Optimally different!

Well, this has been quite a fun weekend so far. Somehow over the last week or so I went from having no specific plans for the weekend to what may turn out to be one of my busiest in a while. Also, I appear to now be involved in Helsinki's bid to host WorldCon in 2015. My life, it remains interesting.

Should sleep now, but a brief recap (spoiler: I fail to be brief): londo asked me to help run a room party on behalf of the afore-mentioned ambitious Finns at Boskone 50 (as in the 50th year of the con-- wow!) on Friday, and prior to that Crystal had asked me to help with another project throughout the con (more on that later-- first, the party). For a variety of reasons, a critical mass of people whose opinions I respect on this sort of thing seem to be on Team Helsinki, and inasmuch as I understand WorldCon stuff at all, their arguments for it make sense to me. Also, it gave me a place to stay for the night. Boskone tends to attract an older crowd and not have much of a party scene, so we expected things to have wound down by 11ish, but noooo, it seems wherever we young 'uns go, sleep withers and dies. The party didn't end up winding down until around 3:30am, and since I was to sleep on the floor where said party was being held, that means I didn't get to sleep until a bit thereafter. Side note: buying a high-quality cot to keep in the trunk of my car has proven entirely worthwhile multiple times now.

The party was a success, I think. Lots of people came by, I shilled for Helsinki like I was... umm... a desperate herring salesman? I'm actually not sure where I was going with that metaphor. Have I mention that I've not slept much of late? Anyway, had some great conversations with some swell people, ate tasty Finnish cheese, and met my match in some really intense (by my wussy American standards, at least) licorice. Also served hors d'ouvres to Vernor Vinge and Charles Stross. Good times.

Oh, and I appear to have volunteered to edit Helsinki's bid video later this year. Yay projects!

Anyway, slept a bit, and then on Saturday I did the thing that had originally pulled me into attending Boskone at all, helping Crystal run the Boskone "photo booth". The goal of this project was to "encourage whimsy" at Boskone, and to facilitate this we had some professional-quality photo equipment that was donated by another friend attending the con, and a big box of "props" which ranged from stuffed animals to silly hats. A bunch of us took shifts enticing people from the crowd to dig through the props box, snap shots of them, and then print them each a copy. Some people actually used the opportunity to get legit headshots and professional photos done, but mostly people buried each other in stuffed penguins, mimed being attacked by vampiric My Little Ponies, and so forth, like you do. We got some *great* photos, and people really seemed to enjoy it.

I'll be honest, I don't usually feel like I pull my weight at cons. I mean, I pay the admission fee and technically that entitles me to enjoy the con without lifting a finger to help out otherwise, but almost everyone I know volunteers and in most cases does so more than I do. So, basically, what I'm saying is that I was nervous to commit the better part of a day to helping run a single event, but also kind of looking forward to it.

I loved it. People got a lot of joy out of the photo booth, and it felt great to have had a hand in that joy. I split my time between being the barker (the one who invites people to take part, helps them get properly ridiculous, etc) and once I got up the nerve to even touch the Very Expensive Camera, shooting the photos. So I got both social and creative outlets and basically had a grand old time. Also, my friends now have more potential blackmail photos of me than I should probably be ok with, but there we are. If I had that much of a sense of shame, I probably wouldn't be doing most of the things that make me happy nowadays anyway.

There is probably more to say about all this, but there is also sleep to be had, and I need some. The remainder of the long weekend still includes at least making music with friends tomorrow and bussing to NYC to see my favorite French metal band on Monday, so I should probably try to pace myself, or something.

In closing, here is a photo booth photo of me trying to look legit.



You don't get to see the one where I'm smooching a My Little Pony. For now.

This has been a pretty amazing weekend. I sometimes say that the fun I have at a con is directly proportional to the number of people I know there and the number of events I'm involved in, and by that measure, Arisia 2013 was absolutely spectacular.

Cumulative sleep Fri-Mon: approx 16 hrs. Not bad for a con! ;)

Particularly noteworthy events (off the top of my head) include...

( People Most Excellent )

( The Stranger Ways / Sassafrass Concert )

...you know, this is already getting really long, and there's still so much more to write about, so I think I'm going to tie this one off and (hopefully) make this a series of posts.

I've been working on trying to write up some of my experiences at my first DragonCon, and boy is there a lot to say, so I'm going to do this in multiple posts.

Short version: I had a much better time than I anticipated, to be honest. I started what I hope may turn into a really cool project, accepted an award on behalf of a podcast I'm proud to have taken part in, met a lot of interesting people, saw some amazing sights, and was given a lot to think about, not all good, but net-positive IMO.

First Impressions
It took me about a full day just to get used to being at DragonCon. When I decided to go I had no idea just how massive it is, and even after arriving it was still hard to take it all in. Current estimates for this year's attendance are 45-50 THOUSAND people, spread across five of the biggest hotels I've ever been in, all of which were booked solid months in advance. It's overwhelming, but in a good way if you're into that sort of thing (and there's always a hotel room to flee to when you need it).

