07.20.12 // Sign up Now for the Game Design Challenge at GeekGirlCon ‘12
GeekGirlCon’s Mystery Box Game Design Challenge is an opportunity for you to learn from the top industry pros and have a little fun while doing it. This workshop is aimed at ages 12 + and college students interested in game design, but the workshop is open to everyone, by yourself or with your friends. Just bring your brain (mmm….braaaaains) and your creativity!
Space is limited (only 16 seats available), so register now to secure your spot! To register, email our gaming director, Lani Blazier at gaming@geekgirlcon.com with your name and a few sentences about why you want to participate. Please include “Workshop Registration” in the subject line.
Workshop begins at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 11th. Purchase of a pass to GeekGirlCon ‘12 is required for participation.
Here’s how it works:
- You and your design team get a box of mystery game parts.
- An industry mentor shows your team the ropes to create game concepts, prototypes, and design.
- Creativity abounds.
- Your team’s game goes on display in the game room for a popular vote to choose a winner.
- Return to the Game Room on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. to find out if you won and collect your prize.
Industry Mentors FTW!
We have some amazing, talented, and experienced industry mentors to help you win this design challenge, get expert advice, and learn what it’s like designing a brand new game.
Mark Baxter
Mark Baxter has been in the Games and Digital Media industry for more than 12 years in a variety of roles including: executive, producer, and creative director. He is currently vice president of product & creative and co-founder at Vivity Labs, a Vancouver-based developer of mobile, web, and social games. Baxter is also the president and founder of Gnosis Games, an independent games studio that developed multiple #1 games. At Threewave Software, he led the Casual Games division and was also producer of multiple titles for the Xbox360 and PS3, working closely with top clients including: Disney, EA, MTV/Viacom, RealArcade, Shockwave, and Big Fish Games.
Christine Miller
Christine Miller started a career in games early – at six she and her brother were board game testers for a now-defunct publishing company. That was followed by years of interest in everything from art and technology to horror stories and science. Clearly only one outcome could emerge – a fabulous career in game development! She has shipped numerous well-respected titles including Morrowind, Forza and several titles in the SOCOM series. Miller has also worked as FX artist, environment artist and game/level designer. In her spare time she trains for triathlons and half-marathons and somehow also manages to play a lot of Diablo 3. Currently working at Disney Interactive, she shares office space with some amazingly creative and talented people and a purple manatee named Hugh.
Narisa Spaulding
Narisa Spaulding is a multidisciplinary user experience (UX) designer with a passionate focus on creating aesthetically-pleasing and usability-considerate digital experiences. In other words: she believe that things should be pretty AND easy to use. Her current emphasis is on making fun, beautiful, easy-to-use games for mobile touch devices. Her favorite way to do this is by working collaboratively with others to define, develop, and streamline the UX — from flows to UI to visual design to final production art. Thankfully Big Fish Games Studios lets her get away with it.
Before falling into games, she spent 8 years at design agencies creating graphic design solutions for web and print, for clients such as Nintendo, Hasbro, Nike, and PBS.
Outside the office, you’ll find her seeking out new sights, sounds, and tastes around the world, snapping endless digital and film photos, attending live music, and petting moss.
Register Now!
Don’t miss this opportunity! To register, email our gaming director, Lani Blazier at gaming@geekgirlcon.com with your name and a few sentences about why you want to participate. Please include “Workshop Registration” in the subject line.
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07.18.12 // Gaming Nerdery + Burlesque: JOYstick!
**Both shows SOLD OUT!**
Join GeekGirlCon for a fun and geektastic evening of nerdlesque — combining the best of gaming nerdery and the new burlesque — and fundraiser for GeekGirlCon ‘12. JOYstick is put together by gamers for gamers, this celebration brings together the world of video games with the allure and fun of burlesque.
JOYstick! is a full-fledged dedication to the gaming world. The performers are gamers of all types, ready to take -1 (or more) to their armor in what will surely be an epic evening.
Details and cheat codes:
When: July 20th and 21st, 2012
Time: Doors open at 7:00 P.M., show starts at 8:00 P.M.
Where: Theatre Off Jackson, 409 7th Avenue South, Seattle, WA
Cost: General Admission $20 in advanced, $25 at the door, Click here to buy tickets!
Ages: 21+
JOYstick! will be hosted by Vanadium Silver and will showcase performances by: Whisper De Corvo, Fosse Jack, Miss Elaine Yes, Rachel Jackson with Paul Velasquez, Iva Handfull, Lady Laycock, Scarlett O’Hairdye, Lexi Luthor, Seraphina, Shubzilla, The Norse Goddess with Izzy Insidious, Bolt Action.
