Dear New York Comic Con,
As the resident nerd blogger, social worker, and community organizer here I feel it is my duty to write to you today about NerdsVote. They are an awesome group of “notable nerd” voice actors from across the world of geekdom who have come together to promote one thing: voter registration at conventions.
If you’re interested we have wonderful interviews with them from their start, and from San Diego Comic Con. Hopefully through them you will see their vision.
That’s not all, though. Oh no. For you, dear New York Comic Con, I have five reasons why NerdsVote should have a table.
1. NYCC’s proximity to the midterm election.
I know, I know, you’re a comic book convention. Why should you care about elections and politics? You’re here to put on an event!
Well you should care, because the election process is important to everyone. From the hardworking cosplayer to the other talent that New York Comic Con attracts, everyone has a role to play in upholding our democratic system! NYCC falls right before the midterm elections, making it the perfect space to encourage everyone to register and vote.
Really, it takes your convention to a new level. It shows you’re not just interested in popular culture, but in elevating the voices of your attendees in meaningful ways.
2. The world deserves to experience the compassion of nerds.
New York Comic Con brings together such a wonderful mix of people from every background. Like it has been said in the interviews linked above, popular culture fans are some of the most compassionate and thoughtful people out there.
I mean, just look at the beautiful things they create. Beautiful hearts beget beautiful creations, and there are a lot of wonderful people at your convention. Now imagine unleashing that beauty on the world through civic engagement! Through voting!
NerdsVote can help achieve that goal…but only if they get to have a presence.
3. NerdsVote’s mission is in line with the very spirit of comic books.
Comic books have a long history of political activism. It is part of why I have always been so in love with science fiction television and movies too. They take these hard concepts we wrestle with every day and apply them to fantastical worlds where the issues can be noodled in a safe, low-risk way.
In my opinion, nerds are probably one of the best groups to push into the voting arena. They have exposure to all sorts of different stories, concepts, and philosophies through the content they consume. If we can take that knowledge and apply it to the democratic system, think of the amazing things that can happen!
Talk to comic creators new and old and they will probably agree. The world of comics and comic cons is an untapped resource to organize in a non-partisan way to get new thoughts and opinions out into our world.
4. Speaking of, NerdsVote is a non-partisan group. You can’t go wrong with voter registration.
In the world of political involvement, voter registration is one of the easiest movements to break into. It is typically non-partisan, meaning no one is expected to registered with any specific party. There’s no pressure except on one simple point: register!
Register red, blue, purple, whatever! New York Comic Con, this is probably the easiest way to show you care about bringing a community together to vote on important issues without taking a controversial stance! It is a slam dunk.
Plus, NerdsVote works with Headcount to do the registration and this isn’t their first rodeo. They are well respected and do amazing work.
5. Finally, nerds are registering nerds! This is a match made in comic con heaven.
NerdsVote does more than register attendees to vote. They provide a unique experience to hang out with “notable nerds” during the registration process. These are the notables already attending the convention, likely on your special guest list!
And they love it.
As far as I can tell from the conventions where NerdsVote has had a presence, both notable nerds and the nerdy-nerds have a great time. The best part? It makes the whole voter registration process more memorable, meaningful. Courtenay Taylor, arguably the brains behind the whole thing, always says she wants to use her platform to make voting cool again.
It doesn’t need to be a chore, it can be an opportunity. That’s what NerdsVote is all about and the “notable nerds” make it happen.
I don’t know what else I can say, New York Comic Con. I feel like I’ve made it pretty clear that this is a match made in a very good place. Given time I could probably come up with more reasons, but I think these five will do for now.
So how about it? Is it time to bring some awesome notable nerds in to get people registered to vote? I think so!
Think about it.
English