DragonCon Culture: Joyful Celebration of Nerddom or Shameless Pit of Debauchery? Embracing the Power of 'And'
In terms of the cultural feel of the con, the most surprising thing to me was how much DragonCon felt to me like Arisia writ (really, really) large. For those not in the Boston area, Arisia is one of our local cons, with about 5k 3k (thanks for the correction, juldea!) attendees in one hotel. I sometimes describe Arisia as a giant nerd party that also has a con going on-- that's not to dis the con at all, which has lots of fun stuff and is organized by a talented and dedicated staff, but even with all that the social and... let's call it "public displays of unashamed nerdery" element feels as or more important than the formal programming, and that's a good thing. DragonCon, despite being one of the largest cons in the country, retained the same sort of feel despite also having superstar guests and all the other trappings of a major convention. Indeed, apparently DragonCon has a bit of a... reputation as a "party con" or, to put it another way "pit of debauchery where desperate nerds go to get plastered and try to hook up with one another".

And you know, to a certain extent, based on my experience that's a fair cop. There's more to it, but that element was definitely there. DragonCon at night is a sight to behold. My hotel's common spaces never had less than 100 people, and that low point didn't come until around 6 am. The rest of the time there were 500+ dancing, drinking, carousing, flirting, and more. Hedonism Bot would have felt right at home (there was even someone cosplaying him).

But while others seem to sneer at the con for this, I don't. Well, not much at least. Any situation that combines thousands of people, alcohol and sexual tension has problems that can't be ignored. I heard fewer stories of harassment than I'd feared I would, but still too many (and even witnessed one myself). One female friend who has been going for years has two rules with her cosplay group: no one cosplays alone, and every group includes one person who is not in costume whose job is tell people who are misbehaving to piss off. Playing dress-up should not require a damn escort. There are also problems specific to DragonCon (which I'll talk about more later), and those can't be ignored either; and yet, overall the party culture at DragonCon seems to be a net positive thing for most of the people to whom I spoke.

In fact, the strong feelings that many of the attendees have about the con, and cosplay in particular, were really quite moving. The number of people who told me "this is the only place where I feel like I can really be myself, where I really feel free" was remarkable and bittersweet. It might seem silly for someone to equate self-actualization with being able to shamelessly parade around while dressed as a vulcan, but hearing these people talk I was reminded of the punk club I loved when I was in high school. I wore costumes no less ridiculous there, and that place changed my life for similar reasons. I'm eternally grateful to have had a regularly available place where I could not only go and be/do whatever I wanted without worrying about what was "normal", but be around other people who were being/doing the same. Many of these con-goers only get that kind of release a few times a year because their professions, communities, or whatevers require them to spend most of their lives in stealth mode, pretending to be someone who isn't a weirdo.

...and then they come to the con, and no one cares that he's dressed as an elf, and everyone is in awe of her home-made storm trooper armor, and thousands of pressure-cooker lives all blow their tops at once. The reason DragonCon becomes a giant debaucherous party at night is because it's all these people purging a year's worth of toxic dignity from their systems, and I can totally dig that.

...But It Has Its Problems
However, there are two things that have led people I know to at least strongly consider never attending, and whether one agrees or not, I think they're both important for anyone who is considering going to know about.

(Update: This issue has since been resolved) The first is actually old news, but I hadn't heard about it until @dromeda posted something about it, ironically just as I was returning home from the con. This article from Atlanta Magazine describes some serious allegations against one of the con's co-founders, Ed Kramer. Now, it's one-sided, he's innocent until proven guilty, etc etc, but it seems very thoroughly researched, and the hoops the guy has jumped through to avoid going to trial alone make me question his character, and that's where things get messy because, if I'm understanding this correctly, he's still contractually entitled to a share of the con's proceeds. The con has, to its credit, done its best to distance its self from Kramer, going so far as to make him sue to get his share from 2011, but the suit was successful, so if nothing changes attending DragonCon is effectively putting money in the pockets of a man who seems bent on hiring expensive lawyers to screw with the justice system (so far, at least according to the article, he's managed to delay bringing his case to trial for over a decade). EDIT: a user on Tumblr has posted what looks to (non-lawyer) me a decent summary of why the legal situation between DC and Kramer is more complicated than some of the con's critics have been assuming.

The article does end on a hopeful note, suggesting that he may actually have to stand trial some time soon, so hopefully this will be resolved by next year. If not... Idunno.

The con has been mired in scandal and controversy for a long time over this, and though Kramer has had some very vocal defenders (comment from the article "It's time for SF fandom to stop enabling criminal behavior, closing ranks every time someone in fandom gets nailed for a crime. Sandusky and Paterno have nothing on this crowd" ...youch), the concom seems to want very much to have nothing more to do with him and move on.

