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I am not going to be attending Denvention III, the 66th annual World Science Fiction Convention, which in one of those rare instances is not on Labor Day weekend this year but opening tomorrow. Just wondered which of my friends list members are going or already there, aside from those who have overtly mentioned such on their pages. Post here what your plans this week are. Also, discussion question: Has the Worldcon become financially out of range of the average fan? Opinions and venting welcome.
Oddly enough, this weekend also marks the 30th anniversary of the very first science fiction convention I ever attended, the fifth of the now-defunct Vul-Con series in New Orleans, LA on the second weekend of August, 1978. This was a primarily media-oriented con that took place at a hotel on Canal Street downtown that has changed hands and names more times than (insert your own simile here). It was one of those charming old-fashioned hotels with oddly-designed function spaces, little side corridors and nooks and crannies that made exploring it almost as interesting as the con itself. (Not quite as bad as Lunacon's famous Rye Town [Escher] Hilton, but up there.) Sadly, a quick check of Google Street View shows it looking boarded up and closed as of now. This was my introduction to the subculture that has formed the nucleus of what I laughingly refer to as my social life for two-thirds of my life now, and the source of many, many friends and acquaintances who have made my life immeasurably richer. (If you're reading this, the chances are very good that you're one of them.)
It would be nice to be able to afford the outrageous costs a Denvention trip would entail...but I am still saving for that almost-as-hideously expensive trip to Nairobi to see the Songbird. (Nearly $1800 for a round-trip plane fare, last I checked.) Oh, well, we have an even bigger convention coming up right here in Hotlanta just a few weeks from now...and all it will cost me is the membership plus parking and gas money.
Oddly enough, this weekend also marks the 30th anniversary of the very first science fiction convention I ever attended, the fifth of the now-defunct Vul-Con series in New Orleans, LA on the second weekend of August, 1978. This was a primarily media-oriented con that took place at a hotel on Canal Street downtown that has changed hands and names more times than (insert your own simile here). It was one of those charming old-fashioned hotels with oddly-designed function spaces, little side corridors and nooks and crannies that made exploring it almost as interesting as the con itself. (Not quite as bad as Lunacon's famous Rye Town [Escher] Hilton, but up there.) Sadly, a quick check of Google Street View shows it looking boarded up and closed as of now. This was my introduction to the subculture that has formed the nucleus of what I laughingly refer to as my social life for two-thirds of my life now, and the source of many, many friends and acquaintances who have made my life immeasurably richer. (If you're reading this, the chances are very good that you're one of them.)
It would be nice to be able to afford the outrageous costs a Denvention trip would entail...but I am still saving for that almost-as-hideously expensive trip to Nairobi to see the Songbird. (Nearly $1800 for a round-trip plane fare, last I checked.) Oh, well, we have an even bigger convention coming up right here in Hotlanta just a few weeks from now...and all it will cost me is the membership plus parking and gas money.
