I have been at Alt.Fiction all day. I had a lot of fun, but am now very tired. I will blog tomorrow. I have also bagged a quick interview with some of the organizers for StarShipSofa. G’night.
Conventions
Alan Moore Speaks
Earlier this year an academic conference focusing on the work of Alan Moore was held in Northampton. The man himself was in attendance. Joe Gordon has a selection of videos shot at the event. Enjoy.
Alt.Fiction – The Programme
The schedule of events for Alt.Fiction is now available online. It looks like they are working some of their authors very hard, and the panel topics don’t seem very inspired, but this is a rather different sort of event and I suspect that those putting it together feel that it is rather more important to allow people to see celebrities than worry about what is being discussed. They are not catering to people who attend Worldcon regularly.
Given that I’m only popping up for the day, over 6 hours of which will be spent on train travel, I’m not too fussed about the programme. I want to talk to people, not listen to them. But I will also be very interested to see how the event works. I’m impressed that they have a whole stream of panels scheduled to be recorded and podcast after the event.
Catch-Up Linkage
Because I have been busy for the past three days…
– One of the reasons I love cosmology is the timescales over which things happen. This story, about a star eating a planet, explains that the poor planet may only have 10 millions years left to live.
– Over at Deep Sea News Dr. M discusses what the effects of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico might be.
– Oliver Morton has a round-up of interesting discussion about the “artificial life” story, including Ken MacLeod’s article for The Guardian.
– Rose Fox has a fun new book out.
– That “gay couple” prosecuted in Malawi? Apparently not a gay couple at all. Natacha Kennedy explains.
– There will be a Tolkien Art Exhibition in Gloucestershire in August.
– Tero explains why Ã…con is so much fun (hint: chocolate!)
– There’s a new issue of Yipe! out.
Bristol Expo Briefly
There are a couple of comics I want to talk about in more detail, and there will also be a post coming about the Eagle Awards, but here are some general thoughts about the Bristol Comic Expo.
From BristolCon’s point of view, it was a mixed bag. We met a bunch of people who were interested in attending as writers, artists or dealers. We also met several people representing other events with whom we can do cross-marketing. We gave away almost 500 fliers. But sales were very poor. We had a collection of interesting merchandise: books by local writers, Andy Bigwood artwork and mugs, and Scott Dennis (who was in town for a mystery convention) gave us some t-shirts to sell. No one was buying. I’m somewhat heartened by the fact that some of the other dealers also complained that, while there was a lot more traffic than last year, sales were not as good.
I didn’t attend much programming, but I was pleased to get to the Vertigo panel and encourage them to talk about Chris Roberson’s books: Cinderella and iZombie. I don’t known if Simon Bisley has stopped muttering about zombie detectives yet, and if he hasn’t I apologize.
The Vertigo panel was also where I discovered that Mark Buckingham, the artist on the utterly fabulous Fables comic, is British. My guess is that Brit comic fans will mostly give their allegiance (should patriotism figure at all in their calculations) to Paul Cornell in the Hugos, but Fables is a great comic and I’m happy to find any excuse to encourage you to read it.
On a personal level I’m not too keen on sitting tables at conventions. I’m very bad at it, and it means I don’t get to hang out with my friends quite as much, but I did enjoy the weekend and must have been doing something because I was exhausted by the end of it. I’m rather glad I’m not rushing off to France in a couple of days time, because I need the rest.
Comics Come To Bristol
This may well be the last blog post from me until Sunday night, because I’ll be busy all weekend at the Bristol Comic Expo. BristolCon has a table there (we’ll be in the Small Press Expo in the other hotel the Mercure). That’s where you’ll find me for much of the weekend. I suspect I will also spend a fair amount of time in the bar with pals such as Paul Cornell, Tony Lee, Barry & Dave from Geek Syndicate and so on.
