Penguicon is a convention in southeastern Michigan designed originally to mix the communities of the

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

and Linux user groups. In addition to educational panels on science fiction in the media, attendees participate in professional and beginner-level panels on

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

and

open-source software Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Op ...

. Penguicon takes its name both from a Monty Python sketch and from

Tux Black tie is a semi-formal wear, semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for clothing, attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically ...

, the penguin mascot of Linux. Penguicon is held in the spring in the Detroit, Michigan metropolitan area. The venue, a hotel, has changed from year to year, but since 2014 the event has been held at the Westin Southfield Hotel in

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618. As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its southern border with Detroit. The city was original ...

. Since its founding, Penguicon has expanded its focus to include panels and events for

foodie A foodie is a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food, and who eats food not only out of hunger but also as a hobby. The related terms " gastronome" and "gourmet" define roughly the same thing, i.e. a person who enjoys food for plea ...

s, cosplay,

filk music Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s. Etymology and defin ...

(the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

of science fiction fandom), gaming, and

makerspaces A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" ( 501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, ...

. Penguicon has been described as a place where "hackers, makers, foodies, open source software junkies, anime buffs, and science fiction fans of all ages and backgrounds come together in a hotel for a weekend and totally blow the roof off." Along with the panels, the convention has hosted

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

spaceship bridge simulations, biohacking presentations,

retrogaming Retrogaming, also known as classic gaming and old school gaming, is the current playing and collection of obsolete computer game, personal computers, video game console, consoles, and video games. Usually, retrogaming is based upon systems that ...

rooms, and a life-size

Operation Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

game board. Working alongside local makerspaces i3Detroit and All Hands Active, Penguicon has offered instruction in learning to solder electronic components, which allowed attendees to create their own LED badges. Over a thousand participants have attended past conventions, which have featured Guests of Honor from Neil Gaiman and

John Scalzi John Michael Scalzi II (born May 10, 1969) is an American science fiction author and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his ''Old Man's War'' series, three novels of which have been nom ...

Jon "maddog" Hall Jon "maddog" Hall (born 7 August 1950) is the board chair for the Linux Professional Institute. Career The nickname "maddog" was given to him by his students at Hartford State Technical College, where he was the Department Head of Computer Sc ...

and Eric S. Raymond.

Recent events

For the 2014 convention, the Penguicon tech track's focus was on privacy and cryptography. Guests of Honor included Ernie Cline, author of ''

Ready Player One ''Ready Player One'' is a 2011 science fiction novel, and the debut novel of American author Ernest Cline. The story, set in a dystopia in 2045, follows protagonist Wade Watts on his search for an Easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality gam ...

''; and

Eva Galperin Eva Galperin is the Director of Cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and technical advisor for the Freedom of the Press Foundation. She is noted for her extensive work in protecting global privacy and free speech and for her ...

of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Philanthropy

Penguicon was listed as a Guardian of Wildlife at the

Detroit Zoo The Detroit Zoo is a zoo located in Royal Oak, Michigan, spanning 125 acres and housing more than 2,000 animals and more than 245 different species. It was the first U.S. zoo to feature bar-less habitats, and is regarded to be an international ...

in 2013 for donating to symbolically adopt a penguin. In 2013, Penguicon listed the New Beginnings Animal Rescue as their official charity, and Penguicon members donated $700 and 123 pounds of food during the convention weekend. Penguicon was also a sponsor of

MHacks MHacks is an annual student-run hackathon held by the University of Michigan. The 36-hour event brings students from everywhere to develop solutions with the technology, including both software Software is a set of computer programs and a ...

III, a weekend-long hackathon held in Detroit in January 2014. The organization Enabling the Future, which constructs

3D printed 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...

prosthetic hands for those in need, was Penguicon's 2015 Hack of Honor and official sponsored charity. Along with collecting donations, Penguicon worked with Enabling the Future and community members to 3D print limbs leading up to and during the 2015 convention.

Featured guests

Every year, Penguicon invites a dozen or more people (authors, hackers, and entertainers) who are not full Guests of Honor, but are celebrities in their own right, and calls them Featured Guests (formerly "Nifty Guests"). They also invite former Guests of Honor as "Guest of Honor Emeritus". In 2010, this included author Jim C. Hines, musician Tom Smith, and open source advocate Eric S. Raymond.

Wil Wheaton's cancellations

Penguicon has invited

Wil Wheaton Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film '' Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' Toy Soldiers'', ...

as a guest of honor multiple times, but he has had to cancel each time. In 2009, Wheaton had to cancel the morning of the convention and wrote an apology letter which was read aloud at Opening Ceremonies.

Tron Guy

Jay Maynard Jay Maynard (born July 27, 1960) is an American computer programmer, system administrator and the volunteer project maintainer for Hercules, a free emulator of IBM mainframe hardware. He is known for his self-made electroluminescent costume ba ...

debuted his self-made electroluminescent Tron Guy costume at Penguicon in 2004. After submitting photos of himself to

Slashdot ''Slashdot'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''/.'') is a social news website that originally advertised itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters". It features news stories concerning science, technology, and politics that are submitted and eval ...

, he appeared in costume on

Jimmy Kimmel Live ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's lea ...

. He has also been on America's Got Talent and a commercial for Duck Brand duct tape. Maynard says he "hasn't missed a Penguicon, and doesn't intend to."

List of Guests of Honor

In the media

Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, man ...

show, Outrageous Acts of Science, replayed a video from Penguicon 2006 in which Nifty Guest

Howard Tayler Howard V. Tayler (born February 29, 1968 in Florida) is the creator of the webcomic ''Schlock Mercenary''. He worked as a volunteer missionary for the LDS Church, then graduated from Brigham Young University. Using his degree in music compositi ...

recorded attendees dumping the remains of a dewar of liquid nitrogen into the hotel swimming pool. In 2010, Howard Tayler returned to Penguicon as a Guest of Honor and hosted a second video involving liquid nitrogen and the hotel swimming pool.
Liquid Nitrogen in the pool at Penguicon 2010
', YouTube

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Penguicon Website

Penguicon Facebook community

EncycloPenguicon
Computer clubs Linux conferences Science fiction conventions in the United States