Anyone here going to WorldCon 2005?

[Brian G Turner]

Just a general enquiry - how many of the members here are planning to go to WorldCon in Glasgow this year?

So far I know Mark Urpen and myself are planning to go - anyone else?? Anyone like to go, can get accomodation, but worried about ticket prices?

 

[Tsujigiri]

It sounds interesting, do you have a link?

 

[Amber]

I'd like to go, and I have a few Scottish relatives with whom no doubt I could stay a couple of days... though the ticket price is prohibitive

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

I wouldn't mind going but the cliched image of my mind of 'convention people' puts me off (as does the price )

 

[Raven]

I'm going. It's my first con, but I am not too worried about the cliched 'con people' - they'll certainly be there, but so will lots of other people.

 

[Brian G Turner]

It sounds interesting, do you have a link?

Here you go - it's effectively the year's major sff event:
http://www.interaction.worldcon.org.uk/

For a list of "names" attending (generally authors), see this:
http://www.interaction.worldcon.org.uk/proglist.htm

 

[dwndrgn]

Brian, do you have a digital camera? If not, beg, borrow or steal one because I would really like to see what a large convention like that is all about. Of course a picture won't capture the actual sense of being there but it's all I'll get since I'm effectively on the moon when it comes to getting to Glasgow.

Have a great time and please take pictures! I know you'll be busy part of the time but I'm sure you'll take some 'sightseeing' time too. Share!

 

[littlemissattitude]

Well, dwndrgn, it's in Anaheim next year. That's a little closer. I'm planning on going to that one. Unfortunately though, Brian, dwndrgn's comment about the moon and Glasgow apply to me as well, although I really wish I could be there.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Glasgow's too far away for me, too.

However, for those of us in the US and Canada (and particularly for those who live on the West Coast) perhaps the 2005 NASFIC in Seattle is slightly more feasible.

(That would be the North American Science Fiction Convention, a sort of consolation prize they hold whenever the WorldCon goes abroad.)

 

[Esioul]

I will actually be in Scotland at about that time, however the tickets are rather expensive and I'm saving for university.

 

[Raven]

Esioul: as noted on other threads, day passes are available for signings, panels, etc: and (more importantly) most of the parties will not require membership to get into, since they take place 'off-site'.

 

[Foxbat]

Brian, do you have a digital camera? If not, beg, borrow or steal one because I would really like to see what a large convention like that is all about. Of course a picture won't capture the actual sense of being there but it's all I'll get since I'm effectively on the moon when it comes to getting to Glasgow.

I'm intending to show face so I'll try and remember to take my camera with me. I'm no expert but I'm sure I could provide a few snaps for you.

 

[Kevin Standlee]

... most of the parties will not require membership to get into, since they take place 'off-site'.

Not wanting to be a party-pooper (literally), but most of the larger Interaction parties (such as the bid parties) will actually take place in convention-managed function space in the Hilton hotel. As that is convention-run space, not private hotel rooms, a membership is required for admittance. Even though the Hilton is not part of the SECC complex, it is not "off-site" for convention purposes.

This year's Westercon in Calgary will have something similar, as there is a row of function rooms on the hotel's second floor that are used for small panel discussions during the day but are available for parties at night. Those being convention function rooms, only convention members are allowed entry.

I had a similar experience recently at BayCon in San Jose, California. Although the "party floor" at BayCon contains private hotel rooms, including the one I rented, the convention (with the agreement of the hotel) limits access to the party during "party hours" to those people with membership badges or hotel room keys. (The latter being most important as while I was getting ready for the party that was going to be in my room that night, I ran down to get something out of my van and left my membership badge in my room. By the time I came back, ops was enforcing the access rule, so I had to produce my room key to get onto the party floor.

 

[Gary Wassner]

I will be there. I am planning to get together with a number of other authors from that side of the ocean and the West Coast of the US, with whom I have corresponded for years now, but some of whom I have never met. So for that reason alone, I am very glad to be going. I know there are a number of SFFWORLDers who will be attending as well. I am a moderator and I have an author's forum of my own there, so we've discussed the Con a number of times. It should be excellent.

It's a long trip from NYC, and I had contacted the Con committee early on about some level of particiaption on my part, but I have not yet heard anything other than some disclaimers about space and time constrictions, though DreamHaven Books will be selling my series during the convention. I am still patiently waiting to hear about a reading or panel.

 

[Kevin Standlee]

I had contacted the Con committee early on about some level of particiaption on my part, but I have not yet heard anything other than some disclaimers about space and time constrictions, though DreamHaven Books will be selling my series during the convention. I am still patiently waiting to hear about a reading or panel.

