This report contains my opinions and observations. I may have misunderstood some things because I'm hard of hearing.
Due to the pandemic, the DisCon committee (with input from attendees) decided to change the convention date from August to December 15-19. I agreed with that decision because DC weather is very unpleasant in the summer. We lucked out with unseasonably warm weather and no noticeable precipitation. Another change in plan occurred because the main hotel went out of business. The convention would now be held in the Omni Shoreham, originally a secondary hotel. There were also several changes in the top management. It also became the first hybrid worldcon (physical and virtual.) Despite all this, the convention happened and was successful.
Success Criteria:
1) I was able to meet my friends
2) I was able to attend the major events
3) I did not get COVID-19 (Though I did get a bad cold)
4) I was able to hear the speakers or have captioning (partial success)
5) There was not a lot of walking, stairs, or waiting in line (partial success)
Pandemic Concerns:
The hope was that the pandemic would have subsided by December. Instead new variants popped up. The convention attempted to make the gathering as safe as practical by requiring full vaccination and wearing of face covering in all public areas (except for a designated eating area that was well ventilated and spaced out.) The vast majority of people complied with the mask requirement. It still amazes me that people don't think your nose needs to be covered.
Still I knew I was taking a risk being with so many people from different countries. The risk was greatest when eating out. To limit eating out, I got a room in the Omni and brought some food and drinks. The other risk was the elevators. They were small and slow, so people ignored the limit of 3 people in the elevator.
The Con Suite and most parties permitted eating and drinking on the balconies. That put a damper on enjoying sips and snacks while talking to friends.
There were only 28 reported COVID-19 cases out of 2300 on-site attendees. Some likely acquired outside the con. There was good communication about where those people were prior to testing positive so you could see if you were at risk. I had allergy symptoms part of the time, so I was vigilant for any additional symptoms. It would be interesting to not if these precautions also reduced the cases of "con crud." I did feel bad after the con and a couple of friends who I'd eaten meals with tested positive. So I went to the doctor and got tested for COVID-19 and two types of flu. I was negative for all. Just a cold.
Good stuff:
I'll save my complaints for later and concentrate on the wonderful things that happened and why I'm glad I took the risk to go in person.
Nancy Kress was the writer Guest of Honor. I was eager to attend things she was on.
WEDNESDAY
We didn't go to the Omni until Thursday, so I got to try out the virtual side today.
Opening Ceremonies: (virtual)
I had no problem bringing up the Vimeo process from the schedule link. Other people weren't as fortunate. Captioning was OK. It was great to hear the choir from the Duke Ellington School of Music. Also some of the students helped with lights and audio. Linda Dederoff received the Big Heart award. I've heard of her but never met her. Very deserving. The Hugo base was revealed. Basically a block of granite. But it is from the same quarry as the stone used in the Washington monument and in many of Baltimore rowhouse steps. The sculptor salvaged the stone from construction debris. I wonder if the base had to be kept simple and easy to manufacture just in case that semi-pro zine with dozens of "editors" won.
Nancy Kress reading: (virtual)
I was happy to hear her reading. The excerpt didn't have any science fiction elements in it, mainly introducing the main character. It will have something to do with neurology and the nature of consciousness.
THURSDAY:
I didn't worry about any of the morning panels that I wanted to see. I can watch them later. The weather was nice and the traffic was OK at 11 AM. My dear husband (DH) and I drove along Rock Creek and arrived at the hotel around 11:30. Valet parking was efficient. The bellhop was prompt and loaded up all our bags. We would give the claim ticket to hotel registration and the bellhop would meet us at the room. I was very glad for this because the first thing to greet us after we entered the hotel was the first set of stairs.
Check in wasn't until 4, but DH thought we should try since there was no line. Amazingly, a room was ready and we got our keys, turned in the claim check. When we got to the elevators, I was very glad we didn't have to take the luggage up ourselves. Tiny elevators. Lots of people using them. The bellhop was waiting at our room. He did all the things you expect from a high class hotel, taking our the luggage stand and placing the suitcase on it.
