Con Nooga Report

I'm trying this quick post on my phone in my ever expanding quest to utilize blogging technology. I'm at Con Nooga this weekend. It's been fun! As opposed to the cozy smallness of ChattaCon, Con Nooga is a much bigger, much younger, more ComiCon-y event with a lot more anime, horror, and comic fandom participation.

Aside from the large ComiCon-y dealers' room and some music acts, I've been to panels on Dune, Game of Thrones, and Stephen King. There was a panel on philosophy and religion in sci-fi and fantasy, which was surprisingly well attended.  A lot of it focused on the use of religion in sci-fi and fantasy. It was fun! One of my favorite events was a Star Wars versus Star Trek debate!  A Red Shirt was on the Star Trek side, and Admiral Ackbar was on the Star Wars side. (Star Trek was judged the winner by a small margin). See my photo below.

One nice thing about Con Nooga is its emphasis on diversity. I went to a panel on diversity in sci-fi and fantasy, Chattanooga Pride had a prominent table, and the mood of Con goers seemed inviting and open. Is this a sign of the future, especially at a younger Con like this? I hope so.

(EDIT: I couldn't figure out how to do hyperlinks on the Blogger phone app, so here's a link to the Con Nooga website.)

(EDIT PART TWO: Sunday was a short day for the Con, but I went to a panel on Orson Scott Card's work and the politics of authorship and an event with actor Eddie McClintock from the TV show, Warehouse 13.  Also, given my experience of Con Nooga as open to diversity, which I should reiterate was my own experience that may not match others' experience, check out this list of links from Jim C. Hines on issues surrounding Mark Oshiro's horrible experience at ConQuesT 46.)