Eastercon

[white_hart]

Setting off for Eastercon on Friday I felt roughly equal parts terrified and excited, but I had a fantastic time and ended up feeling rather sorry that Easter being so late meant that this week is week 0 of term so I couldn't stay until today and take Tuesday off to recover (though by the time I left yesterday afternoon I was feeling tired enough that I was probably ready to come home).

I went to lots of interesting panels, and really liked how much of the content was focused on books, rather than the more media-centred content at Nine Worlds. Particular favourites included the art of reviewing, #ownvoices, maps and landscapes in fantasy, decolonising SFF and the Moomins; I only went to one panel that I really wasn't impressed with, on romance in SFF, which suffered from poor moderation and an unwillingness to explore the topic more widely, but I wasn't too sorry to leave it early given that romance in literature is something I have a fairly hit-and-miss relationship with anyway (and I had an excellent conversation about romance in SFF with the people I was sitting with before the panel started).

It was also really good to spend time socialising: with people I already knew but don't see in person nearly often enough; with people I hadn't met before; and, best of all, with people I have known online for a very long time but had never managed to meet in person before (in once case, someone who is almost my oldest internet acquaintance who I was absolutely thrilled to finally meet). The membership skews much older than Nine Worlds, so rather than feeling like one of the oldies I was firmly in the middle, age-wise, and in a lot of ways I felt much more like I belonged than I have done at Nine Worlds. I think there's a strong probability that I will be going again next year. If I do, I think I would probably stay in the con hotel; I'd picked the Ibis over the road this time on the grounds that it was close enough to get to easily but might give me a bit of space if I needed it, but I didn't really take advantage of the space and it did strike me that if I'd been in the con hotel I could have nipped upstairs to make tea between panels rather than paying £3 for a teabag and some hot water in the hotel bar...

Comments

[alithea]

I think I'd go again too, and also stay in the con hotel, or at least certainly closer than I did this time. I'm interested in your comparison to Nineworlds given that is the one I'd thought about going to until it was cancelled for this year.

It was really lovely to get so much time together and I very much appreciated you introducing me to so many lovely people.

[white_hart]

I was glad my hotel was as close as it was (for Nine Worlds I've always stayed farther away, but with T there too so it felt much more as though I was only at the con part-time), but as I didn't really end up taking advantage of the things I thought would be good about being off-ste (particularly the possibility of going back and eating quietly in the hotel) and it was too far away to nip back and boil the kettle between panels I think the con hotel might be better next time.

I have really enjoyed Nine Worlds in the past, and would probably go again, but Eastercon felt much more like "my people", as I realised when both of the first two panels I went to made references to Le Guin, where at Nine Worlds it would probably be MCU or something else that I'm not really familiar with.

It was lovely to see you too!

[alithea]

The Queerbaiting panel was much more MCU heavy but then it was also listed as a mass media panel, but yes, everything else I went to was very much book focused too.

[white_hart]

Yes, that was specifically billed as a film panel, but there was a lot of both specific and general book content which is what I felt Nine Worlds was missing.

[coughingbear]

I am so glad you had a good time; and I was sorry not to have the time to sit and chat at any point. Next year I will be blissfully uninvolved with the organisation, and free to go to panels (though will doubtless do some volunteering). But obviously hope to see you well before that!

[white_hart]

Yes, I was sorry not to get to chat to you (and other friends who were involved in the organisation) but it was obvious that you were really busy! I'm sure we'll get to see each other before too long, anyway.

[sfred]

Some of the con hotel rooms were a long, long walk from the con, so there'd have been a gamble on ability to get back and make tea.

I hope you do come back to Eastercon. I feel more at home there than at Nine Worlds.

[white_hart]

I suspect there was basically no way to get tea between consecutive panels (the queues at the bars were too long for that, really), but I was more thinking I could have got tea in the sessions when I wasn't going to a panel. Though I could probably have nipped back to the Ibis then anyway, if I'd actually thought.

I think I also felt more at home than at Nine Worlds - most of my SFF consumption is books rather than film/TV (and I don't do games/anime at all) and Nine Worlds definitely skews very young.

[lokifan]

Sounds great! I haven't been since 2010, tbh, but I was very sad to miss it this year cos I love Frances Hardringe. And Nine Worlds is my home con, despite how much I like a book focus, so will be missing that this summer :(

[white_hart]

I have only read one of Hardinge's books so far, though I really want to read more. She was great on the panels I saw her on, and also very nice when I spoke to her briefly at the start of the panel on Moomins (we got swapped into a bigger room, and as I came in she was sitting between people I knew with a free seat directly behind her which I headed for, and everyone suddenly spotted and commented on my Little My t-shirt, including her, so I said hello and mentioned that we had friends in common and she very kindly contributed a piece for our alumni newsletter a while ago).