Then we went to pick up our con badge. We saw some friends. It is amazing that I can recognize people when half their face is covered. Height, build, stride, all combine to identify people I know well. I was using my cane, and as we approached the vaccine check desk, a volunteer from the accessibility desk asked me if I would like her to pick up my badge for me (so I wouldn't have to stand in line) What a nice though, but I didn't need it. Got our vax papers checked and got our badges. There was no line. I can imagine how bad it would be if there had been. There was no place for a line to form or for people to exit once they got their badge. There would have been a bottleneck at the badge printing station. I also got a special Accessibility sticker so I can sit in the special areas in the rooms. The badge names are in a small font, so you would have to violate the 6 foot rule to read someone' name.
1:00 The Work of Nancy Kress
The panel was in the Blue Room (more stairs) There were projection screens, so I had hope for captions, but they did not. I did get captions from a link via my phone (Looks rude, I know, to be looking at my phone during the panel.) Only Walter Jon Williams was wearing a clear mask. The sound was loud and clear. There was not enough light over the panelists to lip read anyway. The lighting was set up, but there was no one to turn it on. There was quite a delay in the captions so I had trouble following the discussion. In general, it was nice to hear what established authors say about Nancy Kress. Her writing and especially her teaching. She used to be a fantasy writer under another name. She has an amazing memory and recounts things as a coherent essay without preparation. They also talked about her in depth research (which I already knew about)
I signed up for the tiara making workshop, then went to the exhibit hall to drop my site selection ballot and to leave some flyers for Chessiecon. What a dim and claustrophobic place! I felt uncomfortable there. I quickly did my business. I saw friends at the Balticon table but it was impossible to talk.
I read the In Memoriam section in the program book. I am sad to learn about some acquaintances passing on. I am especially saddened by the deaths of people younger than me. Despite my frailties, I am grateful to be alive.
We had dinner with an old friend at the Lebanese Taverna. More expensive than I expected, but good.
I skipped a planned panel so I could get to the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra concert. Sadly, there was no need to be early. My accessibility sticker allowed me to be escorted to the front. There were no captions, but the conductor spoke clearly and I understood most of it. The concert was very enjoyable. (I have supported the WMGSO for many years and I know one member of the group.) Game music has come a long way from Mario Brothers. It is like a film score. The concert was one of the highlights of the convention for many attendees.
After the concert, I stopped by John Scalzi's Dance Party. I met a friend there. The music was very danceable and it was not crowded. I got up and moved as best I could with arthritis. Danced with my friend. (DH doesn't dance.) That was fun.
I stopped at the Dublin and New Zealand Thank You party. A woman was playing tunes on a flute. It is really awkward to have to eat and drink on the balcony. I called it a night around 11.
FRIDAY
"Creating New Mythology from Hidden Histories", Panelists: Ada Palmer, Sheree Renee Thomas, Andrea Hairston, Karlo Rodrigez and Roseanne Brown
This was in the Blue Room. Lights were on over the dias, so I was hopeful that I could lipread. However only some of the panelists were wearing clear masks. They were using a handheld microphone. I brought up the captions on my phone. (My reports will be missing key info because I can't understand the speakers and the captions missed things.) All the panelists were well qualified for the subject. Palmer is a historian, specializing in Norse; Andrea Hairston is a professor and researcher, finding African hidden history before the internet. Karlo is from Puerto Rico.
Sheree and Andrea visited an island in Georgia and recorded dances, clothing, and stories that Andrea used in her work. I thought "How is that not appropriation?" I can accept being inspired by the culture, but copying it. Perhaps I didn't understand what was said.
The women haven't let Karlo speak for the first fifteen minutes of the panel.
They emphasized the importance of primary sources, of the elders. Avoiding the colonial lens.
Karlo said he left Puerto Rico during a financial crisis. He asked for clarification of the term "Hidden" Hidden from who?
Ada described the problem in finding accurate citation and literature - e.g. Amazon republishing copyright-free books and giving the publication date as the date the book appeared on Kindle.
The bias of historians; They will leave out facts based on the interests of the time; censoring delicate subjects; She spoke of boxes of journals of first person accounts, ignored.
Karlo mentioned the profit motive driving what gets out into public. Movies, etc.
Roseanne brought up the issue of appropriation again. Sheree said there are at 55 African entities (nations/tribes/cultures) Who has the right to tell their stories? The policing of African-American authors who tell these stories, but little criticism of Neil Gaiman for Anansi Boys and American Gods.
Roseanne brought up that some indigenous cultures do not want their stories shared with outsiders. [I know there was some push back on Rebecca Roanhorse for telling stories that "were not hers to share"]
Some discussion of the "disappearing native." The lack of education in the US about that terrible treatment of the native peoples, while every German child is taught about the Nazis to prevent it from happening again.
