This time next week I will be at the nerd festival that is Dragon*Con. Please feel encouraged to join me and some of my closest friends (and about 60,000 strangers) for 4 days of science, science fiction, and fantasy. There are only 4 real rules: each day you need 3 hours of sleep, 2 meals, and 1 shower (and to wait in a lot of lines, including lines to exit and enter buildings).

Prologue of Random

This is a weird year for me. Since 2008, every time I’ve gone to Dragon*Con I’ve been responsible for some sort of a booth. This year, given budget cuts, I’m going to Dragon*Con without a project team, and there will be no table. This is… odd. It also means that for a first in many years, I’ll be free to go to things and hangout, and I won’t be worried about what trouble my college students may be getting into (yes, they are responsible adults, but they are also responsible adults who I need to be useful adults). Bottomline: this year at Dragon*Con, my only responsibility is not forgetting to give my own talks. Oh, and I also need to remember to eat… but that is not a problem I usually have.

Useful Info

Here is my schedule of talks and events. You can also follow me in the Dragon*Con app. [ iOS D*C app | Android D*C app ] and I will likely tweet the con as though I were playing a text-based RPG. If you want to meet up IRL, drop me a Tweet.

• Women in Science & Tech Careers
  Fri 01:00pm in the Crystal Ballroom – Hilton
  A frank conversation on issues women face in technology & science careers & what we can all do about it.
• Science of The Martian
  Fri 08:30pm in 202 – Hilton
  Andy Weir’s Book is chock full of science bits. Dive deeper into that science & see where he drew his information from.
• A Universe of Strange Planets & Their Equally Strange Stars
  Sat 10:00am in 309-310 – Hilton
  Astronomers are discovering stars & planets that scientists didn’t believe possible.
• Relativity Is Practical
  Sat 05:30pm in 202 – Hilton
  Einstein’s theory underlies in-the-lab research, as well as technology like GPS.
• Non-Scientists Can Do Research, Too
  Sat 08:30pm in 202 – Hilton
  It’s easy to contribute to science projects w/o being a scientist.
• Parsec Awards
  Sun 05:30pm in Regency V – Hyatt
  Join us for the 2015 Parsec Awards Ceremony.
• Solve X Science Show
  Sun 10:00pm in the Hilton Grand Ballroom West
  Our science-themed variety show returns with storytelling, comedy, and PowerPoint karaoke.
• Community Is Everything: How to Build, Maintain, & Love Your Audience
  Mon 10:00 am Location: 203 – Hilton
  Cultivating an audience = podcasting success. We tell you how to do it.
• The Moon? Mars? An Asteroid? Where Do We Go Next?
  Mon 11:30 am Location: 309-310 – Hilton
  Will it be geosynchronus space? Robotic Moon mining? Off-world colonies?

Prologue of Random

I’m in the process of trying to sort the answer to “To really costume or to lame costume?” For instance, I have the Battlestar Galactica tanks you can get on ThinkGeek and “Canon” uniform pants. That is a lame costume. But also awesome. It is awesome and lame, all at once. I also have a Steampunk Circus Ringmaster costume (that I think still fits?) Putting that on, and doing hair and makeup sensibly, is really costuming. I think this weekend will include a large amount of trying things on and deciding just how lazy I want to be.

So, um, see you at Dragon*Con?