As the hot months wane and we start to look into the cold times ahead, the con pickings keep on coming (until the inevitable drought around Standard Holiday Season). For some people, the Fall is a bit of a respite as the mega-cons of the summer are done, and the medium to large cons take over for a few months. Not too crowded, but crowded enough, and a consistently achievable price point.
But some cons also take more planning that just a day-trip out in the area, and they are usually a much bigger bite out of the budget. So here’s a look ahead at the cons in our region coming up over the next few months. You’ll see a couple of cons below outside our usual stomping grounds – never to fear, DC Geeks isn’t abandoning our local focus. It’s just that sometimes you need to step out and join the madness of the throngs.
And remember, we've still got September to go. You can check out last quarter's report to make plans for this month, like the upcoming Small Press Expo.
October
October 11 through 13 - Capclave - Gaithersburg, MD - $70 for the weekend at the door
- One of the local favorites for its unique nature - a con about literature, for those who love both creating and consuming it. In the past they've had major name guests, both announced and announced, and this year is no different: George R. R. Martin is the author guest of honor. And if you have any pretensions towards writing at all, you must check out their programming page.
 |
| Gaming for a cause Save Against Fear |
October 11 through 13 - Save Against Fear - Lancaster, PA - $40 for the weekend at the door
- This is a new one on the DCG radar, but its already got a special place in our shriveled hearts - Save Against Fear is an old fashioned gaming con, focused mostly on current table top games, some war gaming, a lot of prizes, and all of it works as a fund raiser to help kids that have been sexually traumatized.
October 11 through 13 - Tsubasacon - Huntington, WV - $40 for the weekend at the door
- West Virginia's only dedicated anime con, they're hitting ten this year and seem to be just building steam as time goes on. Its a bit of a drive, but for our local readers: your dollars stretch a lot further out there.
October 10 through 13 - New York City Comicon - New York, NY - $40 for Friday (full events tickets sold out)
- Its a Comicon. Its in New York. Its not as big as SDCC, but its still huge and has a guest, panel, and vendor list longer than all my limbs amputated and then stitched together. Its also less than two hours on the train, which makes it an easy day trip from folks in our area. On the downside, only Thursday and Friday day passes are still available, so if you're going to see someone specific make sure your attendance matches up with theirs.
October 18 through 20 - CharCon - Charleston, WV - $40 for the weekend at the door
- A straight up gaming con in the western reaches of West Virginia (which makes it attractive to me at least - I wouldn't want to live there, but I love visiting). This will be year seven for them, and they've been consistently hitting 500+ attendees the last few years. Games, games, board games, and local quirks make it sound like a relaxing and fun weekend event.
October 19 - Tigercon - Towson, MD - Free
- Most college anime clubs are fairly insular, and for good reasons. The folks out at Towson have taken the opposite approach though, and are inviting everyone to come out for a free day of anime screenings, panel, cosplay and geeking out. Just do them a favor and register so they know how many to expect.
October 31 through November 3 - Metatopia - Morristown, NJ - $30 for the event at the door (players only)
- Here's a fun one for our die hard gamers. Metatopia is a con designed to serve the needs of game creators and designers, giving them a venue to show off new material, test out ideas, and the like. They pay a fair chunk of change to get in. You, as a gamer, are there to, well, QA, and get a much lower entry fee for the con, plus the chance to play some pre-publication games.
November
November 1 through 3 - NekoCon - Hampton Roads, VA - $40 for the event
- Calling it a beach front anime con isn't quite truthful, but its pretty close. Our friends are Nekocon are back for their 16th year, ready to welcome you back. The usual high quality fare will be available this year, and there is the new addition of the Neko Chibi track for kids.
 |
| Faeries aren't the only folk you'll encounter at FaerieCon (Image from Flickr) |
November 8 through 10 - FaerieCon - Hunt Valley, MD - $125 for the event "passport"
- You'll notice this con is considerably more than the other cons in this season. Then again, this con is run rather differently than gaming or anime cons. Beyond the panels (which tend to fill up extremely rapidly), the large name authors (Charles deLint and Jim Butcher among others), the FaerieCon folks pull in large name (and often European) bands for their masquerade balls each night. $125 is a bit much for me to swallow for a local subculture con. $125 for four live concerts of musicians I love, plus authors I love, plus a fun con... that's a harder argument for me to make with myself.
November 8 through 10 - Philcon - Cherry Hill, NJ - $45 for the event
- Right, this is Philcon. This is Philcon's 77th year. This is Philcon claiming the crown of oldest and longest running scifi and fantasy convention. This is Philcon adding another year's complexity and richness to their events. See Philcon run. Run, Philcon, run.
November 14 through 17 - EuroQuest - Pikesville, MD - $55 for the event at the door
- Sure, your friends will indulge your European style boardgame habits, but they never give you a challenge. They don't research ahead of time, don't play out scenarios on their own, and you're left feeling hollow after your victories. Until now. EuroQuest. All European style games, competitive heats, semi-finals, and finals held to find the true local champions of each.
November 15 through 17 - Fall In! - Lancaster, PA - costs post 9/27/13
- A historical miniatures wargame con in nearby Pennsylvania, it looks like they are going for a repeat of last year's turn out of more than 1,500 wargamers ready to change the course of history. And if you have a very, very patient spouse, they can get in free (as long as they don't game).
November 15 through 17 - MACE - Charlotte, NC - $40 for the weekend at the door
- The largest gaming dedicated con in North Carolina, in their second year at the new location. Table top RPGs, card games, and board games are the focus, and there are hundreds on the slate.
November 23 through 24 - Virginia Comicon - Richmond, VA - baseline registration is $20 but lots of add-ons
- And Virginia gets its own comicon going, though with a twist. While there's a decent guest list, the usual vendors and cosplay, this is the first comicon I'm aware of that takes place at a race track and has discounted RV camping with hookups for attendees.
November 29 through December 1 - Darkovercon - Timonium, MD - $55 for the weekend at the door
- The Thanksgiving weekend con tradition continues as Darkovercon holds its 36th meeting this year. While the main programming revolves around the Darkover books, as usual, they are bringing back the Alternative and Steampunk tracks this year. Look for more details closer to time, but the con is looking attractive as a smaller, intimate con in which to shelter from the holiday madness.
With so many options to choose from, hopefully you'll get enough con action to last through the Winter lull.
Did we miss something? Let us know in the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment