This year's World Science Fiction Convention was to have taken place in New Zealand, but since that country is entirely sealed off from the outside world, the convention has gone entirely on-line. It's a CYBER WorldCon! See the link here.
Despite obstacles the show will go on! I'm participating in several events, without leaving my house in Massachusetts. Here's my schedule (all times are in US Eastern Daylight Time):
Wednesday, July 29, 5:00 p.m.: Kaffeeklatsch
An hour-long informal hangout with me and nine other fans. Grab a drink and join us! (I probably will be having something stronger than coffee.)
Wednesday, July 29, 7:00 p.m.: Staying Closer to Home: Science Fiction in the Solar System
A panel featuring Daniel Abraham, Jeffrey Carver, myself, G. David Nordley, and Ian McDonald; focusing on the future of science fiction set within the Solar System rather than among the stars, and how our rapidly changing understanding of the Sun's other planets is affecting that.
Thursday, July 30, 5:00 p.m.: COVID-19: A Great Filter?
A panel featuring Valentin Ivanov, Vylar Kaftan, Ion Newcombe, and myself. We'll discuss whether pandemics like the current Coronavirus outbreak might explain why we don't see any sign of technological civilizations elsewhere in the Galaxy.
Thursday, July 30, 6:00 p.m.: Reading
I'll be doing a 20-minute reading of "Calando," a new short story of mine from the original anthology Retellings of the Inland Seas.
Friday, July 31, 6:00 p.m.: The Ascent of Wonder: What Makes Hard SF
Panel starring Kenn Bates, myself, Mark English, Harun Siljak, and Deborah Munro. We'll focus on how important it is to get the science right, what rules can we break, and who does it well?
Friday, July 31, 11:00 p.m.: RPG Design (And What to Do Next)
Join Michael Sands, Morgan Davie, Brandon O'Brien, myself, and Stephen Dedman for a discussion of how to design role-playing games and how to get them published.
Just curious: What is the difference, in practice, with an "online conference" like this, and an aggregation of online chat videos?
(I never have time to go to hobby-conferences - I wanted to go to Hamvention this year, but it was cancelled. If there were some online equivalent, it might enable me to tune in more often.)
I wonder if some sort of combination video-blog-aggregator/chat-channel/forum thing would be possible?
Posted by: MadRocketSci | 08/12/2020 at 10:52 AM