Recommended reading: Discourse on Colonialism
Palmer claims that "History is not always written by the winners. But it is always written by historians"
The US history that is taught is more about the colonizers than the people who were displaced.
Roseanne: There are no ancient Greeks here to be offended if we messed up the representations of Zeus. [Not entirely true; at Confluence I learned there are people who believe in the ancient Hellenistic religions in a very personal way.]
Next there was a discussion of the term Mythology in the panel's title. The word myth implies fiction. Casting someone's tradition as a myth could be bad.
In addition to doing research, Sheree urges writers to have a knowledgeable person read your story to find misrepresentations. Also, that no one is telling you that you can't write it, but be prepared for criticism.
Andrea: mythology is how we organize our world.
Interesting comment about science. If science finds a fact that disagrees with the theory, that theory is replaced. The same thing should happen in the arts. If you write something and you learn it is wrong, admit it, and don't write that again.
Palmer brings up the Viking myths and that people put a spin on the Sagas to justify transphobia, etc. At this point Ada fell off her chair. She's OK and merely handed the mic to Andrea to continue the panel. There were recommendations for hidden histories by I couldn't write them quickly enough.
The captioning was better, but I may skip panels because people aren't wearing clear masks and the sound is poor.
MASQUERADE:
There was a long line to enter the ballroom. I showed my Access sticker to a volunteer and asked where there were chairs I can sit in while I wait. He told me to proceed to the ballroom entrance. There was someone already waiting for the chair lift so I awkwardly made my way down the stairs using my cane. The pattern in the carpet repeated and sometimes it was hard to tell where each tread ended. As the doorway, I sat on a chair to wait, but I was escorted into the ballroom immediately. I found a seat in the second row on the right hand side. Luckily, that is the side that showed the captions AND had the ASL interpreter. They seemed to be students and a teacher since it appeared that one was coaching from the seats. The interpreter on stage would remove their mask, but otherwise, they wore masks.
Kevin Roche was the MC. #2 Mermaid, Assembled costume (a new category) It was nicely done both costume and presentation. It was a plug for the Seattle Worldcon bid.
There were a couple of Master class entries; intricate costumes from marginal SF/F source. There was a neat dragon costume (original, Journeyman); a Dark Star cosplay of Pinback; A marvelous costume based on John Picacio'a Lotteria painting, La Calaversa; "Tasha Yarn" knitted Star Trek Next Generation uniform. There were only 11 entries.
The judging intermission entertainment was Raks Geeks. It had a Wookie belly dancing, another more conventional belly dancer, and someone doing what I think is called "flow", spinning things. I don't know anything about the art. The act did not appeal to me. After they were done, Kevin Roche exhausted his jokes. I felt sorry for the ASL interpreters trying to do them. Then he brought the masquerade director, "Dr Karen", up to talk about the masquerade. She also told stories from her veterinary practice. I gave up waiting for the judging results. I would read about it in the newsletter tomorrow.
SATURDAY
I woke up with a runny nose and sneezing; no fever or other COVID symptoms, so it was probably an allergy. I using a nasal spray and went back to sleep. In the morning, DH bought some antihistamines. That helped a lot. I couldn't have a runny nose and wear a mask.
I got a sandwich at the Market in the Omni and then set out to find the Ambassador Ballroom which was the designated place to eat with your mask off. So many stairs! I would hate to rely on a wheeled mobility device.
Kenny Young and the Eggplants Concert
I first heard this band in 2002 or so at Confluence in Pittsburgh and have been a fan ever since. It was fun to listen to them perform their new (to me) songs like "Psychopath on the Cycle Path" as well as the old ones like "Alien Love Song". Alien Love Song has a sing-a-long chorus. I remember at Confluence, Kenny being very pleased at how readily we joined in the chorus. After the concert, I bought "Plantastick Planet", the only album I didn't already own. I got it autographed by Kenny, Eddie, and Gil.
ART SHOW; I was exciting to see John Harris' work up close. I didn't get to see the entire show because I can't stand up for long periods.
Science Talks
Telescopes and Radio Waves.
This was in the Diplomat Room. There were a bunch of 30 minutes science talks. Most of the subject could have taken up an hour.