The event is sold out now so you can’t just turn up on the day. However, if you are interested in following the action, the Geek Syndicate boys have a nice preview of the event in their latest podcast. (Bristol coverage begins about 36 minutes in, but as usual the whole show is fun.) And for live coverage, John Reppion has set up a CoverItLive event which will include Twitter and AudioBoo coverage from all of the aforementioned folks, myself, and probably lots of other people too. John & Leah can’t be in Bristol this year, but that does mean they will be able to monitor the coverage much more effectively than I could do from my iPhone last year. Hopefully we’ll put on a good show for them.
On Worldcon Site Selection
If you are a member of Aussiecon 4 (even if you are only a Supporting Member with no intention of going to Melbourne) then you are entitled to vote in Site Selection for 2012 — that is you get to choose where Worldcon will be in 2012. There isn’t actually much choice: Chicago is the only candidate (though you can write in a candidate if you want). However, voting is still worth doing if you are a Worldcon regular. Voting in Site Selection costs more money, but for it you get a Supporting Membership in whichever site wins (Chicago), and that gets you your Hugo voting rights for 2012. It is very useful for a newly seated Worldcon to have the pile of money from Site Selection in the bank when they get elected, so us regulars help them out by voting, even in unopposed elections. And of course if you are going to Melbourne then voting now means you don’t have to remember to vote during the convention.
So, PDF ballots are available from the Aussiecon 4 web site. You can print one out and mail it in.
Wait, sorry, what did you say? Why can’t you vote online? Well, that’s a long story. Bear with me.
The whole idea of the Secret Masters of Fandom is supposed to be a joke, in that they are not actually in charge of anything and they are not secret. Unfortunately that doesn’t stop people getting carried away with the idea. Issues affecting the way that Worldcon is run are discussed on a mailing list called SMOFs. You can’t just join it, you have to be approved. And the people who are on it absolutely hate having what they say there quoted publicly, because what goes on there is supposed to be secret and private. So much so that it is often referred to as “The List That Must Not Be Named”, because it is so secret that no one is supposed to know it exists.
I’m not on the list, I gave up on it years ago, but Kevin is and occasionally I provide a friendly ear when he needs to vent about the stupidity that is sometimes exhibited there. Very rarely, however, does he get so frustrated that he has to vent to the world. This is one of those rare occasions.
For those who don’t want to click through, the relevant portion of the WSFS Constitution is as follows:
Voting shall be by written ballot cast either by mail or at the current Worldcon with tallying as described in Section 6.3.
The reason that you can’t vote in Site Selection online is because, although Worldcons have for many years considered “mail” to include faxing and private delivery by an authorized representative of the voter, it is being argued that it explicitly excludes the use of email or online voting.
We have been here before, haven’t we? It is the same argument that held that a fanzine had to be printed on paper and delivered through the mail in order to be eligible for the Hugos. It is the same argument that held that the word “published” meant printed on paper in a book or magazine, not put on a web site. And it is the same people making the argument.
So, in order to allow online voting in Site Selection we need to pass a Constitutional Amendment that will explicitly allow online Site Selection voting. Kevin has a draft amendment posted to his LiveJournal. He would appreciate expressions of support (and, of course, actual votes in Melbourne and Reno). I’ve closed comments here. Please comment on Kevin’s post.
BristolCon Membership Reminder
UK people, please take note: BristolCon membership rates go up in two weeks time.
Also we’ll be making a decision about how much programme space to take based on how many members we have at that point. So if you want us to have more than one track of programming, please sign up now.
Right Fantastic
Yesterday’s mini-convention in Oxford went very well. For those of you who are not regulars, it was the 5th Anniversary event for The Write Fantastic, a UK fantasy fiction writers cooperative. As such, it attracted a very fine collection of writers, including Geoff Ryman who is spending some time in and around Oxford these days. Paul Cornell was absent due to having to attend a wedding elsewhere, but otherwise there was an excellent local turnout.
The con took place in the The Jacqueline du Pré Music Building at St. Hilda’s College, a fine establishment of which Juliet McKenna is a graduate. Being a concert hall, it has only one program room, seating around 200, but there’s a foyer in which the dealers (Newcon Press and Murky Depths) were able to set up.
