Geeky Gadgets in Women’s Health

GeekGirlCon panel August 11th
Washington State Conference Center

Medical technology continues to advance rapidly.  With the increasing population using hand held devices and technology, bridging the gap between ones own personal medical and health needs and the medical field has become easier than ever. A woman’s medical needs differ than males through several phases of life, from the young female, childbearing years, menopausal and into special needs of the aging adult woman. Technology can assist in communication with health practitioners, increasing one’s wellness and helping with special needs during the phases of a woman’s life.  There are several gadgets out there that can help track information for women. This panel is an effort to help educate woman on the use of these devices in the medical filed, and daily life, and how they can help enhance a woman’s overall health and well-being.

Geek Girl Con Empowering Sci-Fi Women for Tomorrow

As I sit here and write about the best weekend “camp” I’ve been to since my youth, I can’t help but reminisce on how us geek girls got here.  We started in the 50’s and 60's in a "Star Trek" era, unable to wear simple pants, but rather sporting our little mini skirts.  We moved through the feminism era of the 80’s and 90’s with strong female role models like Ripley, Leia, Conner and Trinity.  By the turn of the century the fury of these women became hard core, masculine or on the other end of the spectrum, submissively weak and flawed.  With the teeter totter moving from top to bottom, we finally found a balance in Seattle at this year's Geek Girl Con.

This is a fantastic time to be an empowered geek girl!  Geek Girl Con was birthed from the large male dominated Comic Cons.  At this year’s San Diego Comic Con, it was mentioned how there are minimal opportunities for female geeks to gather and celebrate women of science, science fiction, gaming, comics and fantasy.  The first annual Geek Girl Con took place on October 8^th and 9^th of 2011 in beautiful Seattle.  Girls, boys, women and men of all ages gathered to celebrate the past, present and future of geek girls.

Over the course of the weekend, the Seattle Center and EMP museum, under the silhouette of the Space Needle, buzzed with many in Star Wars and geeky costumes, collaborating and celebrating the weekend events of panels and exhibitions.  I attended several panels, my favorite of which was "Star Trek & Beyond with Chase Masterson" who played "Leeta" on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  I had the pleasure of talking to her at length on balancing life as a single, full time working mother and a geek.  I also attended a panel on “Geeks Raising Geeks” and how we have entered into an exciting time to raise geeky kids.

There were many opportunities for all ages of children in the forms of arts, crafts and play.  I had the opportunity to make a Yoda Puppet with Bonnie Burton, who also had panels on “Killing Cattiness and Creating Community” and “Womanthology”. I thoroughly enjoyed making a mask for my Poison Ivy Halloween costume this year (and I am creatively challenged).

I meet several women involved in the online gaming community, women writers for Sci-Fi and comic book series.  I attended the Jane Espenson panel, who is a fantastic writer that wrote for Battlestar Galactica, Angel, Firefly, Warehouse 13 and many other popular TV series.  Jane was very encouraging to all the young females aspiring to be writers.

The wonderfully geeky weekend ended with watching the "Labyrinth" on the big screen at the EMP.  The theater was packed with David Bowie fans singing, dancing, laughing and proudly displaying their hand-made sock puppets (coached by puppeteer Karen Prell who worked the "Junk Lady" in the movie).  Exiting the EMP Sunday night, many of us gals, and guys for their geek gals, felt as though we were leaving camp at the end of the summer: with new friends, new hopes and dreams, and eagerly awaiting to get together again for Geek Girl Con 2012.