Con Before the Storm is a fun event for fans of games made by Blizzard Entertainment. Every year since its beginning, Con Before the Storm takes place the night before the first day of BlizzCon. It includes the World of Podcasts event which has several  panels that include podcasters, streamers, and content creators who are there to talk about some of Blizzard’s games.

This year, there will be one panel, called Pod Before the Con that will be presented live on Twitch. Tune in from home on October 27, 2019, at 7pm ET. This panel includes:

• Frazley – FrazlCast
• Ali – All Things Azeroth and BlizzMates
• Berzerker – Unshackled Fury
• Klanker – Tauren & Goblin
• Gerissar – Technically PvP
• FrosteeFox – Frozen Fox Media

The other five panels will take place at Con Before the Storm on the second floor of the Anaheim Hilton, on October 31, 2019.

Blizzard Panel

• Garret Weinzierl – The Angry Chicken and Into the Nexus
• Perculia – Director at Wowhead
• Terran Gregory – Cinematic Director for World of Warcraft
• JR Cook – Co-Founder of BlizzPro, host of Well Met!, host of PodcastYo
• Thyst – Co-host of Lagging Balls and Convert to Raid
• Dredscythe – BlizzPro Diablo Site Manager, Host of Scythe and Shield: Rebirthed

Hearthstone Panel

• Jocelyn Kearney – Co-host of For Azeroth, and The Gamers Inn
• Mageadeath – Co-Host of Doctor 3
• Andrew Brown – Host of The Happy Hearthstone
• Nicholas “DeckTech” Weiss –
• Botticus – Hearthstone writer and editor at The Tavern Blawg
• Steve Lubitz – Host of Off Curve

Overwatch Panel

• Totemlydrunk – Host of OWLNshow, Heroes Never Die, and OWL By the Numbers
• Ramses – Podcast host at Mash Those Buttons Network
• Ednar – Host of Heroes Never Die, and OWL By the Numbers
• D – Host of Omnic Weekly
• Blevins – Host of High Noon Podcast and Preediction

World of Warcraft – BFA Panel

• Pat Krane – Convert to Raid
• Towelliee – Twitch Streamer Trollinghigh
• Max (Limit GM) – GM/LR of Limit, Twitch Streamer
• Raven – Co-Host of Girls Gone WoW
• Shoeboots – Merely a Setback
• Jason Lucas – Co-Host of The Starting Zone

Warcraft Classic Panel

• Josh Corbett – Countdown to Classic
• Athalus – Warcraft Radio
• Platinum – Platinum WoW on YouTube
• Melderon – Defcamp & Melderon TV on YouTube
• Defcamp – Defcamp & Melderon TV on YouTube
• Ayle – Twitch Streamer Ayle Gaming

Con Before the Storm is a fun event that takes place the night before BlizzCon. Part of the Con Before the Storm event includes World of Podcasts. This year, over 55 podcasts are being represented for 2018’s World of Podcasts.

Full disclosure, I will be attending Con Before the Storm this year and representing the Shattered Soulstone podcast (which is about Diablo III) in a World of Podcasts panel. I am not being paid to attend the event. This is just for fun.

There are several World of Podcasts panels that will be happening before and after BlizzCon 2018. The first two panels will be live on Twitch.tv/conbeforestorm

Pod Before the Con – Blizzard (October 28, 2018, 4pm ET)

• The Bard’s Tavern– Jay the Bird
• Freezing Nomad Podcast– PerfectNomad
• Kulle Story Bro– Dean
• Off Curve – Steve Lubitz
• Realm Maintenance– Rho
• The Sundering– Ceraphus
• Technically PVP – Andallyn
• The Nexus Trolls– Aurumis

Pod Before the Con – Warcraft (October 28, 2018, 7pm ET)

• All Things Azeroth– Medros
• Dungeon Fables– Aliandras
• FrazlCast– Frazley
• Halfhill Report– Toshmifune
• Unshackled Fury– Berzerker
• WoW Challenges– Stone
• WoW! Talk!– Nick Zielenkievicz

BlizzCon Kickoff & Podcasting (November 1, 2018, 5pm-6pm, Anaheim Hilton)

• Azeroth Coast to Coast– Akari
• Convert to Raid– Pat Krane
• Well Met!– J.R. Cook
• Dark Moon Herald– Kevin Oldscratch
• Lagging Balls– Thyst
• The Starting Zone – Spencer Downey
• Westmarch Workshop– Leviathan

