Take Your Kids to Rocket City NerdCon!

Rocket City NerdCon is celebrating its fourth year, and we spoke with Convention Chair Dorothie Linton to give us details, tips, and recommendations on what’s happening this year. Even better, we’re giving away a family pack of four passes to one lucky Rocket City Mom Reader below!

When/Where is Rocket City NerdCon this year? How much are tickets?
Rocket City NerdCon is the first weekend in November, Saturday the 4th and Sunday the 5th at the Downtown Huntsville Library. The hours are 9am to 9pm on Saturday and 9am to 5pm on Sunday. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the doors and are good for both days of the convention. You can get tickets in advance HERE.

This is fourth installment of Nerdcon. What’s new this year?
We really try to keep things new and engaging while still having all the events people enjoy. Our cosplay contest and Disney singalongs are super popular! We are always looking at ways to improve or add new attractions and this year is no different. Some things to look forward include our new vendor area on the first floor which allows us to offer more vendor and artist spaces.

Another new feature this year is our Kids Camp on Saturday. There are two different age group sessions for parents to drop their kids off to enjoy Harry Potter-themed activities run by NerdCon staff while parents enjoy panels and relax a bit. You do have to pre-register for the camps and there is a $5 supply fee but you can easily add this when you purchase your tickets through the website which makes it very convenient.

*Kids learning dow to play Dungeons & Dragons at NerdCon.*

Do you have an event schedule finalized?
It is being finalized as we speak! We’re very lucky to have a great selection of panels this year and will be releasing the event schedule on our website, www.rocketcitynerdcon.org and on our Facebook page very soon.

What guests/speakers will be attending this year?
We are incredibly excited by our guests this year! We have three returning guests, Jim and A.Ron from the Bald Move podcast who are actually going to be recording a live podcast at one of their panels, and Chris Harrelson from The Walking Dead who is such a great guy and always has fantastic panel discussions.

Our new guests include Kati Coe and Sharon Rose who are amazing cosplayers and do a lot of outstanding work promoting body positivity and ways cosplay can be a not just a creative outlet but a way to address social and mental issues in healthy and healing ways. And out last special guest is Nancy Silberkleit, the co-CEO of Archie Comics who we are thrilled to have speak about both her professional and charity work.

Can you tell us more about Nancy Silberkleit and her talk? She seems like a very interesting person.
Nancy is a fascinating person and her story carries so many lessons for all different kinds of people. Not only is she a female CEO but she is an “accidental boss” who found herself moving from being an art teacher to handling a multi-million dollar company that is so beloved by millions of people. If that wasn’t enough, she also believes very strongly in the ways that literacy and learning to read open doorways and enrich children’s lives and her talk will focus on how comic books can be a very important gateway for kids to really develop a love of reading.

The vendor area is probably my favorite area; I love browsing around and seeing all the creative items. What vendors will be on hand this year?
We have a great mix of returning favorites and new faces this year! Some of our vendors include Sweet Geek, Cotton Candy Llamas, Float, and The DeeP.

Another popular event (especially for kids) is the cosplay contest. When will this year’s event be? What are the age groups/divisions?
We love our cosplay contest, too! The cosplay contest will be on Saturday at 2:30pm and there are four divisions: Group, Adults, Teens 13-16, and Kids 12 and under. Our two cosplay guests, Kati Coe and Sharon Rose are on our judging panel this year so we hope everyone really brings out their amazing costumes and shows them what Huntsville can do!

What panels/sessions will you be featuring?
In addition to our special guests panels, we’ve have RCNC favorite Disney singalong back. There’s three this year, so get ready to belt them out! We are also doing an interactive showing of The Princess Bride in honor of the 30th anniversary. Our Nerdies are also back, awarding top prizes to the worst sci-fi movies made.

Do you have pre/post convention events/parties planned?
We do! There will be a pre-party Friday night, starting at 6PM at Pints & Pixels on Clinton Ave. downtown. We’ll be having early badge pick up and playing video games until 10PM so come out and get the con started early!

In your opinion, what are the best events/panels for each age group?
For kids 6-10, you really can’t go wrong with the Disney singalongs. The words are all up on the screen but most kids know them already and it’s a great way to let them have a blast without making a mess.

Pre-teens and teens will likely love both the cosplay contest and the Intro to Podcasting by Bald Move. They really cover the ins and outs of podcasting and it’s such a great creative outlet that doesn’t require a lot of investment. There’s also a Harry Potter panel discussing everything going on in the wizarding world, including all the juicy details about the new Fantastic Beasts movie so if you’ve got any Potterheads in the house, that’s where they need to be.

Adults and families alike can enjoy the films showings but only adults will be allowed into the Saturday evening Red Wedding event where a feast of daring participants will try to uncover the murderer in the group before the meal is over. And the vendors always have something for everybody!

Rocket City NerdCon Details At-a-Glance

Date: November 4-5, 2017
Hours: Saturday from 9:00AM – 9:00PM | Sunday from 9AM – 5PM
Location: Huntsville Public Library, 915 Monroe St SW, Huntsville, AL 35801
Cost: $15 in advance, $20 at the door for both days (Kids 10 and under are free with a ticketed adult), Kids Camp on Saturday $5 supply fee per child
Buy tickets online
View Website | NerdCon on Facebook | NerdCon on Twitter

The NerdCon Giveaway

One lucky RCM Reader will win a family 4-pack of passes to this year’s NerdCon! All you need to do to enter is leave us a comment below and let us know what character you would most like to cosplay if you could. We’ll draw a winner on Wednesday, Nov. 1st! #MayTheForceBeWithYou

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Sam Chow

Sam Chow was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta. A 5th grade field trip to Space Camp started his lifelong love of technology and engineering. He juggled working in Huntsville while studying for his engineering degree at Mississippi State and moved here full-time in 2001. He and his lovely wife Connie were married in 2006 and currently have a five year old and a nine year old, a dog, and a cat. In his spare time he enjoys training and watching mixed martial arts, watching old foreign films, reading, and video gaming.