I am at Wiscon AS WE SPEAK
May. 24th, 2020 02:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrI have been having a lot of fun at the online version of the feminist scifi convention Wiscon this weekend. I was worried I'd be asleep during all the interesting stuff, but even though I've had to miss most of the panels I've still been to a couple and had some great conversations in the discord. Including meeting some new dreamwidth people *waves*
I have been hearing about Wiscon for DECADES, it always felt like the coolest people in fandom went there and had all the coolest conversations, so it's great to finally experience it myself, even if in a limited way and due to unfortunate events.
The primary hub for the online Wiscon is the discord server, which has a bazillion sub-channels. Most are just for chat on various subjects (books, meetups etc) but there's also specific channels for each panel. The conversation is all pretty friendly, in an earnest way very reminiscent of livejournal and dreamwidth social justice conversations (and with a lot of the same people)
There's like 800 people in the discord, with 200 people online right now at like midnight US time and many more during their daytime. Conversations often move fast, and I had to mute most of the channels to not be overwhelmed. It often feels like I'm behind any given conversation and that anything I say gets swallowed in the crowd, but people have been pretty friendly when I pop in with a random comment, and I've had some nice ongoing conversations in slightly slower channels.
There's also the safer spaces. At the regular con these are rooms set aside for various marginalised groups. But for this con they're channels or chat rooms, one each for: disabled people, trans and non-binary people, people who are plural/have DID (disassociative identity disorder), and POC. I think the DID/plurals one was added after the con started, by request, and isn't a regular thing.
The two I'm in are nice, I haven't felt UNsafe elsewhere but it's still good to be amongst similar folk sometimes. I remember hearing about the POC safe space when it was first created, they got a lot of pushback and have had issues with white people wanting to gawk, so they made a separate chat-room for this con. I haven't noticed any able-bodied or cis people being obnoxious in the ones I'm in, there's probably some lurking but it doesn't bother me too much personally since I'm among strangers anyway.
There's a range of ages at the con but from what I can tell the average is 40-50, this is the first time I've hung out in a group of non-binary/trans people and felt young, and the first time I've been around so many older people with purple hair.
In general I have found it pretty comfortable and enjoyable as a space, like being at Gynaecon (Swancon's feminist sub-con), or a cross between a scifi con like Swancon and progressive online spaces. I don't feel like I completely fit in, for hard to articulate reasons (partly I just never feel like I completely fit in anywhere, plus it's all very American), but I fit in enough, and it's nice feeling surrounded by so many people I have so much in common with, in terms of both circumstances and point of view.
Here's how the two panels I went to were run:
Anyone who is interested can join the panel channel and talk about what is being discussed, with a moderator to collect and pass on questions for the panelists in real time (they also sometimes keep up themselves but are obviously busy talking). The panelists talk on a streamed youtube video and switch between each other. It didn't always work perfectly but is surprisingly like attending a regular panel.
The panel videos are then on Youtube for anyone who missed it, though they'll be deleted at the end of the con and we're not supposed to link them publicly. Right now I am listening to "Decolonization in SFF" which is interesting so far! I could also try reading back through the chatroom at the same time, but it's so many words and my brain said no.
There's also Zoom based panels for party type things like the vid show and dance party. I don't use Zoom due to security concerns but people seemed to have a lot of fun. Here's the vid show details.
People also run spontaneous meetups on Jitsi. I joined one of these on a whim and everyone was very nice and I very quickly became COMPLETELY consumed with social anxiety, but it was still cool to have done. MAYBE I will try another one if it comes up when I'm feeling less jittery.
The two panels I managed to wake up in time for were "Learning Social Justice While Disabled" and the auction.
I mostly enjoyed "Learning Social Justice While Disabled" but have mixed feelings I am currently trying to marshal into a post. Still, all the panelists were disabled and afaict so were all the vocal parts of the audience, which allowed for deeper conversation than I've seen in disability panels in a mostly able-bodied crowd.