Katie Mack presented Black Holes for Fun and Profit
She reminded people to wear their mask over their nose.
She wore a clear mask so I could at least try to lip read (no captions were available) when she wasn't waving her hands in front of her face. She showed a really cool visualization of black holes merging, done by SF author Greg Egan. She repeated the questions from the audience. Nice, because she was aware the session was being recorded. We can see the actual event horizon of one black hole. Then she described the difficulty seeing black holes; typical size is 42 micro-arcseconds in diameter which a single telescope cannot discern. However, a network on Earth-based telescopes can. See www.black-hole.org. We can detect gravitational waves from colliding black holes using LIGO. This is amazing considering the tiny disturbances that must be sensed.
Q: If a black hole disappears, where does the mass go?
A: Black Holes disappear by "evaporation"; the particles radiate into the galaxy.
I was surprised that Katie Mack was given only a half hour to cover this material. I didn't get where the profit came in. I know she wrote a book about the end of the universe. I had followed her on Twitter for a little bit while she was waiting to get it published.
Spectrum Wars: The Battle for Radio Frequencies
Keith Gremban, former director of federal laboratory on communications. He quipped: remind me never to sign up to speak after a talk on black holes. Implying that his subject was not as exciting. He's right. But it was interesting for people who didn't know about how the radio spectrum is managed and the challenges that come from the increase in applications that want to use the limited resource. DH is especially interested because he is a ham and the ham frequencies are being raided for commercial satellite communications and wireless internet. Other applications are automobile proximity. The consequences of interference can be serious. A lot of weather satellite data is compromised by 5 Ghz transmissions (if I recall correctly). I remember some of that issue when I worked on GOES-R. The NTIA in the Commerce Dept keeps track of spectrum usage and grants licenses. Frequencies used to be approved based on "public good". Now it is auctioned. In the future, spectrum will need to be managed by space and time. e.g., Navy radar frequencies can be used far inland.
The room was fairly full of attendees, so this is popular.
A Future Full of Planets, Dr. Padi Boyd, astrophysicist. No captions, but she is wearing a clear mask. She summarized the findings of the Kepler spacecraft which observed the same area of the sky for 4.5 years. 150,000 stars. Found 4.034 candidate planets. I couldn't always understand Dr. Boyd, but she was very enthusiastic. She showed a very cool visualization from www.planetpatrol.org which does citizen science.
Next Ethan Kruse talks about Kepler's successor, TESS. It does all-sky surveys, avoiding the galactic plane. They found circum-binary planets (like Tatooine in Star Wars) The James Webb Space Telescope will look at some of TESS' targets. Future missions will look for Earth-like life on other planets.
Exoplanet Worldbuilding in SF, Emma Johanna Puranen. St Andrews Centre for Exoplanet Science, Scotland. She wrote a paper that compares fictional planets with actual exoplanets. She cited a unique connections between scientists and SF. Asking the what-if questions. She explained the methodology and examined the database. More than half of the planets are from books, also video games and film. One thing she noticed was there were fewer portrayals of humans on planets since exoplanets were discovered. She asked for additions to her fictional planet database. emmajohannapuranen.wordpress.com
I was disappointed that it wasn't really about worldbuilding. Just some research into fictional worlds.
DH and I had a quick dinner at Chipotle. I was not feeling entirely well. Lots of sneezing and a runny nose. No fever.
The Hugo Awards were delayed from 8 to 9 due to an "equipment malfunction" That turned out to be an HVAC issue that sent an odor into the ballroom.
The hotel extended the check out time from noon to 3PM. That was nice, plus it saved them from having to store everybody's luggage until after the closing ceremonies.
HUGO AWARDS CEREMONY
I arrived just before 9 at the ballroom. It was very full, so I didn't waste time trying to find a better seat. I made the mistake of sitting on the left side rather than the right side where the captions were. I sat at the front of a crossing row in a handicap seat. No one was sitting too close to me.
I was remembering that there had been a controversy because a fanzine: Journey Planet included 14 editors and a Semi-prozine: Strange Horizons had 40 or so editors. If they won, each would get a Hugo statue for a tiny amount of work compared with the other category winners like novel.
The show started at 9:13 with a cool animation of the Hugo rocket launching. The hosts, Sheree Renée Thomas and Andrea Hairston, are masked and separated. Thomas mentions a Martin Luther King speech. We can imagine better worlds. Hairston say fandom lights the way to strange new worlds.