Questions? Contact Kelly at specialevents@geekgirlcon.com. No photography of performances allowed. Only our staff photographer is allowed to take pictures during the performance.
JOYstick! is a fundraiser supporting GeekGirlCon, which is dedicated to celebrating female involvement in all fields of science and technology; comics, arts, and literature; and game play and game design. GeekGirlCon ‘12 takes place August 11-12 at The Conference Center in downtown Seattle. Get your passes now!
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07.18.12 // GeekGirlCon & Three Dollar Bill Cinema Whisk You Away to Oz
GeekGirlCon teams up with Three Dollar Bill Cinema for a night of lions, tigers, bears, good witches, wicked witches, munchkins, ruby slippers, and wizards hiding behind curtains. Kick off GeekGirlCon ‘12 on Friday, August 10th around 8:30 PM at the southeast corner of Cal Anderson Park (East Pine and 11th Avenue) on Capitol Hill for a FREE outdoor movie, The Wizard of Oz (1939, 101 minutes). All ages event.
Here are more details from our friends at Three Dollar Bill Cinema:
Follow the Yellow Brick Road over the rainbow with Dorothy, Toto, and the whole gang in this queer-beloved classic of timeless fantasy, catchy songs, and must-have shoes.
Come early to enjoy music with 12HR NOTICE DJs (DJ LA Kendall and DJ Julia) and the Shopping Cart Soundsystem! All girls on the decks!
Come dressed to compete in the Wizard of Oz Costume Contest, presented by GeekGirlCon!
Compete for fabulous prizes in your best Glinda, Munchkin, Wicked Witch of the West, or Emerald City costumes!
All screenings are FREE and start at dusk (around 8:30 pm) at the southeast corner of Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park. Hot popcorn, cold drinks, candy, and other concessions will be for sale on site. Limited lawn chair rentals available. Donations to Three Dollar Bill Cinema happily accepted. Proceeds benefit Three Dollar Bill Cinema’s efforts throughout the year to provide voices and visibility for the LGBT community through film and video.
There is no better way to start off your GeekGirlCon ‘12 weekend! Dogs are welcome, and we recommend you bring your own lawn chair or blanket, if you have them available. If you are local, bring an extra! Sharing: it could be a great way to meet other geeks in town for the con.
Getting there by bus from downtown Seattle: Take Metro Route 11 from 3rd Avenue and Pike Street to Capitol Hill and get off on E Pine Street between Broadway and 11th Avenue. Adult fare will be $2.25 if traveling after 6:00 PM. Kids under 5 are free and children 6-18 are $1.25. All fares are cash only, and drivers will not make change.
Getting there by foot from downtown: If you are staying downtown for GeekGirlCon ‘12 you can also walk to this event. From the Hyatt Olive 8 at Olive ST and 8th AVE, head one block south on 8th AVE to Pine Street (if you hit Stewart Street, you went the wrong way). You’ll head east on Pine (up a modest hill and over the freeway) to the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Pine will turn into East Pine, but keep walking to 11th AVE. You’ll see Cal Anderson Park on your left. The walk is about 14 blocks on city sidewalks.
What to wear: Layers. We are a coastal city, and Seattle can be chilly, even on an August evening. And be prepared for rain. Because you never know around here.
If you have questions regarding this event, please contact our Special Events Team at specialeventsteam@geekgirlcon.com.
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07.18.12 // Nerdy Improv Comedy at GeekGirlCon ‘12
Photo taken by Rasmus Rasmussen
Act Nerdy With Me! GeekGirlCon ’12 and NERDProv present a raucous night of improvisational theater from audience suggestions. Rest assured that our audience will be a room full of geeks! Buffy Summers in a regency romance aboard the Galactica? You never know what fanatical combinations come to life at a NERDProv show.
NERDProv, a special team from Unexpected Productions, has performed at Emerald City Comicon, PAX, and TheaterSports. Don’t miss this chance to see a bunch of quick-thinking geeks and nerds ham it up over sci-fi, fantasy, role-playing games, tech, cartoons, and more at GeekGirlCon ’12.
Details and cheat codes:
- Date: Saturday, August 11th
- Where: GeekGirlCon’12 at The Conference Center in downtown Seattle.
- Time: 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
- Who: All ages
- Cost: Free with purchase of GeekGirlCon’12 pass. Get your passes now!
Send an email to specialevents@geekgirlcon.com with questions or for more information on this event.
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07.18.12 // Geek + Music = GeekGirlCONcert at GeekGirlCon ‘12!
Photo courtesy of Cahoots Photography
Photo courtesy of David Tinney
Music and nerdery are an awesome combination. Join us at GeekGirlCon ‘12 for a geekery-packed concert!