The auction was a lot of fun.brainwane was the auctioneer, it was surreal seeing her with sound and video after seeing her as a static icon for so many years. She did a great job, with lots of good-natured energetic humour keeping up everyone's enthusiasm. I donated the money I'd been planning on paying the con anyway (having initially bought a free ticket) to a fund to get her to read some very earnest love poetry she wrote as a teen. They did a money-free bidding process for the actual auction, instead people competed with lines of poetry for one item, fictional currencies for another, etc. brainwane would describe the item and what we should bid with, then show a like 3 minute video while everyone bid, and then the coolest bid was chosen to win. I didn't win anything but had fun coming up with things to bid with.
Speaking of money, I linked to one of my games in the 'dealer's room' channel and made two sales, so thus far I'm at a $15 profit for the con :D
Here's the panel list.
Panels I mean to watch (not all of which have happened yet):
Online fan communities
Decolonization in SFF
Bodyminds
Weird Landscapes
Gendered Labor
I might be awake for tomorrow:
Guest of Honor Speeches & Otherwise Ceremony
And now I think I may have a nap! I am simultaneously an extrovert who enjoys having all these people to talk to and a very sleepy person who needs space, I have been taking a lot of breaks to play Terraria.
I have been hearing about Wiscon for DECADES, it always felt like the coolest people in fandom went there and had all the coolest conversations, so it's great to finally experience it myself, even if in a limited way and due to unfortunate events.
The primary hub for the online Wiscon is the discord server, which has a bazillion sub-channels. Most are just for chat on various subjects (books, meetups etc) but there's also specific channels for each panel. The conversation is all pretty friendly, in an earnest way very reminiscent of livejournal and dreamwidth social justice conversations (and with a lot of the same people)
There's like 800 people in the discord, with 200 people online right now at like midnight US time and many more during their daytime. Conversations often move fast, and I had to mute most of the channels to not be overwhelmed. It often feels like I'm behind any given conversation and that anything I say gets swallowed in the crowd, but people have been pretty friendly when I pop in with a random comment, and I've had some nice ongoing conversations in slightly slower channels.
There's also the safer spaces. At the regular con these are rooms set aside for various marginalised groups. But for this con they're channels or chat rooms, one each for: disabled people, trans and non-binary people, people who are plural/have DID (disassociative identity disorder), and POC. I think the DID/plurals one was added after the con started, by request, and isn't a regular thing.
The two I'm in are nice, I haven't felt UNsafe elsewhere but it's still good to be amongst similar folk sometimes. I remember hearing about the POC safe space when it was first created, they got a lot of pushback and have had issues with white people wanting to gawk, so they made a separate chat-room for this con. I haven't noticed any able-bodied or cis people being obnoxious in the ones I'm in, there's probably some lurking but it doesn't bother me too much personally since I'm among strangers anyway.
There's a range of ages at the con but from what I can tell the average is 40-50, this is the first time I've hung out in a group of non-binary/trans people and felt young, and the first time I've been around so many older people with purple hair.
In general I have found it pretty comfortable and enjoyable as a space, like being at Gynaecon (Swancon's feminist sub-con), or a cross between a scifi con like Swancon and progressive online spaces. I don't feel like I completely fit in, for hard to articulate reasons (partly I just never feel like I completely fit in anywhere, plus it's all very American), but I fit in enough, and it's nice feeling surrounded by so many people I have so much in common with, in terms of both circumstances and point of view.
Here's how the two panels I went to were run:
Anyone who is interested can join the panel channel and talk about what is being discussed, with a moderator to collect and pass on questions for the panelists in real time (they also sometimes keep up themselves but are obviously busy talking). The panelists talk on a streamed youtube video and switch between each other. It didn't always work perfectly but is surprisingly like attending a regular panel.