Since we are in DC it was appropriate for have the Drumline from the Duke Ellington School of Music perform. I love drumlines. They increased the energy in the room.
What is it like to live in Washington DC? The committee did a skit about a motorcade; Hail to the Chief playing, fake secret service agents managing imaginary crowds and motioning the imaginary cars along. This will be a running gag.
Here are a few of my notes.
Fanzine is an obsessive labor of love. (I'm glad Journey Planet didn't win, just because of the 14 editors, really?) nerds of a feather won and Joe Sherry gave the acceptance speech. I was glad there is only one speaker per win even though they had 4 editors.
Best fan artist was Sara Felix, who I met at the tiara workshop. She wore a tiara and a princess gown with puffy sleeves and sparkles and a silver lame mask.
Best Fan Writer; Elsa Sjunneson accepted remotely. She did include some social commentary in her speech: BLM, disabled characters, etc. While I agree these are important isses, I wish people would just thank their family and fans. You can put your social commentary in your own actions and your writing. We'll get the message better than being preached at.
Short Form Editor: Ellen Datlow; At least she just gave thank yous. Good example.
Best Editor, Long Form: Diane Pho; Art in the face of death. That was a good way to sum up this year and last.
Best Semiprozine; FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction. Nice! All the finalists are good.
Graphic Story/Comic category was introduced as a way to attract the next generation of fans. Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation. Damian Duffy accepted remotely. While I'm glad that Parable of the Sower is getting a new audience, I was a bit puzzled that it was acceptable for a white man to get a Hugo for adapting a black woman's work.
Best Professional Artist: Rovina Cai. I'm not familiar with her work. I find it unfair that there is one category for professional artist. It is not for an individual work either like the literary award are. There is no differentiating covers and interiors and 3D work. I guess they are leaving that to ASFA's Chesley Awards.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: The Good Place, "Whenever You're Ready" I heard this was a really good episode with thoughtful ideas. I gave up watching The Good Place in Season 1. Micheal Schur even gave a remote acceptance speech. My #1 vote was for The Expanse, "Gaugamela"
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: The Old Guard. I did not manage to watch this. I suppose I should track it down. My #1 vote went to Tenet because it was unique as far as time travel spy movies. I didn't feel Soul, Birds of Prey, or Eurovision belonged because they aren't SF. I read the screenplay for Palm Springs. It was like Ground Hog Day with a sciency explanation.
Video Game: Hades; Someone from the company gave a recorded acceptance speech. I don't play video games, but I acknowledge that there is complex storytelling going on in some of them. When I got home, my daughter showed me Hades. The art was good and the dialog was fun.
In Memoriam: the WMGSO Chorus sang while the list of names was displayed. It was an odd animation, not a conventional list. The several names were shown at a time with a fade in and out. Hard to read. I'm glad I read the list in the program book and I didn't try to read the screen.
Lodestar Award: Wizards' Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher. Her speech was mostly about slime molds (She was doing a self-parody from the time she didn't have speech prepared for an award.) Slime mold have 700+ genders. She also asked is there was an ASL sign for slime mold. It's nice that she acknowledged that the interpreters had to deal with an unusual word.
The main hosts are being very careful with the pronunciation of names (after last year's fiasco) They acknowledged immediately if they messed up.
Best related work: Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley. Her speech was remote, but she dressed up. She has small children and thought it best to stay away from the con. She wasn't sure she was qualified to do the translation but people encouraged her to do it. She was also pregnant while she did the translation. Supposedly a more feminist take on the story. I guess I need to read it and compare it to Tolkien's.
Best Short Story: Metal Like Blood in the Dark by T. Kingfisher. I voted #1 for this story. Sentient, self-modifying robots. She resumed her talk about slime molds. And also talked about the Kellogg's strike. She finishes up with "Thanks, mom"
Novelette winner was "Two Truths and a Lie" by Sara Pinsker. That was a weird story, not really SF/F to me. I voted #6 on that and I don't understand why it won except that Pinsker is popular. My #1 vote was for "the Inaccessibility of Heaven" by Aliette De Bodard. It is clearly fantasy and I was drawn into it despite not really liking fantasy. The Novelette category was very weak this year. Pinsker accepted remotely and thanked the scientists and medical people who are working so hard to fight this pandemic.
