As a writer and aspiring author, one of my favorite parts of GGC19 was hearing from some of the biggest new voices in publishing during the “Rising Stars” panel.
Each author had so many great things to say about their personal and professional experiences that I had a hard time cutting down my notes from the panel, so please enjoy this overly lengthy recap before checking out the authors’ books for yourself!
First off, from everyone at GeekGirlCon, thank you so much to our Agents, attendees, contributors, and exhibitors. As always, we just cannot do GeekGirlCon without you. Thanks for making the magic with us.
Before we beginning peppering your feeds with some more formal recaps of the weekend, I wanted to bring some cheer to this Monday we’re all experiencing while coming down from our con high with some staff selfies from the weekend. So peruse these, reflect on the pure joy of the weekend, and share yours with us using #GG19.
Amy on Friday, pre-setup.
Julie and Beth setting up and definitely not violating even ONE safety protocol.
If you’ve never been to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, you’re truly missing out. It’s one of the cutest, geekiest, most special places in the city, and we were lucky to have hosted our annual pre-con party there this year.
Hanna and I (and my sister!) swung by the party after work, picked up our passes, and meandered around our fellowed geeks for an hour or two. We sat in on a planetarium open house (did you know Pluto and Charon actually orbit each other??), learned about software that was created for embroidery patterns, and witnessed an epic dance party.
It was just good to be around folks who know what’s so important about the next two days, and we were beyond glad to have been there.
Until tomorrow, everyone!!
S/O to my sister for indulgently taking photos of us!! [Image Description: Hanna and Teal pose for a picture. They have their arms around each other and are both holding cans. Behind them, the party is unfolding.]
See! This place is freaking cool! [Image Description: A huge glowing globe surrounded by party-goers.]
As a lot of you might know, GeekGirlCon has this really excellent practice of hiring an artist every year to design our year-specific merch. This year, that artist is Tatyana Vogt, whose art is so beautiful I’ve literally teared up over it. We are all in for such a treat with this year’s stuff, so read on for some of that good good design reveal and a little Q&A with the artist herself! Then, get your passes, check out our full programming schedule, and get yourself organized with the Guidebook app. Three days and counting!
Tell us a little about your story. Where are you from? Have you always been an artist?
Sure! So I was born and raised in California. I’ve drawn off and on my whole life, not realizing that it was something that could be a job until my later years of high school. I went to an art college where I worked part-time to help pay the bills and spent the little bit of free time I had working on becoming a better artist.
[Image Description: Tatyana poses for a headshot holding a light gray cat. She’s looking at the camera and smiling. Her hair is bright pink with some purple underneath. She’s wearing glasses and a muted red lip color.] Source: Tatyana Vogt
For the rest of this week we’ll be posting our last few Q&As with Featured Contributors, and today I bring you Dajae Moe Williams, a Quality Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. Dajae will be speaking alongside Featured Contributor Trudy Kortes in a panel about women pursuing STEM careers on Sunday at 10 a.m., so be sure to check it out in the Guidebook app! And don’t forget your passes!
But for now, let’s get to know Dajae!
Tell us a little about your story. Where are you from? Where are you based out of now?
St. Louis, Missouri. I now live in Los Angeles, California.
What are some of your favorite hobbies?
I enjoy song writing, music production, basketball, and entrepreneurship.
Who did you look up to growing up? How about now?
When I was younger, I looked up Will Smith, Queen Latifa, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. Now I look up to Nipsey Hussle and Steve Jobs.
GGC19 is less than a week away, and we have a bunch of meetups planned throughout the weekend, so you can geek out with people who get it. Curious about what’s in store? Here’s the complete list:
Glimmer, Adora & Bow from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power hugging on a transparent background. They are wearing their usual outfits. Source: Giphy
Curious about what’s in store? Here’s the complete list:
I know, I KNOW—October
was about a week long, and it feels like we’ve only been in November for maybe
12 minutes, but it’s true: GGC’19 kicks off in SEVEN DAYS.
A gif of person cosplaying as a yellow inflatable dancing tube man. They are waving their arms wildly while standing in front of a row of vendor booths at a con. Source: Giphy.
