lydamorehouse | Virtual Cons, Speculation (Reply)

I am not planning on attending CONvergence this year. There are several factors that went into my decision. I am ready to do a lot of socialization, finally, but.... not with three thousand people, indoors. But, on top of that August is generally going to be a crazy month for me because we will be sending Mason off to Connecticut for school (Wesleyan University, for those who are interested.)

When they made their decision to go in-person, I was asked if I wanted badges for me and Mason and I told them just what I told you. Next year, I'll be up for it, but this year I am taking a pass for reasons of COVID + College.

Somehow the message didn't quite get through? Possibly because, long ago, I also filled out volunteer form? I did so, however, when there was still talk of possibly hybrid, we don't know.

A couple days ago my panel assignments arrived.

They both looked great? I would happily done both of them (and more) in any other year. And, I re-read the descriptions a bunch of times but there were notes like "panelists should arrive in the room x minutes beforehand," and I started to worry that this was not a virtual room they were talking about, but a physical, in-person one. The biggest clue was that there was no link to a Zoom or any other technical info for an online recording/live-stream.

I hated doing it, because I don't want to get on someone's off list. but I had to say, "If this is in-person, which it seems to be, I am not attending this year. Please take me off?"

I feel especially bad about this because, independently, I happened to be part of an earlier email chain of a half dozen people who, when asked if they'd be willing to be a warm body to help save a panel that a friend of mine wanted to turn viable, EVERY single ONE of them also said that they wouldn't be attending in-person this year. Given that experience, I'm also wondering if I killed two panels? I'm a little worried that they might be having a talent problem--I would find it difficult to believe that CONvergence, of all local cons, couldn't find enough volunteers to sit on panels, but maybe? Especially since they're limiting attendance?

I will say that I was surprised that they didn't do a better job with their online con. Last year, I took part in at least two panels at Virtual CONvergence. One was a live-stream and the other was a recorded reading (which they scheduled opposite one another? They had a full weekend schedule to fill and my fans had literally a single choice, either listen to my reading OR watch me talk, live. I mean, I don't have a lot of fans? But that one person had a tough choice! Which, I mean, I was finally on two panels at once, which is kind of a dream of every author...) But, anyway, that part seemed to be exactly like most on-line cons I'd been to that year, but I found their chat/hangout space to be much harder to navigate. For reasons known only to the con com, CONvergence didn't use one of the pandemic-standard chat platforms, like Discord or Slack. Instead, they had their own web site that you had to remember to go to? I think I went to it once. It's weird when smaller, less structured/organized/well funded cons did a better job with their pandemic cons... and so I very much understand the desire to be back in the venue that they shine in?

But this also makes me fairly certain that there will not be a hybrid option for CONvergence, which make me sad. I am fond of virtual cons?

Am I the only who is going to miss them??