Labor Day Weekend

It was thirty-five years ago this weekend, Labor Day 1978, when I was first exposed to the wonderful world that is “science fiction fandom.” Since then I have always known where I wanted to be for the week of Worldcon (usually Labor Day weekend).

I’ve been thinking about that a lot this weekend because I am not in San Antonio with a few thousand of my closest friends, nor am I terribly optimistic about being in London next year. Since I wasn’t able to get to Chicago last year, or Reno in 2011, or Melbourne in 2010, this is a trend that bothers me greatly.

When I first showed up in Phoenix for IguanaCon II in 1978, I had no idea what I was getting involved with. I had, of course, been ravenously reading science fiction and fantasy (among other things) since early childhood, but had only vaguely heard of “Trekkies”, usually when they were being mocked by the local press. What I found in fandom was a group of people and friends who are fun, diverse, often bizarre, intellectually stimulating, hilarious, inspiring, and inclusive. This was a place where folks like me could get together with other folks like me. This was a world of geeks and nerds who were proud to be geeks and nerds, but it was so, so much more.

When many people think of science fiction conventions (“cons” for short) they think of ComicCon or a Star Trek based convention. While these exist and in fact are some of the biggest conventions of their types, they’re by and large commercial operations run by big corporations. Worldcon and all of the other cons run by fans are smaller, more intimate, non-profit, more diverse, more inclusive, and much more enjoyable. After getting involved in fandom, I ended up being a founding committee member for the ConChord convention, serving on the first five (or six?) committees and being committee chairman for ConChord 2 and ConChord 5.

(It was a long time ago – see Barney Evan’s ConChord history site for actual details that don’t depend on my swiss-cheese-like memory. To show how bad it can get, in looking up the page to get the link in the previous sentence, I did a complete double take in realizing that the still photo on the page that links to the 1990 ConChord 6 video is a picture of me.)

While there are many long-running cons that occur every year across the US and around the world, generally occuring on the same holiday weekend every year (for example, Westercon on the US west coast on the July 4th weekend), and many long-running cons that cater to subgroups of fandom (for example, Ohio Valley Filk Fest around the Halloween weekend), Worldcon is the crown jewel of the conventions run by fandom.

As just one example of what goes on at Worldcon, the Hugo Awards are given out at Worldcon. (They actually start in less than a half-hour and are being livestreamed, so if you’re reading this soon, go to the web site to get the link.) I try to make a point each year to read as many of the nominated novels, short stories, novellas, and novelettes as possible. (This year I reviewed three of the nominated novels here, here, and here – next year I’ll do better!) Then there’s “filking” (which I’ll have to go into in much greater detail some other time), hall costumes, the Masquerade, the art show, the dealer’s room, regency dancing, panels with authors, panels with astronauts and scientists, panels on a zillion different topics, and sitting around schmoozing with good friends that you only get to see every couple of years (usually at Worldcon!).

From 1978 until 1984 I attended all seven Worldcons, in Phoenix, Brighton, Boston, Denver, Chicago, Baltimore, and Los Angeles. From 1985 through 2009 I attended twelve of the twenty-four Worldcons. (Having a family will make some adjustments to your financial priorities.) But only once in that time did I miss Worldcon three consecutive years. The fact that I’ve missed it four years in a row and now have the potential to miss five or more years in a row  is not something that I’m very happy about.

The 2015 Worldcon has just been awarded to Spokane, and in a worst-case scenario for me, even if I can’t get to London next year, I’m going to really try to get to Spokane. In the meantime, it’s time to find (or manufacture) a reason to get to Loncon 3 next year, August 14-18. Five years is too many years in a row to miss being at your favorite place!