‘Nerd’ Convention Spurs Creativity, Fun

By MiKenna Williams and Tiara Bryant

It’s every gamer’s dream to walk into a room full of unlimited gaming, tournaments, anime, comic books and cosplay contests.

That’s just what Texas Tech students and the Lubbock community got to experience on Sunday at the first HUD Con, held in the Student Union Ballroom. The convention was spearheaded by Heads Up Display, a student-led organization in the College of Media & Communication, which puts on regular YouTube shows about pop culture.

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From left, Erin Ewings, Aubree Pointer, Lottie (Annie) Marley, Mallori McGregor and Christa Moncrief pose for a photo. (Tiara Bryant for The Hub@TTU)

Aubree Pointer, a Lubbock resident who attended, said the event brought nerdy people under the same roof and let them be themselves.

John Velez, faculty advisor to Heads Up Display, agreed.

“People who have those kinds of interests don’t really have many opportunities to go to different places and exercise their special interests,” Velez said.

Attendees were unanimous in their praise.

Brennan Settles, a Tech student who is the president of the League of Legends, the largest e-sports organization on campus with over 600 members, said the event helped unify local gaming culture.

And for Mallori McGregor, a local high school student, HUD Con was a nice distraction from schoolwork and “a great place to get together with people with the same interests.”

Added Annie (Lottie) Marley, freshman pre-law major: “It allows academic kids and nerdy people to come together and make more friends.”

Christa Moncrief, a Tech student, said her favorite part was the cosplay, which is short for “costume play.”

“HUD Con has a positive impact on people and allows them to get excited about anime,” she said.

Nine Tech organizations—Tech eSports, Tech League of Legends, Tech Rec, Tech RPG, Tech Pokemon, MtG Raiders, Super Smash Bros Club, MEKAnime, ACM and HUD—came together to organize the convention. The event was sponsored by COMC, which provided food and support.

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Velez said HUD Con was proposed by the students.

“They came to me with this idea, and I thought it was brilliant, so I helped them put it together,” he said. “This is the biggest project we’ve done so far, so we are all learning to be really creative,” he said.

The event featured presentations by two Texas Tech alumni—Steve Holmes, who works for Blizzard Entertainment, and David Swofford, who works for Cloud Imperium Games. Robert Peaslee, chair of the Journalism and Electronic Media department, also made an appearance as he talked about his recently published book “The Joker: A Serious Study of the Clown Prince of Crime.”

Other guests and sponsors included Star Comics, which handed out free samples; StormCrow, a gaming company, which gave out games; and the Tech Rec Center, which provided a photo booth.

Velez said the event showed that COMC is becoming the epicenter of all things related to media.

“Hopefully, students will start to realize that the College of Media & Communication is where pop culture and gaming culture is starting to really thrive,” he said. “If they are interested in that industry, then they can come to our college.”

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