It's time to let my geek hang out for everyone to see. You've been warned.

This weekend is Westercon, the biggest fan-run science-fiction fantasy convention ever to come to Alberta. As such, our usual summer convention, Con-Version, is taking a miss (hey, it's a limited local market - most of us can only afford to attend one major convention a year).

To keep the 'Con-Version Spirit' alive, and to advertise our 2006 con (David Weber! R. Scott Bakker! Larry Niven!) we're hosting a weekend-long 'mini-con' at the main convention. We have a party room that will run once main programming finishes and will stay open until the wee hours of the morning.

But a mini-con still must have guests, even if they are only required to speak for five minutes. World-famous, globetrotting author Rob Sawyer will be our Guest of Honour, and I have the glorious distinction of standing as Fan Guest of Honour.

Weird, eh? Fan Guest is an odd sort of position. Sometimes it is given to folks who are really, really neat, who come and sing songs, tell stories, and are very entertaining people. Fans who have traveled the breadth of the world to follow their fannish natures. Other times it is given as a reward to a local fan who has put in so much time over the years in fannish pursuits that they figure it's time they were acknowledged for that.

This time? I think they just couldn't find anyone better.

It's not like I haven't been around in local fandom. I've been attending Con-Version for something like 14 years, since (I believe) Con-Version 8 back in 1991. I've served three years as part of the security team, two years handling con-ops (the busiest at-con job), two years putting together the program book, and three years as part of the executive (once as vice-president).

I had a short-lived part in Fanscene, a locally broadcast cable show focusing on fandom, as well as other bizarre local pursuits. As part of the team, I spent an entire weekend covering Vul-Con in Vulcan, Alberta. That wasn't a good year. I've vowed never to return (although I hear this year's event was awesome).

As well as having a current membership in IFWA, the Imaginative Fiction Writer's Association, I was an active member in the USS Astra Star Trek Fan Club for something like nine years, including long stints as vice-president and president. For five years I edited and produced the Astradiem, a fan magazine which (in my humble opinion) was the best fanzine in Western Canada. There are several newspaper archive photos with myself in full Star Trek ensemble. I still have my Star Trek Game Show Host costume (a Next Gen uniform done in red sequins and translucent puffy sleeves with matching red-feathered hat) although the waist needs to be let out. Ahem.

When other cons were in town, like STCon or CalCon, I could usually be found wandering around. I've made it to a few out-of-town conventions like Earthstation Edmonton and the aforementioned Vul-Con, but I can't usually afford it. I did attend Gen-Con a decade ago, but that was more for my role-playing geek as compared to my science-fiction geek.

I am one of the most easily recognized fans in the local circuit, mostly for my work in the Slave Auction, a convention fund-raiser where we auction off nubile young ladies and strapping tattooed lads for one hour of 'mutually-acceptable service'. The girl with the Leia bikini usually goes for over $200. I've gone for that much myself in the occasional year. In the past three years alone we raised over $4,500 for local charities and fandom. Plus I get spend two hours making smutty innuendos in front of an audience every year. Fun!

So there it is: my geek cred. And no, I don't live in my parent's basement. Not any longer, anyway.

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» My Pedigree from 8-Track Mind
Since I'm 'fan guest of honour' at the Con-Version Mini-Con this weekend, I figured it was time to let everyone know what a real geek I am. Don't hate me because I'm geeky.... [Read More]

Tracked on June 29, 2005 04:10 PM