Geek Girl Con in October

I am a geek, and also a girl. So it's little wonder that I'm interested in the upcoming Geek Girl Con in Seattle this October. The con celebrates all things nerdy with a focus on gender-female geeks, but welcomes geeks of all types.

There are a lot of interesting panels lined up, though they don't seem to have a schedule listed yet. Here are some of the ones I'm most interested in:

• Killing Cattiness, Creating Community - "This panel discusses how Geek Girls can put aside being negatively competitive, divisive, and catty to our sister Geek Girls. Panelists will give examples of both positive and negative experiences and answer questions from the audience."
  
  As a child, I was often teased by other girls. Even now I often see other girls as threats or as people likely to be rude to me or put me down, but seldom (at least initially) as allies. I'm curious if that's a mentality common to geek girls, and how we can overcome it.
• Girls Make Games Too - "How do you start out in the gaming industry? This panel of women have various roles with in the games industry at Microsoft Game Studios and will speak about their careers and their experiences. Useful information like the skills required for their jobs, what it is like being women working in the games industry, and how they got their feet in the door. The panel will address how the industry has changed, outlining where we were, where we are, and how we move forward in the gaming profession."
  
  Obviously of direct interest to me, I'm hoping to get some advice in this panel on how best to get into the gaming industry.
  
  
• Rocking the geek niche: Nerdiness is your superpower - "The Offbeat Empire is an enormously popular web publishing network owned and staffed exclusively by geeky women who’ve learned how to use their nerdiest qualities to their best business and personal advantages. This panel will address not only how the Offbeat Empire is built on celebrating geek culture, but also how each panelist has applied her individual techy/nerdy qualities in her career development."
  
  I've always felt my nerdiness gave me an edge over other people in some ways. I was used to standing apart, to being put down, and to being quirky. I'm interested in seeing how others have turned this to their advantage.
  

I'm really excited for it and can't wait to see how this brand new con turns out! I'm hoping to attend at least one full day, possibly both days. I'll definitely report back in with my reactions, and hopefully it will be an awesome event that continues in the future!