Geek Girl Growing Up

So, same again, only different: Geek Girl Con was on, and I went to it, as I have done since the first one (this was the fifth). But now I don't live in Seattle, I live in Bellingham, so it was a one-day, blow-in, blow-out visit, bracketed by early breakfast with pal Margaret on one end and late supper with Super Sissy on the other; pals Karmin and Kate were boon companions for the event itself. (Wonder Wife couldn't make it, despite the big hit she was last year.)

The Con itself seemed different this year as well, and I am not sure it was all me. I had heard that it was a sellout again, and a friend had even mentioned that she couldn't get tickets because she had delayed too long, but the convention center did not seem nearly as crowded or congested as it has in previous years. Maybe I am just confusing the experience with that at PAX or Emerald City Comic Con, or maybe the GGC organizers have just gotten better at managing the event, but whatever the cause, it was a pleasant surprise.

Beyond that, the con just felt, well, mature, for want of a better word. I mean, all the by-now familiar elements were there - the DIY Science Zone, the Geek Girl Connections space, the exhibitors, the place for cosplayers to have their photos taken - but it all felt practiced and established rather than new and experimental. Even the cosplay - and GGC is great for crossplay and and transplay - seemed to have a lot of standards and fewer oh-my-gosh innovations.

Which is not to say this isn't still a great event: the panels I attended (and those K&K reported on) were excellent, the gaming area was robust (I found two games I want to play again), and that special sense of inclusion and positivity still fills the convention center. The little girl at the end of the cosplay contest runway watching the costumed figures with wide eyes and a big smile, being swrpt along with everyone else - that's what the con is all about, I guess, and it's working as well as ever.

No cosplay photos to speak of this year, just a couple of miscellania:

In a wonderful display of its roots, 

GGC featured diverse and inclusive pathfinder signs on the gaming floor.

I offered to get this for Wonder Wife as a teaching outfit, but she passed.

Here are my archives of the event - check 'em out:

2011

2012

2013

2014

Geek Girl Con Goes Fo(u)rth!

So, I made it to Geek Girl Con again this year - a four-peat! (is that even a thing?) I was intrigued by the inaugural event in 2011, gushed over it some more in 2012,  and gave a late report on it last year, and herewith is this year's installment.

Let me say again the GGC is the most inclusive, accepting, laid-back con I have attended; the contrast with the PAX event a few weeks ago couldn't be more striking. In addition to the Usual Suspects, I used an extra pass to pull in my colleague and office-neighbor, a biology instructor. She brought along her son and daughter and was not only thrilled to find so much pro-STEM content aimed at girls, but found herself having a great time right along with her kids, even though she is almost totally non-geek. It's just that kind of event.

This might have been the best year yet for me; here are three highlights before the usual parade of pictures.

Wonder Wife

As I predicted last year, the addition of Introvert Alley (a quiet-only zone where people can go to de-stress) was enough to get Wonder Wife to attend along with me, and she did so in style: we went as a cosplay team, Artie Nielsen and Claudia Donovan from Warehouse 13, the steampunkish Syfy series.

I think I did a pretty good job.

But I think Wonder Wife was spectacular!

Wonder Woman

Before yesterday, I would have told you that the last time I had sought an autograph was from Isaac Asimov at a Sci-Fi Convention in New York in 1978 (and that's a story for another time). I have never considered autographs important or even sensical.  Well, at this GGC I broke that longstanding streak: one of the guests was Susan Eisenberg, the talented voice actress who portrayed Wonder Woman in the Justice League animated series and several other projects, along with her other geeky and non-geeky work. That show, and her interpretation of Diana, has given me so much enjoyment that I just got swept up. I'm going to display the autograph proudly in my office.

Wonderful to Say (mirabile dictu)

As great as my costume was and as natural as that wig looked, I discovered after attending my first panel that the hairpiece did need some adjustment, so I went into the men's room and trimmed it with the scissors on my Swiss Army Knife (Officers' Model). A little while later, I discovered I was without my knife, apparently having left it in the restroom. I looked fruitlessly and then checked Lost & Found with little hope. They didn't have it, but took my name and number and said they'd let me know if it turned up.

I didn't expect anything, but a couple of hours later I got a text telling me the knife had been turned in. When I picked it up, the Agents (that's what they call con staff) said that even though it had been found elsewhere than I described, when it was turned in they connected it to me right away.

Tell me at what other convention of 5,000 or so people would an easily transportable, untraceable, hundred-dollar item be turned into Lost & Found and proactively returned to its owner? GGC is just that kind of event.

The Photos!

Pride of first photo goes to my partner in crime Margaret, who this year came as Ianto from Torchwood. The coffee cups turned out to be the critical part of the cosplay!

After all the reboots and re-interpretations, it was cool to see Classic Sherlock.

A totally adorable Korra; we didn't get to see it, but she was faux-waterbending with foil ribbons.

Groot meets the Dalek!

Jeanie showed up, just for Super Sissy (who is a big fan).

Agent Hill of SHIELD has a burgeoning fan following:

I am not familiar with Kill la Kill, the anime these characters are from, but these girls were rocking it awesome:

Sunday's con was at the same time as a Seahawks game, and this cosplayer covered both with SeaHawkgirl, complete with Shayera's name on the uniform and a spiked football for a mace.

After Captain Marvel won her round, I played on this giant Tsuro game. And lost.

So, listen to Wi-Fi the Robotic Squirrel: come to Geek Girl Con!

See y'all next year!

On the fourth day of Newton: Geek Girls! (and guys)

So,  because it was such a Busy Quarter™, I didn't post (or make) my annual Geek Girl Con video this year. But I did indeed go to Geek Girl Con 3 back in October, keeping intact my record of having attended every one that has been held. Here are some photos, mostly of the cosplay:

My buddy Margaret came to the con with me, since Wonder Wife begged off from the crowds/noise/overstimulation/&c. Margaret was Bilbo the first day and Kaylee the second day, with stuff she just happened to have around. (She actually dresses pretty much like a hobbit most of the time anyway....)

Okay, I neglected to write down this girl's name, and she wasn't a cosplayer, but she played with us in a role-playing game whose mechanic was not dice-based but rather jenga-based. And she was like a jenga superhero - I mean, she must have had mutant jenga abilities or something. She kicked ass. I don't know how you could use that ability to fight crime, but she was a good gamer and a sweet kid. Margaret will remember her name.

Lots of crossplay:  here's a Doctor and a Link.

This awesome Skyrim lady was also very patient with me as I tried to capture her spooky lit-up eyes.

I met one of my former students at the Con - she's the Snow White with her friend, another Link.

This Gears of War/Hello Kitty mashup guy was telling me in the restroom about designing costumes to make sure he could, uh, use the restroom easily.

Awesome Robin I had to snap for Super Sissy.

GGC has a place for folks to sit quietly, read, rest, and recharge (not talking). I texted this pic to Wonder Wife and it made her decide that she would come next year after all!