did I miss a memo?

[lagilman]

So, it being December, I am making my plans for 2010 conventions (Pcon in Dublin, daytripping Lunacon, Balticon, pending DragonCon, all others uncertain at this point*) and I come to a sticking point.

WFC apparently is refusing to do any on-line registration. You have to download a pdf form, fill it out, write them a check/credit card #, and send it via USPS.

Guys, I know WFC marches to the beat of its own bagpipe, but WTF? It's 2010. Most of us do things on-line whenever possible -- yes, really. We enter in the credit card and we hit "send" and we don't print out fiddly bits of paper and mail them and then wait to hear if it's been received or not.

Or am I missing some great backlash against on-line commerce?


There are also no hotel rates listed. Hopefully that will be remedied in the next few months, so I can deal with Budget Issues...




*I'm not doing Readercon because I'll be teaching @ Odyssey the week prior and fully expect to be exhausted. WorldCon is yet to be decided -- have to see a) how the finances work, and b) if I can really afford to take the time off, when I'll then have to turn around and head to France for two weeks the next month. The cats would kill me. Although I am willing to hear arguments....

Comments

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

Also, you should consider NASFIC for this year. Much more budget-friendly than Down Under.
*nodnod*

[lagilman]

More budget-friendly, yes, but... Australia! Vineyards! Dropbears!

(although I suspect this falls under the same rule I had for Japan -- if I'm going, I don't want to spend 2-4 days cooped up in a convention center. The advantage of the job is that ALL trips are research trips, so I don't have to hang it off a convention. And yet.... it would be really cool, and I do have a handful or so of Australian readers....)

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

If I hit any of the major cons this year, myself, NASFiC will be it for me, partly because it will be less expensive than Australia (though Jack really wants me to go) and because i have family in Raleigh. It wold be lovely to see you, I must admit--but I totally understand preferring Australia to the Carolinas.

[feuervogel]

What goes on at a NASFiC? I'm Raleigh-ish local, and I'm intrigued by a con I wouldn't have to drive 6 hours to get to. (Also, the new RCC is pretty swank, and in easy walking distance of a variety of pubs, including the Flying Saucer.)

[Here via a link in a comment to Jim Hines' post.]

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

NASFiC is the North American Science Fiction Convention--basically it's intended to be a WorldCon for those in the US who can't go to WorldCon. Its flavor and content are generally determined by the concom who won the bid, so the quality of such conventions varies wildly depending upon who's running it. How's the Raleigh-area SMOF community? Do they run good shows? You may be better able to answer this question than I am.

[feuervogel]

I'm not In with the Cool Crowd, so I couldn't say. My experience of cons is Dragon*Con and Animazement and YaoiCon. Very fannish, and from what I can gather, very Not What WorldCon Is About.

What I don't know is whether someone who's a fan (and not a BNF or a SMOF or a published writer or etc etc) would find anything to do. Is it all about networking? Seeing folks you haven't seen since last con? The website only has guests up now, and no programming (though I don't expect /that/ until July at the earliest).

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Usually there are several tracks of panel programming (writing, media, science, mythology, SF & fantasy lit, costuming, filk, culture, etc.), readings, costuming, a movie and media track, a masquerade, parties, gaming--WorldCon attempts (better than most regional cons) to be all things to all people. Programming goes late into the night, parties are thrown by all sorts of people, clubs, and groups. Sometimes there's a dance. It's very fannish.

WorldCons are typically much more fannish than World Fantasy, though I haven't been to WFC is years and it may have changed from what I remember.

[feuervogel]

Oh, I see! I was remembering the discussions surrounding costuming at WFC (frowned upon) this year, and thinking WorldCon was similar. Hmm. I may have to prod friends into going, though most of my local friends will be saving up for D*C. (As will I, actually.)

Thanks so much :)

[anisosynchronic.livejournal.com]

World Fantasy Conventions and Worldcons are very difference animals. The former has a membership cap, a limited program in the sense of it being deliberately kept to something like a maximum of two track simultaneously panels and two readings at a time, an juried/invitation only-by-juring art show, no masquerade, hall costumes frowned on, very high percentage of writers/editors/agents/artist/publishers.... Worldcons are 20 rings circuses, with around ten percent of the members of the convention on the program, as many or twelve or more panel discussion items going on at the same time, typically two tracks at least going on of film/video/anime playing and a track of promos for forthcoming features in TV/video/anime/film, a track of concert sets of music, two or three rooms given over at night for music-making with some being "themed circles" and others "open filk" with the music running for as long as people stay in rooms, two or three tracks of author readings, "big tent" events of the Hugo Ceremonies where the Hugos get given out and the Masquerade--the ur-presentation costume competition--with other big tent events tending to include such things as one or more dances, soemtimes a "meet the program participants" event with refreshments and/or a meet the Guests of Honor event, Opening Ceremonies, Closing Ceremonies, other large "extravangza" event(s) if any... Once upon a time there were Hugo banquets and speeches, including the Guest of Honor Speeches, in conjunction with the banquet. That tradition ended long ago as a tradition, though occasionally a Worldcon will have a large food function, very occasionally even a banquet.

What else--Worldcons have hall costumes competitions with ribbons handed out for exception hall costumes. Worldcons have awards ceremonies other than the Hugo such as the Chesleys for SF/F artwork usually being given out at ceremonies held at the Worldcon by ASFA, the Assocation of Science Fiction Artists. Other awards which usually get given out at the Worldcon include the Sidewise Award, and others which I am blanking on.

There are meetings of special interest groups, lots of them--SFWA usually has a business meeting of its members at the Worldcon. ASFA holds a meeting (see Chesleys above...). Subfandoms for e.g. George RR Martin's A Game of Thrones universe often rent suites or rooms and throw parties, some open, some limited to the subfandom--Worldcons have a traveling party board constructed by "Filthy Pierre" years back to list the open parties on, for people to go buy and write down--they also get listed in the daily newletter... there is a newsletter, which may even have multiple issues on the same day on some days.

There are tracks of programming aimed at children. There is art and music programming--program items which are hands-on workshops, programs items which are how-to demos (when he was Artist GoH, Bob Eggleton ws "artist in the fishbowl" painting a complete oil painting in several hours), program items which are people explaining how they create/created books or artwork. There are discussion groups and kaffeeclatsches, the latter being e.g. a writer and ten or so people signed up in advance to sit around a table for an hour and converse.

There is the consuite, open to everyone at the convention to come and partake of the hospitality.

There is an army of volunteers, I worked on Registration at last this past year's Worldcon next to people from the USA, Canada, Europe, and Australia, and one year a significant fraction of the artshow setup volunteers were from Japan, with someone doing live translation from English into Japanese relaying setup instructions...

[feuervogel]

It's a lot more like D*C than I expected! I just wonder how the NASFiC will compare...

[lagilman]

Like, but smaller, and more specific in its direction (no actors, no bands, even the media stuff tends to have a focus on the written word far more than D*C, which is more visual...)

On the other hand, if you have a hankering to hang with writer-folk, they're very easy to spot-and-catch. :-)

[feuervogel]

I tend to loiter in the SFLIT track at D*C, since books are my fandom & I'm not into most TV shows. (I like anime, too, but that fandom is so. freaking. young. I can't relate.) Or I'm doing the costume-gawk thing :D So more book stuff would be happy-making.

The lure of writer-folk is compelling...