Convention Beat: August 2011

This past weekend, @GamingAngel and @Cherithe attended some of the biggest conventions of the year–BlogHer, and GenCon, respectively. I meant to pester them about people to talk to, things to see, and my general jealousy that they got to go to such cool conventions, but life kept me busy and I forgot until the conventions were upon us. Therefore, I have decided to keep track of upcoming conventions, along with info about Gaming Angels staff attendance. Here is a list of what is on the schedule for the rest of August. 

Note: I have tried to include information on a wide variety of science fiction/fantasy, gaming and general geeky conventions, but I am not guaranteeing this covers everything. Please feel free to suggest other conventions, for this month or future months in the comments!

Siggraph
August 7 – 11
Vancouver, BC

Going on now, this is a huge computer graphics and interactive techniques convention, complete with a computer animation festival. Obviously, it is too late to make plans to attend this year, but this is a good thing to put on your radar for next year if you work with computer graphics and animation at all.

Wizard World
August 11 – 14
Chicago, IL

While this may not be quite as big as last month’s San Diego ComicCon, it’s a close call. Patrick Stewart, Felicia Day, LeVar Burton and 8 members of the Buffy cast are going to be there! If you are going to be in Chicago this weekend, it looks like they are still selling tickets.

Pokemon World Championships
August 12 – 14
San Diego, CA

World Championships for the Trading Card game and the Video game will be held in San Diego this weekend, with contestants from all over the world, including gamers from Belgium, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Czech Republic and many more. The tournaments are mostly invitation only, with the top players from various regional competitions invited to compete for the title of World Champion, but there will be a single elimination Last Chance tournament on Friday. The event is free for competitors and spectators.

GDC Europe and GamesCom
August 15 – 17, August 18 – 21
Cologne, Germany

These may be more of a stretch for our American readers, but they look like a lot of fun, and a lot of good things will likely come from the learning and networking at these events. The Game Developer’s Conference has 5 main tracks: Business & Marketing, Game Design, Production, Programming and Visual Arts. GamesCom looks to be all about gaming and entertainment, and a really good time!

Renovation
August 17 – 21
Reno, NV

This year’s World Con will be held in Reno. This is where the Hugo awards will be presented. I wish I could be there to see everything, but the budget and schedule wouldn’t let me this year. Still, there will be online coverage–a live video stream, plus Twitter posts using the official @SFReno and @TheHugoAwards accounts, along with posts using the #hugos, #hugoaward and #hugoawards hashtags. I expect to be glued to my computer, or at least my smartphone, on Saturday night!

 

PAX Prime
August 26 – 28
Seattle, WA

This is a big one for us! Five of our Angels are going: @Cherithe, @Xalaga, @stealthyslyth, @GamesAre4Girls, and @rachelzg.  @Cherithe will be on a panel, Infinite Respawn: How Gaming Can Keep & Save Your Relationship, on Saturday at 10:30. There are many additional cool panels, with a wide variety of inclusive topics, with topics like Can Mommy & Daddy Come Over to Play? – The Truth About Being a Gamer Parent, Then and Now: How Competitive Gaming Has Changed, Getting Past Forums: The Future of Community, Gaming as a Lifestyle, Magic: The Gathering World Building Panel, Doing Good with Games, and Wil Wheaton! (I am not adding that exclamation point because I am excited about Wil Wheaton–that is what it is called.) I cannot wait until everyone gets back and tells me all about it!

ArmadilloCon
August 26 – 28
Austin, TX

This looks like a great time, with Paolo Bacigalupi as Guest of Honor, Emma Bull and Will Shetterly as Special Guests, and Elizabeth Bear, Ilona Andrews and Steven Brust as participants. There seems to be a good mix of programming, with fascinating topics like Steampunk Jewelry Making Demo, Class Issues in SF/F, What You Should Have Read in 2010-2011, What’s the Next Big Literary Movement in Texax SF/F?, A Look Back at the Shuttle Program, Learning from Others’ Mistakes: Writing Errors to Avoid, SF/F Movies of the 80s: A Look Back and many more. Wow, all this and more for only $50? If only my daughter weren’t having a birthday that weekend…

Pi-Con
August 26 – 28
Enfield, CT 

Any group that describes themselves as “a diverse collection of geeks” is a group I like already. They do all kinds of things here, from books to movies, webcomics and print comics to movies, tech and gadetry to music, costuming to anime. This year they are adding a strong science track with Science Guest of Honor, Dr. Pamela Gay. They have an official Guest of Awesome, too, Trisha Woolridge. Is that not the coolest special guest title you have ever heard? It is actually a good thing I don’t have to choose between this, ArmadilloCon and PAX–they all look so very awesome.