GeekGirlCon Blog

Saturday: Out and About Around the Con

GeekGirlCon staffers rocking the punk Sailor Moon look.

It’s been an amazing day here at GeekGirlCon ‘14! I had so much fun playing “spot the cosplay,” especially with the sheer number of character remixes and cross-plays gracing our convention floor. A special shout-out goes to the Welcome to Night Vale fan who floated their Glow Cloud around all day long, and the baby dancing Groot everyone was buzzing about.

Paint ‘N’ Take miniature painting.

In between my busy panel schedule, I flitted around the convention’s four floors checking out the sights and sounds. From the exhibitor hall on Level 3 to Artist’s Alley on 2, to gaming on the Lower Level, where I caught the Story Gamers working on an epic history of the Goblin Wars, and where the Paint ‘N’ Take miniature-painting event had people lining up out the door. They’re also running a Play And Win event all weekend–just play one of the selection of awesome games, and be entered into a raffle to win it. There’ll be some additional gaming-related prizes raffled off at the end. (You must be present at the drawing, at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, to win.)

Though this is my first year on staff, I’ve been an attendee from the very beginning, and I’ve seen many of the same people (exhibitors and attendees both) time and time again. I asked Tristan J. Tarwater and family (of Back that Elf Up) why they love to keep coming back. The number one reason was because the con prioritizes quality over quantity–there’s enough open space around the exhibitors that you can see what you’re looking at. That was certainly true for me, as I took the time to really chat with creators and learn about their work.

Avengers Assemble!

GeekGirlCon for me has always been about the connections and community between people, the time to chat with panelists after their panels, and the high probability of running into friends multiple times per day so you can catch up on what’s going on. Early in the morning, I saw someone in really detailed Iron Man–by the time I caught up with him again later, he’d managed to gather a Captain America and a Black Widow.

Among the expected booths and tables, I found a few happy surprises. Did you know that King County Libraries have a booth, where you can check out books, or even get a new library card? Members of the Seattle library system can also participate. The friendly librarians showed me their selection of geeky books, all with female protagonists, some from writers who are panelists at the con.

If, like me, you didn’t have time to make your nails pretty before the con, stop by Siona from Evergreen Beauty, who is doing on-the-spot nail art for a suggested donation of $5.

Outside the DIY Science Zone, I heard the jubilant cry, “We did science!” And it was indeed packed all day long with kids and adults making hovercraft, sampling DNA from strawberries, and rolling dice.

The Riddler teaches kids about games and randomness.

Before the con, I was coveting one of @chiparoo’s Social Justice class pins, so I tracked down the Social Justice NPC (lurking at the time in Artist’s Alley) and got my mitts on a “Social Justice Wizard” button. Be warned, though: if you want one before the con ends, they ran out of today’s stock by midday, so go early!

Social Justice NPC.

I end my first day exhausted but happy, and the best part is that I get to come back tomorrow and do it some more! If you’re at the con, what have you enjoyed doing? Please let us know in the comments.

Written by GeekGirlCon Copywriter Winter Downs. All photos also by Winter.

Winter Downs
“Rock On!”