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GeekGirlCon had its maiden voyage a few weeks ago at the Seattle Center in Seattle, Washington. I would say it was a success considering they sold out of general public passes for the weekend. This wasn't including exhibitors, panelists, or kids under the age of ten.
The Con: Thankfully, I was a panelist and didn't have to wait in the REALLY long line to get my weekend pass. Once in the convention, there were lots of different vendors and artists to visit and buy from. There was a vendor hall and at least five different rooms available for panels. The gaming room was small, popular and always full.
The Gaming Room: There were workshops ranging from how to design a board game to making a mask. Steve Jackson Games was there along with Jennifer Powers from Looney Labs. Between my husband, daughter, and myself we played all of the games available from her and ended up going to the local game store Card Kingdom to purchase IceDice
The Exhibits: We purchased a Happy Gelatinous Cube print from Mikeatron! My daughter was happy to go through boxes of comic books for .25 a piece and picked up Spiderman, Superman, Captain America, and other favorites dated in the 80's. We also enjoyed visiting Nice Rice, The Cute Factory, and Card Kingdom where my kid picked up buttons with her hard earned allowance.
The Panels: The Women In Popular Culture panel was wonderful. It was fun to hear what goes on in the minds of a few of the writers and actors of some of my favorite web and tv shows. Sunday morning we attended a Women in Science panel. My husband was happy to listen to (and meet!) the moderator, Kelly Wienersmith (parasite biologist and wife of Zach Wienersmith, creator of the Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal webcomic and sketch comedy series). It was nice to see so many intelligent women. I was a little disappointed that it turned into a "Where do I find a grant for my field" panel. The Geeks Raising Geeks panel I moderated was well received. I have seen comments on Twitter and Facebook raving about the content. Panelists included, Nancy and Belle Holder, Carrie and Katie Goldman, Jenn Fujikawa, and Sharon Feliciano. We actually missed out on making a Yoda stick puppet with Bonnie Burton because the location for the activity was so far away from the main convention area.
The People: I was finally able to purchase the Star Wars Craft book by Bonnie Burton. She autographed it to my daughter and me. I took a picture of VIP (my daughter) and her together, but Bonnie's eyes were closed (oh no!). TV writer Jane Espenson has to be one of the nicest women I have ever met. She talked to Tim and VIP for quite awhile before I got to talk to her. When we had our picture taken, she requested Yoda stay in the photo. Liz Smith - organizer of w00tstock, PAX, and JoCo Cruise Crazy events - and I met in passing, but long enough to trade cards and shoot the breeze about the upcoming events from our favorite musical artists. It was great to finally meet Dungeons and Dragons blogger and podcaster Tracy Hurley AKA Sarah Darkmagic. I have followed her on Twitter for quite awhile. I was happy that our schedules met up so we could have lunch together and chat about different games. VIP liked her quite a bit too. You know you have met a truly unique individual if your five-year-old daughter grabs a stranger's hand to cross the street and the stranger just goes with it. It is always great to see The Doubleclicks and Molly Lewis. Meeting Marian Call was a happy first.
GeekGirlCon was a great experience and show for its first year. I look forward to what they plan for next year and planning to attend when the dates are announced.
