As we draw closer to GeekGirlCon 2012 (August 11 and 12, get your passes now!), we will be previewing some of the guests and panelists attending and participating in our weekend festivities. We won’t share all the juicy details, just enough to ensure you HAVE to come to GeekGirlCon 2012.
Actress Teal Sherer
Today, the spotlight is on Teal Sherer, an actress who plays the character Venom in The Guildand who also has her own web series coming out this summer, My Gimpy Life. Teal is going to be participating on a panel during GeekGirlCon 2012 titled “The Last ‘Outsider’ in Popular Culture – Disability,” moderated by Day Al-Mohamed.
More than 1 in 10 Americans live with an apparent disability. But this isn’t reflected in books, comics, films, or television. In fact, did you know that less than 2 percent of TV show characters display a disability, and only 0.5 percent have speaking roles? Day, Teal, and other panelists (including Gail Simone!) will examine the reluctance to include characters with disabilities, as well as some of the common myths, stereotypes, and controversies using examples from popular and geek culture, personal experiences in the industry, and discourse with audience members.
You won’t want to miss this panel, or the great answers Teal shared with GeekGirlCon PR Manager Susie Rantz. Enjoy!
When did you first get involved with acting?
In college at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. I had to take a theatre class as part of my Communications major and fell madly in love thanks to my amazing professor Troy Dwyer. Troy cast me in my first play Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba. I played one of the daughters, Amelia. Because it was a period piece I had to use an antique wheelchair which was pretty cool.
GeekGirlCon Artist Alley submissions are now closed! However, we are still accepting Vendor and Exhibitor Booth Applications.
Already submitted a Exhibitor Contract + payment, and haven’t heard from us? Sit tight, we’ll get back to you within the next couple of weeks to verify the status of your contract. Thanks for your cooperation!
GeekGirlCon is pleased to announce that Jamala Henderson, a Producer at Seattle NPR affiliate KUOW, will be joining the lineup of guests for GeekGirlCon ‘12.
Jamala Henderson joins the lineup of guests for GeekGirlCon '12. Photo taken by Phyllis Fletcher.
Programming Director Jennifer K. Stuller announced the addition of Henderson as a guest: “We are delighted to have a fabulously smart, talented, and geeky woman like Jamala on board as a guest for this year’s con. Expect to see her bring her professional interviewing experience and trademark enthusiasm to the stage when she moderates some of our exciting spotlight sessions!”
Jamala Henderson has been working for KUOW public radio for seven years as an announcer, a reporter, and most recently a producer for a daily afternoon program, KUOW Presents. Henderson has worked at the University of Washington television station, UWTV, and volunteer radio station KBCS. An enthusiastic Geek Girl, she can often be found scouring used bookstores for treasure, making jewelry or candles, and geeking out with mythology and fairy tales. She also has two awesome cats named after her favorite Farscape Characters, Crighton and Jothee.
Corrinne Yu brings fantastic experience in technology and video game programming. Yu currently programs lighting and facial animation, and develops new technology for Halo 4. She is a founding member of Microsoft’s Direct3D Advisory Board and continues to review the designs of new iterations of Direct3D. She has also been interviewed on Tech with Tina for MSDN’s Channel 9.
GeekGirlCon Creative Programming Director Jennifer K. Stuller commented, “We are thrilled to have Corrinne Yu joining as a guest for GeekGirlCon ‘12. She brings a great perspective as a leader in video game programming and technology.”
Halo 4 Screenshot
Read our press release or guest page for more information. And stay tuned for even more exciting guest announcements soon!
GeekGirlCon needs your help to reach the geeks in your community! Our social media team is full of awesome and reaches a lot of our fans over the interwebs, but those geeks who spend more time at the comic shop, lab, or gaming table than the computer will miss out on all the GeekGirlCon news.
You can help us reach these unplugged geeks by printing this full-color flier and hanging it or handing it out in areas with a high presence of geeks. It’s simple and easy!
1. Print the page in color or black and white on 8.5 x 11 inch white copy paper
2. Trim or cut into quarter sheets.
3. Drop some off in your favorite places in your community. (Please get permission from each establishment before hanging or distributing!)
If you are feeling a bit more ambitious than handing out fliers, contact Jex, our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@geekgirlcon.com, about other opportunities to promote GeekGirlCon.
We are happy and excited to announce our first wave of guests for GeekGirlCon ‘12, happening at The Conference Center in downtown Seattle, August 11-12, 2012. Passes are on sale now!
Returning guests include Jane Espenson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica, and Warehouse 13), who is also bringing along the cast of her hit webseries Husbands, Trina Robbins (The Brinkley Girls, Forbidden City, Chicagoland), Greg Rucka (Keeper, Queen & Country, Whiteout), Gail Simone (Women in Refrigerators List, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman), and Jen Van Meter (Hopeless Savages comics and graphic novels).
We also have two new guests, both from Seattle: M.J. McDermott (Seattle Meteorologist and Geek Girl) and Purple Reign (Seattle Activist and Superhero).
“We are delighted that some of our favorite guests enjoyed GeekGirlCon ‘11 so much that they are returning for 2012,” said Creative Programming Director Jennifer K. Stuller, “and I am excited to bring two fabulous Seattle guests to their first GeekGirlCon!”
Read our press release or guest page for more information. And stay tuned for even more exciting guest announcements soon!
On January 21st, GeekGirlCon held our first All-Hands Meeting in the countdown to GeekGirlCon 2012. It may seem like a small thing, but hearing firsthand the people’s stories from 2011 and their suggestions for 2012 hit a sweet spot. It reminded each of us in that room why we do this: for you. We love GeekGirlCon, and we need it.
An enthusiastic GeekGirlCon attendee with special guest Trina Robbins at GeekGirlCon 2011. Photo by Kalai Socha-Leialoha.
GeekGirlCon 2011 was a historic event to us and the 4,000 people who attended the con over those two magical days. Together, we celebrated the female point of view. We created a safe and welcoming atmosphere for self-expression. We proved women can create a community together (and that others can participate too). We gave the world a glimpse of what women-positive messages can do. Whether you were volunteering, speaking, presenting, gaming, attending, or working, you helped create the magic. You stood up and were willing to act in support of geeky women everywhere.
Our actions did not go unnoticed. King5, Seattle’s local NBC affiliate, featured GeekGirlCon in their nightly news coverage, and we had a ton of love from news, blogs, podcasts, and you. CNN’s Geek Out! named GeekGirlCon as one of their geek heros of 2011. Sweet! We earned this. From the staff who made this event happen to you and your friends who came out to support it, GeekGirlCon is a victory for all of us and geeky or nerdy women everywhere.
This year, GeekGirlCon is back and more dedicated than ever. Our all-volunteer staff is focused on producing a bigger and better event in 2012. If you are hoping for a very important announcement about where the con will be and when it will occur, sorry to disappoint. Don’t worry. You will know soon enough. Cryptic? For sure. Worth the wait? Definitely.