Novella: "The Empress of Salt and Fortune" by Nghi Bo. This is another entry that I voted #6 for and stopped reading after two chapters. I was not in the mood for an Asian-based fantasy and the use of the singular they was so unclear that it kept taking me out of the story. (Are there two people here or one?) My #1 vote was for FINNA by Nino Cipri. It was a fun story with wormholes to different universes that pop up in maze-like buildings like IKEA and hospitals. This was a very strong category and I would have been happy with any of the finalists.
Best Series: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Another strong category where I would have been happy with any of the finalists winning. Wells was here to accept. [I suppose DC was safer than Texas at this point.] She also acknowledged that all the finalist were first class. Her speech mentioned marginalization. That we must encourage authors from marginalized groups to write because there are so many people who don't want them to write or be published.
They did the motorcade shtick to delay the announcement of best novel.
Novel: Network Effect by Martha Wells. I'm happy because I voted #1 for this novel, and lately my favorite novels have not been winning the Hugo. (The previous winners for novel have been excellent writers, but I just could not get into the stories.) The Murderbot novellas were, for me, a romp. The sarcastic construct (not quite a cyborg, but having human and mechanical parts.) trying to figure out what it should do now that it was free. I could easily identify with SecUnit. The novellas eventually built a universe with a full political and economic system underpinning the adventures as the SecUnit discovers who it is and what it wants. Some of my favorite SF topics are "What is a person?" "Can machines be sentient?" Network Effect addresses that. I enjoyed that the characters, especially SecUnit, showed growth.
I felt sorry for Seanan McGuire. Three nominations and no wins. I like her Mira Grant stories better. The Wayward Children and October Daye stories are too dark for me.
The whole ceremony was two hours. The hosts kept things moving and the speeches were limited to one per award.
SUNDAY:
This was mostly a wrapping up day. I walked through the dealers room again. I just couldn't bring myself to buy anything, I have enough stuff in my house already, and it was too noisy to chat.
I went to the Diplomat Room and caught part of a talk of the Quantum Internet by John Ashmead. What I could catch was that Quantum Internet would yield hacker proof data transfer. However, Quantum Computing is impractical because qu-bits are unstable and error correction is unreliable or takes away from any time saved.
http://timeandquantumemechanics.comAsteroid Mining and the Global Economy with Geoffrey Landis (mod), Bob Hranek, Kieth Gramban, Peter N Glaskowisky, Stina Lucht. No captioning. I'm annoyed because I told Accessibility that I would be attending these panels and they assured me there would be captioning. All the speakers had clear masks, but it takes an effort to read lips from 30 feet. Asteroid Mining would have two purposes; resources for on Earth or resources for use in space. It is not economical to mine asteroids for use on Earth. Another topic was: What would we mine? unfortunately, I could not understand the answer. I'll have to look that up on my own. One of my story ideas involved mining asteroids. I'm glad I decided that the resources would be used in building platforms in solar orbit rather than sending ore to Earth. I like being able to justify going to space for economic reasons as well as for science.
Closing Ceremonies:
So one thing I learned this weekend was that I was pronouncing authors names wrong: Jonathan Strahan is Strawn, not Stray-han and Mary Robinette Kowal is more like Co-al than Cow-all. MRK declared Worldcon 79 a successful test of a hybrid SF con. She passed the gavel to Chicon chair, Helen Montgomery.
They acknowledged the heroes of the weekend, the con com department heads, and the volunteers.
Adam Beaton presented a special award to MRK. He thinks she "saved" Discon 3. There was a standing ovation and she wept.
I agree she was the reason the con was as good as it was. She has great experience running organizations with a lot of egos. I don't really understand why the original con chairs felt the need to resign. There should have been some acknowledgment of them because they put a lot of heart into winning the bid and getting it going. There must have been some really bad feelings.
It really amazing Worldcons happen at all. All with volunteers. I am grateful to them.
SITE SELECTION:
I learned that Chengdu, China had won the site selection vote. I'm not going. As much as it would be cool to visit such an interesting country and people, I can't justify spending my money there. Their government's oppression of non-Chinese minorities such as the Uyghers, Tibetans and others. The U.S. has its share of oppression too. I understand why people wouldn't want to come to the U.S. That's why I wanted Winnipeg to win.
