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My subjects, I am Queen Quake, and this is now MY convention. My minions, Andreas and Diablo, will help me ensure that this event shakes you to your very core! MUAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Copper Chip! What's going on with the servers? None of our passwords are working! Fix it! Fix *ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT*

On the day to celebrate love, what better way to show our love for you than to announce that we have My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic show writer and licensed novelist, G.M. Berrow joining us this April 22-24?

It’s true! The writer of one of the best Pinkie Pie-centric episodes yet, “The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows,” will be a Guest of Honor at BABSCon. Her novel credits are already extensive—Pinkie Pie and the Rockin’ Ponypalooza Party, Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell, plus titles for the rest of the Mane 6, Princesses Celestia & Luna, and Discord. Oh yeah, she also wrote all the Daring Do titles! Her next two books, Lyra and Bon Bon and the Mares from S.M.I.L.E. and Daring Do and the Eternal Flower, will be published between now and BABSCon 2016, so be sure to have copies of your own to get signed!

Berrow joins Lauren Faust, Nicole Oliver, Kelly Sheridan, Josh Haber, Katie Cook, Andy Price, and Jenn Blake among our Guests of Honor, so don’t miss out. Register for BABSCon 2016 now!

But wait! There’s more!

Announcing our Hearts & Hooves Art Contest!

Do you want to go to BABSCon? Maybe bring a friend or even a Very Special Somepony™ with you? Here’s your chance to do it using just the power of love…and art!

All you need to do is tweet your entry @babsconsf, or post to our facebook page, with the tag #LoveBABS and you’ve entered! Pictures should be “Rated PG” (or less) and only one category per person can be entered. The winners will be picked on Friday the 19th.

Awards will be given out in two categories: Best Photo representing Hearts & Hooves Day and Best Art representing Hearts & Hooves Day involving BABSCon’s elder sister mascot, Golden Gates! The winner of each category will receive two free Ponyville Pony passes, for themselves and their “Schmoopy Doo,” which includes access to all 3 days of the con! So here's our Twitter and Facebook…go ahead and tag us.

And don’t forget to submit your entries for The Voice: Equestria and Iron Artist before 2/29!

(G.M. Berrow art by LoloPan, Hearts & Hooves Golden Gates by RatofDrawn)

Please Welcome Our Latest Guest of Honor, IDW Comics’ Jenn Blake

That’s right, everypony! The wildest member of the IDW Comics stable, Jenn Blake, is returning to BABSCon after making her pony con debut right here last April.

In addition to providing the art for My Little Pony: Friends Forever #16 (featuring Diamond Tiara & Silver Spoon), she was an illustrator on the IDW Limited releases of “The Return of Queen Chrysalis” arc. She’s also a real-life Rarity, with over 12 years of experience in fashion design, and one of the coolest pegasisters in the fandom.

Jenn joins Lauren Faust, Nicole Oliver, Kelly Sheridan, Josh Haber, Katie Cook, and Andy Price among BABSCon 2016’s Guests of Honor. With a list like that, why wait? Register now!

Announcing BABSCon’s newest in-house competition: Iron Artist

Are you the next big MLP fan artist? Here’s a chance to put it all out there for fame and glory!

If you are a traditional artist with a knack for drawing ponies and their friends, you are invited to show us what you’ve got and enter this year’s inaugural art competition.  A few lucky and talented fan artists will have the opportunity to have their original art judged in a LIVE, Iron Chef-style event during BABSCon 2016 by a panel of our professional artist VIPs, with on-the-spot feedback, great exposure, and awesome prizes for the ultimate champion!

Here are the rules:

1. You must be attending BABSCon 2016 in person and be 18 or over to be eligible.
2. To enter, email three examples of your best traditional-media artwork as email attachments to programming@babscon.com. Please include your name, BABSCon badge name, and phone number with your submission. Originality is key, but we of course encourage at least one MLP-based submission. (Note: Because finalists will be required to produce at least one original piece live and under time-pressure at BABSCon 2016, we are only able to open this year’s competition up to traditional media artists. Digital artists will have another opportunity to get some professional critique and glory in another fun event, to be announced soon!)
3. Please tweet your submitted artwork @babscon with the hashtag #BABSConIronArtist to spread the word!
4. Our staff will select finalists from the submissions to compete in our live event at BABSCon 2016, where our panel of professional MLP artists will watch you work and pick a champion!

We’ll be accepting entries from 2/1/16-2/28/16.

*By submitting an entry to Iron Artist, you grant BABSCon permission to use your entry, or any portion of it, for promotional purposes, though ownership of the artwork remains yours.

(Announcement art by LoloPan)

Starlight Glimmer Comes to BABSCon

Beware, everypony. The talent behind Big Bad Starlight Glimmer, Kelly Sheridan, is joining BABSCon 2016’s list of amazing guests. Can you handle it?

In addition to portraying Starlight Glimmer and Sassy Saddles in Season 5 of My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic, Kelly has a mammoth voice acting resume. She’s starred in the MLP franchise going back to My Little Pony Tales and various G3 MLP movies. She’s dubbed some of the best and best-known animes of all time, with roles ranging from Ukyo in Ranma ½ to Sango in InuYasha to Greenback Jane in Black Lagoon. She can also be heard in Neil Gaiman’s Eternals as Sersi. And…so…much…more!

Kelly joins Lauren Faust, John de Lancie, Nicole Oliver, Josh Haber, Kora Kosicka, Andy Price, and Katie Cook on BABSCon’s growing list of Guests of Honor, so don’t miss your chance to register now!

