SiliCon With Adam Savage has finally updated their website for the New Year. Out with the old content for Silicon Valley Comic Con 2019. In with the new content for SiliCon With Adam Savage 2020. Not that the in-person event took place this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. But there were virtual events to make up for it. I’m going to review the website redesign on the front page and explain the changes.
Website Header
The first thing to notice in the redesign is a white background for a cleaner look. I liked this better than the black background for Silicon Valley Comic Con. The top bar of the header has links to other parts of the website. I’m not looking at these links since they are somewhat redundant to what is on the front page.
The title is “Silicon With Adam Savage” and the subtitle is “Maker, Science, Tech & Pop Culture”. The background image has old comic pages fanned out with a gold-to-blue gradient. The background image may be a homage to Silicon Valley Comic Con and Big Wow ComicFest. The predecessor shows to SiliCon with Adam Savage.
The biggest compliant about Silicon Valley Comic Con that it was no longer about comics. It didn’t help that the big comic book vendors paid $50,000 USD for Stan Lee to sign 400 comic books at the 2018 show. The big comic book vendors weren’t there, and smaller comic big vendors complained about extra fees at the 2019 show.
Beneath that is a row of logos that represents the sponsors for the first workshop bundle: Animation Legends, Amazon Alexa, Monster Energy Drinks and TNT Cosplay Supply.
Virtual Events & Sponsors
Like many comic cons this year, SiliCon With Adam Savage switched to virtual events. Divided into three groups: maker workshops, live panels, and celebrity meet and greets. There have been four monthly virtual events to date.
- A virtual panel with Adam Savage about spacesuits and cosplay.
- A maker workshop with Adam Savage building a fantasy helmet.
- A maker workshop with Beverly Downen for building a Baby Yoda cradle.
- A Mandalorian watch party with Adam Savage and Daniel Logan, who played Boba Fett as a kid in prequel series.
I didn’t see the Mandalorian watch party since I need to catch up from the first half of season one. Everyone and their mother on the Internet told me how it ended.
Live panels and celebrity meet and greets are free. You do have to register through GrowTix to get the livestream code.
The first maker workshop had only a $60 USD bundle for sale. You couldn’t watch that livestream without buying the bundle. The second maker workshop had a $69 USD bundle and a $5 livestream option. You could either buy the bundle or the livestream option to watch the livestream. Or you could wait until the video became available on YouTube.
Below that there are three large sponsorship ads: TNT Cosplay Supply, Animations Legend, and Plaid FX Paints. If you’re into making stuff, check them out.
Below that is the event info for the Mandalorian watch party. That event was from last weekend. If you click through the “sign up now” button, it will take you to GrowTix website. The only item available is the Baby Yoda cradle bundle from the previous workshop. Don’t expect this part of the frontpage to be up to date until the next event announcement.
Below The Fold
The final section of the website has several different related and unrelated items.
A statement from Adam Savage about his commitment to making things. If you click on the “maker workshop” button, it will refresh the front page. That should change to the GrowTix website for an upcoming workshop event.
A mission statement that the founding of SiliCon With Adam Savage took place in 2014. Not quite. The partnership between Steve Wozniak, Stan Lee and the organizers took place in 2014. The announcement that Big Wow ComicFest would become Silicon Valley Comic Con happened in 2015.
Silicon Valley Comic Con ran from 2016 to 2019. But with the death of Stan Lee in November 2018, the 2019 show was lackluster at best. Adam Savage, who served as a panel moderator during that time, became the new face.
Below that is a link to the SiliCon Store and a form to sign up for the email list.
What to expect from SiliCon With Adam Savage in 2021? More monthly virtual events for sure. Adam Savage announced August 27-29, 2021, as the dates for the in-person event. Will the in-person event still happen in August? My answer to that question can be found in a future video.