I did a brief interview with Juliet for StarShipSofa and I’ll let you know when Tony has that online. John Dallman was taking some fine photos that I expect to appear on his Flickr stream soon.
As with any convention, what you want at the end is to have no major complaints, to cover your expenses, and to have people asking about “next year”. Juliet and her team managed all of that. I look forward to this becoming a regular feature of the convention calendar (though I note that if it is to grow much it will have to find a new venue).
New Bay Area Convention
Here’s another reason to be sad that I can’t go back to San Francisco: I would like to attend FOGcon.
The cute name with the play on the Bay Area’s most famous weather condition stands for “Friends of Genre Convention”, but if you think that means it will be about pulp and the like you’d be wrong. The web site says it is, “a literary-themed San Francisco SF/F con in the tradition of Wiscon and Readercon.”
See, just my sort of thing. The first event will be March 11-13, 2011 and the Honored Guests are Pat Murphy and Jeff VanderMeer.
Timmi Duchamp Rachel Swirsky [fixed per comment below], who is on the committee, has more details.
Have fun folks, wish I could be there.
Forthcoming Events Reminder
As people have been asking, here’s what’s coming up in the next couple of months.
This Saturday I will be in Oxford for the Write Fantastic 5th Anniversary Convention. Juliet McKenna has a great collection of writers lined up. Hopefully I’ll see some of you there. I doubt that I’ll make the first panel (sorry Kari!) but I should make it in time for the politics in fantasy panel.
Over the weekend May 22/23 I will be at the Bristol Comics Expo. BristolCon will have a table there (we’ll be in the small press expo in the Mercure). This is a good time to remind you that our membership rates go up after the expo, so if you want to take advantage of the £15 rate, buy now! We’ll be taking a decision on how much programme space to book based on the number of members we have by the end of the expo, so if you want us to run more programme you need to book early.
I have sadly given up on getting a room in Epinal for Imaginales. Some medical conference has booked most of the hotel space and event the con regulars are struggling. So no France for me this year. I will, however, be going to see David Mitchell in Bath at the end of May.
The beginning of June sees the first ever Stoke Newington Literary Festival. I doubt that I’ll be there, but it will apparently have China Miéville, Jon Courtenay-Grimwood and Toby Litt. It may be worth a look if you are in London.
On June 12th I will definitely be at Alt.Fiction in Derby, which has a stellar line-up of the usual suspects.
In July I am going to Finncon. That will take a big chunk out of my month.
More Bits and Pieces
Here are a few more things that may be of interest:
– First and foremost, the Hugo Voter Packet has been released. For a mere £25 (currently rather better value that the US$50 price, though it may not be after the election) you can get a massive collection of ebook goodness, including all six nominees for Best Novel. Bargain.
– Talking of Worldcon news, Reno is going to hold a film festival. That’s excellent news as it shows they are working hard on attracting a new and diverse membership.
– On to some archaeology, and it appears that the Maya were pretty clever at urban plumbing.
– Back in Melbourne, scientists claim to have proved that Phar Lap died of arsenic poisoning. Of course this doesn’t prove murder, so they have not yet declared war on the USA…
– And finally, another plug for James Maliszewski’s excellent Grognardia blog. Although it is ostensibly about role-playing, it has many posts about pulp fiction. Here’s James talking about Lovecraft and Conan. His latest post is about the history of role-playing and its connections to the SCA and science fiction fandom. My knowledge is a bit fuzzy, but if one of you would like to point Lee Gold, Diana Paxson etc. at him I’m sure he’d be very grateful.
On the Sofa Again
The latest episode of Star Ship Sofa has gone live, and it includes a feature in which I interview Steve Cooper, one of the co-chairs of the London in 2014 Worldcon Bid. If you want to learn more about what bidding for a Worldcon is all about, and what we can expect if London wins, go here and listen.
The episode also includes a podcast of Greg Frost’s much-lauded novelette, “Madonna of the Maquiladora”.
