This year at DragonCon I had the opportunity to attend and speak on a number of panels throughout the weekend! I always love watching and sitting in on panels that so many amazing and well spoken fans do for the convention. They come together to share their opinions on different fandom topics, and offer an opinion I may not always think of myself when approaching the specific topic that is being spoken on.
I participated in five panels this year at DragonCon. Three for the American Scifi Media track and two for the Brit-Track. I was lucky enough to speak on the Arrow, Super Girl and The Flash Panels, which were all great talks about the writing, female visibility in the super hero genre, the way the stories have taken on their own life from their comic book counter parts and how the fan just love these characters and their stories.
The Super Girl panel had to be one of my favorites. The show itself shows how much it is needed just by the people attending the panel. A father in the audience raised his hand asking about comics for his 7 year old and what he can get her to read that is age appropriate that will help nurture her love of Super Girl and other female super heroes that she has gained from watching Super Girl. As a female comic reader who has been reading comics since she was a child, and worked for many many years at a comic shop, where she regularly heard "You're the owners daughter right? Why else would a girl be in a comic shop?" It made me so happy to see a father realizing his daughter loves these stories and using that as her gateway for reading instead of trying to push on her stereotypical girl likes, since we no longer live in a world where stereotypes define female likes and male likes. I had a great talk with the dad afterwards and gave him a list of super hero's and child friendly comics and books to pass her way, so hopefully that helped him some.
Another really amazing Panel was the Brit Track David Bowie panel I got to sit on. I will admit I was scared I would be a blubbering, crying mess when we started talking about the Star Man, whom I loved so much. But this panel was so relaxing and getting to hear so many stories from the panelist AND the audience, it really showed how one person can change so many through their music and art. David Bowie touched so many peoples lives and getting to hear the stories of a few, and share my own was amazing.
My last panel of the weekend was the always fun Earth Station Who live podcast! I have done this one for four years and always love getting to be a part of it. We talked about what makes a good companion and you can check out the episode on the ESW network from the
link here .
DragonCon is always one of my favorite conventions during the year. They have great programming and lots of amazing music and costumes. It is always a blast to get to go and enjoy the fandoms I love with a ton of other fans!
You can find out more about DragonCon by visiting their
webpage here!