Heroes of the Storm (November 1, 2018, 6:15pm – 7:15pm, Anaheim Hilton)

• CORE– Scott Johnson, Jon Jagger, and Beau Schwartz
• Gankbush Squad– Bacon
• Heroes News– Jules Scott
• Lords of the Storm– Ryan Reider and Gizmo
• Into the Nexus– Kyle Fergusson

Hearthstone (November 1, 2018, 7:30pm – 8:30pm Anaheim Hilton)

• Around the Hearth– Adam
• Blizzlet– Stormraige
• Coin Concede– RidiculousHat
• The Happy Hearthstone– Andrew Brown
• HearthCasual– Kevin Ellis
• Legend of the Innkeeper– Espo
• Value Town– Chris Chan

World of Warcraft (November 1, 2018, 8:45pm -9:45pm Anaheim Hilton)

• Azeroth Roundtable– Ben Bumhoffer
• Countdown to Classic – Josh Corbett
• For Azeroth!– Jocelyn Moffett
• Merely a Setback– Shoeboots
• The Training Dummies– Rob
• The Tauren & The Goblin– Katie Grace
• The Worgen’s Howl– Frostee

Overwatch(November 1, 2018, 10pm – 11pm Anaheim Hilton)

• Enter the Iris– Icy
• It’s High Noon Somewhere– Blevins
• Omnic Lab Podcast – Rob May
• The Owl Recap– Andres
• Overwatch League Network– Totemlydrunk
• Watchpoint Radio-Bob Schissler

The Storm (November 2, 2018 – Time and Location: To Be Announced)

• Behind the Avatar – Leeta
• The Cavalry– Melisaa Schissler
• Corpse Run Radio– Grandnagus
• The Game Case– Cuddles
• Hero Power – Zerotio
• PWNCast– Belle
• Shattered Soulstone– Jen
• Twister Nether Blogcast– Hydra

Con Before the Storm is a Blizzcon event by fans, and for fans. It takes place the night before Blizzcon, and includes guest “personalities”, podcasters, streamers, pro teams, artists, and fans across all Blizzard Games. Con Before the Storm has announced that this year’s event will include World of Podcasts.

2018 is the sixth year of Con Before the Storm. They held a successful kickstarter in order to raise funding for the event. One of their stretch goals was a $24,500 tier which, if raised, would enable Con Before the Storm to include World of Podcasts in the 2018 event.

We are excited to announce, that we are partnering with @MedievalTimesCA to bring you @WorldOfPodcasts 2018! They are just as excited about World of Podcasts as we are, and are committed to helping us make this important feature of our event a reality for 2018! pic.twitter.com/z50peny0nx

— Con Before the Storm (@ConBeforeStorm) July 16, 2018

World of Podcasts will include live panels with your favorite podcasters from across the Blizzard Universe talking about Blizzard games. They also have virtual panels as well, and the audio is always posted for consumption on your favorite podcast listening device.

At the time I am writing this blog post, Con before the Storm is in the planning stages of the World of Podcasts event. They are seeking people who produce a podcast that covers a Blizzard game who are interested in participating on a World of Podcasts panel.

Con Before the Storm is a pre-Blizzcon event that is organized by fans, for fans. It is currently on Kickstarter and (at the time I am writing this) has $11,882 pledged of a $13,500 goal.

Wondering what Con Before the Storm is all about? It’s a pre-Blizzcon event organized by fans, for fans. 2018 will make this our 6th year hosting the event and it’s all thanks to the support of the amazing community! Last year we had over 140 backers who helped fund a party that hosted over an estimated 6,000 people!

Con Before the Storm is for fans of Blizzard Entertainment’s games. The event takes place the night before BlizzCon. It is a free event that includes World of Podcasts – which typically includes panels of people who are involved in podcasts about Blizzard’s games.

I have attended two Con Before the Storm parties, and had a great time at both. One of the best parts of the event is that it is an excellent place to meet podcasters who focus on Blizzard’s games, streamers who play those games on Twitch, eSports personalities, and the people you’ve been playing video games with. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to view fan art from talented artists.

The Con Before the Storm Kickstarter has a $24,500 tier. If that tier is reached, Con Before the Storm will be able to make this year’s World of Podcasts a reality. Their vision for World of Podcasts 2018 is to showcase the talent in two rooms, with panels running concurrently from start to finish. It appears that part of their goal is to be able to have every panel equally equipped for recording and presentation this year.