Me and a lot of people thought the Chengdu bid was created to give some Chinese fans a legitimate reason to travel. It turned out to be a real bid. However, I think something shady happened and I hope the Worldcon can figure out a way to keep a city or country from effectively buying a Worldcon. The reason I think there was some manipulation is that site selection is typically decided by 800-1000 voters. I would need to look at the past years' totals to be certain. It is suspicious that China got 2000+ votes, while Winnipeg got around 800. In a typical year, that would be enough for Winnipeg to win. The cost per vote would be around $100 (attending membership plus site selection fee). I expect some entity in Chengdu paid the fees for 2000 Chinese people to join and vote. The income from foreign attendees might make it well worth the $20,000 spent to bring the convention to China. I would not be surprised if very few of these Chinese memberships actually became attending members or will continue to join future Worldcons.
I think Winnipeg thought something fraudulent was going on and introduced some rules to the business meeting about verifying addresses. Otherwise, the Winnipeg bid was very gracious about their loss.
So, yes, I'm bitter about the Chengdu win. I'm sure there is some great SF being written in China. I can only hope that this might create an opening for more understanding between Chinese and non-Chinese people on a personal level. A little more liberalization in the Chinese government and less danger of war.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS:
Lots of "Rovers" staff to help direct people and organize the elevators when needed so wheelchairs got priority.
Lots of places to get a quick meal.
Venue:
Everything was in the Omni Shoreham. I didn't have to worry about transportation to another location for programming. The main problem was that the Omni was built in the 1930s. It's a lovely hotel, but there are stairs EVERYWHERE.
I have arthritis in my knees and using stairs is difficult and painful. Nine steps down from the street to the lobby. Another twelve down to the restaurant. Tiny elevators. Very slow wheelchair lifts. And the place is a maze and on at least 6 levels. I am still not sure where all the rooms were in relation to each other. Even though the Gold sector and the Blue sector were on the same elevation, you couldn't go from one to the other without going up a flight of stairs, then going down a flight of stairs. Elevators were available, but hard to find. The elevator bank next to the stairs down to the blue sector did not go down. You have to walk around that elevator bank and find the elevator down to the blue sector. To make things more confusing, the blue sector elevator buttons had M for the main lobby level and L for the Blue sector level (which, to be fair, had its own lobby at street level) Someone added tape labels with the translation. If I had to rely on a wheeled mobility assistance device, I would have been in tears. I realize this was not the original choice for the main convention activities, but signage would have helped. The map in the pocket program listed "ADA-friendly routes". It did mention an elevator to the Blue sector, but it was not clear where that elevator actually was. The directions from the main level to the Regency Ballroom (Hugos, Masquerade, etc.) was Elevator to floor 1B then wander down the halls to the ADA Chair lift. That lift took several minutes to take one wheelchair down and up. Imagine the line of wheelchairs and scooters to get to the Hugo Ceremony. It helped that there was a half hour between sessions. The able-bodied took to the fire stairs instead of the elevators. They were so narrow that one stairwell was designated for UP and the other for DOWN.
The Discon Facebook page had a video tour of the facility that began at the lobby stairs. I made a semi-snarky comment about wanting a video tour from a wheelchair.
So that was just mobility. Another problem was lighting and the carpeting patterns on the stairs. People with low vision would have difficulty. It was hard to see the stair treads when the carpet pattern lined up exactly.
The Dealer room and Exhibits, which I'm accustomed to seeing in large airy halls, were in a parking garage with low ceilings, poor lighting, and poor acoustics. It was very uninviting.
One fun thing, I could see Barack Obama's house from the balcony of the Con Suite.
Hearing:
My other concern besides the virus and mobility was hearing. I contacted the Accessibility department about captioning and clear panel masks for the presenters. They told me there would be either projected captions or live captions on a web page that you can link to from the schedule page. Also ASL interpreters. I sent them my schedule and was assured all of the panels would have captioning. They were not.
I watched two panels from home on Wednesday. The captions were good auto-captioning quality.
On the panels I attended, most of the panelists did NOT wear the clear masks. Seeing a person's mouth helps me understand more than just hearing the sounds. The microphone situation was not great either. The captions were so delayed that I couldn't keep track of who was talking. Better than nothing. I'm hoping they will be better on the recordings. I pretty much gave up on panels.
Over all, I had a good time within the constraints. There are some things, like the Art Show and Masquerade that need to be done in person. I enjoyed seeing my friends who I only see at Worldcon.
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