"How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Loncon3 edition"
I wouldn't have visited Ireland and London if not for Loncon3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention. This was my third UK convention. I'd been to two in Scotland, but I'd never been to England, so this was a grand opportunity.
We flew into London City Airport from Dublin, which was vastly preferable to flying into the major airports. London City was within walking distance of our hotel, though we took a cab because of luggage. Our room at the Ramada Docklands overlooked the runways at London City.
I walked over to the Excel Center to check out the registration area, and ran into joe_haldeman and Gay Haldeman along with a few other friends from fandom. Gay and I are always joking that we see each other more at Worldcon than we do at home, even though we only live a mile apart.
Thursday morning bright and early I was in line to get my badge and program participant material. This turned out to be my wisest decision of the convention. As soon as I picked up my program participant package I saw that the desk was understaffed and offered to take a shift sitting there, helping out friends/fans/con-runners Priscilla Olson and marykaykare.
People who complain about problems at Worldcon often don't realize, or don't care, that the convention is 100% staffed by volunteers. The best way to experience the convention and meet people is to take a volunteer shift, and while I wasn't signed up to volunteer at Prog.Part. check-in, I saw the need. Plus, it gave me a chance to schmooze with friends.
We had some of the usual issues checking in people, complicated by the long lines for registration snaking out the door. Program Participants who had panels were rushed to the front of the line, and we didn't have our ribbons identifing them as Program Participants, or Hugo Nominees, or other honors. This is bigger than it sounds--authors and artists want to interact with fans, and not everyone is recognized on sight. Having a ribbon helps. In addition, it grants access to the Green Room to meet with other panelists, so ribbons do matter.
I didn't have any panels on Thursday, so I spent the day at the check-in table. My husband met up with me later and we joined Steven Lopata for supper at a nearby Italian restaurant. Steve always works Ops, assisting with security and he's my "go-to" guy for weapons questions, so it was great to meet up with him again.
Friday was my first day as a program participant, and the ribbons arrived! Our panel was on "Teen Romance" and featured some authors whose work was new to me, and some I knew, like Mary Turzillo. One of the things I like best about the non-North American Worldcons is I get to meet authors who don't always make it across the pond, or in the case of the Australian Worldcons, across the really, really big pond.
All of my panels went well this con. Some I moderated, some I was simply a participant, but we had good attendance and lively discussions. I never felt like we were filling time until the next panel. Kudos to the programming staff for putting together such a great array of topics and discussions!
Worldcon is also where different cons make their bids for memberships and votes. I knew I'd be supporting Kansas City for 2016, and after discussing it with my husband, threw our support behind DC in 17. As much as I was intrigued by a Helsinki bid, I had a lot of confidence in the con runners and facilities in DC, plus I suspected I'd still be paying off this overseas trip for a while and couldn't do two that close together. Worldcon isn't just about the location, it's also about the facilities and who's running the convention, and these issues have to be factored in when voting. We both love DC, we've got friends and family who live there, and it seemed like the right choice for us.
Saturday brought two panels I moderated: "Sex in SF&F: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Coming of Age in Game of Thrones". Not surprisingly, given the topics, the panels were well-attended and we had some lively discussions and questions from the audience. Saturday night was more bid parties in the large venue, the Fan Village in the Excel. Each bid tried to outdo the competition with food and drink, and the fans responded enthusiastically.
I also dropped by the Dealers Room on Saturday and was impressed with the range of vendors and the quality of the products. I especially enjoyed chatting with the folks from the University of Glasgow about their project, a historical thesaurus of English. I'm looking forward to using this resource in my writing!
Sunday was Hugo Awards Day, and I'd volunteered to work as a door usher at the event. Before that happened I had a reading, and took both a copy of The Pirate's Secret Baby and my WIP with me.
Now, I know from experience not to be disappointed by a low turnout at my readings so I was flabbergasted to walk in the room and find it packed with people, most of whom did not look like Darlene Marshall fans!
Then the penny dropped. I asked, "How many of you are here to see Charlie Stross after my reading?"
I didn't do a count, but I'd say 99% of the hands went up. But hey, an opportunity is an opportunity, so I read from The Pirate's Secret Baby, answered a few questions about my writing, reminded people where to buy it, and considered it 30 minutes well spent. How often do I have a captive audience like that?
I've worked the Hugos before and it's always a pleasure to see the well-dressed and excited nominees and their guests. The ceremony went well, and I dropped by the Fan Village afterward to enjoy a cider and chat with friends who'd be leaving on Monday.
I was staying through the end of the convention, and Monday was my last panel: "When Genres Collide: Does SF&F Have its Own Form?" The panelists brought a more scholarly bent to this topic and I enjoyed being a part of the discussion. My genre definitely has a form (the journey to a HEA), so it was intriguing to discuss whether other genres have the same kinds of structure.
Overall it was an excellent convention marred by a few mishaps. More memberships were sold than the facility and volunteers could accomodate, and this could be a good lesson for future conventions. Registration was about as poorly organized as I've seen it in the last 15 years. On the other hand, I saw more diversity, especially gender diversity, than I usually see at North American Worldcons and that was encouraging. My greatest hope is some of the people who were attending their first Worldcon will continue to stay active, and remember that it's volunteers who make things happen.
It was also an opportunity to see many good friends: smofbabe, of course (we had a delightful traditional tea together), and marsgov, along with too many others to list here.
