Mysterium 2018 Videos

Greetings all,

It’s been just over a month since Mysterium and the committee is finally caught up on sleep. Well… most of us, anyway. On the bright side, we’ve been able to edit all of the videos from this year’s convention!

You can find all of the Mysterium 2018 videos in this handy YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxkV43WY77wEM8VMrtSOEKvdFtUHIoXdR

A few notes:

  • As previously noted, the Myst Documentary presentation was for attendees only and that video will not be posted
  • Due to several simultaneous technical snafus, Rob Santos’s presentation on making games was only partially recorded
  • The entire Mysterium Showtunes session is one long video, but jump-links to each performance can be found in the video description.

You can find all the showtunes lyrics we have in this Google Drive folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hQl0W3mvM1SEh8OC5AYI5zeE276qXKfs. If you wrote one of the songs that was performed but haven’t sent us the lyrics, please do so!

And with that, we officially wrap up Mysterium 2018. Stay tuned in the coming months for 2019 info. We also hope to have a very special announcement for you in late September to coincide with the Myst 25th anniversary date!

Until then,
-Taniith
Mysterium PR Bah’ro

Mysterium 2018 Wrap Up

Hi everyone!

Well, this week brings to a close an incredible 19 years of Mysterium. It thrills me to know that after all of that time, people are still excited enough to turn out – nearly 80 of you this year, including an exceptional number of new faces! We want to cover a few points while we still have your attention:

Feedback and Wrap Up

While we welcome feedback any time, we’ve compiled a few questions that we hope you’ll be willing to answer for us, attendee or not. These surveys help to inform our choices for future years. The majority are multiple-choice, so we hope it’ll be pretty quick to get through. You can find the survey at: https://goo.gl/forms/wHwM2yOGKucXsicJ3.

Around the end of the month we’ll publish a round-up of the photo album links and Mysterium Showtunes song lyrics that we’ve received. So if you’d like your photos or songs to be included, please head over to the contact form and let us know where we can find them! By that time we also hope to have the recordings of the weekend edited and uploaded into a playlist on YouTube.

Please remember to set any photo albums to be publicly viewable, especially for albums on Facebook!

Thank Yous

It takes many hundreds of volunteer-hours to bring everything you saw over the weekend to fruition. Thank you for those bold (or crazy?) enough to volunteer to bring Mysterium to a brand new city with me this year: Capella, Drew, M13, Rayne, Strix, and Taniith. Thank you to Teagen for volunteering early on to lend us local expertise and on-site cat-herding. Thank you to the Mysterium spouses and parents who, despite indifference to Myst, participated in our merriment with good attitudes.

Thank you to our presenters: Rob Santos, Hollister of the Starry Expanse team, and Philip Shane of the Myst Documentary, all of whom bring much more variety to the Mysterium experience than any of us can muster alone.

Thank you to our contest prize donors: K’laamas, Kefrith, Lex, Parker, Rayne, and Robert!

Thank you to Memiki for another year of delicious cookies.

Thank you to Cyan, and especially Ryan Warzecha, for tolerating our crazy and persistent requests with grace. And, thank you to the outstanding hotel staff this year; they were extremely proactive and flexible as small changes were needed throughout the weekend.

Mysterium 2019

As confirmed by Cyan on Sunday, we will be holding Mysterium’s 20th anniversary gathering in Spokane, WA on the weekend of August 2-4th, 2019! We expect that Mysterium will pay a visit to Cyan again this year, although we do not yet have a firm plan in place with them. If any Spokane local is available to, at the least, help scout hotels as we get close to making final decisions, please get it touch with us. We’re also hoping to introduce a few more pleasant surprises again in 2019, as well as revisiting events you enjoyed this year.

Taniith will be the con chair for 2019. Stay tuned here and on social media for more information.

Don’t forget to join the Mysterium Discord server to stay in touch with other attendees and the committee!

Until next time,
-Odo
Mysterium 2018 Co-Chair

(Praise Gehn!)

What To Know When You Get There

Greetings all!

With only a week to go until Mysterium 2018, we wanted to give you some last minute news, as well as a roundup of what to expect when you get to St. Louis.