...which is why the other move that's pissed people off seems so bizarre.

So, there's this grassroots movement in fandom called The Backup Ribbon Project. Created in response to a sexual harassment incident at the 2008 DragonCon, the idea is simple: the creator of the project makes free ribbons that say "BACKUP" for fans to wear.

From the site:

If you take a Backup ribbon or you wear a Backup t-shirt, you are promising one very simple thing: You WILL help out anybody being harassed. Gender, orientation, presentation is irrelevant. You WILL find a way to help, whether by directly intervening, getting help from elsewhere, or simply listening the person being harassed. You WILL be there for them. You WILL accept that they believe they have been harassed. You WILL NOT question them or doubt them, You WILL give them whatever help they wish.

No judgement. No exceptions. We got your back.

The DragonCon concom had some concerns about this, primarily that someone might infer from the presence of a ribbon that a person is trustworthy, allowing for a "wolf in sheep's clothing" situation.

The thing about this is, I kind of get that concern. Kind of. I mean, it's not like anything remotely like this has actually happened to my knowledge, and it kind of requires someone to be phenomenally stupid, but I can see how they would be concerned about maybe appearing to sanction a movement that is pretty much outside their control. What I don't get is their response to it. Rather than working with the backup project so that it can work in a way that addresses the con's concerns, they basically say (paraphrasing here) "You don't need backup ribbons, we've totally got everything covered; don't worry your pretty little heads about it", the reasons why this is a spectacularly stupid thing for a con with as problematic a history of harassment and outright (alleged) sexual abuse as DragonCon to say should be pretty obvious, and anything more I could say about it is in my response to their post.

Despite all this, though, the Backup kerfluffle is not a reason I would reconsider attending in the future. First, I still hope the concom will take the hint from the waves of negative feedback attached to that post and use the intervening year to craft a more reasonable policy for 2013, but even if they don't, I think their move has resulted in the concom looking like asses and exactly nothing else. They were, to their credit I guess, not stupid enough to attempt to actually prevent people from wearing BACKUP ribbons, and one person even started making BACKUP buttons, just to address any potential confusion (since the con does use ribbons for official purposes). So I'll be sure to be wearing one next year, and that will be that. I understand the actions of the concom undermining people's trust in the con, but the truth is if enough of us care, all they have to do is stay out of the way. Btw, anyone reading this may consider it an invitation to request my "big guy standing nearby" services whenever they are desired.

Next post I'll move on to some nicer stuff: Highlights!

Leaving for Arisia in a bit! I actually have a fair number of performances and other such things going on this year, and I'm really excited about it:

- Friday, 10pm: I will be in "The Starship of Madness" with preraphaelite, audioboy, read_alicia and the rest of the Post Meridian Radio Players cast and crew. It's Doctor Who meets HP Lovecraft! That's not just a description of the style, by the way, that's the plot! :D (except that the DW fanboy in me objects to referring to the main character as "Doctor Who", but what's a little pedantry between friends?) I will be doing raspy monster voices that, in time-honored Doctor Who tradition, walk the line between creepy and silly sounding.

- Saturday, noon: Stranger Ways / Sassafrass double show! Not only do we get to play with faerieboots, juldea and aurelia_star's norse-inspired a capella group, this will also be the release party for Stranger Ways' new album. Yay! We'll be selling copies of the CD and download cards for the digital version. Bandcamp links will go up tomorrow for those who can't make it.

- Saturday, 6pm: I'll be moderating the Story Improv panel, which involves two teams of two writers each, who will take turns crafting stories based on audience feedback. I attended a panel like this at Balticon and it was so much fun I pitched it for Arisia. It only added to my sense of dread/joy when I saw that two of the writers are elenuial and lightcastle! :)

There are a lot of other things I'm hoping to make it to over the course of the weekend, too many to advertise all of them here, but here are a couple of the big ones:

Friday at 9p AND Saturday at 10a, Michael Anderson will be doing his one-man show, "Hallucinating Shakespeare", which includes "A Bloody Deed", the funniest half-hour of a dude talking about Shakespeare that you are likely to ever hear. If you can't make it in-person, there's a video of a past performance here, but seriously, I saw this show last Arisia and it was good enough that they're bringing him back for two more performances this year.

Then at 7p on Sunday, 2010: Our Hideous Future, The Musical, Camberville's own home-grown nerd musical. Saw this when it was first produced, and I don't think there exists a better audience for this show than Arisia. It'll be a great crowd and a lot of fun. Plus, lediva plays an evil AI bent on world domination. It's like someone put life at BCOS up on stage!

Spent the weekend at Balticon and had an absolutely lovely time. Fan cons are generally not my thing, but I think there were three unusual things about this one that made a real difference for me.