We have memberships to Sasquan next year in Washington and may combine that with a driving trip in the West to see parts of the country new to us southerners. More on this as it develops.
We flew into London City Airport from Dublin, which was vastly preferable to flying into the major airports. London City was within walking distance of our hotel, though we took a cab because of luggage. Our room at the Ramada Docklands overlooked the runways at London City.
I walked over to the Excel Center to check out the registration area, and ran into joe_haldeman and Gay Haldeman along with a few other friends from fandom. Gay and I are always joking that we see each other more at Worldcon than we do at home, even though we only live a mile apart.
Thursday morning bright and early I was in line to get my badge and program participant material. This turned out to be my wisest decision of the convention. As soon as I picked up my program participant package I saw that the desk was understaffed and offered to take a shift sitting there, helping out friends/fans/con-runners Priscilla Olson and marykaykare.
People who complain about problems at Worldcon often don't realize, or don't care, that the convention is 100% staffed by volunteers. The best way to experience the convention and meet people is to take a volunteer shift, and while I wasn't signed up to volunteer at Prog.Part. check-in, I saw the need. Plus, it gave me a chance to schmooze with friends.
We had some of the usual issues checking in people, complicated by the long lines for registration snaking out the door. Program Participants who had panels were rushed to the front of the line, and we didn't have our ribbons identifing them as Program Participants, or Hugo Nominees, or other honors. This is bigger than it sounds--authors and artists want to interact with fans, and not everyone is recognized on sight. Having a ribbon helps. In addition, it grants access to the Green Room to meet with other panelists, so ribbons do matter.
I didn't have any panels on Thursday, so I spent the day at the check-in table. My husband met up with me later and we joined Steven Lopata for supper at a nearby Italian restaurant. Steve always works Ops, assisting with security and he's my "go-to" guy for weapons questions, so it was great to meet up with him again.
Friday was my first day as a program participant, and the ribbons arrived! Our panel was on "Teen Romance" and featured some authors whose work was new to me, and some I knew, like Mary Turzillo. One of the things I like best about the non-North American Worldcons is I get to meet authors who don't always make it across the pond, or in the case of the Australian Worldcons, across the really, really big pond.
All of my panels went well this con. Some I moderated, some I was simply a participant, but we had good attendance and lively discussions. I never felt like we were filling time until the next panel. Kudos to the programming staff for putting together such a great array of topics and discussions!
Worldcon is also where different cons make their bids for memberships and votes. I knew I'd be supporting Kansas City for 2016, and after discussing it with my husband, threw our support behind DC in 17. As much as I was intrigued by a Helsinki bid, I had a lot of confidence in the con runners and facilities in DC, plus I suspected I'd still be paying off this overseas trip for a while and couldn't do two that close together. Worldcon isn't just about the location, it's also about the facilities and who's running the convention, and these issues have to be factored in when voting. We both love DC, we've got friends and family who live there, and it seemed like the right choice for us.
Saturday brought two panels I moderated: "Sex in SF&F: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Coming of Age in Game of Thrones". Not surprisingly, given the topics, the panels were well-attended and we had some lively discussions and questions from the audience. Saturday night was more bid parties in the large venue, the Fan Village in the Excel. Each bid tried to outdo the competition with food and drink, and the fans responded enthusiastically.
I also dropped by the Dealers Room on Saturday and was impressed with the range of vendors and the quality of the products. I especially enjoyed chatting with the folks from the University of Glasgow about their project, a historical thesaurus of English. I'm looking forward to using this resource in my writing!
Sunday was Hugo Awards Day, and I'd volunteered to work as a door usher at the event. Before that happened I had a reading, and took both a copy of The Pirate's Secret Baby and my WIP with me.
Now, I know from experience not to be disappointed by a low turnout at my readings so I was flabbergasted to walk in the room and find it packed with people, most of whom did not look like Darlene Marshall fans!
Then the penny dropped. I asked, "How many of you are here to see Charlie Stross after my reading?"
I didn't do a count, but I'd say 99% of the hands went up. But hey, an opportunity is an opportunity, so I read from The Pirate's Secret Baby, answered a few questions about my writing, reminded people where to buy it, and considered it 30 minutes well spent. How often do I have a captive audience like that?
I've worked the Hugos before and it's always a pleasure to see the well-dressed and excited nominees and their guests. The ceremony went well, and I dropped by the Fan Village afterward to enjoy a cider and chat with friends who'd be leaving on Monday.
I was staying through the end of the convention, and Monday was my last panel: "When Genres Collide: Does SF&F Have its Own Form?" The panelists brought a more scholarly bent to this topic and I enjoyed being a part of the discussion. My genre definitely has a form (the journey to a HEA), so it was intriguing to discuss whether other genres have the same kinds of structure.
Overall it was an excellent convention marred by a few mishaps. More memberships were sold than the facility and volunteers could accomodate, and this could be a good lesson for future conventions. Registration was about as poorly organized as I've seen it in the last 15 years. On the other hand, I saw more diversity, especially gender diversity, than I usually see at North American Worldcons and that was encouraging. My greatest hope is some of the people who were attending their first Worldcon will continue to stay active, and remember that it's volunteers who make things happen.
It was also an opportunity to see many good friends: smofbabe, of course (we had a delightful traditional tea together), and marsgov, along with too many others to list here.
We have memberships to Sasquan next year in Washington and may combine that with a driving trip in the West to see parts of the country new to us southerners. More on this as it develops.