up front, we have a room full of very knowledgable and clever Sherlockians contributing to the discussion on the topic. As much as we worry about a lack of younger Sherlockians sometimes, I look around this room and am seeing a minority of gray-haired folk. And two dozen people that I know, nine of them official Baker Street Irregulars... this is some solid Sherlockian thought, more enjoyable that a good many lectures we hear at more formal venues.

Much villainous ground is covered, at a pace it is hard to even take notes on, but it’s very inspiring and will definitely spawn some future writings from folks, I am sure.

After the panel, about ten of us huddle up in the bar whilst some of our younger friends head off for the karaoke session, and conversation goes into the night with a few last cocktails. More to come.