Blerdcon Insight: Interview with Creator Hilton George

I go harder than Metapod when it comes to anime conventions. In my adult life, they are a rare and wondrous reprieve for me to indulge in my animated kickbacks. Like many other POC nerds, I have noticed a lack of mainstream conventions and media outlets highlighting the achievements and talents of marginalized nerds. Luckily, I have heard of a new convention hitting the scene this coming June, whose focus will primarily be on underrepresented groups in nerdoms called Blerdcon. I had the opportunity to interview the creator of Blerdcon, Hilton George, so please take a look! Black Nerd Problems: Please tell us a little bit about yourself! Hilton George: My name is Hilton George, and I am the creator and convention chair for Blerdcon. I am a geek and cosplayer based out of DC who was introduced into the con scene in 2014! BNP: Where did the concept of Blerdcon originate from? Hilton: Well, the word “blerd” (black nerd) has been around since it’s mainstream debut on the series “SCRUBS”. It describes me and others perfectly and has been slowly catching on for the past few years.

The concept for the con, however, came to me after observing all of the diversity in the con attendance not proportionally reflected on most con’s guest lists and programming. As an avid con-goer, I wanted to know if there were any large scale cons that highlighted underrepresented populations within the con community. The answer was no. So, I began researching other cons looking for structures and format…