phi

My first Wiscon was Wiscon 30. Chaired by Jeanne Gomoll, it was clearly a transformative year for the con -- but not the first one. Gomoll also chaired Wiscon 20, at which the con made a quantum leap from average Midwestern science fiction convention with a feminist focus to worldwide feminist event with a science fiction focus. Some of what she did is clear: by getting dozens of former GoHs together in one space Wiscon 20 achieved a critical mass for its program that would not have been possible any other way. But Wiscon 20 also abandoned a host of SF convention features, like a film room and a Masquerade, in order to make what, from the ephemera I've seen, was quite a large number of other changes. I've always wondered how she did that.

Last night, I found the explanation. Perhaps I've even read this explanation before and not really been in a place to understand it. Wiscon 20 was planned, at least at first, as possibly the last Wiscon, a capstone. It's a lot easier to kill off parts of the con if the whole con is dead anyway.

The coming year is going to be a chance for conventions everywhere to decide what they want to keep as their core essence, and what has been holding them back. It's an exciting time, and also there is going to be a lot of despair, just as there was a fair amount of despair in Madison in the mid 1990s. I wonder what will come out of it.

wiscon is updating their photography/videography policies. I know this because I'm the clerk of arisia and they asked for copies of ours, for reference.

This is awesome because Wiscon is hands down the best-organized sf convention on the planet. Part of being well-organized is being quick to ask others for advice, but that we were among the people they thought to ask is a nice compliment.