November 9 & 10, 2024 • Seattle, WA
A look at the Womxn’s March in Seattle.
This past weekend, we saw an inspiring day of solidarity when millions of people united internationally in a march toward social equity and justice.
In Seattle, the headquarters of GeekGirlCon, more than 200,000 people peacefully walked a 3.6-mile route from Judkins Park to the Seattle Center on Saturday.
If you’re at all familiar with the behind-the-scenes of GeekGirlCon, you know that this magical force of feminist geekery is the product of hours and hours of volunteered time, energy, and talent. While this structure has worked remarkably well for over six years, it does require an immense amount of devotion and generosity from those volunteers on a week-to-week (and sometimes even day-to-day or hour-to-hour) basis. It’s a daunting workload to say the least.
With this year comes an exciting change for GeekGirlCon. In addition to retaining our current year-round volunteer staff, we will be welcoming a new Executive Director. This will be GeekGirlCon’s first full-time, paid position. Join us in celebrating this addition to our team as we science the night away at the Living Computers Museum in Seattle on Saturday, February 4 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
This gathering is free and open to the public, so bring your friends, your family, your dates. We’ll be enjoying the excellent exhibits, some good music, and tasty treats, all while reveling in the community we’ve created.
The Living Computers Museum and Labs houses the world’s largest collection of fully restored, usable supercomputers, mainframes, minicomputers, and microcomputers. There are also exhibits centered around robotics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, big data, video-game making, and digital art. It’s a truly auspicious place to introduce this community to our new Executive Director, and we couldn’t be more excited to come together for such a cool celebration.
We will be releasing more information as we get closer to the event, so keep an eye out on our blog, Facebook, and Twitter for that. Until then, mark your calendars, register for GeekGirlCon ’17, and allow yourself to geek out about new and old technology and prospect of GeekGirlCon’s bright future.
The final moments of GeekGirlCon are always bittersweet. On the one hand, it is when it becomes very clear very fast just how near the end really is. On the other, it brings with it the Closing Ceremony, which is always such a magical way to conclude the other-worldly experience that is GeekGirlCon.
To start off, GeekGirlCon staff and board members thanked attendees for spending this weekend celebrating socially-conscious geekdom. They also took a moment to address the sheer amount of time and energy staff and Agents voluntarily and consistently dedicate to the mission of making GeekGirlCon a reality. They implored attendees to add their support to the pool as donors and volunteers. It was a moment of true gratitude all around and a real indication of just what sort of atmosphere GeekGirlCon cultivates. Here is a video compiled of scenes and feels from GeekGirlCon ’16.
After the last shoutout was given and the last round of genuinely heart-warming, congratulatory applause had trickled away, the main event was announced and actors from Jet City Improv took to the stage to debut their upcoming show: Periods in History.
It’s that time again when the Convention Center’s doors are now closed, and thousands of happy, smiling con attendees have spent a fun-filled weekend attending panels, playing new games, meeting awesome people and buying all the things.
Our last official event of the day was our traditional closing celebration, with a brief speech from GeekGirlCon co-founder Jennifer K. Stuller, who acknowledged the things that GeekGirlCon has done in its five years. “Our atmosphere is joyous and celebratory,” she noted. But Stuller also recognized that it could not have been done without the thousands of GeekGirlCon staff, vendors, panelists, attendees and other supporters. “You and I are part of this community… and I want to thank you all for being a part of us.”
All photos by Winter Downs
I just got back from the GeekGirlCon ‘15 Kickoff Party and Concert, featuring the Portland-based supergroup the Thundering Broadsides—uh, I mean, the PDX Broadsides and the Thundering Asteroids, who are normally totally separate bands, but this time ended the night in an Avengers-style teamup. But more on that later!
One great thing about nerd concerts, and GeekGirlCONcerts in particular, is that you can get melodic folkish bands with complex harmonies (like the PDX Broadsides) and high-energy punk (like the Thundering Asteroids) in the same lineup, all in a relaxed atmosphere where kids of all ages can hang out, alternating between board games, dancing, and some high-quality muppet flailing.
GeekGirlCon closes our con every year with something special for our attendees. Last year, we listened to, and got to ask questions of, former NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, and then closed out the evening with a slam poetry performance that brought tears to many eyes–including mine!
