Intervention 2011: A Con for You and Your Kids!

I’ve heard parents at cons say over and over, “If only I could bring my kids…” or “My kids are so bored…”. Well now there is a convention with programming specifically designed for the younger geeklings! Intervention 2011 held September 16-18th in Rockville, MD, will have programming throughout the entire weekend for parents to share the convention experience with their kids!

Being the parent of two young boys, I don’t get to go to very many conventions, yet I’m always ridiculously jealous hearing everyone else’s convention stories. You see, I didn’t actually attend my first sci-fi convention till I was five months pregnant with my first geekling, Balticon 2008. Very good friends of mine convinced my husband and I to just come and give it a chance. It was an awesome experience! I loved finally getting to connect with people who were like me. I made some new friends, found some new hobbies, and fell in love with a couple of authors.

Since my kids arrived, conventions have to be fit around meal times, nap times and early bedtimes, leaving very little time to enjoy a convention generally geared for adults. I once tried to bring my infant into a panel that I was really interested in, but sure enough as soon as it started, he started to fuss, and not wanting to disturb anyone, I left. As a mom I can officially say the only thing worse then not being able to attend a con is going to a con and not being able to do anything.

Intervention (a combination of the words “Internet” and “Convention”) is a creator-focused Internet Culture Convention started in 2010 by webcomic creator / illustrator Onezumi Hartstein and web developer James Harknell.

“We are ‘Your Online Life, In Person.’ Imagine a comicon where the focus is  on webcomics and other independent creators like bloggers, podcasters, musicians, and artists. We are about the fans and the creators who use the Internet as their primary method of publication and interaction.” – Washington City Paper Interview with Hartstein

Since this is the second year of Intervention and the programming has branched out a lot, I was recruited by Oni after BaltiCon 2011 to help design the children’s programming track with GeekDad Matt Blum and art teacher Corinne Simmers. We’ve put together an entire weekend of events specifically designed for kids. We hope that we can engage every type of kid, from the boisterous to the timid. We are planning Lego building contests, hands-on experiments, kid-friendly fireworks, a Science Q&A panel, book readings, comic drawing and so much more. As if that weren’t enough we are planning a kids hall costume contest and an artist alley scavenger hunt. We are planning tons of giveaways and prizes for the kids. It should be a ton of fun and engaging for kids. We are hoping that it will be a place where parents can bring their kids and kids can learn to become as addicted to conventions as the rest of us.

Now that you are planning on bringing the kids, just know that you adults haven’t been forgotten either, there is so much programming specifically for you as well. There will be musical guests, LARP around the clock, a game room, independent film viewings, a massive artists alley and panels to interact with all sorts of internet-based folks, in person!

Have you never been to a convention before? This is a great con to get your feet wet, the programming is diverse, it’s not overwhelmingly large, the people are friendly, and you can bring your kids without guilt! What more could you ask for?

I can’t wait to see you there!

Intervention Con September 16-18, 2011
Hilton Washington, D.C./Rockville, MD, right next to the Twinbrook Metro Station on the Red line.
Tickets are $40 for the weekend till August 31st, and $45 for the weekend at the door.