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THURSDAY 8th August
So: first day of a virtual Worldcon at Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon For Our Futures.
When the convention actually started, the novelty of getting to the SECC in seconds did not dim, especially when I was seeing online the long baggage checks through attendees on the social media.
And the first issue. I would have loved to have seen Dune: The Musical at 11:00, but it wasn’t being live-streamed. This was a shame, especially as friends who were there in real life told me it was good. I suspect it may be a copyright thing? Not everything I wanted to see was being live-streamed, but I guess that that's really only the same as in real life as when I can't get to every room. Although the full programme was not available virtually, I found that all the main events were and that there was enough to choose from, with 6 -12 potential streams to visit at any one time.
I consoled myself by dropping into Chris Baker’s talk at 1:00. I’ve met Chris before, briefly, and thought his talk on his work as a concept artist for films would be entertaining. And it certainly was. Chris did that thing that I love about convention talks, where the speaker has a rough plan of what they want to talk about, but will happily ramble and go off the PowerPoint with quips, asides and stories. Lots about his work on A.I. (artificial intelligence) here, working with Kubrick, Spielberg and Disney, with pictures to illustrate. Chris ran out of time, but it was a lot of fun.
Art Guest of Honour Chris Baker (a.k.a. Fangorn) As the day progressed, I found that being online was actually good fun – no traipsing from place to place, getting yourself lost and missing your talk, no queuing to get in the rooms – the stream was there in seconds. The views of the speakers were generally fairly close and gave a good view. What’s more, if you decided the panel was not for you, you could immediately change to another. I could get up from my desk and wander over to my kitchen to make a cup of tea, or a loo break when required!
I did miss actually meeting people and spending money in the dealer's room, though my bank balance and my back are no doubt better for it.
An Iain Banks panel
FRIDAY 9th August
Day 2 of the virtual tour of Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon For Our Futures. More great talks on Iain M. Banks and by Guest of Honour Ken MacLeod, which were both quite emotional. Ken was wonderfully modest and full of anecdotes about his friend Iain.
Having being so impressed yesterday, I also went to, and enjoyed, Chris Baker’s second talk, this time on Storyboarding for Film, which had lots of examples of – guess what!
The concert by the Worldcon Philharmonic Orchestra in the evening was a particular highlight of the convention, although I will be the first to say that even with a good speaker system set up on my computer, I am sure that the sound was nothing like as good as being in the hall.
The Worldcon Philharmonic OrchestraGenerally though, there was a constant stream of good-natured discussions and photos throughout the day that summed up what I love about the convention - it's fun, positive and generally good-natured! There were a few more technical issues today, usually about sound, but it was still generally good. It did make me wonder though whether I was missing all the gossip, the panic behind the scenes, the politics, the rivalry, the back-biting and squabbling? Possibly.
SATURDAY 10th August
Day Three of being virtual at Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon For Our Futures. More great chat from GoH Chris about producing Artwork for print (more lovely examples!), and some appropriately abstemious yet honest memories at a memorial for Christopher Priest. The panel about the Untold History of previous Worldcons was a treat and showed how good the discussions could be. In contrast, the panel which signalled the end of the Retro Hugos was a bit depressing, not because of the panel, which presented themselves admirably, but because it seemed pretty clear that the Retros would be no more. Personally, I liked them, even though (as was said) that the results were often random and that voters seemed to be voting for the authors rather than the actual stories themselves.
The only disappointment of the day for me was the Masquerade, which looked great but was made unlistenable by a constant hum from what I gather was the microphones picking up the sound of the air conditioning. All in all though, another good day.
SUNDAY11th August
Day Four of being virtual at Glasgow 2024 A Worldcon For Our Futures saw my view: the last great chat from GoH Chris with an inspirational presentation about his life as an artist; a great panel on The Anti-Fascist Science Fiction Fan Movement of the 1930s and '40s, where the panellists showed a great depth of knowledge without being ‘showy’; and I was pleased to watch the creation of the Aldiss Award for World-building in SF and Fantasy.