Reminders

If you are interested in attending the City Museum group excursion on Friday evening, please remember to register in advance. We will stop selling those tickets on Tuesday.

Also, don’t forget to submit your ideas for the Mysterium unconference. If you’ve ever had a Myst/Obduction/fandom topic you wanted to have a mini-discussion on with other people, now is the time to submit it!

Communication

Earlier this year we launched our official Mysterium Discord server. We have created a special channel for on-site communications (#mysterium-2018). We will post and pin any announcements there, and we encourage you to coordinate food and exploration with other attendees there too! This may be especially useful for anyone who arrives early or is staying in town after Sunday.

If you need to get the attention of Mysterium staff in a hurry, you can mention the “@Grand Master” group to notify us.

Policies & Reporting Problems

Please remember to review our policies and code of conduct before arriving at the convention. Copies will also be available at the registration desk. Remember that we have a zero tolerance policy for harassment of any kind.

If you witness any problems or feel you have been a victim of harassment, please find a Mysterium staff member and let us know. You can also private message one of us on Discord (Taniith, Odo, Capella, or m13), or use this page to submit a report: https://mysterium.net/harassment/.

Getting to the Hotel

Check out our Location page for info on how to get to the hotel. It includes directions from the airport, train/bus depots, and the highway. It also includes information on how to receive our negotiated rate for parking at the hotel.

We strongly encourage you to use public transit when possible, rather than renting a car. Our hotel is easily accessible via public transit, and details are available on the location page.

Once You Arrive

The convention will be in the Broadway Room at the hotel, starting on Friday morning:

  • From the lobby, walk past the front desk, pass through the grey double-doors, and follow that hallway to the back of the hotel.
  • From the parking garage, use the entrance closest to the parking structure, facing the convention center buildings.
  • From the hotel elevators, turn right and use the grey double-doors.

Our registration table will be located just inside of the doors to the Broadway Room, starting at 9:30 on Friday morning.

Breakfast is available in the restaurant off the lobby, near the revolving doors. There is no charge for the buffet if you are staying in our room-block at the hotel. As we are a large group, the hotel has informed us that we are free to use the high-top seating near the bar if necessary.

What to Wear

St. Louis is hot and sunny in the summer, so dress accordingly and remember to stay hydrated. There is also the chance of rain or intermittent thunderstorms, so you may want to pack an umbrella or rain coat. Your doctor would probably remind you to wear sunscreen when you go outside, too.

On the flip side, hotels tend to be cooler. So pack a sweater if you get cold easily!

What to Do!

You can find our schedule of activities on our schedule page. Unless otherwise noted, all activities will be located in the Broadway Room.

We have also put together a map of nearby food and attractions that may interest you. You can find it on the Location page. There are many food options within walking distance, along with a grocery store. While the hotel allows food delivery to the lobby, we remind you that food is not allowed inside the convention room.

Swag!

If you follow us on social media, you may have seen us teasing our con-swag over the past few days. Every attendee will receive a full set of these 3 pins, exclusive to Mysterium 2018. We will also have extras on sale for $2.50 each.

Before anyone asks, unfortunately we cannot sell these online and ship them to people. They will only be available on-site at the convention. If you can’t make it this year, ask a friend at the con to buy you some!

That’s all for today. We hope this post is helpful as you plan your trip. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

We look forward to seeing all of you next week!

-Mysterium 2018 PR Team

Hotel Reservation Reminder and Schedule Updates

Greetings Everyone,

As Mysterium 2018 continues to approach, we wanted to share a few reminders and updates with you all.

Hotel Reservation Deadlines

Our exclusive room rate is available for booking and extension until July 4th, which is only two weeks away! Visit the Location page for booking instructions.

Please Note: When making your initial reservation, you will only be able to select a check-in as early as Friday, August 3rd and check-out as late as Monday, August 6th. If you will be staying beyond these dates, please complete this form after making your “base” reservation to request a check-in as early as Wednesday, August 1st or check-out as late as Wednesday, August 7th at our group rate. We understand this is a frustrating limitation of the booking process, but we hope the form will make this process as seamless as possible. When we have confirmed that your reservation has been extended, we will notify you via email. The change will also be reflected in your reservation confirmation details on the Holiday Inn website.

