fancons

[ride_4ever]

Just returned from ConneXions and then in five days I leave for VividCon...and then that's it for 2017 fancons, and time to start planning for 2018 fancons. Any of my flisties going to Escapade, RevelCon, Bitchin' Party, ConStrict, Con.Txt,or VividCon in 2018?

Comments

[raine]

Escapade definitely, Bitchin' Party is maybe (largely because I forget when it's supposed to be.)

[ride_4ever]

Yays Escapade! Me too, and I'm bringing a friend for whom it's going to be her very first fancon.

Bitchin' Party is April 13-15.

[kuwdora]

well i might show up to Escapade, it usually depends on how i'm feeling which can go either way

but i am hoping for VVC18, the last hurrah. ♥

[ride_4ever]

*hopes to see you at both*

[princessofgeeks]

I hope to make Escapade in 2018 but I have no idea at this point if I will be able to. Have fun at Vividcon!

[ride_4ever]

Maybe see you at Escapade 2018 then. (I will def be there!)

[tayrin_roo]

Escapade all the way! I already have the plane tickets, room and roommate, and am down to just waiting until the even arrives. I had thought about Bitchin' Party, but I have never gone and don't know anyone there. I always feel a little weird going to a new convention where I don't know anyone. I should check in to that I guess. I'm not even sure where it is. I'm usually limited to conventions on the west coast.

I still have one more convention for this year in September. KiScon (a Star Trek Kirk/Spock slash con) will actually be down in LA this year, just a few blocks south of the Escapade hotel. At least I will be familiar with the area.

Can't wait to see you again at Escapade 2018.

[ride_4ever]

I'm all set for Escapade too: registered, travel arrangements made (cross-country train), and roommate. Excite to know I'll see you there!

Do consider Bitchin' Party (and hey, it's not true you won't know anyone there -- you'll know me plus there will def be other Escapade fen there -- it's at Bitchin' Party that I got pimped into Escapade in the first place). It's held in Issaquah, Washington (near Seattle).

And speaking of going to a con where you don't know anyone: the very first fancon I ever attended (and that con was Bitchin' Party 2012) I had never met even one fanperson IRL ever...I took a cross-country train all alone, walked into the con hotel all alone...and the very first fen I encountered there it was immediately like MY PEOPLE YES!

[tayrin_roo]

I know what you mean about 'My People'. When I started going back to Escapade for the first time in about 10 years I was waiting in the lobby until it was time to check in. Several ladies all came in together. I had never met any of them, they were talking about everyday things, and there was not a fan-ish t-shirt, piece of jewelry, or tote bag in sight, and I just KNEW they were there for the convention.

I was right and it was awesome. With in five minutes I was talking with them about the trials of traveling to the con and what panels they were most interested in going it. It was like I had known them for years.

Still I felt comfortable there as I had friends I was meeting later that day.

As for Bitchin' Party it's actually close enough I could drive there in around 6 hours so I'm really interested in this if I can swing it work wise. That said I didn't find much for this. Do they not have a regular web site? All I found was a DW account where the newest message was for a survey for the 2018 convention, that was posted back in Oct of 2016.

I may not be able to sign up right now, but I would like to find out a little about the area where it's hosted, the hotel so I can figure out my rough costs and start planning. I'm all about meeting up with you and other fans for a relaxed weekend of fanish activities.

[franzeska]

FWIW, I went one time and found that I knew a ton of the attendees from Escapade or just old LJ circles. I took public transportation from the airport, first rail then bus. The bus station was very easy walking distance from the hotel. There were a fair number of strip malls with restaurants within a few blocks of the hotel, though the non-chain ones I liked better were a bit of a hike.

If it's the same hotel it used to be at, the old con info posts used to be pretty helpful:

http://bitchinparty.livejournal.com/95527.html

[tayrin_roo]

Thanks for the information. That will help a lot with working up a budging for the trip. While I would be coming by car it's nice to know thing are in walking distance. I like to walk to things like food if it is possible while at a convention just so I can get out and move around a little.

With that convention so close to where a live for a change, it would almost be a crime not to go at least once.

