DULUTH — Around this time last year, just before his birthday, Steve Kaarbo invited a group of his friends who are also “Star Wars” fans to a mini-convention in his backyard.
“We had about 80 people come and do fairground games and the typical convention stuff like raffles and drawings,” Kaarbo said.
In January, they hosted a “Frozen Force” artist exhibition featuring 24 regional artists whose works were auctioned to raise funds for the Minnesota Children’s Clinic for Communication Disorders.
“And we thought, OK, what can we do to take it even further?” Kaarbo said.
And so Teeb Con was born, a convention at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday. But what exactly is a “teeb”?
“That’s my nickname,” Kaarbo said. “When I worked in direct care at Northwoods Children’s Services, there were a lot of people on my team who were also named Steve. To differentiate me, they started calling me ‘Teeb,’ and that stuck.”
Article by Steve Kaarbo
Last year, when he was planning his gardening convention, a friend suggested “Teeb Con” as a name for the party. Kaarbo thought it was funny and stuck with it.
“The nickname arose from a work situation and is now the name of the scam,” Kaarbo said.
What can attendees expect from Teeb Con? Kaarbo said it’s a gaming and pop culture convention with all the features you’d expect from a convention in the Twin Cities or Chicago. If you’re into board games, comics, video games, “Lord of the Rings,” “Star Wars,” anime or anything in between, there’s something for you. There’s a cosplay contest, special guests signing autographs and holding panels, and plenty of nerdy vendors.
And if you’re interested in gaming, the con has partnered with local game stores like Rogue Robot, Collector’s Connection, Level Up, and Loch Cafe to host tournaments for various games like Warhammer 40K, Magic the Gathering, and a one-of-a-kind role-playing adventure.
“We started with a ‘Star Wars’ focus as a toy, book and video game collecting group,” Kaarbo said. “But there’s so much overlap between people who like ‘Star Wars’ and pretty much every other aspect of pop culture, so we wanted to create a way for people with similar interests to connect.”
Kaarbo said he has spoken to people who organize conventions in larger cities, and the most important advice he has received about organizing a convention was to “just start one yourself.”
“Every single one of them was like, well, just start one,” Kaarbo said. “And when I went to these cons, I looked at what they were doing and started planning. And our group of ‘Star Wars’ and pop culture fans had grown to 600 members, so we decided it was time to just start one.”
Kaarbo founded MNSWCA.org in 2023 as a nonprofit to promote children’s mental health and well-being through science fiction, fantasy and nerd culture. Officially, the acronym doesn’t stand for anything, according to Kaarbo, although it works closely with the Minnesota Star Wars Collectors Alliance, a fan club with about 600 members worldwide.
The convention also raises money for the Minnesota Masonic Children’s Clinic’s Pediatric Oncology Treasury and for a mental health scholarship to train physicians in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan for specialized training in providing therapy services for children and families, as well as substance abuse services in the area. Kaarbo, who has worked at Northwoods Children Services for 25 years, said both organizations mean a lot to him and he’s happy to be able to give back to them.
“I am a therapist at Northwoods and see every day how important it is for children and families in our community who are struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues to get help,” Kaarbo said. “There is an urgent need to be able to provide scholarships for training in these specialties.”
Tickets range from $10 for a weekend pass for children ages 5-13 (under 5 is free) to $125 for a VIP weekend package. For more information and to pre-purchase tickets, visit mnswca.org/teeb-con-2024.
Teri Cadeau is a reporter covering grades K-12 and higher education for the Duluth News Tribune. Originally from the Iron Range, Cadeau has worked for several local newspapers in the Duluth area, including the Duluth Budgeteer News, Western Weekly, Weekly Observer, Lake County News-Chronicle and occasionally the Cloquet Pine Journal. Outside of work, she is an avid reader and crafter.