If you’ve been
putting off buying your tickets, don’t panic—you can grab them right now. If you have
your passes and want to start planning your con experience, check out this year’s
Guidebook. If you, like
me and plenty of other con goers, are excited but also a bit anxious about the
whole con experience, you can find some great tips in Hanna & Teal’s post
from earlier this week, #GeekGirlTalk:
Self-Care During GeekGirlCon ’19.
So, pull out your
comfiest shoes, put the finishing touches on your cosplay, and get ready for
our biggest con yet. We’ll see you there!
A gif of Hasan Minhaj on Patriot Act. He is wearing a denim jacket and a dark t-shirt and saying, “Buckle up,” while raising his pointer fingers and looking at the camera. Source: Giphy
Who We Are Vaguely and in Terms Only of the Media We Seek Out Most Often:
Teal (roman type!) Literally any teen TV show, YA, women’s and feminist media, everything Star Trek
Hanna (italics, baby!) Reality TV, memoirs, romance novels, anything British, any podcast ever
Welcome to Geek Girl Talk, a (biased, subjective, opinionated) conversation about the pop culture we’re currently loving, hating, and obsessing over. Leading up to next weekend, we’re coming through with a special edition of Geek Girl Talk where we’ll be talking through our respective self-care plans for GeekGirlCon ‘19. The con is coming up on the weekend of November 16 and 17. If you haven’t yet, get your passes here!
I’ll start the conversation with an admission: As much as it pains me to say it, a lot of my excitement about attending conventions tends to be ultimately overwhelmed by anxiety. There’s some irony in that, I know. I spend months writing about an event that, when it comes down to it, ends up being one of the weekends I feel most drained and on-edge of the year. But, I also feel like that goes to show how much unique value I find in our con and organization; I’m beyond willing to support and show up for this thing, and I’m willing to do the work to manage my mental health well enough to make sure I can continue to sustainably. I have lots of tips and tricks and successes and horror stories about attending GeekGirlCon as a person with a lot of social anxiety, but before I get into that, Hanna, I’d love to know specifics about your relationship with mental health and con-going.
An illustrated GIF showing a woman wearing safety goggles and a white, button-down top looking into a microscope. She is surrounded by plant cuttings and bottles of liquids. The word “Science!” appears behind her. Source: Giphy.
Science geeks, this one’s for you!
From astronomy to robotics, GeekGirlCon’19 will be packed with great discussions
by some of the leading minds in STEM. Want a sneak peek of what we have in
store? Check it out:
Now that we’re all in the throes of organizing our con-weekend itineraries, we’re posting these panel previews to highlight some of the programming we’re most looking forward to. So far we’ve covered sessions about gaming and academic geekery, and here I’ll be gushing about the panels to bookmark if you, like me, spend an almost superhuman amount of time listening to podcasts.
First up, I would like to seriously and desperately implore you to come to the live recording of Feminist Frequency Radio at 3 p.m. on Saturday. This year, Anita Sarkeesian, Ebony Adams, and Carolyn Petit will once again bring us an hour of pure joy in the form of thoughtful, funny, and serious feminist media analysis. Definitely include this session in your schedule and add some of their backlist to your podcast queue in the meantime!
[Image Description: Anita Sarkeesian sits on a purple chair. She’s wearing red rectangular glasses, big gold earrings, and her hair is in a ponytail. She’s eating popcorn and laughing.] Source: Giphy
We’ll also be graced with a live recording of the Fansplaining podcast at 10 a.m. on Sunday! The Fansplaining podcast deep dives into everything fandom, and the topic for the live recording is con culture! Swing by to hear hosts Elizabeth and Flourish discuss GeekGirlCon, the con experience in general, and the relationship between underrepresented groups and con culture.
Next, we have the folks behind d20 Dames, your favorite tabletop storytelling podcast. Join the four Dames as they play should an all-ages, one-shot adventure in front of a live audience at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday!
The last live podcast recording I’d like to draw your attention to is Sartorial Geek at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Jordan Ellis and Liz Crowder host a podcast about all things geek, and especially for GeekGirlCon, they’ll be discussing LGBTQIA+ themes in books and YA with Mallory Cohen from WhatchYA Reading?
Well, I don’t know about you, but I know for sure how I’ll be spending at least four hours of the weekend. Check here for the full programming schedule, and be sure to grab your passes if you haven’t already!
