WorldCon Report: ChiCon 8

Chicago waterfront from Field Museum complex, Aug. 31, 2022, by Patricia E. Matson

I had a great time at WorldCon in Chicago this year, but I put a lot into that trip, and it took a lot out of me, so this is a belated report. That means some details will have been lost, but I still want to note what I can of how it went.

I drove to Chicago on Sunday, Aug. 28. It took about 11 hours, but I felt infinitely safer in my car than breathing everyone's unmasked air in an airplane. There was some construction from time to time, but no significant problems.

I stayed at the convention hotel, the Hyatt Regency, on the 26th floor. It was pricey, but very comfortable and quiet. I tipped the maid well on Monday and left tips with notes saying "Thanks! Gracias!" every day, and therefore enjoyed new towels and emptied wastebaskets every day, although the hotel had said I'd have maid service every three days. The room had a floor-to-ceiling window, but was opposite another fairly tall office building, so the only way to really enjoy the view was stand at an edge of the window and look sideways through it. I could have paid more for a better view, but I wasn't planning on spending much time in the room.

Before WorldCon itself, I took full advantage of my first trip to Chicago. On Monday, I visited the Art Institute of Chicago. On Tuesday, I visited the Garden of the Phoenix (Japanese Garden, a relic from the World's Columbia Exposition/World's Fair of 1893), the Museum of Science and Industry (including its amazing U-505 captured German submarine tour), and the Oriental Institute. On Wednesday, I visited the Field Museum (home of Sue the T-rex and many other exhibits), and in the evening I took a riverboat tour discussing the city's architectural history. 

I relished my first Chicago-style hot dog. My most memorable meal was at Firelake Grill, savoring an entire rack of deliciously spicy, melt-in-my-mouth Calabrian Smoked Pork Ribs.

I took many photos during all these ventures. Google put together a handy slideshow for me that has 30 pictures from that trip, which I am linking here. If I have time later, I'll upload individual photos and caption them. I also recommend these photo albums from a dear friend of mine: Chicago, Chicago II, and Chicago Boat Tour.

During WorldCon itself, I spent a few hours each morning prepping for my panels (in addition to the pre-con preparations, a lot of reading and note-taking). I was very pleased to realize during the panels that everyone else had done their homework, too. Every panel I was on comprised engaging, articulate, politely conversational lovers of science fiction and fantasy and the subgenres we were discussing. It was an honor, privilege and pleasure to be on panels with them.

Seven of the panels were on the 1946 retro track:

Thursday, Sept 1, 2:30 CT, Roosevelt 3: 1946: A Year in the Life of a Fan, with David Ritter (moderator), Jerry Kaufman, Joe Siclari and Peter D Balestrieri.

Thursday, Sept 1, 5:30 CT, Grand Hall GH: 1946: A Vintage Season for SFF, with John Hertz (moderator), Alec Nevala-Lee, and Dave Hook.

Friday, Sept 2, 11:30 CT, Atlanta: The Life and Impact of C.L. Moore, with Marta Murvosh (mod), Carrie Cooper, and Rich Horton.

Saturday, Sept 3, 10 CT, Michigan 3: Undiscovered and Forgotten Gems of 1946, with Alec Nevala-Lee, Connie Willis, John Hertz and Michael Haynes. (I moderated.)

Saturday, Sept 3, 1 CT, Airmeet 5 (virtual): Leading Ladies: Women in Fandom in 1946, with Carrie Cooper, Kate Heffner and Lisa Yaszek. (I moderated.)

Sunday, Sept 4, 11:30 CT, Atlanta: Science in Science Fiction: The Guesswork of 1946, with Daniel Ritter, G. David Nordley, Henry Spencer and James L. Cambias. (I moderated).

Sunday, Sept 4, 4 CT, Grand Hall I: The Likely Hugo Nominees from 1946, with Rich Horton (moderator), Dave Hook and John Stith.

I also had a fairly late invitation to one non-1946 panel, after a couple of other panelists had dropped out:  The Hollow Earth and Other "SF Before SF," moderated by Heather Rose Jones and including E. Lily Yu and David Stokes, on Saturday at 5:30 CT. I've read a fair amount of old (19th century and early 20th) speculative fiction, due to growing up with my father's collection, plus reading for some Librivox projects and for SFFaudio podcasts. I didn't read anything new for this panel, but I did take some time to go through what I've read and organize my thoughts.

I was also very honored and pleased that several panelists and audience members recognized my efforts to prepare for these panels and thanked me for smoothly moderating three of them. I tried hard to foster actual conversations instead of just inviting monologues. I was thrilled after the "Science in SF: The Guesswork of 1946" panel to be presented with a copy of "The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom: Volume Two: 1940 (The First Chicon: A focused look at the second World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago)," by its co-author, Daniel Ritter, who was on that panel with me. It's a beautiful trade paperback (hardbacks available here) with reproductions of contemporaneous photos, reports, and essays. I recommend checking out the First Fandom Experience:  https://firstfandomexperience.org/introduction/

On Sunday night, I attended the Hugo Awards, as the guest of one of the finalists. Although only a few of the awards went the way I had voted, I thought it was a well-run ceremony, with several moving moments. The art-deco style Hugo Award trophy was gorgeous! 

Cora Buhlert, winner of the 2022 Best Fan Writer Award, comments on the Hugo Awards and the ceremony here, and she also links to several other people's commentaries.

Other activities: On Saturday night, I attended the Fan Funds Auction, which supports sending fans to international conventions abroad, that they otherwise wouldn't be able to attend. I bought some expensive dill chips (not dill pickle flavored, which is easily available here, but just dill), which were tasty when I ate them at home. However, I am still kicking myself for not bidding on the Glasgow 2024 convention T-shirt, which had been signed by about 20 science fiction authors. The bidder won at $35 or so; could I have obtained it for $40? Will I fit into a Large T-shirt by 2024?

I also received and greatly enjoyed a copy of The Gatekeeper, a hilariously satirical print fanzine organized and edited by Olav Rokne and Amanda Wakaruk of the Unofficial Hugo Book Club blog, which includes essays by Dan Gibbons, Bob Devney, Paul Weimer, Rebecca Calder and Cora Buhlert.

And I of course attended a lot of panels where I was NOT a participant.

On Monday morning, I attended part of the final business meeting of the convention. The business meetings are where members of the World Science Fiction Society (which you can join by buying a membership in that year's convention) vote on new bylaws and amendments to the bylaws. Most days I either went early and left early (to go to one of my panels) or went late (after a panel). Some days, I got to vote, when a vote came up while I was there, and some days, I just watched the process.

One of the amendments that I felt strongly about was a redefinition of the "fan" categories that would have prevented anyone who made any professional genre-related sales that year, even a short essay on a website, and possibly anyone who collects Patreon fees, etc., from being nominated in fan categories. While I find it perturbing that several professional authors collected awards in fan categories (my beloved Skiffy and Fanty would have been a finalist in Best Fancast again, had the pro writers/volunteer fancasters recused themselves), this amendment was far too restrictive. It was rejected. Hopefully a better one will be offered in the next few years. 

When checkout time was looming, I left the meeting and finished packing. My drive home, although long, was uneventful.