Schedule Updates

We have finalized our schedule for this year. While there is potential for unforeseen changes to occur, we are confident enough to call this finalized. Head on over to our Schedule page to have a look. You’ll find some adjustments and a new event since we posted our draft a few weeks ago.

Mysterium Unconference Topic Submissions

This year sees the return of the Mysterium Unconference, our freeform discussion groups about anything and everything. In the past two years, we’ve had some fantastic conversations about Mystunderstood Villains, D’ni Infrastructure and Transportation, the Myst/Obduction Shared Universe, and more. However, we’ve all found it hard to come up with topics on the spot.

To help facilitate the event this year, we invite fans to submit discussion topics ahead of the convention. Do you have any burning topics or theories you want to discuss? If so, please submit them using this form. Even if you are unable to attend this year, you’re welcome to submit your ideas. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

 

That’s about all we have for you this week. Have any questions? Looking for Room and Ride share discussions? Or just want to share your excitement for the convention? Be sure to join our Discord server or connect with us on social media.

– Mysterium 2018 PR Team

Two Months to Mysterium!

Hello Everyone!

Can you believe that Mysterium 2018 is only two months away? The committee has been hard at work bringing everything together for a fantastic convention in St. Louis. In the spirit of “two months,” we present: “Two Months to Mysterium: Too Many Updates to Handle.”

Deadlines

Next Friday, June 8th, marks the close of event submissions and Early-Bird and T-Shirt Registrations! If you haven’t yet registered, head over to our Registration page and sign up today! After June 8th, t-shirts will no longer be available to pre-order and all admission prices will increase by $5. Online registration will continue to be available at full price until July 20th.

Additionally, we are still accepting event submissions until June 8th. If you have an idea for an activity, panel, or other event that you’d like to either host or see hosted, head over to the Events page and submit your ideas.

Schedule Updates

In past years, we have relied on Guidebook to provide detailed event schedules to attendees. This year, thanks to our newly redesigned website, we can offer detailed schedule information from one central location and publish a preliminary schedule for everyone to see far earlier than we could previously. If you’re hoping to see more of what we’re planning this year before you buy that Early-Bird Registration, head over to the Schedule page to see our draft schedule. We also have a few exciting schedule announcements to share!

Exclusive Myst Documentary Sneak Peak

Philip Shane, the documentary filmmaker behind Being ElmoEinstein, and many other films will be providing an exclusive look into his current project, The Myst Documentary. If you attended Mysterium last year, you may have met or been interviewed by Philip. We are delighted to receive the opportunity to learn more about his filmmaking process and have an exclusive look at some of his raw footage.

Please note that we are unable to stream or record this footage. You can only see it if you attend Mysterium!

Mysterium Excursion: City Museum

We are planning a group trip to the City Museum, an exciting, hands-on, indoor/outdoor exploratory experience just a few blocks away from our hotel. Inside the museum, you’ll find caves, slides, walkways, and tunnels that carry you around the building and over the streets. Tickets must be purchased in advanced via our Registration page to receive the group rate.

Hotel Updates

As a reminder, our exclusive room rate is available for booking at our hotel until July 4th. Visit the Location page for booking instructions.

Please Note: When making your initial reservation, you will only be able to select a check-in as early as Friday, August 3rd and check-out as late as Monday, August 6th. If you will be staying beyond these dates, please complete this form after making your “base” reservation to request a check-in as early as Wednesday, August 1st or check-out as late as Wednesday, August 7th at our group rate. We understand this is a frustrating limitation of the booking process, but we hope the form will make this process as seamless as possible. When we have confirmed that your reservation has been extended, we will notify you via email. The change will also be reflected in your reservation confirmation details on the Holiday Inn website.

 

We can’t wait to see you all this August! Have any questions? Looking for Room and Ride share discussions? Or just want to share your excitement for the convention? Be sure to join our Discord server or connect with us on social media.

– Mysterium 2018 PR Team