Returning favorites to GeekGirlCon, Portland based duo The Doubleclicks (Angela and Aubrey Webber) will entertain the crowd with a selection of songs about issues that speak to the geek in all of us, including gaming, dinosaurs, and of course, Star Trek. Armed with cello and guitar, the duo’s first full-length album Chainmail and Cello was released earlier this year. You may have caught them at GeekGirlCon ‘11 for an impromptu courtyard session — find them at GeekGirlCon ‘12 in full concert glory. Shiny!
Making their GeekGirlCon concert debut, Seattle-based filk artists (and winners of multiple Pegasus Awards) Michelle Dockrey and Tony Fabris form the duo Vixy & Tony. You may have heard their popular Firefly anthem “Mal’s Song” or caught one of their many local performances in coffee shops, bookstores, conventions and other venues around the Pacific Northwest. If you aren’t already entranced with their style of catchy tunes, unforgettable harmonies, and sing-a-long crowds, you will be. You will be.
Come join us for a memorable evening you are certain not to forget.
Details and cheat codes:
- Date: Saturday, August 11th
- Where: GeekGirlCon’ 12 at The Conference Center in downtown Seattle
- Time: 8:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
- Who: All ages
- Cost: Free with purchase of GeekGirlCon’12 pass. Get your passes now!
Send an email to specialevents@geekgirlcon.com with questions or for more information on this event.
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07.16.12 // Summer of Nerdlesque Video Discussion
All right, so you’ve read our nerdlesque blog post or the GeekWire article about the “Summer of Nerdlesque.” Or perhaps you heard about nerdlesque on BJ Shea’s Geek Nation?
But some of you might still be wondering what this burlesque thing is all about. You could be thinking, “will I feel comfortable attending?” “how can it be empowering to take off one’s clothes?” or “how nerdy can it actually be?”
Here’s what I tell a lot of people confused about burlesque: the performer has the power in burlesque performance; they get to create and tell their own story. You’ll see some seriously artistic and nuanced performances, and when it comes to nerdlesque, joyously geeky. But don’t take it from me, take it from the experts!
Steven Stone, GeekGirlCon hospitality coordinator and organizer of the video game-themed burlesque show, JOYstick! (next week on July 20th & 21st), talks with burlesque organizers and performers about Seattle’s “Summer of Nerdlesque,” the history of burlesque and neo burlesque, upcoming nerdlesque shows, and why they see burlesque as empowering for women.
Check out the video below, and get your JOYStick! tickets here!
Have you been to a nerdlesque show (like Whedonesque at GeekGirlCon ‘11)? What nerdlesque are you looking forward to this summer?
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07.13.12 // GeekGirlCon ’12 Preview: Batgirls, One Year Later
Today is part two of our GeekGirlCon ‘12 preview series.
And in honor of San Diego Comic-Con, we want to talk about Batgirl.
You might be wondering what the heck Batgirl, San Diego Comic-Con, and GeekGirlCon have in common. Well, some of you might have read about Batgirl last year at San Diego Comic-Con, or perhaps you were at the convention to witness the event or heard her talk at GeekGirlCon ‘11.
The “San Diego Comic-Con Batgirl” was the woman who stood up during a DC Comics panel, where they were discussing the unprecedented across-the-board re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero titles in 2011. With the “New 52,” DC Comics went from an already small 12 percent down to one percent female creators. Batgirl, who goes by Kyrax2 online, challenged how women were portrayed by the publisher and asked about the lack of female creators.
Other con-goers began to ask similar questions. When DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio asked what the company should do, a man in the crowd shouted, “Hire more women,” and the crowd erupted in cheers. The San Diego Comic-Con Batgirl launched a movement that resulted in a promise from DC to hire more women creators and writers.
Gail Simone
That Batgirl will be at GeekGirlCon ‘12, and she’ll be joined by the fabulous Gail Simone, who is writing the new Batgirl title for DC Comics. Simone will have plenty to talk about, as big things happened to Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) in the past year.
Major things.
Last September, when Batgirl #1 hit the stands, fans saw Barbara Gordon transform from a wheelchair-bound Oracle to the healed Batgirl. Many were shocked by the sudden event, but Simone has explained that Batgirl #1 takes place a whole year since her cure.
The September 2011 issue of Batgirl
Simone has handled the reaction from fans with incredible grace. In fact, here’s what another GeekGirlCon ‘12 guest, Teal Sherer (Venom in The Guild), had to say about Gail:
I’m a huge fan of Gail Simone. She actually tweeted me after seeing my “Oracle Addresses the DC Comics reboot” video to tell me she liked it. She’s one classy lady. She took a lot of heat over the Barbara Gordon being healed controversy, and she handled it beautifully. I can’t wait to meet her in person.