The Anti-Fascist Science Fiction Fan Movement of the 1930s and '40s panelThe panel with the two fan Guests of Honour on SF Fandom was OK, but confirmed to me what I've thought about such things for years - you had to be there at the conventions to appreciate it fully. I was hoping to hear some details you do not normally hear about until after the convention. There were some, and I guess it was good for those who remembered them, but it left me wanting. Surprisingly (and unlike any other panel I've seen this weekend), it was allowed to overrun by nearly 15 minutes as the speakers rambled their way through their script. But it was heartfelt.
More positively, the Awards Ceremony was great, even though I am now very much aware that the nominated works do not really speak to me. Full Hugo Award information here. But I generally enjoyed the ceremony – the traditions and the positivity - and appreciated how much the presenters covered up the inevitable technical failures – all part of a convention, although possibly embarrassing for the production team. On balance though, the Ceremony was generally well done: it almost went off without a hitch!
MONDAY 12th August
Day Five of Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon For Our Futures. The last day online.
Following all of the excitement of the Ceremony, the last day online was a little more chilled, which did allow me time to watch some of the talks I didn't get to on the ‘Replay’ function – these were recordings of those streams where I would’ve liked to go to, but were on at the same time – result! I also liked the point that these should be available until December should I wish to catch-up or even re-watch some panels. (Since then, the Convention have held a reunion weekend on the 1st – 3rd November, which I think is a great idea, allowing people to meet up virtually and re-watch select panels.)
With most of the serious stuff over, there was also some time for random silliness - of the live talks, I did enjoy the talk on Monday morning, about whether your cat is trying to kill you!!
The Closing ceremony was quite emotional, which was surprising, as I wasn’t really there. But again, generally all good and usually showed the sign of a good time. And – very importantly! - I was home within seconds, celebrating with a well-earned cup of tea and sending commiserating thoughts to those who now had to battle their own way home.
OVERALL
Success! I’d like to see more conventions like this. I will definitely do such virtual events like this in the future as the benefits outweigh the negatives, although the different time zones may be an issue. (As much as I love the convention, watching a talk on the esoteric elements of science fiction fandom at 3am local time might not work next time!) Yes, while I missed out on meeting friends face-to-face, I saved money by not buying books, transport hotel and food bills, and perhaps most importantly still got a flavour of the event itself.
Having said that, I can’t deny that there were negatives. Not every event was online, and whilst generally the sound and vision given was very good, there were occasional sound issues: panel speakers did not always sit close enough to their microphones, and as I’ve already said, one of the main events was made unwatchable because of a constant hum throughout. Summing up, at their worst, the sessions could appear to be like a Zoom meeting from hell, particularly with the panellists joining in online, but generally they were very good.
Comments have been made online by real attendees actually there at the convention about the lack of vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free food on site, although as a non-attending vegetarian, this was not an issue – take-out deliveries were available throughout, and cheaper! I must admit though, if I was there, I would think that beer and chips are all very well as an occasional meal, but even I would baulk at such a menu for five days straight. Or cringe at having to pay the hotel & restaurant prices.
Regarding the convention publications, I must admit that I also missed having a physical copy of the Worldcon programme in my hands as per the Worldcon constitution in sending the convention's paper publications, although I did get a digital copy. I must say though that I didn't get a paper one as a Hugo-short-lister nor as a supporting member last year from China. I take the point that they could be expensive to produce and in these modern days there could be a lot produced but never kept or used - most people will use a phone app instead. Postage would also affect any environmental targets, I guess.
I tend to think that these days, in terms of the bigger picture, most people don't care/won't mind about such things – I'm also aware that the new modern, younger audience with which the Worldcon seem very keen to engage with may just wonder what the fuss is about with paper publications and keep looking online or on their phones.
I know that since last year's event in China there has been rumblings over whether Worldcon can be trusted. Personally, I think that Glasgow may have done a fair bit to build bridges after the China debacle, although I also think it will need to continue to show positives and transparency in the future if trust is to be earned further.
But the fact that I could attend virtually showed me how much things have changed at Worldcons since my last attendance in 2014. In summary, and bearing I mind that I nearly didn’t bother, on the whole it was very much worth it. I think that I got the essence of the convention without many of the usual challenges – Result!
Mark Yon
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