Another first for me—visiting northeastern Iowa! And once again I have Star Trek to thank for it.
Specifically, that’s in just two weeks, at Rod Con 2017—the annual pop culture convention in Cedar Falls, Iowa, organized on the University of Northern Iowa campus by its very own Rod Library—and I’m thrilled that they reached out to me to bring all things Trekland to regional fans firsthand.
I’ll have a spotlight hour at 1 pm the ScholarSpace where I can lead the deep-diving about Trek’s 50-year legacy and some first-hand memories… and hopefully take the temperature of the college crowd re: the Kelvin movies as well as Discovery just around the corner. We’ll have some Portal 47 surprises too, of course. It’s a one-day event from 10 am to 4 p.m.
No, it’s not a weekend convention, but all the fans who have built RodCon in prior years are excited to have the chance to meet up, so close to home and school, and it’s awesome. Kudos to the Rod Library for popularizing all media this way.
And hey—I’m finding that out-of-the-box venues like college campuses and libraries are a whole new way to share Trek and meet up with fans no matter where they live, and it’s so invigorating. Especially when so many “young minds, fresh ideas” are involved.
Plus—while it’s far too early for Trekfest weekend, I’m hoping I can have a spare day to actually make it down to Riverside and see some hallowed Trek ground there as well. Can’t wait!
Any Treklanders in the region gonna make it?
