Worldcon 2019?

[Dartz]

A long ways off But still, the location would be handy for me at least

I may have mentioned this before, but the local bid is currently ongoing, and it's been in the back of my mind since last weekend's Eirtakon to do what little I could to make people aware of it. Although I doubt many here will be going to Helsinki in 2 years time.

Anyway, they chaired a small panel at least weekend's Eirtakon which rather convinced me that their bid was a thing worth supporting - alongside the usualy snarky comparisons to the 'world' series of baseball and the like - and they seemed to have a nice ide of what sort of con they wanted to run.

Will four years out might be a bit early or presumptuous to plan a meet.... it could be a hoot.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Bob Schroeck]

I have no idea what our lives or finances will be like in four years, but... give me a reminder when they start selling memberships.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Dartz]

http://dublin2019.com/

So. It's officially a thing now. The results just came through, even if the bid had been sort of unnoposed for a long time so it was just a default.

Anyway. I figure, it's the only chance I'll get to go to a wroldcon so I might aswell pop in to take a look. It is after all, a fairly different style of convention to the standard events that I've been involved in here.

The committe involved have never done anything of the scale before - Irish Science Fiction conventions are small affairs - though until recently there was a vibrant anime con scene with some big events, and there is also MCM massive bloody tradehall 'convention', along with the guys running DCC.

Appparently, they're bringing in ringers from London to help.

I'm in two mindsa about whether it'll be a clusterfuck or not - Octocon has always been small enouigh to be basically unnoticed by the country at large and go about its own way in peace and quiet. The concept of 'membership' to a convention even has to be explained to people just paying money at the door and expecting a weekend's entertainment.

Whatever else happens/. It'll be a grand pissup.________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Black Aeronaut]

Interesting.

You know, San Antonio has hosted Worldcon twice.  (LoneStarCon 2 in 1997 and LoneStarCon 3 in 2013 - LoneStarCon 1 was a NASFiC Con and held in Austin.)  We're not all that big of a town, especially back in '97 just before SA started growing ridiculously fast.  Maybe Dublin should take notes.

Also, I can't help but wonder, with our convention center having completed its expansion, maybe San Antonio should put in for another bid at hosting a WorldCon.

[Star Ranger4]

Tempting, especially given that my Da's family comes from Ireland.

Sadly, I'd be much more likely to make a stab at Worldcon 76 because it would be so much closer to me.Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-

[b]NO QUARTER!!![/b]

-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

[Dartz]

Enh. Reg'd up anyway.

Member 23237.

That was quick.________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Rajvik]

Maybe they'll come to my city one year, PensaCon hit something like 15k this last year and still growing 

[Black Aeronaut]

Anyhow...  2019...  Who knows?  I have no idea if I'd be able to make a trip to Ireland at all.

We'll see what comes.

[robkelk]

The GoH list is up... and it includes Steve Jackson. (The US one.)
http://www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/2017-08-18

[Dartz]

Ooh, maybe I can pitch my card-game idea based on my job.....

....which is only partly a fucking joke. The idea of gameifying the art of goldbricking and pig wrestling and outright mutual frustration that is irish construction isn't that far off from munchkin at all...________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Bob Schroeck]

If a Munchkin expansion doesn't work, can you implement it as a variant on Chez Geek?-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Dartz]

Edit...

And I realised people know my account here who know me personally.....   this may not go well if it gets out.________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Black Aeronaut]

Oh dear.... D:

[Dartz]

If anybody's thinking of dropping over, just a quick headsup, the membership rates are going up on April 3rd

https://dublin2019.com/

And I'm sure there're other things worth doing in Dublin. There're plenty of nice pubs, for a start. And I'm sure I can find some interesting places after the con is done.

I guarantee most Irish people are happier and more well adjusted than I am.

[robkelk]

Alas, I get my vacation time in July, not August. Raise a pint for me while you're there, please!

[Dartz]

It's time for the regular shillin' o' t' con as progress report the first is uploaded

https://dublin2019.com/wp-content/upload..._Final.pdf

And I realise I probably don't have the holiday time next year either with other things making demands.

[robkelk]

And I'm sure there're other things worth doing in Dublin. There're plenty of nice pubs, for a start. And I'm sure I can find some interesting places after the con is done.

Found a list: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Dublin

(Hmmmmm... "Dublin Literary Pub Crawl"...)

[Dartz]

It's one thing to play an Ars Magica game in your home town - and quite another to play an Ars Magica game set in the very pub you're playing the game in. The chance for some absolute metagaming was sort of missed though...

