MCON meshes military culture, festive celebration
The American Legion is a founding partner of MCON, which debuts over Veterans Day weekend in Las Vegas.
Just what is MCON?
It’s a bit of Comicon, Shot Show and military culture all wrapped up into a festival-like atmosphere that brings the military community together for an epic celebration. The first MCON will be held Nov. 10-12 at the Expo World Market Center in Las Vegas.
American Legion member Waco Hoover is among the founders of MCON. Hoover oversees the strategy for the Be the One initiative, which will have a prominent spot at the event.
"This is the start of creating something that will be the pre-eminent event celebrating military culture each year," Hoover says. "It's really exciting to merge the legacy of a 104-year-old organization with the promise of creating something to engage the younger generation of America's veterans."
Each day will feature various speakers, physical activities and other experiences for today’s veterans, servicemembers and their families. One session will feature a panel discussion focused on The American Legion’s Be the One mission to reduce the number of veterans who die by suicide.
Other scheduled speakers include:
• Chris Earl, a Marine Corps veteran and CEO of Regiment Gaming, will give a presentation on gaming, community and mental health.
• American Legion Be the One podcast host and Marine Corps veteran Amy Forsythe and Army veteran Phyllis Wilson, president of the Women’s Military Memorial, will discuss “Women at War: Why it Matters.”
• Sebastian Junger, author of “Tribe” and an award-winning documentary filmmaker, will give a presentation entitled “Coming Back from War.”
• Dr. Tiffany Tajiri, Air Force veteran and founder of Freedom Rhythm, will discuss emerging research and findings in human performance with epigenetics.
• A presentation on therapeutics features RedDot CEO Michal Bumann; Dr. Mark Seelig, a lead therapist trainer at the Usona Institute and Transcend Therapeutics; and Coast Guard veteran Ryan Scalmanini. They will discuss how veterans and first responder psychedelic medicine groups are creating communities.