Authored By rachelcathleenstewart

Alter Egos is a column that highlights talented geeks in the Chattanooga area, tracing the origins of their favorite pop culture obsessions to their present-day hobbies. For Ryan Faricelli, his geeky interests were firmly rooted in science fiction stories, comic books, and tabletop playing games and these passions have inspired him to write a roleplaying book and be a co-showrunner for Cleveland Geekster. “I was an avid reader when I was younger. Science fiction and 'Star Trek' novels were my bread and butter ... I also collected comic books,” he said. “When I was in high school I started playing tabletop roleplaying games, beginning with the old FASERIP 'Marvel Superheroes' game. 'Magic: the Gathering' was also a huge part of my college years.” The 44-year-old public relations coordinator also remembers the time when it wasn’t cool to be a geek and is glad to see people embrace their geeky sides, even as heated discussions continue to plague popular fandoms. “When I was younger, people who liked these kinds of things were called nerds and it was a bad connotation,” he said. “Today, culture has shifted, and we’re actually celebrated as geeks. Knowing far more than you ever need to about ‘Star Wars’ used to get you bullied, and today it gets you friends and a bit of respect.” Geeking Out It was actually friendships that led to the creation of Cleveland Geekster — and it was down to their mix of promoting skills and geek connections to get things running. “One day I was at lunch with two of my best friends, Rob Alderman, and Ashley Raburn, and we were talking about Con Nooga and how we wished there was something smaller like that for us here in Cleveland," he said. "Rather quickly, we realized that we were the right people to make it happen, and we started planning.” This year’s one-day event features over 40 dealers selling all sorts of geeky merch, from comics, toys, figurines, jewelry, and art. Past events have featured cosplay and tabletop gaming to take in, and with a cover charge of $5, it’s less expensive than a traditional weekend-long convention. “Cleveland Geekster is unique because there is nothing else like it that happens in Cleveland," he said. "We work hard on making sure the event is family friendly so that everyone can come and enjoy it." Faricelli continues: "There is a real focus on the attendees and nostalgia. We hear a lot from parents who are excited that they have an inexpensive, safe place to bring their kids and show them the toys and comics they loved when they were children.” He cites that tight-knit community feeling as a reason both vendors and attendees keep coming back year after year. “Cleveland Geekster is able to stay focused on the families and vendors who attend," he said. "Everyone is a collector or fan first, and a buyer or seller second. There is a friendliness and shared love of the things featured at Geekster that really makes us all feel like one big geek family. It’s a personal, grass roots feeling that huge conventions can’t replicate.” Creating and Connecting via Crowdfunding In addition to helping plan this year’s Geekster event, Faricelli also ventured into his second crowdfunding project entitled “Colorful Tales of Dreadful Dolls” which was inspired by his wife’s art and their daughter. “My wife ... did a gallery show in which she created a bunch of dolls that were broken and reassembled slightly askew," he said. "The inspiration was our daughter, Dakota, who was born with a cleft lip and palate. People were either drawn to Dakota’s facial issues or they were made uncomfortable by them, and that’s why my wife made the dolls — to recreate evoking that emotion.” When the show wrapped up, Carie was still drawn to the imagery and decided to create an adult coloring book that mirrored the imagery of her gallery showing. Faricelli is providing a spooky tale to accompany each doll. “It’s been a lot of work, but I think we’re both really proud of the results,” he said. “This is my second Kickstarter. I wrote “On A Roll: Level Up Your RPG,' a book about being better players and runners of roleplaying games a few years ago and funded it through Kickstarter. I learned a lot about making the platform work to fund your projects from that, and have been able to apply that to the ‘Colorful Tales of Dreadful Dolls’ coloring book.” Much like the community aspect of Geekster, Faricelli sees crowdfunding as a way to connect with an audience while delivering a new creation. “Crowdfunding is challenging because you are counting on a lot of strangers to help you create something," he said. "There are a lot of concerns you have to navigate with crowdfunding, most surrounding shipping costs, predicting stretch goal costs and communicating with your backers in a timely and effective manner. That challenge is also the joy, because inspiring strangers to help you is incredibly validating.” Rachel Stewart grew up in the '80s on a healthy diet of pop culture. In 2005, she discovered "Doctor Who" and never looked back. Since then, she co-founded the Tennessee Who Authority — a "Doctor Who" fan group — and has served as a panelist at fan conventions across the Southeast, including Chattacon, Con Nooga, Wholanta, Hurricane Who, and ConGT. She also reviewed "Doctor Who" novels and Big Finish audios at “The Oncoming Storm” podcast. Want to be featured? Email Rachel at rachelcathleenstewart@gmail.com.  