Atlanta's LGBTQ+ convention for Sci-fi, Pop-culture, Multi-media, & Gaming!

Unless there is a massive change in our fandom this will be the last OutlantaCon for the foreseeable future. We have always been a very niche product and despite the increase in attendance seen pre-covid, post-covid has brought us insurmountable challenges. From rising hotel costs to declining attendance it would be irresponsible of us as a con committee to continue and put the convention in debt that would be unrecoverable without a massive increase in attendance.

Many of us that helped start OutlantaCon were members of the Outworlders, who continue to support us to this day, and one of their goals when they first started was to host a Gaylaxicon and they did in 2007. Several of us watched what they went through, learned from their successes and failures, and launched OutlantaCon in 2009 with the help of a core group of investors and people willing to undertake the process of creating and maintaining such a convention. We started small with a game day or two and graduated to a 3-day weekend convention that continued to grow little by little over the years.

Immediately people like Keirnan Kelly, Kayelle Allen, Warren Rochelle, Moxie Magnus, Mike Allgood, reached out to ask how they could help. Attendees started showing up every year like Candace, Java, Zac, and so many others. Some even started volunteering for us. We have had David Yost, Barbara Goodson, Amber Benson, Andy Mangels, Joe Castro, and so many others queer talents in the genres or active supporters of. Even our first year we had an attendee come from California that we have no idea how they found out about us.

We had, after many years of establishing good relationships with hotels and growing attendance numbers, gotten an excellent deal that would have left us not paying anything for 2020 and then…Covid. When 2022 came and we felt it safe to try and hold a convention again we were at square one as all hotels were looking at more than double to five times the price for the convention space we wanted. Given they had lost a lot of money in those times as well but we could not afford to be the ones to help them make up for it so we forewent a convention that year. This year and last we made the best deals we could, cut more costs, space, and amenities but each year has been a struggle to continue the con.

But our group of fans have always been progressive, loving, careful group of people and as the restrictions of covid ended many found themselves more adapted to the new world of staying at home, streaming television and movies, and not straining their immune systems by putting themselves in crowds resulting in two years of OutlantaCon seeing a significant decrease in attendance. Perhaps in future our crowd will return to conventions and the world of in-person fandom but until that time we cannot afford to continue with decreasing attendance.

We hope that all of our investors feel that their participation paid off with the years of enjoyment our attendees have had and that our lifetime members know that if we continue in future that their memberships will still be honoured. Until that time all of us involved with OutlantaCon, now and in past, thank you for as great of an experience as we could ever imagine helping all of our attendees have a safe, inclusive, fannish space to celebrate all the things that bring us together in fandom.

Thank you all.

Ed Degruy returns as our 2024 ConChair! Ed has been a geek, nerd, and lifelong fan who about 30 years ago felt the need to give back to the community and started volunteering at cons. Since then he has been everything from grunt to con chair of conventions. His biggest accomplishments are Outlantacon, Director of the Guest Hospitality Suite at DragonCon, Consuite Director for Frolicon, and Sales Manager for the Star Wars Celebration. He has also been the Fan Guest of Honour for Conquest and received multiple lifetime achievement awards.

JLP Prince (they/them pronouns) serves as the programming director for OutlantaCon 2024. As part of their day job, JLP works for Cornell University as a Data Coordinator in the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement. They are also pursuing their Ph.D. in Fire and Emergency Management Administration at Oklahoma State University.

JLP lived in the Atlanta area for almost 10 years, leading to their connections with the geek convention scene and finding many good friends along the way. They currently live in Fuquay-Varina, NC. JLP is a part of many fandoms including Star Trek, Steven Universe, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Sailor Moon, just to name a few. In their free time, JLP enjoys tabletop gaming (especially cooperative games), Nintendo gaming, swimming, and reading. They also serve as the Assistant Director of Media Relations for Dragon Con.

For any questions about registration, things to do with money or legalities email him here - registration@outlantacon.org

Darie is a professional LGBTQIA+ advocate and community member. Darie works for an event design and production company, while working in public health in the side. Darie’s interest is specifically in connecting folks to healthcare resources such as insurance and other programs offered by state, federal, and private entities.

Darie lives in Metro Atlanta with her partner/Hubbster Keith and their 4 fur kids.  Darie's pronouns are she/her or they/them, and her name rhymes with “sorry, Ferrari, safari, Atari, and Mata Hari.” Darie's fandoms are vast, but mostly include The Whedonverse, anything Neil Gaiman has ever even breathed upon, Disney, the Marvel and DC Cinematic Universes, D&D, and tabletop gaming. Darie also has an intense love of crochet and almost always has a project in-hand.

Darie loves doing volunteer coordination and enhancing the volunteer experience. She has over 25 years’ experience leading volunteers across various cons and organizations throughout Georgia. Darie is passionate about making the wheels of events turn, and helping to ensure that all those in attendance have a great experience.

Michael Stork has been traveling the USA as a professional insult comic for Renaissance festivals for 17 years, he is also the first openly gay insulter at the Georgia Renaissance Festival (you would see him at Vegetable Justice(the tomato throwing game)).

He spent five years doing an insult puppet show at Six Flags over Georgia.

He has moved around a little since the 2023 OutlantaCon, now working for Universal Orlando Resorts, helping Guests have a memorable vacation.

Michael is an expert at "fake it til you make it" and so can you!