[ride_4ever]

Bitchin' Party 2018 registration hasn't opened yet. This is a new con comm taking over and saving BP from ending in 2016. They are still working out a few of the details. I'll be seeing some of the fen at VVC this weekend who are part of that new BP con comm. I may have some more info for you after that.

[tayrin_roo]

Oh, good. I was hoping that I wasn't missing some obvious home page or something. It would be a crying shame to miss a convention that was so close to home just because I didn't see some web page.

Thanks for your help and have fun at your convention over the weekend!

[viridian5]

I wish. ::envy::

[ride_4ever]

Well, it's like I'm making up for lost time -- I didn't find fandom community until 2011.

[viridian5]

*g* Have fun! I loved cons.

[ride_4ever]

TYK!

(What year was it the first time you went to a con?)

[viridian5]

My first... I don't remember what year I went to ConneXions, but it was probably 1999 or 2000 since I went with two due South friends and the lot of the panels were about old school through-the-mail fanzine fans giving internet fans the stink eye. ("Back in my day, we had to wait for the mail to come! None of this 'Turn on the computer daily and the porn just arrives' thing! Internet fen are lazy and unworthy.") Plus, at one point one of the volunteers said we didn't look like fans in a rather negative way. Thus, we three spent a lot of time at the local mall and just attended what interested us.

My last one was my favorite, Escapade 2002. Met so many people IRL for the first time! I also got a very flattering moment of somebody seriously fangirling my writing. Since then work got in the way, then my brain surgery and its aftermath, and since then it's been a money issue.

[ride_4ever]

Wow, that is interesting to get this fannish history from you! I had no idea of the "divide" at that time between the "old school" fen and the "internet" fen!

The first Escapade I ever attended was the one this year and the first ConneXions I ever attended was the one this month !

I'm wondering if I know (or at least know of ) the two dS fen who were with you at that ConneXions.

[viridian5]

We weren't aware of it either until we attended that ConneXions! It was a bit of a rude awakening.

LaT wrote a lot of dS fic. Kasha got involved in e-mail list conversations but didn't really write fic. Kasha and I text each other about various fandoms several times a week to this day.

[ride_4ever]

Ah. Yes, I've read dS fic by LaT. Kasha is not known to me -- and how cool that she's a fan with whom you've kept in contact all this time.

[viridian5]

A lot of fen friends have drifted in and out of my life, some of whom I really miss, but Kasha and I have had a long friendship that transcends fandom, which in my experience is pretty rare. A lot of people just stopped talking to me eventually once they drifted out of a fandom we were both in.

[ride_4ever]

Well, you and I don't currently share a fandom and I'm still around (though at this precise juncture I'm around and about to go to sleep as it's nearly 3:00 AM local time).

[viridian5]

It may help that I've been in online fandoms for almost twenty years so I've seen a lot of people come and go, including people who were my close friends at one time.

And go sleep! ::shoo, shoo::

[sperrywink]

Con.txt and Vividcon are the ones I am interested in at the moment.

[ride_4ever]

\0/ \0/

[franzeska]

Escapade for sure. VividCon almost certainly. The others depend on whether I'm employed and what my work schedule is like.

[ride_4ever]

VVC this week! Definite yet?

(Particularly fond memories of that time at the last night of VVC when bghost and I "helped" with finishing the European snacks. *g*)

[franzeska]

Haha. I thought you meant the final vvc next year. Yes, I'm leaving tonight and getting in early in the morning for vvc this year.

And you were a help! I always overbuy!

[ride_4ever]

LOL...I did think you meant this VVC and I was like "OMG she isn't sure yet ?"

(And I am def not missing the final next year.)

Edited to add: I just reread my original post and saw that I did specify 2018 in that post. Heh.

[franzeska]

Heh! Well, I mean, you did mention Con*Strict, which just passed.

[clevermanka]

Would love to confirm for ConStrict 2018 but current health disallows any plans. =/ Crossed fingers tho.

[ride_4ever]

Health...always a cause for uncertainty.

Also, for me there is the uncertainty about whether Con*Strict and Con.Txt being scheduled so close together is something I can manage.