In our eleven years, GeekGirlCon has made it our mission to celebrate and honor the legacies of underrepresented groups in science, technology, comics, arts, literature, gameplay, and game development. To keep our community mission alive, we must take a stand against white supremacy and show support for those who are currently living in fear for their lives and safety.
Since March of 2020, reported hate crimes against Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi Americans (APIDA) have increased over 150%. The APIDA community has been impacted disproportionally from COVID, with over 223,000 APIDA-owned businesses forced to close their doors. Eight lives were lost on March 16, 2021 as a result of one of many hate crimes targeting those in the APIDA community. GeekGirlCon staff are mourning. We hurt for not only the lives of the eight that were lost on March 16, but also for the thousands of lives that are impacted by white supremacy every day. We understand that while the increase of reported hate crimes against the APIDA community is alarming, these crimes are often not reported, spoken about, or acknowledged.
Our values of community, empowerment, diversity, and inclusion cannot be honored if we stand on the sidelines and ignore the impact of hate crimes in our community. We must acknowledge our peers in the geek community who are victims of hate crimes. We must give them the microphone to hear their experiences, and we must educate ourselves to understand why those who are APIDA are afraid and hurting right now. We must fight for those who are too tired to keep fighting. More importantly, we must create a space for those who need the shelter to recoup. As long as we stand silent, we give the megaphone to those who spew hate and normalize racism.
GeekGirlCon stands with the APIDA community and will ALWAYS condemn white supremacy. Though we are apart, we still stand with all of those who need our support at this time. We understand that many of our volunteers, supporters, and community members use GeekGirlCon as an escape from the hate, attacks, and harassment. We will continue to create a community that serves as a safe haven for all who need it and to work towards our mission to ensure that GeekGirlCon celebrates underrepresented groups in all things Geek.
This year proved to be a challenge in unexpected ways, but I’m so proud that we’ve made it this far—that we found solace as a community, that we persevered and kept going. We did it together, and we will continue to push forward together.
Description: Friends scene where Ross dresses up as the Holiday Armadillo as Monica and Ben look skeptically at each other.
Happy holidays you fabulous geeks! It is a bit of an understatement to say that this year has been a little rough, so we thought we would try to ease a little of the holiday stress by giving you a few gift giving (or asking) ideas selected from our favorite exhibitors from GeekGirlCONLINE.
Description: a teal cotton facemask featuring multiple colors of Shiba Inu faces.
Face masks are the new socks, y’all! They are an incredibly practical gift because everyone needs at least one right now and it shows how much you care about the recipients health and wellbeing. Plus, washable masks have the added benefit of being eco friendly, so this one is really a win-win. This particular face mask from WinkWare’s Etsy shop is made of 100 percent cotton and is machine washable. Check out the many other offerings WinkWear has here, including bags, hats, enamel pins, and more!
Description: Three stickers of cats. From left to right: a white and grey striped cat holding four kittens of varying colors, an orange striped cat playing a Switch, and a tuxedo cat wearing an apron and making a latte.
This sticker set would make the purr-fect stocking stuffer for the cat lover in your life! What better way to show your love of cats than by slapping one (or all) of these on your favorite water bottle or on your laptop? I don’t know about you, but I definitely identify with Switch Cat up there (Animal Crossing, anyone?). Seriously though, TheVintagePostbox also has a ton of great original art on their Etsy page you can check out here.
Description: a stylized art print of The Child in a desert landscape of yellows, oranges, and pinks.
The Child (aka Baby Yoda) has been a bright light of adorable joy for all of us this year. What better way to keep that cute rage alive than to hang this 8×8 inch print in your very own home? Maybe in your bathroom as an accent piece, or even right in your living room. If Baby Yoda isn’t your thing, check out some of the other fantastic prints from The SomethingPrettie Gallery. You are certain to find something to suit your (or a friend’s) home.
A chic zipper bag to hold all your little treasures (featuring Link and a Korok) from Rin’s Art Shop– $15
Description: A blue floral print bag with a gold zipper featuring Link and a Korok on the right hand side.
