Girls’ Weekend Out: GeekGirlCon 2014

GeekGeekCon was this past weekend. This gamer mom was so busy with new adventures, I didn’t have time to play—let alone look at—a board game the whole weekend.

New adventures—there were many. My daughter and I went together for a girls’ weekend away. On her request, we did a themed cosplay. Plus, I roomed with people I had never met before. Since I sat at the GeekMom table, I spent a lot of time in the exhibition hall and visited a couple of favorite vendors—and met several more!

We started the weekend with the GeekMom panel. Panelists Tristan J. Tarwater (of Back That Elf Up) and Ariane, Kelly, Corrina, and I (of GeekMom) answered questions on how to help our kids pursue their interests without losing our identities.

Determined for my daughter and I to show our identities with pride, we dressed up as our favorite characters from Guardians of the Galaxy (it should be noted that my husband did 99.9% of the work on our costumes and is the most incredible person I know). Our costumes seemed to be a hit with convention attendees. We were stopped for photos many times. The Groot costume was even mentioned in a couple of different GeekGirlCon blog updates.

Sharing of pictures was more a thing this year than in past years. Though, when I checked Twitter, #GGC14 images weren’t easy to find. But I was given several cards and flyers when our picture was taken telling me what outlets our picture would be on. A couple of these sites included Perzephone Cosplay, Studio5Graphics, SharcTank, and 1darkjedi.

Apparently, Studio5Graphics’ image of my daughter and I received a viral amount of hits on Twitter.

Then there are the videos. GeekMom Corrina took a video and posted it to GeekMom’s Facebook page. It went a little bonkers, too. Plus, she danced with Iron Man (truly nice couple, check out the blog, too!). My point besides bragging rights? Cute Groot gets attention. Family cosplay shows a family bond and that parenting can be fun. I think sometimes parents forget that they were once kids and we need to practice the kid skills or lose them.

We spent a great deal of time on the exhibit floor. My daughter saved her allowance for several months in preparation for the event. Did she find find ways to spend the money in her pocket? I would say so.

Kelly already told you about Friday Afternoon Teas and Digital Soaps. I purchased a couple of teas (Serpent’s Blend from their Hogwarts line, and Pirate King Blend) and was tempted by the soaps.

Other table visits included the GeekGirlCon merchandise table for a sweatshirt and t-shirt and a trip down to Artist Alley for a bookmark purchase of Rocket and Groot at Ashleigh Popplewell‘s table followed by a series of Doctor Who and Guardians of the Galaxy button purchases from Iguana Comics & Buttons. We were tempted to buy a fluff ball cat from Careful It Bites, but in the end, we ran out of funds. Groot’s major purchase for the weekend was an 11th Doctor sonic screwdriver purchased from Comics Forge (aka Studio5Graphics). I made one additional purchase from a fellow Wazzu alum at JBM Press. He and his wife made these awesome shirts for RPG players that I couldn’t pass up for my husband and me.

My daughter’s favorite parts were getting her Meowsic Keyboard
signed by the Doubleclicks and doing science. She drew with invisible ink, made a Möbius strip, and made a hover craft—but her favorite was extracting DNA from fruit.

It was a wonderful weekend. My daughter has already asked to go back next year as long as we don’t cosplay and take the time to enjoy all parts of the convention.