When GeekCraft Expo launched in Portland in 2016, the Mercury’s preview, which I wrote, was disparaged and derided on Reddit. I mention this not as a sympathy-grab—as a woman with a public-facing byline, I’m no stranger to inducing ire simply by existing—but because in my experience, to be disparaged on Reddit is to be doing something right. In the case of GeekCraft Expo, that couldn’t be more true.
GeekCraft Expo, which runs this Saturday, May 12 and Sunday, May 13 at (sigh) the Oregon Convention Center, isn’t some overpriced “boys with their toys” science fiction/fantasy convention for adult men who identify strongly with the kids in Stranger Things (NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT). It’s not one of those things where you have to pay a million dollars to get your picture taken with Mr. Spock. (This may not actually be what happens at a Comic-Con. Never been! While I genuinely appreciate the cosplay hustle, this is simply not my scene.)
GeekCraft appeals to a very specific kind of nerd, a friendly one who loves the kooky musical stylings of Portland expats the Doubleclicks, who still keeps in touch with her internet friends from defunct niche website the Toast, who appreciates the gender-nonconforming subtext of Sense8, who has force-ranked all seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (fifth is best; fight me), and who has tried, probably, on at least one occasion, to make a small felted animal (friends who’ve attempted this report that it’s way more difficult than it seems). This is not the geek most often catered to by superhero franchises, and that in itself makes GeekCraft worth attending.