Tales from the Podcast Stage continues with Tarkin’s Top Shelf.
Tell me a bit about your Celebration experience. How many have you been to? Have you ever been on the podcast stage before (or applied before but didn’t make it)? Why did you apply to be on the podcast stage?
Star Wars Celebration, for me, has always been about family. In other words, we are all coming together for one reason and that is Star Wars! In essence, we are uniting a galaxy far, far away in a place where our differences don’t matter because here, at Celebration, we are unified. Too cheesy?
How many Celebrations has Tarkin’s Top Shelf been to? Well, this was Mark’s first and for me, well, this will mark my 5th step into a larger world known as Star Wars Celebration. This was our 2nd appearance on the Celebration Podcast Stage, 1st time was in Orlando, and we applied simply because there really isn’t enough Star Wars Book love and we really want to showcase how essential these stories are to the Star Wars Universe as a whole.
How did you prepare for the podcast stage? Did you have a set structure for the conversation? Did you invite guests? Give out SWAG? Do giveaways?
Preparing for a LIVE stage presence is a tad overwhelming, but exciting too. We definitely had a strict guideline to adhere to due to the early draft submission deadline and we stuck to it. This did require multiple skype conference calls to discuss topic, content, and of course, audio equipment. All in all, our structure followed our usual show platform where we initiate the ideas and then build off of that and bounce ideas back-and-forth and see what sticks. To sum it up, we decided to do what we do when we’re between books, Story Spawn. Basically, snowflakes, where you take a piece of literature content, a character or scenario, and branch-out with it in order to develop a new storyline or direction.
We included honorary guest hosts Devon Meyers from Kanata’s Castle Podcast and Ryder Waldron from Idiot’s Array and yes, we did do some giveaways that included: buttons, toothbrushes, jewelry, notebooks, and more!
What were the highlights from your appearance on the podcast stage? Any big surprises (good or bad)? Is there anything you wish you would have done differently?
Any surprises? Well, no, we were pretty well prepared, but if anything, we were pleasantly surprised how engaged our audience was. So much so that they stayed behind to visit with us after we wrapped up the show.
If we had the option to do anything differently than what we had been provided with, I’d say having the Podcasts more out in the open would have been more beneficial to all, including the fandom. Basically, placing the podcasts at a booth somewhere in the Exhibitor Hall and making them more accessible for fan interaction would’ve eliminated panel conflicts and time restraints.
Will you be at Anaheim in 2020 and if so do you think you’ll apply to be on the podcast stage again?
Will we be attending Celebration Anaheim 2020? Well, as of right now, yes! Fingers crossed that the stars align for us so that we can make the long journey across the country.
How can people find your podcast online?
You can find Tarkin’s Top shelf on all Social Media: Twitter@tarkinstopshelf, Facebook at Tarkin’s Top Shelf, and Instagram @tarkinstopshelf. You can listen to us anywhere you catch pods e.g. Spotify, iHeart Radio, iTunes, Libsyn, Stitcher, and if you can’t find us, shoot us an email at TTSPodFeedback@gmail.com and we’ll be sure you can!
If you missed Tarkin’s Top Shelf in Chicago you can listen to their Star Wars Celebration Chicago episode by clicking the image or link below!
