A one day conference and skillshare
Saturday, October 20
10-3pm
918 Bathurst Centre.
918 Bathurst Street, Toronto (2 blocks north of Bloor)
Join us for a day of creative discussion and learning. Meet your fellow zinesters and members of the indie arts community in Toronto and beyond. Share your work and find inspiration. Oh, and there’s a yummy vegetarian meal in it for you, too.
Prices:
Full day Pass: $38. Buy it now. Includes all 3 symposium sessions and the zine-swap lunch.
Symposium 1: $12. Buy it now. Primp your zine 10-11am.
Symposium 2: $12. Buy it now. Fundraising strategies for DIY Projects. 11:15-12:15.
Zine Swap and Speed-Meet-and-Greet Veggie Lunch: $15. Buy it now. 12:30-1:30.
Symposium 3: $12. Buy it now. What is Indie? 8 Minute Hyperspeed talks. 1:45-2:45
10-11am
PRIMP YOUR ZINE – Is your zine or self-publishing project looking a little blah? Looking to spruce it up on a limited budget? Our Primp Your Zine workshop brings together a clutch of Toronto zinesters and artists who will teach you everything you need to know about DIY zine beautification using simple skills and materials.
Featuring:
Lisa MacDonald on paper marbling. Lisa is a recent graduate from OCAD U’s Faculty of Design, with a minor in Printmaking and she is currently working with ALSO Collective. She greatly enjoys working with her hands and specializes in the book as a conceptual tool for both art and design.
Elija Montgomery on linotype. Elija is a Fibre Major at OCAD. He makes bow ties and other interesting things. Follow his work at http://elijasaurus.tumblr.com.
Broken Pencil design guru and zine maker Ian Sullivan on cheap, gorgeous handmade binding
techniques.
This will be a hands-on event. Participants will spend time at each station trying out a different techniques/skills. Materials will be provided.
11:15- 12:15
FUNDRAISING STRATEGIES FOR DIY PROJECTS LARGE AND SMALL –
Discover the ways that you can thoughtfully and effectively acquire the funds required to launch your project – whether you’re funding an urban multimedia apocalypse through crowdfunding or trying to raise material costs for your chapbook. You’ll be visiting three separate stations hosted by enterprising members of the Toronto indie arts community, who are ready to share their success stories and field your questions.
We will be covering Applying for Grants; Using Crowdsourcing; Staging fundraising parties/events.
Featuring:
Darren O’Donnell on applying for grants.
Darren is an award-winning writer, actor, playwright, performance artist and director. His company Mammalian Diving Reflex is the resident art company at Toronto’s Parkdale Public School and seeks to bring children together with artists, the public, businesses and cultural institutions through clever, unique and enriching events.
Elenna Mosoff on Crowdsourcing. 
Elenna is one of the five founding members of The Mission Business, a collective that creates interactive storytelling experiences through theatre, games and performance art. The group’s inaugural project is Zed.to, a multi-platform interactive apocalypse narrative unfolding through events staged at NXNE, Fringe, Nuit Blanche and elsewhere. The project was funded through a successful IndieGogo campaign and received promotion and support from many in the arts, business and design communities.
Eva Michon on fundraising parties and events.
Eva is the founder and editor of Bad Day, an arts and culture biannual magazine based in Toronto and New York. In addition to its consistently challenging content, Bad Day has become associated with its multiple creative and social fundraising initiatives, including art exhibitions, live performances and legendary parties.
12:30-1:30
ZINE SWAP and Speed Meeting LUNCH
We’ll do three things during the hour. 1. We’ll swap zines (or CDs or URLs or cassette tapes, whatever you want to share). 2. We’ll eat a delicious vegan lunch prepared by indie chef Emily Zimmerman of Pear and Pepper Vegan Treats. 3. We’ll meet each other one-on-one in a speed meet n’ greet.
Hosted by artist and writer Robert Dayton. Robert is a multidisciplinary writer, entertainer and artist. His current art book The Canadian Romantic by The Canadian Romantic is part of a larger-than-life character that explores the grey area of impossibilities that intersect with Canada and romance through live performance, dolls, lenticular photos, and a series of videos.
Note: participants will be notified in advance how many copies they will need for the swap.
LUNCH MENU:
Pizza: topped with mushroom crème sauce, caramelized onions, leeks and zucchini.
Big, big salad: mixed greens, roasted potatoes and green beans, chickpeas, and pears, in a green goddess dressing.
Creamy chocolate-coconut pudding, with seasonal fruit.
Chamomile-maple iced tea.
1:45-2:45
What is Indie? Eight minute HYPERSPEED TALKS exploring practical and philosophical issues related to the making of Indie culture in the 21st century.
What does “indie” really mean, and how can we apply it to the many things we do? How is the “indie” sensibility evolving? We’ve assembled a host of creators, thinkers, readers, teachers and publishers to deliver micro-lectures on what indie means to them and how the term applies to their creative lives.
Featuring:
Evan Munday on winning awards and promoting yourself.
Evan is a Toronto-based cartoonist who recently self-published his graphic novel Quarter-Life Crisis and was recently shortlisted for the Sunburst Award in the category of young adult fiction for his YA novel The The Dead Kid Detective Agency (ECW press). His work has appeared in Toronto Life, This Magazine and Broken Pencil, and he is also the publicist at Coach House Books.
Emily M. Keeler on why you need to start new (indie) things. 
Emily is a writer and editor for a brand-spanking-new print magazine called Little Brother launching in August 2012. She is also the Toronto editor at Joyland: A Hub for Short Fiction and LitBeat editor at The Millions.
Benjamin Rivers on what you can learn from the rise of the indie video game.
Benjamin is an indie game developer, artist and illustrator. His most recent project is the horror video game Home. He is an instructor at OCAD.
Serah-Marie McMahon on why fashion matters to the independent maker.
Serah-Marie is the founder, editor-in-chief and publisher of WORN Fashion Journal. She is also a freelance writer and creative director.
