First Parkersburg Pop Con

The first Parkersburg Pop Con will be held at WVU Parkersburg in Parkersburg this Saturday October 8th from 11am to 8pm.  An event to both promote pop culture, STEM, and WVU Parkersburg.

The 501st, Bunny Bombshell, Burning Bulb Publishing, Derek Croston, Dirt Candy Productions, Dueling Ogres Podcast, WV Ghostbusters, Hades Ladies Roller Derby, James Patrick, Jason Lewis, Jason Pell, J.D. Williamson, Mid-Ohio Valley Superman, Nathan Arnold, Shawn Langley, Storyteller Publishing, WV Wonder Woman, and more promoting and selling their creations.  The Gaming Club, STEM Department, and Legal Studies Department will all be set up there.  The Legal Studies will have a crime scene on display for you to puzzle over and figure out what happened.

Vendors will comics, games, collectables, video games, toys, nerdy crafts like soaps and plushies, cosplay items, anime and manga, movies, clothes, jewelry, a photo booth, and more.  Several restaurants will be set-up with food as well.

Panel on video games, cosplay, three panels on women in horror, how to get into comics, and podcasting with Dueling Ogres.  Closing Ceremonies start at 7:30pm.  The Girl Scouts will have a table teaching kids how to debug a video game and how to create their own. There will also be a Pokémon Go hike through the campus and a kid friendly room with activities and face painting.

Video competitions hosted by Game Stop will be $20 and starts at 2pm, sign-ups at the con.  They will have Super Smash Bros, Pokken, Street Fighter V, and Mario Kart 8.  Some of the stores will have table top gaming going on.  A Cosplay Contest with categories for Best Hero Male and Female, Best Villain Male and Female, Best Hero and Villain Youth, and Most Creative.  They have also promised special Snapchat filters for the con.

Cost to get in is only $5.

Another fun and cheap little con with several interesting things to see and do.

Hack3rCon5

This year is the 5th Anniversary of Hack3rcon organized by 304Geeks and Hackers for Charity on Friday November 14th to Sunday November 16th at the Charleston Civic Center.  A weekend of computers, security, and hanging out.

Registration opens at 8:30am on each day.  There will be a workshop area, a Network King of the Hill contest, dinners at Black Sheep Burrito and Brews, after parties on Friday and Saturday with music acts and bikini contest at the Blue Parrot, instructor led workshops, and talks led by guests speakers about of security, programming, computers, and more.

Speakers for this year include: Brian Martin, Bill Gardner, Lee Baird, Aedan Somerville, Shawn Jordan, Justin Rogosky, Tom Moore, Saurabh Harit, Jon Schipp, Adrian Krenshaw, Mark Maxey, Luis Santana, Tim Fowler, Ronin, Josh Perrymon, Stephen Hilt, Ronnie Fabela, David Kennedy and more.

Registration is $100 for the weekend.  A portion of the proceeds will go to charity.

Professionals and enthusiasts should see about going out to this event for learning and networking (ha ha).

304 Geeks is group for people in the Charleston WV area who are interested in computers. The goal of the group is to bring together computer professional from various backgrounds to network and share knowledge.

Hackers For Charity is a non-profit organization that leverages the skills of technologists. We solve technology challenges for various non-profits and provide food, equipment, job training and computer education to the world’s poorest citizens.

 

Rocket Boys Festival 2014

The Rocket Boys Festival is this weekend Friday October 3rd through Sunday October 5th in Beckley.  Most of the events will be at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine (BECM) at the New River Park.  The mine will be open during the weekend at special discounts.  The Rocket Boys are Homer Hickam, Roy Lee Cooke, Jimmie O’Dell Carroll, and Billy Rose.

 

 

 

Events start on Friday at 9am with the Rocket Boys holding a meet and greet with middle and high school students at the BECM.  Later from noon till 1:30pm the Rocket Boys 2014 Prodigy Teacher of the Year Award Luncheon.  Tickets for the event are $20 for adults, $15 for teachers, and $10 for students.  At 2pm an Actors Workshop with Chris Ellis and Danny Boyd will be held.  Tickets are $15 for adults and $7.50 for teachers and students.  A Writer’s Workshop with Homer Hickam and three guests authors will be at 4pm.  Adult Tickets are $25, student and teacher tickets are $15.  Friday night concerts at Woodrow Wilson High School, brought to you by the Beckley Concert Association, will start at 7:30pm with The Entertainers and Bill Halley’s Comet.