Anyway, Science Fiction conventions in the traditional sense have always been sort of an outlier - Gaming con's and Anime cons have been bigger things with some common bleedthrough between the pai

A con in Belfast just pulled the plug on its next running.

They called it Titancon. With 40 members before they pulled the plug with 3 weeks to go, Titanicon may have been more apt. At least they had the grace to bow out. Even Eurocon and the regular Octocon are fairly quiet affairs, by all accounts.

With just over 2100 registered to attend, Worldcon isn't even bigger than most of the local Animé cons (Thew last Eirtakon grew to 3k before it gave up due to committee burnout). Then again, that is a year out.

For example, the same venue is holding DCC this weekend - with easily a full capacity 10,000 in the door. And held GamerCon last year which had 20,000 tickets and became notorious for the 8- lines and for the rather daft idea that people would only stay inside for an hour or two despite paying a full price for the ticket.

[Dartz]

4 years later here we are, 2 months out.

I've a feeling I'll be the only person in my peer group going so I'll be a fairly solitary creature all weekend. The 'ticket' price was just that bit too spicy for most while I got a very early price.

I'm feeling somewhat at a loss of what to do, in that regards, when half the reason I still go to cons is to meet up with mates and get utterly hammered during the pub quiz. Actually engaging with people I don't know will be one motherfucker of a stretch. That and the whole thing seems to be more of an ecumenical congress of science fiction, a cavolcade of ritual, tradition and funny smoke.

The only tradition I have from cons I've attended with mates is getting so blasted the night before than I'm probably still well over the legal the limit the next afternoon driving down.

I'm still sort of stuck for what to actually do there. Either way, I'll have the camera to document the event.

[classicdrogn]

Well, as long as you stay away from the guacamole dip you should be okay, hopefully. Or go for it, if you really want to be bleeding edge

More seriously, even if it's not a gaming con there's sure to be TTRPG game groups forming up in the evening, maybe you could find one of them as an icebreaker for a group to hang out with further after exploring the venue your first day? Presuming you're there for more than one at all, which I suppose is not necessarily the case either.

[Dartz]

I don't know. Might be worth taking a dive in it. Get out of here for good and be gone with it all.

Anyway, I've had the days booked off so I can come and go. It's a 1 hour bus trip away.

[Ebony]

I don't know. Might be worth taking a dive in it. Get out of here for good and be gone with it all.

Anyway, I've had the days booked off so I can come and go. It's a 1 hour bus trip away.

Check the social media for the convention. There may be postings of official or unofficial events all the way to during the con. Some large events even develop their own app for handling social media communication during the event, so that people can arrange meetups.

[Dartz]

Travellers may have robbed my car's exhaust - and thus all the cash I'd set aside - but The Program's up

Thought it was a well-filled weekend until I got to the line that said "Friday: 10:00am". Fuck's sake that's a lot. Do sort of want to check out the GG radio play thing, and all the alcohol related events.

Dealer's hall always makes me think of a different kind of dealer down at the Liffey boardwalk. Someone's going to ask where the Dealer's are and is going to get a very wrong answer.

[Dartz]

Spent too long in the pub missed a panel I wanted to see. Went to the wrong room, missed a panel I wanted to see and what I did go to dredge up a traumatic memory from childhood (Mystic Knights of Tir na nOg, if you must ask). Got to the opening ceremonies and burned a whole roll of film. Bought some cards from the Foglios and got a sore neck from the old camera.

Documenting this to film. If the camera's working anyway. It's from 1972. Moon-punk, according to one person.

I have found that I'm talking a lot more to people than I thought. And the earnestness is charming.

[Dartz]

This is definitely a very different event to any of the cons I've been to before, but I'm having a hard time pinning the exact manner in how. I've had some fairly interesting discussions with some people - from one fellow who's trying to get together a moon colonisation mission, to a conversation on the difference between 'good' and 'fine art and film cameras, spinning rust and storage issues and computer foibles, 'American cops have guns and it's an unnerving place', and a quick explanation of brexit and the consequences of No Deal to a woman from Vancouver in the style of Donald Trump (There'll be a Wall!!). Coined the phrase "Invited to Russels Tea-Party" as a euphemism for being airlocked. Bought a light amount of swag.

Took a ride on a steampunk VR book trailer, shot Steve Jackson (on film). The Royal Manticoran Navy had a recruitment booth with some fancy uniforms, got my photograph taken on the bridge of a Federation starship, propped up the bar and could've done with more spending money, and have so far burned through 6 rolls of film - most of it in three places.

Otherwise, Worldcon has very much been Arrive - got to bar and talk with someone - go to panel late and find it full - go back to bar and get talking - go to overfull panel - go back to bar. It's got a certain comfiness to it.