At Least Someone Wants Me
Today I applied for, and was granted, an electronic visitor visa for Australia. I can now book flights to Worldcon. This is a great relief to me.
It does remind me, however, that pretty much everyone traveling to Australia for Worldcon will need a visa of some sort. Getting it is generally very easy. You can apply online, and in most cases they will respond the same day. See here for more information.
Virtual Conventions – Some Reflection
I’ve let my experience with the virtual conventions panel at Eastercon, and related events, percolate around in my mind for a couple of weeks. Here are some brief thoughts.
You can get an audience. There were 33 people online for the Virtual Conventions panel. That’s a lot more than were actually in the room. And that doesn’t count the people who attended only via Second Life, or the 18 people who watched the replay, or however many people listened to Jim Mowatt’s podcast of the panel. If, say, Iain Banks had been on the panel I think the online audience would have been much bigger.
Having decent free wi-fi in the convention venue makes a huge difference. I did a lot of tweeting from panels. Others did too. According to Danie Ware the #eastercon hashtag was actually trending worldwide for a short period on Sunday. A lot of people would have been able to follow panels just because of that. In a few cases I was able to use incoming tweets as input to discussions.
On the other hand, if you need to do anything serious, such as webcasting a Hugo Award Nominees announcement, you desperately need dedicated Internet access that you can guarantee won’t be dragged down by the tweeting of the attendees.
Video is possible, but limited. UStream works, but the video quality is awful unless you have really good connection. What it actually does is provide decent quality streaming audio. However, the unmoderated backchannel isn’t very useful.
Indeed, even if you are only watching Twitter, the backchannel can quickly become overwhelming (and if popular enough will be spammed by bots). Any popular event will need to be moderated.
I remain convinced that Cover It Live is an excellent tool for virtual panels, especially because of the moderation facilities, but fandom at large appears wedded to awful solutions like UStream, LiveJournal and chat rooms. I may actually have to run a virtual convention to prove the point.
Moderating a panel online and in meat-space at the same time is hellishly difficult (and thanks to my co-panelists for handling much of the meat-space stuff themselves).
I’m not convinced that all convention events are suitable for being both live and online. The Hugo event worked because it was of huge international interest and had almost no live interaction. The Virtual Conventions panel worked, at least in part, because there were so few people in the room. I think the best things to webcast are things like the Hugo event. For discussion panels I suspect it may be better to be all online, or to be live plus Twitter.
I wasn’t able to see what went on in Second Life, but the possibilities are intriguing. Once I have a home of my own I shall look into getting a computer with a decent graphics card so that I can go there myself and check things out. In the meantime, here’s a quick taster (thanks Bill!).
The One They Missed
In the comment thread for the London video Paul Ewins pointed out that what was missing was London being destroyed by a giant kitten. He’s absolutely correct. So, to put things right…
That, of course, is a still from “Kitten Kong”, an episode of the legendary Goodies comedy show. If you have half an hour to spare, the whole thing is online here.
This is London
Awesome, isn’t it.
It also says to me that this is a Worldcon bid with a bit of ambition. I like that. More information here.
More Eastercon
The Eastercon Report
Is over on ConReporter.com. Some of it I did from the site, and I’ve just done a wrap-up post. Do go take a look. I love the picture of people attending my virtual conventions panel in Second Life, and the Star Ship Sofa podcast of people following the Hugo announcements through my live coverage. Despite all of the technical difficulties, I think it all went rather well.
I’ll do a more analytical post about virtual conventions later. If you want to give feedback in advance of that, please do so here.
Fewer Conventions
Well, that’s annoying. I was planning to attend Gaylaxicon in Montréal this year, but now I can’t, because it has been canceled. Obviously I won’t be able to go next year, because the convention is in the USA. Rats!
It also looks like my attendance at Imaginales is in doubt. There’s another event in the town the same weekend, and the hotels are all fully booked. I’ve put a request out to some people I know, but it looks likely that I won’t make that one either.
I guess it all saves money.