Category Archives: Local Conventions

Announcement, Appearances, Local Conventions

Carl’s Arisia Schedule

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For anyone who might be in Boston MLK Day weekend, I’ll be doing several panels at Arisia

Popular Logical Fallacies         Sat 1:00 PM
Rhetoric, logic, and (proper) argument appear to be rare commodities (as recent presidential campaigns have amply demonstrated). From “ad hominem” to “No True Scotsman”, find out what argument styles just plain don’t wash, and learn how to avoid making these mistakes yourself.

The Technology of Star Trek         Sun 11:30 AM
Come celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek by discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly about the depictions of technology on screen and paper: communicators, tricorders, hand-held computers, and dozens of things you remember that the panel forgot.

How We Learn                Sun 8:30 PM
How does the human mind absorb, retain, and recall information? What psychological and biological processes are involved? Does one learning method work for all, or do some learning styles suit certain types of people better?

Read All the Things!              Mon 10:00 AM
Sure, we have limited reading time, but there are some authors whose works clamor to be read in their entirety! Which authors? Come to this panel and find out! Each panelist will discuss the author whose complete works they deem absolutely essential. Come develop your reading list for the next year!

I Hate the Hero                 Mon 1:00 PM
Is there a story with a protagonist that you dislike or maybe is just not likeable. I don’t mean, ‘The heavy is cooler than the hero,’ which is common. I mean you loathe the hero, to the point of rooting for the antagonist just to see them fail. What makes a hero likeable and do they have to be likeable for fans to be interested in the story?

I hope to meet some of you there!

Announcement, Local Conventions

LI Geek

LI GEEK
May 2-3, Ronkonkoma
From the same great folks that brought us LI Who and LI Quest, Be sure to check out LI Geek. With guests from fan favorites like Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Star Trek, The Hobbit, Red Dwarf, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more, there is sure to be something for everyone. Also with plenty of programming, cosplay and masquerade, we can’t wait! Be sure to check it out, and stop by the LI-CON table to say hi!

Appearances, Local Conventions

Carl’s Philcon Schedule

If you’d like to say “Hi.” I’ll be on these Philcon panels:

Fri 7:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Two (1 hour)
NATURE, RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW? (1789)

[Panelists: Lisa Adler-Golden (mod), Carl Fink, Jay Wile, L Hunter
Cassells, JJ Brannon]

Recent scientific findings indicate that chimpanzees are violent in
nature, committing acts that look like murder and even war. Does
this mean that intra-species violence is inevitable? Does it depend
on the species? And what could it mean for humanity to learn that
some of our closest relatives in the animal world are, like us,
inclined to violence

Sat 10:00 AM in Crystal Ballroom Two (1 hour)
STEM EDUCATION INSPIRATION (PT. 1) (1782)

[Panelists: Inge Heyer (mod), Earl Bennett, Carl Fink, John Monahan,
Robert C Roman, Katie Gardner]

American schoolchildren famously lag behind some of their
international peers in math and science knowledge. What are some
ways of making up this gap and enabling American children to be
global competitors in science and technology

Sat 12:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Two (1 hour)
THE SCIENCE IN EVERYDAY LIFE (1788)

[Panelists: Carl Fink (mod), Brian Gray, John Monahan, Jay Wile,
Inge Heyer, Muriel Hykes]

Sun 1:00 PM in Plaza III (Three) (1 hour)
MARKETING SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTIONS (1869)

[Panelists: Carl Fink (mod), Gary Feldbaum, Savan Gupta, Inge Heyer,
Lynn E. Cohen Koehler, Sue Ellen Colter]

Science Fiction conventions must keep seeking and attracting new
members if we’re going to not only survive but thrive. This panel
will discuss the various ways in which we can reach out beyond those
who already attend conventions and to bring back those have not
wanted to return

Appearances, Local Conventions

Come say “Hi” at Pi-Con

LI-CON Chair Carl Fink (that’s me!) will be a Program Participant at 8Pi-Con June 27-29 in Enfield, Connecticut. My schedule is:

Fri 9:00pm     How to Think Good (mod)
Sat 10:00am   Who Isn’t a Fan? (mod)
Sat 12:00pm  How do Cons Happen?
Sat 3:00pm     Your Monkey’s An Uncle
Sat 4:00pm     Biology is Weird (mod)
Sat 7:00pm     The Year (and a half) in Science (mod)
Sun 12:00pm Telling Science from Nons(ci)ense

Alert congoers may spot another LI-CON exec or two at Pi-con.

I hope to see you there.

Carl

Local Conventions

LI-CON: 30 years ago

When our team decided to call our new convention “LI-CON” we were sure that it was a brand-new, brilliant, perfect name.

Two out of three ain’t bad, right?

It turns out that in 1983, a team that was planning to run a World Science Fiction Convention bid ran a convention named “LICon” at the Hempstead Plaza hotel (which seems to not exist any more). I can’t locate any official record of that convention, so I’m grateful to Louis Epstein for telling me about it. Apparently this team never ran another Long Island-based con, although some of them were involved in running two NYClones (oddly held in New Jersey).

We’re glad to continue the tradition started back in ’83, although I think we will be putting on another LI-CON in less than 30 years!

Appearances, Local Conventions

Rock star—I mean, LI-CON Vice-Chair Heather does a personal appearance

HeatherLI-CON Vice-Chair and head of Programming Heather Dawn will be doing programming at Voltaire’s Wicked Necro-Comicon 2014. This is your chance to meet the amazing multi-personality—I mean, multi-talented Heather.

The convention is February 21-23 in Bridgewater. We’ll put her schedule up here as soon as we have it.

***UPDATE***

Heather Dawn will be speaking at Voltaire’s Wicked Necro-Comicon on Saturday, February 22nd at 4:00pm!

Interested in Japanese demonology?  Check out her panel “Kappas, Goblins, and Oni’s… Oh My!”

Is that a mysterious shadow on your Shoji screen? Are you having strange dreams? Ever wonder what happens to your soul when you sleep? This panel will tell you everything you need to know about the beasties in Japanese ghost folklore, how to survive a Yurei attack, and where you can “catch them all” in Anime.

Appearances, Local Conventions

Spring is nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!”

–Robin Williams

LI-CON will bring a grand tradition back to Long Island: room parties at conventions. Room parties are a chance for convention-goers to just hang out together in a social way. (Yes, nerds socialize!) They can also be used for a business purpose. For instance, many times a convention team will throw a party at a different convention as a way to interest people in attending. (We’re throwing a party at Arisia, for instance.)

Parties usually start around the time panels slow down, so plan to spend Saturday evening at room parties.

If you’d like to throw a party, please email parties@li-con.org. We have only a very limited number of party rooms, so act fast!