We are so lucky to have both Gail Simone back for our convention this year and are even luckier to have Kyrax2/Batgirl join her for GeekGirlCon ‘12.
On Saturday, August 11, the two will be on a panel titled “Batgirls, One Year Later.” They’ll talk about the future of the Batgirl comic, about Gail’s decisions with the comic series, and about the fateful moment at SDCC last year.
You don’t want to miss it. So be sure to buy your passes now for GeekGirlCon ‘12. It is only one month away!
And while we have you here, let’s talk about comics. What do you think of the new Batgirl title? If Batgirl isn’t your top choice, who is your favorite superheroine in comics?
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07.12.12 // JOYStick= Gaming Nerdery+Burlesque
Give that gamer-thumb a rest and sit back and relax as your favorite TV characters take on the problems, joys, and woes of world of gaming. Revisit a classic South Park where the boys of level up one boar at a time in a fantastic gamer training montage. See the Futurama folks in 8-bit. Then, Commander Riker’s brings home more than a tan from his vacation on Risa–a video game addiction!
Episodes include:
“South Park” Make Love, Not Warcraft
“Futurama” Reincarnation
“Star Trek: The Next Generation” The Game
Don’t leave your seat at intermission! Stick around for a preview of the game- and gamer-inspired burlesque show JOYstick!
Details and cheat codes:
Date: Thursday, July 12, 2012
Where: Central Cinema (1411 21st AVE, Seattle)
Time: 8:00 PM
Who: All ages (please note that intermission contains some entertainment not suitable for children under 18)
Cost: $5 (goes toward your food voucher)
TV Dinner at the Central Cinema located in Seattle’s Central District at 21st Avenue and East Union Street. If you’ve never been to a TV Dinner before, here’s how it works: you pay just $5.00 and it gets you a TV Dinner food voucher to secure your seat. Then order up some snacks* and cash in your voucher with your waiter against your tab. Easy!
Send an email to specialevents@geekgirlcon.com with questions or for more information on this event. To find out more about the Central Cinema, visit http://www.central-cinema.com/. Please note there is no photography of performances allowed. Only our staff photographer is allowed to take pictures during the performance.
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07.5.12 // GeekGirlCon ’12 Preview: Sporty Geek
GeekGirlCon ‘12 is nearly a month away. It is going to be a rocking, amazing, empowering, inspiring convention.
Don’t believe us? Well, perhaps a preview of some of the awesome panels will persuade you. Today marks the start of a series of GeekGirlCon ‘12 panel previews that will come out in the coming weeks.
Join us on Saturday, August 11, for Sporty Geek: How Roller Derby and Quidditch Are Changing the Game for Women.
Roller derby and Quidditch don’t seem to have much in common on the surface. But they share something very important. They are both thriving, grassroots sporting efforts that provide a new range of athletic opportunities for women. Geek girls are kicking ass … on skates and brooms!
Panelists Sara Weisenbach, Chelsea Hougan, and Tammy Oler will lead this moderated discussion. They will explore the intersections of geek and jock culture with two sports that challenge convention and have the power to change women’s lives.
Here’s a little more background on these sporty geeks:
Sara Weisenbach is the Alaska and Washington state representative for the International Quidditch Association. She is currently studying design illustration at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where she is also co-captain from the college’s quidditch team.
Chelsea Hougan is the other co-captain from the Cornish Quidditch Team. She’s currently attending the college to pursue a degree in motion design.
Tammy Oler co-founded the Denver Roller Dolls in 2005, a nonprofit roller derby league that has not only trained hundreds of female athletes, but also contributed thousands of hours of community service. She also co-produced Talk Derby to Me, a documentary about the roller derby revival.
We don’t talk about sports a lot in geek culture, but a number of GeekGirlCon staff can be seen attending Seattle Sounders games or roller derby bouts, losing their voice at Seattle Seahawks events, running marathons, or kicking butt in fantasy football.
Are you a geek and a jock? Or are you simply interested in learning more about women and sports? This is the panel for you.
With the Summer Olympics only weeks away and ending during GeekGirlCon ‘12, we thought this was the perfect panel to highlight. So what are you waiting for? Get your passes for GeekGirlCon ‘12 before we sell out.
In the meantime, let us know your favorite sport in the comments below.
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07.1.12 // Don’t Be a Drag, Get in the GeekGirlCon ’12 Swag Bag
GeekGirlCon will be here before you know it, and we’re accepting submission for items to put in our swag bags! Are you a geeky business or organization who would like to include any promotional items? If so, please contact Melodie Hardwick at assistopsdir@geekgirlcon.com. We are expecting to fill 4,500 swag bags this year, and the deadline for receiving swag items is July 20.