On Saturday the Beckley Half Marathon/5k starts at 8am in the streets of Beckley.  Registration for the Buddy Walk begins at 8am and the walk starts at 9am at the New River Park.  Opening Ceremonies will be on the Main Stage at the BECM at 9am.  There will educational displays, food, crafts, writer’s row, science row (new this year), and specialty vendors around different parts of the BECM.  At 11:30am the Third Annual WV State Championship of Paper Airplane Flight will be held, entry fee is $2.  Concerts start at 10am and go to 5pm with Jeffery Joe Buckland, Dino Man and Johnny Staats and the Delivery Boys.  From 1:30pm to 5pm the Third Annual Rocket Launch Contest runs at the First Community Bank Launch Pad.  From 2pm to 3pm the Live Round Song Contest will be judge at the BECM.  Chili Night starts in Uptown Beckley at 6pm.  There will be a screening of October Sky at the Raleigh Playhouse and Theater in Uptown Beckley.  There will be open remarks from the Rocket Boys.

On Sunday there will be tours to Coalwood leaving at 11am and returning at 4pm.  There will be lunch in Coalwood.  Roy Lee Cooke will be along as well.  Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for students.

Fans of science, history, and festivals will not want to miss this one.

Things to do Around Charleston on April 12th

This Saturday April 12th there are a few things going on around Kanawha Valley for nerds to check out.

Kanawha County Libraries and Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society are hosting a celebration of the anniversary of the first manned space flight by Russia’s Yuri Gagarin and first launch of NASA’s Space Shuttle with a star party at Camp Virgil Tate. Road to the Stars: Celebrate Yuri’s Night .  Things start at 6pm with various crafts, games, activities for children of all ages.  When things get dark the KVAS will lead everyone to their Breezy Point Observatory to gaze at the start through a brand new large telescope and various members’ personal ones.  Space is limited so register at the Cross Lanes Library, online, or by calling 304-775-5999.

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The Clay Center‘s Sci-Fi Film Series is back with Forbidden Planet.

A starship crew goes on an expedition to investigate the sudden silence of a space colony. They find two survivors – Dr. Morbius and his daughter Altaira, who have somehow survived a hideous monster that roams the planet. How have they survived the menacing creäture and what is the deadly secret that one of them possesses? Find out in this sci-fi classic!

They will be showing it on Friday April  at 7pm and again on Saturday at 7pm.  Admission is $6 per person. Buy tickets now or at the box office.

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Also at the Clay Center’s Walker Theatre, at the rear entrance, will be WV Shakespeare Festival.  All I know about it, is there will be a stage combat workshop from 1-5pm with a performance at 7pm.  It is a free event, but donations will be accepted.

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Yet again at the Clay Center, check out The Music of Harry Potter.  Listen to the original music by John Williams from the Harry Potter movies.  Plus, Maestro Cooper will be wearing his sorcerer’s hat and perform a little magic for everyone.

 

October Sky Rocket Boys Festival

The October Sky Rocket Boys Festival will be in Beckley again this year.  It is a celebration about the Rocket Boys, a group of amateur rocketers from Coalwood in McDowell County who won a National Science Fair gold mine and several of them went onto work with various science fields.  Their story was record in the memoir of Homer Hickman and in the movie October Sky.

Special guests for the festival are several of the original Rocket Boys, Chris Owen one of the stars of October Sky, Russell L. Werneth from NASA, and Andy Jackson festival photographer.

Events get started with WV Speaks UP, a “Conference of Ideas,” on October 2 and 3 at the Tamarack.  Forty eight of West Virginia’s most motivated and enlightened mind will be Beckley to give a seven minutes presentation on their idea to better the state.  The first session is from 6pm-8pm on Wednesday and the three more on Thursday.  Other events on Thursday are the Teacher of the Year Award ceremony at 6pm-7pm and the Spirit of the Coalfields Awards.

The main events for the festival start on Friday: screenings of October Sky with one the Rocket Boys starts and a writing workshop with Homer Hickam at the Tamarrack.  Chris Owen will do an acting workshop and October Sky screening at the Raleigh Playhouse and Theater for $10 starting at 6pm.  A Friday night concert starts at 7:30pm at the Woodrow Wilson Auditorium.  Tickets available online.

Then on Saturday even more stuff goes down.  The festival takes place mostly at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine (BECM) and New River Park (NRP) but some events are around at other places.  There will be educational displays, food, crafts, a “writer’s row”, specialty vendors, a 5K run,  The Buddy Walk, planetarium, blood drive, BECM tours, the Second Annual WV State Championship of Paper Airplane Flight, a rocket launch, live music, fire hydrant painting contest, a Hot Dog Eating Contest, live round song contest, and WV Dance company performing.  Then at night, Chili night in Uptown Beckley with the Rocket Boys as guest judges starts.

On Sunday a motor coach departs for Coaldwood at 9am from Tamarrack and returns at 4pm.  Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for students.