I would like to meet you at the top of the wheel

[sovay]

It is a little impressive that a virtual con is exhausting me as much as the usual kind in person with all the running around hotels and swearing at the T, but I suspect that's the Zoom. Nonetheless, the chantey sing was as rousing as it is possible for a song circle to be when the response part of the call-and-response has to be muted because of internet latency—I contributed "Randy Dandy-O" and "Haul on the Bowline" and "The Wellerman" made its inevitable and not unwelcome appearance—and the reading was a delight, especially works in progress by Gillian Daniels and Ruthanna Emrys; I am an unsurprising fan of waterlogged Boston and houses that are less haunted than aware. Tomorrow I talk about leadership in fantasy and science fiction and then I do not actually collapse because some other things need to be done, but it will be the end of my first full virtual convention. I am having a lovely time with it and I hope dearly it will be safe to run around hotels next year. It's saving me a fortune, but I miss the dealer's room.

Comments

[sovay]

Glad you had a chance to experience your first virtual con, while sorry not to have the chance to at least quickly say hi in passing. Next year!

I missed very much the ability to catch people in the hallways or after panels or even hang out in the green room. Discord was not a substitute. The programming was excellent, but the socializing was a bit short-circuited.

But did catch the Ig Nobels and SFF leadership panels--one advantage of doing this remotely is being able to shout "yes" as you brought up Avatar.

Thank you!

The Low Mechanics RPG panel I moderated was personal highlight--the panelists were all strong, prepared, articulate and concise, it felt like we were on fire.

Congratulations! We had something of the same experience with "The Monomyth Myth." But all of the panels I was on really could have run their normal hour and a half, easy: we were not suffering from dead air.

So, as we are in the thick of winter SFF season, are you planning on doing the 'thon remotely?

I believe spatch and I are going to program our own mix of classics and things we have both never seen and stay up around the clock that way. But if you do the virtual 'Thon, you should report back and tell us what it was like!

[dramaticirony]

Certain you both will program an amazing 'thon!

As for myself, I usually opt for Boskone, but as most of the panels are being recorded and will be available for attendees, I'm tempted by chance to do the 'thon without missing part of Boskone. But I may just stream a few of the shorts programs from the fest, to support it, and encourage the film makers.