Introduction: The Beautiful People

Babes are a big part of convention culture. You often see them at the technology shows, comic book conferences and even horror movie conventions trying to attract people to the booths that hire them. With Glamourcon (short for the Glamour Convention), the babes have a show of their own, where they can meet their fans, and the average schlub can actually meet his Playboy dream girls in person. The event is held twice a year: once in Chicago during the summer, and once in Los Angeles during the fall. When the incredibly beautiful and the average-to-below-average-looking come together, the results are interesting to observe.

Even at a beauty convention, the overwhelming commodity is geeks. To call them nerds would no longer be an insult because they're no longer outcasts, but geeks still have a way to go. When I arrived to cover Glamourcon on a warm November Sunday that felt like summer, the geeks were out in full force. Before the festivities even began, I saw a lot of glasses, out-of-date hairstyles, guys hiding their girth under Hawaiian shirts, a lot of khaki slacks and black socks. I spotted one guy wearing a "Members Only" style jacket with a belt buckle that read: BOSS. I saw another with a short military hair cut, camouflage pants, and headphones practically bolted to his head; he was carrying a bouquet of flowers and pacing a lot.

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You see a few women wandering around the lobby early, or having a drink at the hotel bar, but many of them show up fashionably late. Some of the first women I saw looked like the were trying too hard to be sexy, with stiletto heels and ultra-short shorts. And as expected, there's silicone everywhere you look, although some of the hottest babes in attendance are pretty much the way God made them.

Glamourcon features playmates of every vintage, as recent as last month's centerfold to the beginning of Playboy magazine in the '50's. There are also a number of models making names for themselves in cyberspace running their own websites. Some of the models you meet here aren't as hot in person as they are in their layouts, while others are completely stunning. I met one 'net model whom I have the hots for, and turned into a complete nervous idiot from her beauty (it was cool, though, she understood...)

It's easy to feel out of place here. For example, at the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors conference, nobody cares what you look like, and as long as you dig movies, comics, and games, you're accepted amongst the geek brethren. We belong. At Glamourcon, in a room full of Playmates and cyberbabes, we stick out like a sore thumb. What on earth are we doing in a room full of beautiful women?