Six weeks ago Sunday (I’ve been meaning to write this for a while), nearly five thousand people filed into the main stage to experience the closing ceremonies for the greatest multi-fandom conference on the planet: LeakyCon 2014 in Orlando. Little did this audience know that they would be presented with some potentially shocking news: “We’re changing the name,” Melissa Anelli said. A gasp, and then silence.
LeakyCon, which began in 2009 as a Harry Potter-only conference, and has since grown these past five years to become an incredible multi-fandom conference, has been given a new, more “fitting” name: GeekyCon.
Admittedly, I was skeptical at first. Although the word “geek” seems to be changing and becoming more positive, it has had a negative connotation (even more so than “nerd”) for a very long time. Since I come from a very rural area of northern Minnesota (fairly close to Canada), change seems to happen more slowly here than everywhere else. “Explaining to my friends, family and colleagues back home that I regularly attend a convention called ‘GeekyCon’ is going to be possibly difficult and potentially awkward.”
After giving this some thought, though, GeekyCon is definitely a much more fitting name, as I’ve already said, for a multi-fandom conference. “LeakyCon” was named after “The Leaky Cauldron”, which is a uniquely Harry Potter location. Explaining to others outside my favorite fandoms that I attend “GeekyCon” is actually going to be easier, I think, than the following:
“Well, I attend this convention every summer called LeakyCon. It’s named after a pub in Harry Potter, but it’s not really a Harry Potter convention. At least, not anymore. It’s expanded to include other fandoms, and several authors come every year too. But yeah, it’s named after a Harry Potter thing, but it’s not just a Harry Potter thing.” My non-fandom friends would probably still ask me weeks later, “What’s that Harry Potter convention that you go to called again?” I predict that this conversation will go much better now that the name better represents the thing itself.
What everyone needs to understand, though, is that GeekyCon is going to be the same incredible convention as LeakyCon has been. It’s just that the name is different. What’s more is that this name-change opens the way for a second Harry Potter-only convention (one that is better suited for the name “LeakyCon”) to exist alongside GeekyCon, which is, in two words, totally awesome.
I am incredibly excited for the future of both conventions, and I hope you are too! Registration has been open for GeekyCon for over a month now, and the Rock Star passes are getting very close to being sold out, so I would suggest registering sooner rather than later!
My comprehensive review about LeakyCon 2014 in Orlando is still forthcoming. Sorry about the delay! Busy Andrew is busy.
Update: LeakyNews (the multi-fandom news website associated with LeakyCon) has changed its name to GeekyNews.
What are your thoughts about the name change(s)? Share them in the comments!
