Dragonsteel Nexus 2024

Brandon & Emily Sanderson, Dragonsteel Staff, Mistborn Santa, and Squires before Nexus 2024 begins

Being a first-time Squire for Dragonsteel is a surreal experience. Places that would usually be seen as common and unexciting suddenly become magical. Everyone around you is on the edge of their seats (literally and figuratively) and just happy to be a part of the crew. For me, this excitement was driven by my inner fanboy, who couldn't believe he would be part of Dragonsteel in a small way for just a little while.

This feeling became apparent during my visit to Dragonsteel HQ for my initial training as a squire on the store committee. The building is typical of the light industrial buildings that you find across the USA. Bland concrete walls outside, a bit of office space at the front of the building, and a larger warehouse that takes up the rest of the space. I've been in many of these types of buildings, and while this one was newer and nicer than most, it was just a basic building except for one detail. This is where Dragonsteel operates, and we were there! There were many excited smiles as we talked about our favorite parts of the Cosmere. This was really happening!

That feeling picked right back up as I walked into the Salt Palace Convention Center the night before Dragonsteel Nexus 2024 (DSNX24) began. Squires picked up our badges and then headed off to various locations for our final training. Again, none of this should have been quite that exciting... but it was! I found myself staying far later than I expected to help set up the Dragonsteel Store just because the help was needed. Finally, we gathered together for a group picture with Brandon and Emily Sanderson. I was also able to get a picture with Mistborn Santa.

'Twas the night before Nexus when Mistborn Santa made his rounds.

What Being a Squire Was Like

My experience as a squire was an absolute blast and was completely exhausting. My main job as a squire was to do checkout in the Dragonsteel Store. It was only physically demanding because standing for long periods of time is a bit of a drag when your day job involves sitting at desk. Most of my energy was used up in my interactions with the conference guests. Like my fellow squires, I wanted this to be fun for the guests and I was very chatty and energetic when talking with them. The energy of DSNX24 was already running high, so this wasn't very hard to do, but by the end of the day I was very tired.

On the last day of the conference I was sent over the Silverlight Mercantile tent to help guests get their trading cards for the conference game. The game began with a World Hopper Passport with a series of activities to complete and two booster packs of trading cards. The cards contained three different stories that were spread across 54 cards for each story. They also contained images of the Heralds and a number of "Nonsense" cards that skewed the stories in unusual directions.

The conference game became extremely popular about half way through the second day of DSNX24. My job in the Silverlight Mercantile was to open shipping boxes that contained eight boxes of booster packs. We were slinging those boxes around for three and a half hours, which I found to be very physically demanding for me. (Again, see my desk job.) It has been three days and my back is still a bit sore. But we all wanted the guests to get their cards and Dragonsteel staff and squires worked extremely hard to make it happen. You couldn't walk anywhere in the Salt Palace without seeing groups of folks sorting and trading their cards.

Dragonsteel Nexus Guests Are the Best

I loved the guests at DSNX! They were having a blast, they were appreciative, and they were generous. They were happy to be there and I had several tell me how much they appreciate the work everyone was doing to make this happen for them. There were gamers, cosplayers, writers, and nearly any other type of fan you could imagine there. What a wonderful community of people! ❤️ you all!

And Then It Was Over

It was after 9:o0 PM when I finally said my goodbyes to everyone and started to head home. Everyone was tired and I was no exception. I looked across the convention hall and saw things being taken down and packed up. Was it really over? I lingered at the door for a little bit and let myself feel the emotions of the experience. I still can't stop myself from smiling a bit as I think about it.

Brandon invited us all to be part of the story and this was my part in it. For now that story has ended, but it won't be long until it is time for the next chapter to begin.