Diversicon 2007

Minneapolis/St. Paul is home to a dozen or more science fiction conventions. This weekend (August 3 -5) will be Diversicon 15/Consume Relaxicon. It will be held at the Holiday Inn Select International Airport—Mall of America, 3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55425; 952-854-9000. The guest of honor will be ANDREA HAIRSTON who is is the author of the novel Mindscape (Aqueduct Press, 2006) and of fiction in Dark Matter: Reading the Bones (Sheree R. Thomas, ed., 2004) and So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Visions of the Future (Nalo Hopkinson & Uppinder Mehan, eds., 2004). Diversicon has a stated mission to promote diversity in science fiction.

Diveriscon is one of my personal favorite cons because it's not terribly big. There's usually only a couple of hundred attendees and many of those are authors, editors, voracious readers, and other experts in our field.

I'll be there on Saturday only. My schedule of panels is:

11:00-11:50 AM Krushenko?s (Concierge)
Panel: Good Blog/Bad Blog -- Modern Technology and Artists
What modern technology is available for artists (for self promotion, research, etc.)? What purpose can a blog serve? What are the ways things can go wrong? Discussion boards -- good, bad, or dependent on how they're used? S.N. Arly, mod.; Melissa S. Kaercher, Greg L. Johnson, Rachel Kronick, Catherine Lundoff, Lyda Morehouse

1:00-1:50 PM Mainstage (Beacon/Duchess)
Panel: The Politics of Battlestar Galactica
We'll talk about the politics that may or may not underpin the series, as well as the opinions expressed by various political commentators who've claimed the show for their own. Greg L. Johnson, mod.; JaniceBogstad, Philip Kaveny, Scott Lohman, Lyda Morehouse

3:00-3:50 PM Mainstage (Beacon/Duchess)
Panel: Why Doesn't Superman Look Like Me?
Comics have long been a stronghold of muscular Aryan men and buxom babes in skimpy costumes. There are more racially & culturally diverse characters now than ever before, but comics still fall short of being representational of real world diversity. Why are comics still associated with these archetypes that date back to the 1930's? Melissa S. Kaercher, Christopher Jones, co-mods.; Cynthia Booth, Lyda Morehouse

Conventions have part of the science fiction publication landscape almost since the beginning. What do you think of them? As a necessary evil to promote your books? A way to connect with fellow geeks, er, "early adaptors" over your favorite TV shows, movies, books? An embarrasment every time a newspaper runs and article that shows your BFF dressed as a Klingon? All of the above?

Do you have favorite cons to recommend?