Description: A short video explaining some of the art and science that goes into LAIKA films. Source: LAIKA Studios’ YouTube channel.
Veronica Hernandez, Senior Roto/Paint Artist at LAIKA and the host of the Enter LAIKA: Behind the Scenes panel, kicked off her introduction to LAIKA with the clip above. “We’re all super geeks,” she explained when it ended. “At LAIKA, being weird is a superpower. We get to come together and make these amazing films.”
Well, friends, GeekGirlCon’18 has officially drawn to a close. On behalf of the GGC staff, I want to say thank you so, so much to all of you who joined us this past weekend. Thank you to everyone who attended, volunteered, sponsored, supported, and otherwise contributed to making 2018 our best year yet. Thank you for believing in our mission, for finding value in the celebration of geeky girls and women, and for being passionate about the things you love and sharing that passion with us.
GeekGirlCon’18 is just over a week away, which means it’s right before Halloween!
Source: Giphy. Description: A dog in a ghost costume holding a glowing jack-o’-lantern on a cord while surrounded by more jack-o’-lanterns.
Scared you’ll have to choose between enjoying the con and getting your ghoul on? Don’t worry, we have plenty of unboolievably fun workshops, games, panels, and more lined up to help you celebrate in style. Plus, get ready to trick-or-treat all con long! Look for “Trick-or-Treat Here” signs scattered throughout the con. Got food sensitivities or allergies? We’ll have teal pumpkins to mark locations with candy alternatives.
Source: Giphy. Description: a corgi barking at and jumping around a small pumpkin.
Dying for a sneak peek of our fangtastically spooky programming? Here are some highlights:
GeekGirlCon owes its lifeblood to a nearly unquantifiable host of individuals and groups who dedicate themselves to bringing us all together once a year. From our year-round staff to our con-weekend Agents to our Featured Contributors to our attendees, the light and love coming from our support network is seemingly infinite.
That all being said, we also couldn’t do the thing—the hosting our big, lively family all together in one physical space for a weekend thing—without the help of our annual sponsors. Our sponsors put their faith in us, and we couldn’t be more grateful. So, without too much more fanfare, I’d like to take moment to thank some of the folks who’ve come through for us this year. After all, we’re all in this together.
From pop-culture titans to social justice superheroes, our featured contributors for GeekGirlCon’18 are movers and shakers in their communities, industries, and the world at large! Check them out:
Lysa Chen
Source: Lysa Chen. Description: headshot of Lysa rocking green hair.
Lysa Chen has designed Dungeons & Dragons adventures for Wizards of the Coast and the Adventurers League. She is distinguished as one of the Dungeon Masters Guild’s premier Guild Adepts.
This month is the month, people! GeekGirlCon has arrived (basically)!
Throughout October, look to our blog for everything you need to know about the weekend, from Panel Highlights to Cosplay Contest announcements, we’ve got you covered.
Though our epic panels are what attract a lot of folks to GeekGirlCon (me included), they don’t comprise the whole of the weekend’s festivities. Today, I’m going to walk you through some of the other kinds of activities we have in store.
First up, meetups, the perfect event for meeting like-minded attendees to share the weekend with. To name a few of our offerings this year, we have meetups for first timers, Black Panther fans, Star Wars/Star Trek enthusiasts, and more! Meetups will take place throughout the duration and venue of the con, so check out the schedule for specifics.
[Image Description: Data from Star Trek saying to Worf, “You have friends here.”] Source: MRWGIFS
One especially exciting meetup we have slated for this con is Meet & Geek: A Networking Event for Mavens-in-the-Making. This is the event for folks who are looking for mentors and advice to assist with anything geeky-career related. Bring your questions and look forward to discussions of everything from writing to digital media to game design. In addition to the meetup, GeekGirlCon will be hosting a Mentor Booth in the Connections area of the Exhibitor Hall where you can sign up for one-on-one sessions with a mentor who can look at your resume and give you tips for breaking into the geeky career of your dreams!
[Image Description: Winston from New Girl at a job interview saying, “I know Word. I can open a document, Save, Save As, Print, Print Preview.] Source: Rockwood Search
Also in the Exhibitor Hall will be VAIN’s booth for impromptu hairstyle sessions. Need a touch up on your cosplay look? Need a general spruce? VAIN, a longtime supporter of GeekGirlCon, will be there to save the day.
[Image Description: River Song fluffing her hair and mouthing, “The hair!”] Source: Giphy
And last but far from least is the QUEST, our con-wide scavenger hunt. We set up this event each year to help folks touch base with everything GeekGirlCon has to offer, and this year is no different. To play, you’ll need just your program and sense of enthusiasm. There are six checkpoints: attend a panel, play a game on the gaming floor, attend a workshop/meetup, post on social media using #GGC18, do an experiment in the DIY Science Zone, and complete the con survey. You’ll receive one stamp per activity you complete, and each stamp gains you an entry into a raffle for a bag of the sweetest goodies from our vendors. It’s up to you whether you collect one stamp or six! If you do complete every step, you’re rewarded with a pin of the GeekGirlCon avatar of your choice. And if you fill out the con survey at the GGC QUEST table, you can receive a second avatar pin of your choice!
More details about the checkpoints and how to get your stamps will be included in the program, but until then, get your game face on!
[Image Description: Sherlock walking out of a door saying, “The game, Mrs. Hudson, is on.”] Source: SteemKR
One of the many aspects of GeekGirlCon that sets it apart from other conventions is its commitment to welcoming geeks of all ages. We don’t just tolerate our kid attendees, we design the weekend with their interests in mind. Whether that means keeping our 18+ programming scheduled in the evenings or setting up a kids-only cosplay contest, we’re serious about keeping our evolution reactive to the needs of even the littlest con-goers.
In terms of kids programming, the now-classic GeekGirlCon event we’re proudest of is our DIY Science Zone. This year will mark the Zone’s eighth iteration, with each con bringing bigger and better additions. Part of the reason we’re able to keeping growing and changing when it comes to this special-ist of events is because we’ve got a community that shares our values and knows that accessible science education needs funding.
With GeekGirlCon only five weeks away* we’ve been giving you a sneak peek at some of our amazing content for this year. So far, we’ve shown you a sample of our amazing workshops and panels for literary geeks.
This week, we’re going to be highlighting a couple of panels that cover various aspects of geek culture. Now, we all know that geek culture is a HUGE area covering specific domains of geekdom (such as comics, gaming, TV, and so on), so we have loads of panels covering geek stuff generally, but this list of panel highlights is for all you culture vultures out there. Get excited!
Each year, we recruit an artist who shares our values to work on our con-specific merch. This year, that artist is Cassie Kelly. Cassie is ridiculously talented, and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s in store for GeekGirlCon ‘18. In celebration of the big reveal, I asked Cassie a few questions about everything from process to faves.
If you’re interested in checking out more of Cassie’s work, I have the Instagram and web store for you!
GeekGirlCon’18 is only a month and a half away! Our panel lineup is packed full of fantastic topics from wonderful, thoughtful, inspirational individuals, and I get to give you the first sneak peek of a few.
Source: Giphy. Description: A parrot hopping around excitedly.
