There are now 44 weeks left until the opening of the first ever Chicago Steampunk Exposition, and we are thrilled to announce that leading Steampunk Scholar Diana M. Pho will be joining us in September as a special guest and featured speaker.


Diana M. Pho

Diana M. Pho (also known as Ay-leen the Peacemaker) is a scholar, activist, performer, and general rabble-rouser. She is best-known for running Beyond Victoriana, an award-winning, US-based blog on multicultural steampunk, and the oldest-existing blog on this topic. For several years, she has traveled the country as a professional convention speaker about social justice issues and fandom.

Her published work can be found in Steampunk Magazine: Issues 1 – 7Fashion Talks: Undressing the Power of StyleSteaming into a Victorian Future, the Journal of Victorian Culture OnlineOverland magazine, and The Anatomy of SteampunkShe also has work in Steampunk World, edited by Sarah Hans, Like Clockwork, edited by Professors Brian Croxall and Rachel Bowser, and The Steampunk User’s Manual by Jeff Vandermeer and Desirina Boskovich.

She has been interviewed about fandom for many media outlets, including BBC America, the Travel Channel, HGTV, CBS’s Inside Edition,MSN.com, and the Science Channel; the websites Airship Ambassador, Racialicious, and NerdCaliber; and the books The Steampunk BibleSteampunk: Reloaded, and The WisCon Chronicles Vol 5.

Diana currently lives and works in New York City as an editor for Tor Books & blogs for Tor.com. You can follow her academic work on Academia.edu.


Teslacon

We had a wonderful weekend at Teslacon and spread the word of the Chicago Steampunk Exposition to a great many attendees. Much to our delight, many of the chaps and ladies whom we met were actually from the Chicagoland area and were thrilled to learn that there was going to be a new convention in the Windy City.

 


Hotel Rooms

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Staying in Chicago can be expensive, but we have managed to secure discounted rooms at the Westin O’Hare Hotel starting at $129 per night (plus taxes & fees)

Suites are also available for $179 per night (plus taxes & fees)

Links are coming soon, and we shall post them as soon as the hotel has them finalized, but in the meantime you can book your rooms by calling (800) 937-8461 or (847) 698-6000 and requesting the Steampunk Block when giving the dates of your reservation.

If you are planning on vending at the Exposition, we have a separate block of rooms reserved for you. Upon acceptance to the show and settlement of vendor fees, details and instructions for booking a room in the Vendor Block will be emailed to you.


Get Involved

Despite already having several Featured Speakers, vendors, and Entertainers lined up for 2019, and we invite you join us to Vend, to Present, and to Volunteer at the convention.

If you have not done so already, please RSVP to the actual Chicago Steampunk Exposition Event Page HERE to help keep you up to date on all the latest Expo news.


Upcoming Posts . . .

  • More booking details for the hotel block
  • Sneak peaks for Special Events
  • Tour of the Exposition venue

. . . and more!


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