Yahaha! You found this crazy useful and cute zipper bag! Measuring at about 8.5×6 inches, this bag is perfect to store your collection of enamel pins, change, makeup, or korok seeds. While you’re there, be sure to check out the impressive selection of charms Rin’s Art Shop creates to go along with it!
Description: A necklace featuring a crow sitting on a branch giving some epic side-eye.
This side-eyed, shade throwing crow necklace is everything! It is snarky, dark, and super cool. If you are looking for some truly unique pieces of jewelry to give or get, look no further than theGorgonist on Etsy!
So there you have it! The GGC 2020 gift giving guide! We hope that this list offers some inspiration in your hunt for the perfect gift. We always encourage you to support the causes that are near and dear to your heart this time of year, whether that be shopping small business, locally, female and/or black owned business, or with businesses that give back to their communities (or all the above).
And whatever you may celebrate this season, we wish you all the happiest (and safest) of holidays!
Our community comes together on Indigenous land–the occupied, unceded territory of Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish, Suquamish, Snoqualmie, Snohomish, Lummi, Skagit, and Swinomish. It’s our responsibility to reckon with this reality every day, throughout our personal lives, professional lives, and everything in between.
However, this acknowledgement is not enough. A continuing priority for GeekGirlCon is to build real, lasting, power-sharing relationships with Indigenous communities. We commit to holding ourselves accountable to this work and doing better.
Today, Thanksgiving in the United States, is a symbolically relevant day to center conversations about how white and non-Indigenous people perpetuate the ongoing colonization of Indigenous communities. That being said, we must make these conversations–and action–a priority every day.
Below are some resources for education, taking action, and engaging with Indigenous creators–this is far from a comprehensive list, but rather a place to build from:
The people harmfully mythologized in our stories about Thanksgiving are currently fighting to defend the status of their Reservation and along with it resources for critical programs. This page describes direct action you can take.
Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms have widespread applications across many industries, but few markets have been impacted quite as much as gaming. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, but greater access to specialized products for narrow fan bases is among the main driving factors. There are several things about crowdfunding that should prompt independent developers and emerging studios to pause and reflect on how they can leverage it in their efforts.
We did it—our first-ever virtual con with five weekends’ worth of panels, programming, and socially distanced fun! It’s been quite the year, and we are so grateful for your support of this slightly different con experience. As you know, GGC runs on love—from our 100% volunteer staff to the donations that fuel our mission—and we can’t thank you enough for the love and encouragement you’ve shown us over the past month.
We hope to have GeekGirlCon back in all its IRL glory next year, but in the meantime, you can catch up on any content you missed from GGCONLINE on our YouTube channel and subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest on everything we’re doing.
Happy Halloween week! While this weekend marks the finale of GeekGirlCONLINE, we still have plenty in store—including the Halloween Dance Party hosted by GeekGirlStrong founder Robyn Warren (@geekgirlstrong).
We still have plenty of tickets available, so make sure to pick your’s up before the event this Friday, October 30, at 6 pm!
When
The dance party is on Friday, October 30, from 6 pm to 8 pm.
Where
The dance party will be held in a private Zoom room! A link will be sent out to all ticket-holders at a later date closer to the event.
Tickets
Tickets are available on Showclicks right now! There are only 50 seats available, to pick yours up today! All tickets are pay-want-you-want and budget-friendly.
Giveaways
Dancing isn’t the only thing you can look forward to! Throughout the event, there will be various fandom-related giveaways (including some GeekGirlCon merch!)
Costumes not required, but certainly encouraged! 🎃
[ImageDescription: Two young girls having a ton of fun playing console video games.]
We’ve made it to our penultimate weekend of GeekGirlCONLINE, but we’re not slowing down yet. Our fourth weekend of GeekGirlCONLINE is all about GAMING, so tune in on the GeekGirlCONLINE Twitch channel for a ton of amazing panels, workshops, and livestreams sponsored by our awesome gamemaker friends at Valve!
In more amazing news, Dante Basco will be making an appearance during our fifth weekend of GeekGirlCONLINE. Stay tuned for details coming next week, and in the meantime, follow us on Twitch to catch our live GAMING content this weekend.