This year, join us once again for the last event of GeekGirlCon ‘15:
Vicious and Vulgar
Arthur Conan Doyle has risen from the grave, and he’s upset! In Vicious and Vulgar, local playwrights Sammy Scott and Alison Luhrs re-imagine the literary hero and wonder aloud: what would he think of all of the fanfiction, cosplaying, and conventions happening in modern times? A grumpy and abrasive reanimation, Doyle manifests Holmes and Watson in contemporary, female forms in attempts to prove to his audience that they have wasted their time with the canon. Throwing in Granada Holmes and a certain mouse detective, this play explores the themes, characters, and relationships in Doyle’s classics with a modern-day female-centric twist while asking the question: what is the relationship between a canon and the fan?
Having been called “strikingly original,” “entertaining,” and “deeply moving” by Seattle’s Sherlock elite, “Vicious and Vulgar” will be performed as a live reading with Scott and Luhrs in the roles of the eponymous heroes.
Image courtesy of Sammy Scott and Alison Luhrs
Come wrap up GeekGirlCon ’15 with us as we explore the world of Sherlock Holmes from the female gaze!
If you’re in town on Friday night before GeekGirlCon starts THIS SATURDAY, join us at the Hard Rock Café in downtown Seattle to celebrate our 5th anniversary with our kick-off party and annual GeekGirlCONcert!
Join us from 6pm for the kick-off party and get ready for our convention! There will be free food with a cash bar, and you can skip the line on con day and pick up your badge right there. Then, at 8:30pm we’ll have our GeekGirlCONcert! Groove along as the PDX Broadsides and Thundering Asteroids! take the stage. Our event is all-ages, so feel free to bring the whole family.
This event is only for GeekGirlCon ’15 badge holders or by special invitation, so if you want to come and celebrate with us, you’ll need to have a pass. They’re expected to sell out before the weekend, so make sure you buy yours today!
Written by GeekGirlCon copywriter JC Lau
“Extra Life?” you ask. “What’s all this about?”
Image source: Dungeons & Dragons article on Extra Life
Extra Life is a tabletop game tournament that raises money for hospitals in the Children’s Miracle Network. Here in Seattle, this means all the money raised will go to Seattle Children’s Hospital–an amazing place where kids and their families experience so much every day, and they can always use our help. All the players and Dungeon Masters are taking pledges for their 48 hours of gameplay, starting this Friday, October 2, at 12pm!
Through the magic and hard work that is GeekGirlCon’s devoted volunteer Web Team, programming for GeekGirlCon ‘15 is LIVE on our website!
With our convention passes getting close to selling out for the fifth straight year (go buy your passes NOW if you haven’t!), we’ve been busy planning our schedule, prepping all of the panels, gathering science-y materials for the DIY Science Zone, brushing up on our game play, and setting up ideal spaces for all of our awesome attendees.
Not to be missed: October 9, the night before GeekGirlCon ‘15 opens its doors, is our GeekGirlCONcert and Kick-Off Party! If you can’t pick up your badge at the Conference Center at the WSCC on Friday during the day, you can pick it up on your way into the Hard Rock Cafe, where we will be celebrating our 5th Anniversary in style with Thundering Asteroids! and PDX Broadsides for dancing and entertainment. (This event is badge holders only; not open to the general public.)
October 10, we have two evening events lined up at the convention: the Annual GeekGirlCon Costume Contest, and our first ever GeekGirlCon Fashion Show, partnering with some amazing designers for geeks everywhere!
Doors open at 9am on Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, with programming starting both days at 10am. Check out the schedule and start planning your weekend more thoroughly so you don’t miss a thing!
We can’t wait to see you there!
Written by guest blogger and GeekGirlCon Social Media Manager Kristine Hassell
When you think about the Girl Scouts, what immediately pops into your head? Let’s be honest… you think cookies, right? I mean, who doesn’t love those decadent Samoas or addictive Thin Mints?
Image source: Daniel Kissinger
Hopefully when the Girl Scouts come to mind, you also think about their long tradition of confidence building and their efforts to help girls make the world into a better place. So an alliance between the Girl Scouts and GeekGirlCon makes total sense, right? That’s what we thought too. The Girl Scouts of Western Washington participated in previous GeekGirlCon conventions, both in our Exhibitor Hall and in the GeekGirlConnections room. Building on that, some smart folks had another idea…
Back in November of 2014, our Gaming Events Coordinator, Andy Munich, was invited to represent GeekGirlCon in a 24-hour D&D marathon hosted by Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast (WotC) to benefit Extra Life. During his eight-hour gaming stint, he struck up a conversation with Tammie Treibley Thompson, wife of WotC Senior Game Designer Rodney Thompson. During their conversation, Andy learned that Tammie was a troop leader and as they continued to talk, they quickly realized that there was some synchronicity in their ideas–and the GeekGirlScouts were born!