First off, the community that's developed around podcasting, podiobooks, and audio theater is just amazing. So many friendly, interesting and supporting people! Thanks to each and every one of you for making me feel like a part of that community right away. At most cons the main thing I have in common with people I don't already know is a shared self-association with this vague thing we call "fandom". At Balticon, thanks to its strong New Media track, I was interacting with people from a much more specific scene, which made for relatively easy conversation. Plus, a lot of the people there knew Second Shift, which was cool, and the admiration of peoples' work went both ways. At a party on Saturday night, the hostess (who was also one of the people behind us getting invited to the con) was being flatteringly squeeish as she told me how much she enjoyed Second Shift, when a friend of her's approached. She introduced him, saying, "This is Patrick McLean. He does a podcast called The Seanachie". Now, The Seanachie happens to be one of my favorite 'casts from back in the day. Several years back he did a story called "How to Succeed in Evil" (the original, un-finished version, for those familiar with it, which for the record is not what I've just linked to, though I'm told that the re-vamp is also excellent), which I absolutely loved, so I then got to turn around and fanboy at him, even earning a hug when I told him that I actually had the comic book version of How to Succeed, which he'd sold once upon a time as a fundraiser.

Over the course of the con, I ended up having a lot of great conversations like that, plus a very nice lunch with McClean and Nobilis Reed, another well-known podcaster/author and Second Shift forum-goer from way back (note that he specializes in erotica, so link may be nsfw).

I think I enjoy hanging out with podcasters for the same reason I enjoy hanging out with larpers. Aside from having something in common with them, it's a subset of geekdom that self-selects for people with some modicum of social skill, which makes interfacing significantly easier.

The second factor is simply that of distance. I enjoy, for example, Arisia, but because I'm not as tight with the communities represented there, most of the people I see are local friends. Now, I love my friends, but Arisia is basically a big, expensive house-party largely populated by the people I usually see at smaller, less ambitious parties. I probably won't have the opportunity to see the people I met at Balticon again until next year, which means there's something different to be excited about for next year, and while I'm not guaranteed to go next year, I'm seriously considering it for that reason, especially if I can be involved in events again, which brings me to the third thing...

Actually being on panels and whatnot (my first time doing so) made a huge difference in my con experience. People who know me will be shocked to learn that the presence of an audience really put me in my element, and made for a much more engaging time than I usually have at (non-larp) cons.

I was on four panels, each of which I was nervous about for different reasons, and each of which ended up going really, really well if I do say so myself. Even the "Open Source for Everyday Use" panel with ESR and Thomas Gideon of The Command-Line podcast went really well. I was nervous about this one both because I feared being out-classed in terms of technical know-how, and because I'd heard from others who had had "personality conflicts" with ESR. I'm glad to report that I left the panel feeling like I'd contributed pretty well, that I'd gotten along well with both of the other panellists, and most importantly that I'd had fun. ESR was very friendly and a great co-panelist. He digressed on a few topics, but they were by way of some pretty undeniably cool stories, so that was easy to overlook, and while there snark, it was clearly all in good fun. And yes, I said hi to him for you, tpau. ;) The panel is going to be podcast on an upcoming episode of The Command Line, and I'll link to it when that happens.



The subjects of the podcasting-related panels ranged from things about which I felt pretty qualified to talk, like "Herding cats: Producing large-cast audio theater" and "Audio Theater Today", which turned out to be mostly a Q/A about how to get started in audio theater, to ones where I wasn't even entirely sure why I'd been put there, like "Storytelling". The reason I was worried about that last one is that the one thing I didn't ever do on Second Shift was write, and I'd read the panel as being primarily about that. As it happened,though, the panel ended up evolving into a really cool conversation about storytelling in general, the difference between an author and a storyteller, the role a voice actor plays in telling an author's story, and the effect of the Internet, podcasting, etc on storytelling, I'm rather proud of one of my lines, "We're all around one big campfire now, and that's awesome". Another great comment, though I sadly forget from whom it came, was the suggestion that if recordable audio media had existed since time immemorial, maybe we never would have bothered conveying non-fiction with the written word alone. An interesting thought indeed. I also got to plug my idea for storytelling parties, which was well-recieved, and in fact someone approached me afterward and told me about the National Storytellers' Network, about which I'm excited to learn more.

Other highlights of the con included a "master class" panel/demo being run by some professional audio engineers on how the technical side of things worked. I think I only took in about 30% of what was said, but it was good stuff. I also got some great networking done and might, juuuuust might have some help lined up to get the remainder of Second Shift actually done. Stay tuned.

So yeah, anyway, I could go on with nifty things and people encountered, but you get the idea. Had a fine time, and a big thanks to all the lovely folks involved with the New Media track for being so friendly and nice. I'll do some pimpage of specific media things in a separate post. (ETA ...and here it is!)