Muskrat Ramblings
Geek.Kon and Speak Out!
posted by John
I’ll be at Geek.Kon, here in Madison this weekend. It’s a great, growing convention, and if you’re nearby, I’d strongly suggest you check it out. I don’t do many conventions at all anymore, so it’s also a chance for me to oil my convention chops. Which actually sounds incredibly rude, now that I think about it…
My schedule:
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Friday
2:00 PM- 3:00 PM
Opening Ceremonies
7:00 PM-8:00 PM
Game Creation
Saturday
9:00 AM-10:00 AM
Designing Game Mechanics
11:00 AM-Noon
Autograph session
1:00 PM-2:30 PM
Live Action Word on the Street
2:30 PM-3:30 PM
10 Years of Munchkin, 15 Years of Dork Tower
6:00 PM-7:00 PM
Webcomics
8:00 PM-10:00 PM
Munchkin with John Kovalic (charity event). Bid to sit in on the table and watch me lose. Again.
Sunday
1:00 PM-2:00 PM
Autograph Session
4:00 PM-5:00 PM
Closing Ceremonies
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Monica Valentinelli is kind of a genius, you know.
Over on her Flames Rising blog, as well as on her personal blog, she came up with a great response to the recent Gizmodo/Magic the Gathering kerfluffle.
Now, I know that I (and many other geeks) had some fun making sport of the incident. But Monica correctly points out:
“Sadly, this is not the first time geeks have been used as the butt of all jokes. From cyber-bullying to inducing nerd rage, it sometimes feel like we can do nothing to combat the stereotypes.”
So here’s the idea she came up with:
“Sometime during the week of Monday, September 12th to Friday, September 16th post about what geeky hobby you love. Then, tell us why we should try it, too. Leave your fears (and edition wars) at the door. Forget about your latest rant. Tap into that well of positive energy and share in the excitement of all things geek.
“Let us invite those who would stereotype us to sit at our table and share our interests. Let us combat being used as pawns for internet gaffes with the reasons why we’re awesome, why we love what we love, and why it’s good to be a geek.”
The Facebook event she created currently is closing in on 2,000 participants.
It’s a great idea, and I hope you, too, will Speak Out with your Geek Out next week.