CONvergence Is Coming!

[michaeldthomas]

The preliminary schedule for CONvergence is up. For those of you who haven’t been to one, this the most fun convention around. It’s a huge celebration of all that is geeky and wonderful. The panels are loose and positive, the activities are innovative, and there are more room parties than I can count. Each room party also has a unique theme, and the joie de vivre spirit infuses everything. I cannot recommend this con enough.

Also, Minnesotans are just awesome. Seriously. We made like a dozen friends last year.

Here are the details:
CONvergence
July 3-6
Sheraton Bloomington Hotel
Bloomington, MN
http://www.convergence-con.org/

Guests:
Trace Beaulieu
Puppeteer, Writer and Actor from Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Cinematic Titanic 

Robert Meyer Burnett
Filmmaker, director of Free Enterprise, and producer of DVD extras. 

Christian Colquhoun
Prop-builder and physical effects artist whose projects include Galaxy Quest, Van Helsing, and Firefly.
Larry Dixon
Co-author of Mage Wars and Dariens Tale series, author of many short stories and game material and fantasy artist.
Daren Dochterman
Designer and illustrator for over 35 feature films, including Star Trek: The Motion Picture Special Edition.
Mark Evanier
Television and Comic Book Writer. 
http://www.povonline.com
Kenneth Hite
Role-playing game designer for GURPS, the Star Trek role playing game, and beyond. Dr. James Kakalios
U of M physics professor, author of The Physics of Superheroes. 

Harry Knowles
Creator of Aint-It-Cool-News.com.
Jay Knowles
Creator of Harry Knowles (and contributor to AICN). 

John Kovalic
Cartoonist and Game designer: Dork Tower, Dr. Blink, Out of the Box Games.
Mercedes Lackey
Author of many popular novels, including the Valdemar and Bardic Voices series and folk music lyricist.
Bridget Landry
Engineer on the teams of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Mars Pathfinder project, the Cassini Mission to Saturn, and other space missions.
Peter Mayhew
The actor who played the beloved Chewbacca in the original Star Wars Trilogy and in Episode III. 

Andrew Probert
Production Designer for Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Airwolf.
Vincent Truitner 

Animation and CGI artist.
David Weber
Author of the Honor Harrington series and other military science-fiction
Len Wein
Writer for comics and animation, creator of Swamp Thing, Nightcrawler & Wolverine.
Greg Weisman
Creator of Disney’s Gargoyles and supervising producer of The Spectacular Spider-Man for 2008.
Wally Wingert
Voice Actor
Marv Wolfman
Writer for comics and animation, creator of Blade, Bullseye & The New Teen Titans.
Bernie Wrightson
Comic Book Artist and Illustrator