Announcing Global Mysterium

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Shorah friends

Happy #Myst25 day! Myst was first released 25 years ago today, and we thought we’d add to the celebrations by announcing a new project we’re working on: Global Mysterium Day.

(We’re still working on the name… Mass Mysteria, maybe?)

We often get messages like “you should bring Mysterium to X city,” or “will Mysterium ever come to Europe/Australia/etc?” We would love to bring Mysterium to every major North American city, but as an all-volunteer organization it’s just not possible. As for other countries, we’re always happy to give advice and support to any group trying to organize a Myst convention/gathering, but it’s such a daunting task that no one really wants to take it on.

In the past, it’s been a tradition for local groups to plan “mini-Mysterium” gatherings: local fans would all agree to meet in a nearby city on a specific date and time. Maybe they’d explore museums, or grab a bite to eat, or just sit in a park and nerd out about Myst. These mini-Mysteria were a way to meet and hang out with other Myst fans for a day without all the work of putting together a big convention.

We thought it’s about time we bring that back in a more significant form, to help people all over the world connect with other local Myst fans. Not everyone can travel to Mysterium, but maybe we can bring a little piece of Mysterium to everyone. And we need your help to organize it!

Our Role

We will pick a date and time sometime next year (probably a Saturday somewhere between February and April). Next, we’ll help build a list of local fans who will lead the groups in their cities. Then, we’ll publish the list of cities/meeting places and help get the news out to as many fans as possible.

On the selected day, groups around the world will meet up with other local Myst fans. We’ll provide suggestions for activities, possibly some puzzle packets or a fun photo scavenger hunt, but ultimately what you do is up to you and your local group. After it’s all over, we’ll aggregate stories and photos so the whole Myst community can see what different cities did during the day.

What We Need From You

We need three things from you:

First, signup for news about Global Mysterium here. We promise emails will be infrequent and not spammy.

Second, spread the news! This only works if we get as many people as possible to show up. Our posts reach a lot of Myst fans, but we know there are plenty more who don’t follow us because they can’t make it to our normal conventions. So help us by spreading this post around to every Myst fan you know!

Third, volunteer to help lead your local Mysterium group. This isn’t going to be a ton of work, but we need to have a local contact for each city we include in our list. You’ll be responsible for helping to pick a good meeting location, and we may ask you to share contact information so that folks who get lost can find your group on the day of the event. If that sounds like something you’d like to do, fill out this quick form here, and we’ll be in touch.

This hasn’t really been tried before within our community, so we’re figuring things out as we go. We’ll have more details for you as we get closer to the event, so stay tuned. We may even get some Cyan involvement, but we can’t promise anything just yet. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can always contact us through our website here.

Other News

We’re still working away behind the scenes on Mysterium 2019. Odo is doing his hotel dance, and we’re lining up some very special guests that we hope to announce in a few months.

Also, we know many people were interested in buying the exclusive pins we made for Mysterium 2018.

We have some left, so we’re selling them in sets of 3 for $20. We won’t be making them again, so if you want a set you should grab them while you can! You can find the store here: http://store.mysterium.net/. (We wish we could sell them to everyone, but unfortunately we are only able to ship them within the US)

That’s all for now. Until next time,

-Taniith
Your friendly neighborhood Esher

Mysterium 2018 Videos

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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

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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

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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

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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