Hm, who did you contact? The Programming division contact address is programme@interaction.worldcon.org.uk.

 

[Gary Wassner]

laurie d t mann is the person who keeps telling me that they are still finalizing the programming and she is unsure if they will have space for me. Unfortunately, it's not like I am driving there. I understand how difficult these things are to organize, and I am sure that they are all deluged with requests. The only thing that upsets me is that I contacted them so early about this and it's taking until now to respond. I feel like a kid in the schoolyard waiting in line to get picked for the football team and watching everyone on either side of me get called while I am still standing. But in this case, I play just as well as the others in the line. It's frustrating, that's all. I see them adding names to the list of attending authors, and though I am an author and i am attending, mine is still absent.

I attend World Fantasy every year and i moderate a panel at each convention, I am scheduled for a reading each year and they really do treat me nicely, not because i am anyone special, but because I get to them early and my panels have been successful so far.

I hate to whine, and I hate to be a pest, but scheduling this has really been a pain without knowing what I am doing. I hope you understand.

thanks.

gary

 

[Brian G Turner]

Waiting for some details on the fan tables here as well - but it sounds extremely hectic over there.

Anyway, just to let you know, Gary, that you're not the only one waiting, but I'll wager you a pint that you get your details through before me.

 

[Gary Wassner]

A pint sounds like a fair wager. Deal.

 

[Kevin Standlee]

laurie d t mann is the person who keeps telling me that they are still finalizing the programming and she is unsure if they will have space for me. Unfortunately, it's not like I am driving there.

I certainly hope you're not making your decision on whether or not to attend based solely on whether you're on programming or not.

I understand how difficult these things are to organize, and I am sure that they are all deluged with requests.

Indeed, most Worldcons have far more people asking to be on programming than they have slots to use them; furthermore, while Interaction will have a lot of programming, and the SECC has a lot more available function space than it did ten years ago, it still has fewer spaces in which to hold program items than comparable American convention centers. This means that there will be people, even published authors -- even people who have been on programming at other Worldcons or World Fantasy Cons -- who will not be on programming items.

I see them adding names to the list of attending authors, and though I am an author and i am attending, mine is still absent.

The list of "attending authors" includes only those people who have been asked to be on programming (including readings), and it's not complete. There are published authors who will attend Interaction, but who will not be on Programming, and their names aren't on that list. (And there will be published authors who are on Programming and are attending and who will never make it into the list, because there are so many people involved and there are so many places where communications can go wrong.)

I hate to whine, and I hate to be a pest, but scheduling this has really been a pain without knowing what I am doing. I hope you understand.

If I were in your position, at this time (a bit over six weeks out), and hadn't been told I was going to be on Programming, I'd assume I wasn't and make my during-Worldcon plans accordingly. If Programming was then to come back and ask me to be on something, they'd have to fit my schedule, not the other way around.

I am on a couple of programming items myself, but some of them are ex officio like the WSFS Mark Protection Committee meeting -- I'm the MPC Chairman -- and others are panels of fannish interest because I'm a WSFS rules wonk, including one about "A Fair Ballot" (how the Hugo ballots work, among other things) and about Worldcon financial responsibility. But my own personal schedule is highly constrained by my responsibilities managing the convention's Events division.

When Interaction was originally organized, one person was going to be managing Events and Programming. He was obliged to step down for medical reasons, and the job was split between me (Events) and Ian Stockdale (Programming). (And in a further twist, both Ian and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.) Even split, the jobs are vast. In some respects, I'm finding managing one division of a Worldcon more challenging than chairing one was in 2002.

 

[CherylMorgan]

I see them adding names to the list of attending authors, and though I am an author and i am attending, mine is still absent.

As Kevin said, that list is only for attending authors who are going to be on programme. They are the only ones we can guarantee fans will be able to find. And indeed there are one or two authors who are attending but don't want their names publicized for various reasons.

Being responsible for PR, I've been keen that the list should feature as many authors as possible, but it hasn't been easy to keep it updated. More people get added all the time, and I don't always hear about them. And when I do they don't always get put up. I know that comics writers Alan Grant and Bryan Talbot are coming, but they are not on the list yet. Right now I'm afraid I'm way too busy with other work to chase this.

If it is any consolation, at last year's Worldcon I was nominated for two Hugos and won one of them. But I was not invited to be on programme. Other people were deemed more important and interesting than me. At least one other Hugo nominee was not put on programme. When you have such a huge pool of potential panelists, inevitably someone loses out.