May 19, 2017
by Carla Hay
Investigation Discovery’s second annual fan event IDCon is set to take place at the Altman Building in New York City on May 20, 2017. But on May 19, select members of the media were invited to a sneak preview of the event. (IDCon is sold out, but most of the event will be streamed on Facebook Live.) The event space was still being set up during the preview, but most of the participating talent was hanging out and doing some interviews. They included ID show hosts Joe Kenda, Chris Hansen, Candice DeLong, Tony Harris (who will emcee IDCon 2017), Garry McFadden, Graham Hetrick and Rod Demery. As previously reported, Paula Zahn, Tamron Hall, Maria Elena Salinas and other ID stars are expected to attend.
In addition to the panel lineup (listed below), attendees will have be able to go to two separate meet-and-greet sessions throughout the day. IDCon 2017 will also premiere sneak preview footage of upcoming ID show episodes.
The event space has expanded this year to include a downstairs lounge area. The lounge has an ID Addict Truth Booth where fans can videorecord their ID Addict confessions, some of which could be televised or posted on ID’s social media.
Other new activations this year include the “Liar! Liar! Liar!” polygraph demonstration; a competitive “Be an Eyewitness” photo competition game; an “Evidence Board” to break down the facts behind the unsolved murder of Chandra Levy; and an exclusive photo booth where attendees can “Become the Notorious Headline” by having their photos imposed on mock crime-magazine covers.
IDCon 2017 attendees will be able to sample the first three wines from the recently announced ID Wine Club (which is available as of June 1). There will be plenty of ID merchandise for purchase. The items include a black T-shirt that has the IDCon 2017 logo and a gray T-shirt that says “I’d Rather Be Watching ID.” (The T-shirts come is sizes S, M, L and XL.) There are also thermoses and mason jars with Kenda’s signature catch-phrase “My My My.”
All proceeds for IDCon will be donated to New York’s Silver Shield Foundation, an organization which provides educational support to families of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty. ID Addicts unable to make the trip to New York will be able to watch select panels via the network’s Facebook Live streams, and follow the network’s social handles at Twitter, Instagram, and SnapChat for behind-the-scenes coverage. Attendees are encouraged to share their experience and photos at IDCon on social media using #IDCon2017 with highly-engaged fans winning exclusive giveaways.
Here are some sneak-preview photos of IDCon 2017:
Here is the full IDCon 2017 panel lineup:
Missing from the Headlines with esteemed news journalists including Tamron Hall (“Deadline Crime”), Chris Hansen (“Killer Instinct”), Maria Elena Salinas (“Real Story”) and Paula Zahn (“On the Case”). Moderated by ID senior vice president of production Sara Kozak, this panel digs into the cases that have compelled these journalists to bring these stories to a national platform on ID.
People Magazine Investigates featuring People Magazine’s award-winning slate of crime reporters—including senior editor Alicia Dennis, senior writer Christine Peliseck and staff writer Caitlin Keating—and moderated by executive editor Dan Wakeford. This panel unpacks the intersection of television and print, and discusses how the magazine chooses which stories to bring to life on ID.
Notorious Headlines delves into the most provocative cases that have captivated our attention, from the Unabomber, O.J. Simpson, Chandra Levy, and Casey Anthony. Moderated by producer and reporter Steph Watts, this panel features personal insight from former FBI profiler Candice DeLong (host, “Deadly Women”), legal analyst Beth Karas (“An American Murder” mystery specials on Casey Anthony and JonBenét Ramsey) police sergeant Derrick Levasseur and forensic psychologist Kris Mohandie (commentators, “Is OJ Innocent? The Missing Evidence”), and showrunner Tim McConville (“An American Murder Mystery”/”American Scandal”).
The Case That Keeps Me Up at Night Moderated by criminal psychologist Dr. Michelle Ward, this panel unearths the cases that haunt ID’s own crime-solving superheroes and explains how killers leave a wake of destruction in their path for all that encounter the crime. The panel features Rod Demery (“Murder Chose Me”), Graham Hetrick (“The Coroner: I Speak for the Dead”) Joe Kenda (“Homicide Hunter”), and Garry McFadden (“I Am Homicide”).