Smithsonian magazine and LeftField Media today are announcing a partnership to create an exciting new live event called “Future Con,” a three-day science, technology, and entertainment celebration that will be featured within LeftField Media’s upcoming Awesome Con on June 16-18, 2017 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Future Con will highlight the intersection of science, technology, and science fiction inside D.C.’s largest pop culture event. It is sponsored by Science Channel, features partners including NASA, the American Physical Society, the National Science Foundation, and Nerd Nite, and it will be headlined by StarTalk Live! hosted by Astronaut Chris Hadfield, who became a social media sensation through his (literally) out-of-this-world videos and performances from the International Space Station.

Driven by experts at Smithsonian magazine, Future Con will mix together interactive experiences, engaging discussions, and special guests centered around creating new awareness and advocacy for all things science, technology, engineering, and math. Previous Smithsonian Future events have featured astronaut Buzz Aldrin, oceanographer Bob Ballard, Star Trek actors William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, and George Takei, and the creators of Deadpool, The Martian, and The X-Files, with the Smithsonian now bringing similar visionary names from science and science fiction together in front of a broad, public audience at Awesome Con.

Awesome Con, now entering its fifth year, attracts over 60,000 attendees and participants including Stan Lee (co-creator of Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the X-Men), David Tennant (star of Doctor Who and Jessica Jones), John Barrowman (Doctor Who and Arrow), Felicia Day (creator of The Guild and noted author, producer, and blogger), Wil Wheaton (writer, blogger, actor, and voice actor), and Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo (acclaimed Batman writer and artist team). Awesome Con is a celebration of comic books, movies, television, toys, and games, and Future Con will add science to the worlds Awesome Con explores.

“The Smithsonian’s mission is to spread knowledge throughout the universe,” says Michael Caruso, editor in chief of Smithsonian magazine and Vice President of Live Events. “And we at Smithsonian are excited to partner with Awesome Con to do just that—transforming D.C.’s largest pop culture convention into a platform to showcase the individuals and organizations building the future today and communicating the important issues and technologies that will define our path tomorrow.”

“Our fans obviously love Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who, and we know they care deeply about real-world scientific advances in the same way they’re fascinated with science fiction,” says Ben Penrod, Awesome Con’s founder. “Working with Smithsonian magazine to create Future Con is one of our proudest achievements, making Awesome Con a space not just to entertain but one to inspire and educate, and we hope we can play a small part in creating the inventors, engineers, educators, and astronauts of tomorrow.”

Future Con’s kickoff event will welcome Colonel Chris Hadfield to host a special edition of StarTalk Live! Col. Hadfield is a veteran of two space shuttle missions and former commander of the International Space Station. He’s also been called the “most social media savvy astronaut” by Forbes for his ongoing documentation of his time in space to over 2 million Twitter followers. Col. Hadfield will appear at Future Con to lead a taping of StarTalk Live!, an award-winning talk show bridging the intersection between pop culture and science with humor and passion.

Future Con will see further pioneering names in space travel, artificial intelligence, nanomachines, climate science, and medical research share the stage with some of the brightest names in pop culture—with presenters including John Mather (NASA’s Nobel Laureate and head of the James Webb Telescope), Adam Steltzner (NASA’s “Rock and Roll Engineer” and head of the Mars 2020 mission), and Seth Shostak (Senior Astronomer at SETI: the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Thought-provoking talks at Future Con will include Cassini’s Spectacular Grand Finale at Saturn, Parallel and Multi Universe Theory in Sci-Fi, Mars: Past, Present, & Future, Harry Potter and the Genetics of Wizarding, Space Lasers, and Antarctic Dinosaurs.

Future Con takes place June 16-18 inside this year’s Awesome Con, and no separate ticket is needed to attend—admission to Awesome Con includes access to Future Con’s speakers, exhibits, and events. For tickets to Awesome Con, visit awesomecon.com. For more information on Future Con, please visitsmithsonianmag.com/futurecon, follow Awesome Con on Facebook and Tw

About The Author

Dean Rogers

Editor-in-Chief/Entertainment Reporter

I knew early on that I wanted to take my place among the stars. One day, my mother saw me reading The Washington Post at a very young age. Who would have known that it would be the building blocks of my journey? Since that day, I dedicated my life to learn all that is learnable. I read everything from encyclopedias, to books, to dictionaries, to magazines. I’m also an avid consumer of television, with my favorite genre being game shows. If you’ve seen me on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Wheel of Fortune, then you know that this interest has served me well!

My unique style of reporting began back in junior high school, when I started to chronicle the events that shaped my life. Whether it was the annual family vacation or the local science fiction convention, I shot numerous pictures and recorded my thoughts so I could truly appreciate the history. During my senior year at Friendly High, I wrote what was to be my first masterpiece, “Advanced Space Academy – A One Week Journey.” I sent the eleven-page article back to the U.S. Space Camp staff. The article was highly praised for being “one of the best written articles in the history of U.S. Space Camp.” From then on, I knew what I wanted to do for rest of my life — to be a reporter.

Since then, I have trained in Broadcast Journalism at Bowie State University (2008) in Bowie, MD earning a B.S. in Communications. I gained experience in news production and editing through field experiences with Bowie Community Media Corporation, Prince George’s Community Television, and Bowie State University Television. I also wrote scripts for a variety of quiz shows for over five years.

As a lifelong movie buff, I now see close to 100 films every year. I took this love of movies to the next step when I became a co-host for Eclipse Magazine TV in the fall of 2005. While at EMTV, I interviewed celebrities, worked red carpets, and attended a wide variety of movie screenings. In January 2009, I took a leap of faith and started my own entertainment news magazine, The Rogers Revue. Shortly afterward, my life-long journey of studying the silver screen and writing about what I learned finally earned me a place in the Washington Area Film Critics Association.

All of this has led me here, giving you the latest entertainment news for the DMV and the entire nation, and I am truly excited for whatever will come next.

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