This past weekend the first annual illogiCon , a science fiction convention, was held in Raleigh for the first time.
Brandon Ulick , vice convention chair, spoke about how the convention came about.
“We thought Raleigh needed [a science-fiction convention],” Ulick said. “We all kind of had an agreement on what we wanted to do, and we set out to do it. We made some mistakes, but it worked out.”
As a fan run science-fiction convention, there were panels for a wide range of subjects including getting started as writer, sci-fi television shows, video games and films, comics, costuming, and trivia. There was also a “Wondrous Winter Formal” hosted by James Rippe , also known as Formal Vader, with other Star Wars costumers acting as guards, and a Harry Potter “Yule Ball” hosted by The Blibbering Humdingers, a band who sings songs about the books and movies.
The guests of honor included science-fiction writer Joe Haldeman , and famous game master Richard “War Bunny” Desautels .
Haldeman has been writing since 1969 and has attended conventions across the country. When he is not writing, he is a professor at MIT. He spoke highly of the new convention.
“I enjoyed a couple of the panels especially. The thing that they did this afternoon, this random weird thing where three panelists each had a box full of random stuff, which you couldn’t see, and people would come up with a random word, like Pinocchio, and they all had to go through the stuff in their box and come up with something vaguely related to Pinocchio and explain why it was related. The audience would vote for who was the best, and it was hilarious because they were all good stand-up people,” Haldeman said.
One of the guests on that panel was N.C . State’s own John Kessel , professor in the English department and a Nebula award winning science-fiction author. Kessel participated in a number of other panels at the convention.
Jess Tompkins, a science-fiction fan and official member of the Star Wars Mandolorian Mercs costume club, traveled from Greensboro to show her support for local conventions.
“I wanted to…hang out with old friends and meet new people who share similar interests and hobbies, and to attend the panels, events, and general shenanigans,” Tompkins said.
For many like Tompkins, the convention is not just about the panels and famous people you might meet. Frequent convention-goers make many friends from all around the country and sometimes the conventions are the few times a year they can get together.
“My favorite aspect of any con is to hang out with the friends I’ve made though other NC cons and to just enjoy the general atmosphere of geek camaraderie,” Tompkins said.
Ulick said one of the best things about a convention like this is the opportunity to see people from different places.
“All of our friends from all over came and hung out, and we could see each other all in one place for the first time in a while, so that was fun. That’s the best part about these things, the people,” Ulick said.
At the convention’s closing ceremonies Sunday night, the organizers said that with the success of this year they were excited to announce that illogiCon will return in 2013.
“It’s interesting. Most of the cons we go to have been going on for decades, and so it’s fun to see people trying to figure out how to do it their own way,” Haldeman said.
The dates and location for 2013 have not been confirmed, but news and further information can be found on the official illogiCon website. [ www.illogicon.com ]