The panel videos are then on Youtube for anyone who missed it, though they'll be deleted at the end of the con and we're not supposed to link them publicly. Right now I am listening to "Decolonization in SFF" which is interesting so far! I could also try reading back through the chatroom at the same time, but it's so many words and my brain said no.
There's also Zoom based panels for party type things like the vid show and dance party. I don't use Zoom due to security concerns but people seemed to have a lot of fun. Here's the vid show details.
People also run spontaneous meetups on Jitsi. I joined one of these on a whim and everyone was very nice and I very quickly became COMPLETELY consumed with social anxiety, but it was still cool to have done. MAYBE I will try another one if it comes up when I'm feeling less jittery.
The two panels I managed to wake up in time for were "Learning Social Justice While Disabled" and the auction.
I mostly enjoyed "Learning Social Justice While Disabled" but have mixed feelings I am currently trying to marshal into a post. Still, all the panelists were disabled and afaict so were all the vocal parts of the audience, which allowed for deeper conversation than I've seen in disability panels in a mostly able-bodied crowd.
The auction was a lot of fun.
brainwane was the auctioneer, it was surreal seeing her with sound and video after seeing her as a static icon for so many years. She did a great job, with lots of good-natured energetic humour keeping up everyone's enthusiasm. I donated the money I'd been planning on paying the con anyway (having initially bought a free ticket) to a fund to get her to read some very earnest love poetry she wrote as a teen. They did a money-free bidding process for the actual auction, instead people competed with lines of poetry for one item, fictional currencies for another, etc. brainwane would describe the item and what we should bid with, then show a like 3 minute video while everyone bid, and then the coolest bid was chosen to win. I didn't win anything but had fun coming up with things to bid with. Speaking of money, I linked to one of my games in the 'dealer's room' channel and made two sales, so thus far I'm at a $15 profit for the con :D
Here's the panel list.
Panels I mean to watch (not all of which have happened yet):
Online fan communities
Decolonization in SFF
Bodyminds
Weird Landscapes
Gendered Labor
I might be awake for tomorrow:
Guest of Honor Speeches & Otherwise Ceremony
And now I think I may have a nap! I am simultaneously an extrovert who enjoys having all these people to talk to and a very sleepy person who needs space, I have been taking a lot of breaks to play Terraria.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 08:05 am (UTC)It does make me want to go in person 'someday' - who knows if that will be possible? I'm also glad you haven't felt unsafe and that the spaces you've frequented have been friendly and supportive <3
no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 10:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 12:35 pm (UTC)I decided I was too overwhelmed, and didn't get a membership, and what you've described makes me think it was the right choice.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 01:11 pm (UTC)I don't have the energy this weekend, as we had a GUFF international fan fund Zoom thing last night, but I'm glad Wiscon is doing this.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 02:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 08:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 01:45 pm (UTC)I'm sorry you missed it, but it looks like they're pondering having some online component going forward.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 02:07 pm (UTC)Me too! I've had a great time, and it would be wonderful to be able to repeat some of this experience in the future even when the con goes back to being in person.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 02:07 pm (UTC)Yeah, and it's been very well run for such a major change from how they usually do things.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 02:08 pm (UTC)It's certainly A Lot.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-26 06:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-26 07:13 am (UTC)Ha meanwhile I muted that channel right away since I don't own the game. LIKE SHIPS PASSING IN THE NIGHT.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-26 10:47 am (UTC)It definitely sounds overwhelming. I'm in a Tarot discord with around 1,000 people, though it's not super active except at certain times of the week or day. I quickly muted the server most days, and I have some channels permanently muted. It can get overwhelming fast! And the Wiscon Discord sounds even more INTENSE. But I'm so glad you could get something out of it!
no subject
Date: 2020-05-26 01:01 pm (UTC)Yeah I'm glad too! And yes, INTENSE. My brain kept going OK THAT'S ENOUGH and I'd need to take a break for a few hours.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-08 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-10 02:07 pm (UTC)Me too :D