Do you have what it takes to be the next big Voice Actor? Show us what you got!

Kelly will be teaming up with Nicole Oliver and a third mystery guest as our judging panel for year three of BABSCon’s unique fan voice acting competition, The Voice: Equestria. Let the professionals put you through your paces on our stage to show off your talent to the world. If you can win this, you definitely have a chance in the wild world of voice acting.

Here are the rules:

1. You must be attending BABSCon 2016 in person and be 18 or over to be eligible.
2. To enter, upload a video to YouTube (or similar service) of no more than 3 minutes in length displaying your range as a VA* (Note: This is NOT “mimic as many ponies from MLP:FiM as possible”…we want distinct characters with a variety of pitches, tonalities, accents, etc.).
3. Tweet a link of your video to @babscon with the hashtag #TheVoiceEquestria, or post to our Facebook, to submit it, and send an email to pr@babscon.com with your name, BABSCon badge name, email address, and phone number.
4. Our staff will select finalists from the submissions to compete on stage, live at BABSCon, where our panel of MLP VAs will audition you!
5. Finalists from The Voice: Equestria Seasons 1 & 2 are not eligible.

We’ll be accepting entries from 2/1/16-2/28/16.

Art by Noodlefreak88 (http://noodleart88.tumblr.com)

*By submitting an entry to The Voice: Equestria, you grant BABSCon permission to use your entry, or any portion of it, for promotional purposes, though ownership of the video remains yours.

While all of our guests can be said to make ponies, our newest Guest of Honor, Kora Kosicka, really makes ponies—and more!—as the lead character designer for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls movies.

Kora’s been working her magic as a character designer for MLP:FiM since season 3, becoming lead character designer for seasons 5 and 6. She also provided the character concept designs for Equestria Girls, leading the character design efforts for Rainbow Rocks and Friendship Games. And she was the character designer for season 1 of Littlest Pet Shop.

We’re also excited to say that Kora is only the first of a group of guests that BABSCon 2016 will be announcing from the art and animation departments of the show. Can you wait to learn how all those candy-colored equines go from the spark of imagination to walking and talking on our screens? We can’t!

Kora joins Lauren Faust, John de Lancie, Nicole Oliver, Josh Haber, Katie Cook, and Andy Price at the biggest and best BABSCon yet, so don’t miss out: register now.

(Art by the terrific TeaTimeJess!)

It’s time for a Giant-Size Holiday Special, True Believers!

IDW Comics superstar Katie Cook will be saving the day as our Guest of Honor this April 22–24. In addition to launching the official My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic title with the beloved “Return of Queen Chrysalis” arc in issues 1-4, Katie also wrote issues 9-12, 17-20, and 25-28. She contributed the Rarity and Luna issues of My Little Pony: Micro Series, and the Queen Chrysalis story in the 5-part My Little Pony: FIENDship is Magic limited series…all of which drawn by fellow BABSCon 2016 Guest of Honor, Andy Price.

But she’s far more than just ponies. Her writing and art has graced titles as diverse as Fraggle Rock, Gotham Academy Yearbook, Star Wars, Marvels, and the brand-new comic book adaptation of Steve Jackson Games’ Munchkin, just to name a few. And her acclaimed webcomic, Gronk: A Monster's Tale, has to be seen to be believed.

Katie will be joining Lauren Faust, John de Lancie, Nicole Oliver, Josh Haber, and Andy Price to help make BABSCon 2016 the best one yet. So go register today!

“One art, please!”

Speaking of amazing art, we at BABSCon are also proud to announce the return of our Art Show.  You, dear reader, may be able to display your one-of-a-kind or limited-edition art in our gallery setting along with some of the best artists in the fandom, and earn money via silent auction.

“How,” you ask? It’s very simple! Apply for display space, and if accepted, hang your best pieces in our 4’x4’ panel slots (or 6’x2’ table spaces for non-hanging works). We collect the bids and take care of all the administrative bits, and you’re cut a check at the end of the weekend. Further details on this process can be found in our Policy FAQ!

We’re looking for a wide variety of styles and media from both fandom mainstays and fresh new faces, so don’t wait. Apply now!

(Art by the fantastic FlavinBagel!)

Put down your drumsticks or Tofurky™, everyone. The madness is once again upon us: The BABSCon Black Friday Blowout Sale is back!

From 12:01AM “Black Friday” 11/27 to 11:59PM “Cyber Monday” 11/30, you can get 20% off of any BABSCon pass by using the Promo Code BLACKFRIDAY.

That even applies to our dwindling supply of sponsor-level passes. You get 20% off your chance to hobnob with guests like Lauren Faust, John de Lancie, Nicole Oliver, Josh Haber, and Andy Price (so far…more to come!) over cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, to jump to the front of the line, and to always have the best seat in the house.

If you want the absolute ultimate BABSCon experience, the Heroic Pony, including the never-to-be-made-again 2016 15” EquestriaPlush Golden Gates plush, you can save $500 this weekend only. (Here’s 2015 Golden Gates meeting 2014 Golden Gates. Awww…)

Do you already have a BABSCon pass and want to upgrade to something a little more posh? We’ll always do that for you and charge the difference in cost. But this weekend, we’ll do it for 20% less. Just email registration@babscon.com and we’ll sort you out.

The very minute that Black Friday starts, remember that the clock…is…TICKING! You won’t see a lower price on BABSCon passes this year, so don’t miss out.

Art by Cristice (http://ask-cristice.tumblr.com)