Call me naïve, but I have managed to reach what we politely call “a certain age” without ever attending an SF Con. Until now. And I have to say, it was a blast! Balticon 42 pretty much dwarfed any conference/convention I have attended since, well, Comdex. There were eleven parallel tracks listed for each day, along with all-day all-night events in film and anime, a LARP, and other special events shown separately. And a dealer room. And parties. And autographs by famous and soon-to-be famous authors and artists. And… Connie Willis!
Of special note for me:
· Meeting Connie Willis (more than once!). She is as much a pleasure as her stories
· Meeting in person a couple of fellow St. Johnnies who are more established in the science-fiction world than I am. I am a fan of John C. Wright, and may soon also be a fan of his delightful wife Jagi Lamplighter
· Getting a lead or two to pursue for publishing some of my stories
· Becoming an on-the-spot member of the panel on “The Future of Cities”. And hats off to our moderator James Patrick Kelly for keeping his cool when the regular panelists didn’t show up. He was great!
· Learning of the simple existence of tracks in art, music, film, and podcasting, even though I attended few of them and mostly by accident
· Attending a session called “Here There Be Dragons” thinking to learn something about dragon lore over the ages but instead learning how to draw the interlace dragon from the cross of Thorlief Hnakki at Braddan, Isle of Mann. What fun, drawing again!
· Attending a podcast of “Live! Mr. Adventure”, complete with commercials, breaking news, and audience participation
· Learning to think in scientific terms about the likelihood that humankind will encounter extra-terrestrial intelligent life (not very likely, probably, but it doesn’t really matter)
· Seeing all the wonderful costumes, both in the masquerade and on the floor
· Getting my head straight about my Web site and blog (this may take a while, but it’s coming)
· Experiencing the joys of volunteering. Who would have thought? And it was my very first Con!
Congratulations to the Baltimore Science Fiction Society and the conference organizers. You put on a great event!