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Con report X 2
Nov. 27th, 2017 03:29 pmThis weekend I went to Chessiecon just north of Baltimore, following by a couple of weeks the 2017 edition of Philcon. Actually, I spent the whole weekend at Philcon, courtesy of R., who gave me a bit of a financial subsidy. I attended Chessiecon on Saturday only, so I would have to make the drive up to Timonium only once instead of two or three times.
Even though I enjoyed myself at both cons -- picked up some new books, vowed to read books by the Guests of Honor, saw longtime friends -- I have to say: OMG, the graying of fandom is really accelerating. Philcon is SO painfully small, a shadow of its former self. One morning when he was getting some breakfast in the con suite, he looked around and saw all the electric scooters and canes and walkers and heads full of gray hair and thought to himself, "Is this an old folks' home?"
Now, I don't mean this to be nasty to people who are, in fact, getting older and/or who have mobility issues -- I'd be pretty gray-haired myself if I didn't color my hair, and, who knows, maybe I will need assistance in getting around someday. But it's impossible to see the number of scooters and canes and walkers at Philcon and Chessiecon and NOT start asking how many more years it's going to be before these people simply cannot travel to science-fiction conventions any longer. And these "traditional" fan-run cons are simply not attracting the numbers of young people that I see as necessary to keep the cons going without either financial implosion (which may have already happened to Lunacon) or volunteer burnout.
This year I made sure to attend Philcon for two reasons. First, R. wanted to celebrate the 70th birthday of his friend Ira's wife, Becky. Second, it was the 30th anniversary of my first Philcon in 1987 -- which seemed like a huge convention full of endless parties and resulted in my hooking up with a very pleasant guy named Bruce. He no longer goes to conventions and who knows what he is doing these days, but we had a nice relationship and parted on good terms, so he is a special memory. ;-) ;-)
The 2017 edition of Philcon probably had less than half the attendance of the 1987 edition. Maybe a third. I didn't even go to any room parties at Philcon. Few were advertised, and the one time that R. and I showed up at one, the door was shut tight and no one was around. And no one else was hanging out on the "party floor," either.
Likewise, so many people I've seen at past Chessiecons were missing. Dame Brenna and M.B. (T.H.'s sister-in-law), two stalwart con-organizers of the Darkover era, no longer attend. Baron Rorik and Baroness Janina and their grown daughter did not attend. Another couple who used to be active in the SCA weren't there for financial reasons (I won't mention their names). Spam and Fizzgig weren't there (Fizzgig probably had to work at her retail job). CZ and Phoenix weren't there because of the latter's birthday celebration. Tabitha and her family moved to the West Coast a few years back. Obviously Pedro is deceased and Devora moved away. And on and on.
Will either of these cons be around in five years????
Even though I enjoyed myself at both cons -- picked up some new books, vowed to read books by the Guests of Honor, saw longtime friends -- I have to say: OMG, the graying of fandom is really accelerating. Philcon is SO painfully small, a shadow of its former self. One morning when he was getting some breakfast in the con suite, he looked around and saw all the electric scooters and canes and walkers and heads full of gray hair and thought to himself, "Is this an old folks' home?"
Now, I don't mean this to be nasty to people who are, in fact, getting older and/or who have mobility issues -- I'd be pretty gray-haired myself if I didn't color my hair, and, who knows, maybe I will need assistance in getting around someday. But it's impossible to see the number of scooters and canes and walkers at Philcon and Chessiecon and NOT start asking how many more years it's going to be before these people simply cannot travel to science-fiction conventions any longer. And these "traditional" fan-run cons are simply not attracting the numbers of young people that I see as necessary to keep the cons going without either financial implosion (which may have already happened to Lunacon) or volunteer burnout.
This year I made sure to attend Philcon for two reasons. First, R. wanted to celebrate the 70th birthday of his friend Ira's wife, Becky. Second, it was the 30th anniversary of my first Philcon in 1987 -- which seemed like a huge convention full of endless parties and resulted in my hooking up with a very pleasant guy named Bruce. He no longer goes to conventions and who knows what he is doing these days, but we had a nice relationship and parted on good terms, so he is a special memory. ;-) ;-)
The 2017 edition of Philcon probably had less than half the attendance of the 1987 edition. Maybe a third. I didn't even go to any room parties at Philcon. Few were advertised, and the one time that R. and I showed up at one, the door was shut tight and no one was around. And no one else was hanging out on the "party floor," either.
Likewise, so many people I've seen at past Chessiecons were missing. Dame Brenna and M.B. (T.H.'s sister-in-law), two stalwart con-organizers of the Darkover era, no longer attend. Baron Rorik and Baroness Janina and their grown daughter did not attend. Another couple who used to be active in the SCA weren't there for financial reasons (I won't mention their names). Spam and Fizzgig weren't there (Fizzgig probably had to work at her retail job). CZ and Phoenix weren't there because of the latter's birthday celebration. Tabitha and her family moved to the West Coast a few years back. Obviously Pedro is deceased and Devora moved away. And on and on.
Will either of these cons be around in five years????
