Welcome to the boomtown

[gwyn]

I don't think I've mentioned before (well, because I never post, so how could I have) that I'm going to WorldCon this month, because it's in Seattle and I figure this is the only chance I'd ever have to do that. I don't have any particular interest in the Hugos or things like that, but I've been going to SF cons since attending my first Norwescon back in 1983, I think, although that definitely tapered off after I discovered what we used to define as "media fandom" back in the day. It was a way to separate SF cons, which were primarily literature based in the olden dayes, from the kind of fandom as we know it now, which encompasses a much wider array of stuff, especially TV/movies. I'm so old, I remember the sneering way the gatekeeper wannabes talked about people who were at cons for Star Wars and Trek or even Road Warrior or whatever. Kind of ridiculous, when you think about it.

ANYway, I'm actually pretty nervous about it. I'm only going on Friday and Saturday, and of course it looks like a lot of the panels I want to see are in the late afternoon/evening (especially wickedwords ' fanfic panels). So that means I'll be basically without any place to rest or relax (I don't know, maybe they'll be better than Emerald City Comic Con, but there was literally no place to sit and rest if you were less than perfectly abled, or even sit and eat most of the time, and there will be a couple thousand more people at WorldCon than ECCC) except on a floor or what have you, and since I live here, I'm just going to take a lyft in or maybe the water taxi. And my fatigue has been through the roof lately; I've been trying a new drug and it's making things actually worse, plus this month is turning out to be just bananas crowded for me. I just need time to regroup but there isn't any.

I thought about getting a hotel nearby, but I'm not sure it'd be much better; when I hurt, I hurt. The room blocks are all sold out, too, so anything would be pretty pricey, plus I'd have to wait to check in, and then check out, when I'd be doing con stuff, so it seems fairly pointless.

I do wish I could go to some of the other days' events, since marthawells is the GoH this year, but, well, cancer always has other ideas. WorldCon does seem kind of different in that they don't frontload all their best stuff on Fridays and Saturdays; it's a long con, and I would love to go to a couple other days, but that's not in the cards. I also wish so much I could go to nighttime events, especially because I love masquerade contests, but I know my limitations. I will have to look into whether having a day pass for Friday will allow me to see the streaming masquerade event...

I'm hoping to see mecurtin, and I think a few other fellow fans here on DW are going, so if you might want to meet up at some point (I honestly don't know what to expect about going through reg on Friday, I had a horrendous experience with Sakura Con years ago, where I was trapped in line for six fucking hours and it left my body broken in a way I've never recovered from, but WorldCon does have an accessible line so fingers crossed), I would love to see people, just because I'm afraid of being lonesome--and also, being able to see people will help with the stamina part, I think. And of course, if you want someone to roam the dealer's room, I will definitely be looking to do that.

Comments

[muccamukk]

I'm sorry to miss you 🥺. I really wanted to meet up again, but we decided to attend virtually. I hope you have a fun time!

[gwyn]

I knooooow I wish so much you and Nenya could have come, but of course I totally understand why people are choosing not to this year. I hate this country so much.

[seekingferret]

Yes, let's meet up!

There's still a lot to figure out schedulewise, but I'm on one of those Friday fanfic panels with wickedwords, so...

[gwyn]

Woo-hoo! And hey, at least I know what you look like! I'm hoping to go to all the transformative type fandom panels that I can, but of course, who knows what the heck the cancer will have in store for me. I've started looking through the schedule and am still not completely sure what I'm going to be doing if everything goes well, but I hope I'll know more this weekend. It sounds like this is going to be more well organized than ECCC in terms of places to sit and eat or drink a beverage and chat, which will be enormously helpful. I do know my way around a lot of the spaces outside, as well, though this place is new, and I've never seen the inside. So hopefully lots of options (will you be taking time away for Shabbat?).

[seekingferret]

Having scoped out the convention center a bit, there's a fair bit of seating on every floor.

Yeah, I'll be ducking out of the con a bit on shabbat, but there will be some sort of prayer service at the con, so we'll see how that goes.

[kore]

Seattle in general doesn't really seem that accessible, which is kind of weird given how crunchy granola we're supposed to be. Like, the James Tower at Swedish just has this "we're not accessible, sry" sign that's been up for about a year now, and that's a hospital!

Signed, if you want me to wait in line longer than fifteen minutes I need to sit down while doing it

[mecurtin]

I have a cane that converts into a seat. It's too bulky for daily use, but for travel it's indispensable.

[mecurtin]

My room is in the Hyatt Olive 8 just 2 blocks away, and I'm by myself, so I can definitely sneak you in there to rest, at least!

[minim_calibre]

Olive 8 is just a block or two also from my now-adult kid's first daycare! (It was still being built when she started there.)

(There is no point to this comment other than, "Hey! I remember watching that building go up!")

[mecurtin]

are you going to be at Worldcon?

[minim_calibre]

Sadly, no. I couldn't make it work with everything else going on.

[starlady]

There's usually several lounges set up as part of the con, often in the spaces adjacent to the fan tables. Glasgow had a chill hangout space where people were even allowed to nap, I forget what they called it. I'd look through the con book, I'd be very surprised if it wasn't there as a good chunk of the Worldcon crowd is disabled these days.

[gwyn]

Thank you so much for telling me this--it hadn't even occurred to me, because I've never been to a con that had something like that, so I didn't even think to look for it in the booklet! The best I'd ever seen was just the con suites. I suppose everyone thinks you'll have a hotel or something... I can't thank you enough--there's apparently a room on the third floor for disability/resting, and also one for quiet for people who need breaks from stimulation, and while I'm not hugely neuroatypical, I definitely do fall into both categories, so yay. It also looks like the new convention center space has much more in terms of places to sit and eat/drink than the regular main convention center has done, so that would be an enormous improvement.

[starlady]

Yay, I'm glad it was helpful! I hope you have a great time! I'm a little sad I won't be at this one myself.

[mackiemesser]

I hope you have a great time! (Logistics aside...)

[dine]

I hope you can find places to sit/rest, and meet-ups with friends arranged, so you can enjoy the experience! it's always seemed like a cool thing, though far more people than I could likely manage

have fun

[oracne]

Alas, I am not going. I hope you have a fabulous time!

I hope someone does a report on the fanfic panel.

[przed]

I hope you have a wonderful time at WorldCon, and find places to rest and manage your energy. I've only been to a few WorldCons, but always enjoy it.

[gwyn]

It's definitely going to be the biggest con event I've ever been to--I've been to Westercon, which was pretty big, and both the Seattle and San Diego comic cons, but SDCC wasn't the behemoth it is now when I went there. No big movie stars promoting their stuff.

[twistedchick]

I've been at several Worldcons, and there is *always* a Con Suite somewhere, where you can sit down, have a bite to eat and a cup of coffee or tea or whatever's on offer, and take a break. Have a wonderful time!

[carbonel]

*Always* may be an overstatement.

Have you been to any Worldcons outside of the US? I still remember the culture shock in discovering that in 1987 (Brighton, UK) that there was no consuite, and the various (non-free, of course) bars/pubs were expected to fill that role. Also, that the concom was blithely unaware of the expectations of US attendees, and did zero to manage them.