And it's over

[soc_puppet]

Phew! I tell ya, WisCon is a very different beast from AnimeIowa. And that's just from the virtual con!

I managed to go to a handful or so of virtual panels over the weekend, and ended up feeling exhausted every time I attended two in a row. A good chunk of this was the fact that I'd also frequently follow along on the con Discord channel for the panel I was attending, so it was not only like attending two panels at the same time, it was also like I was in an actual conference for at least one of the panels.

I never did figure out how to sign up as a Production Assistant over the weekend, though I took the training in the first time slot it was offered. I feel a little guilty about that, since it was close to the only during-con (con-current?) volunteering I could have managed over the con, what with me staying home over Covid worries. I did end up volunteering to be a last-minute panelist for a discussion about planning and hosting conventions in the plague times, though, so that should make up for it a bit.

While the panel I really wanted to go to on Sunday, Celebrating Jewish SFF, was not available virtually or streamed, some kinda attendee did take notes for the majority of it and was gracious enough to post them to the Discord channel for it! Crocheted Shulamit and Aviva may not have been able to possibly meet any Mangoverse fans in person, but I did still manage to pick up some recs that way 👍

All things told, I think I'll at least try to stay on as WisCon staff. I don't know if I'll stay as Access lead, but regardless of whether I do or not, having a whole year to plan for the con instead of jumping in a mere month beforehand should certainly help! Now I just need to find out into whose ear I need to drop the idea for a staff table in the dealer's room...

Also, hello to my new Dreamwidth circlemates from WisCon! Er. Followers? Mutuals? Friends? I'm not sure Dreamwidth has a good catch-all term for "person who has me added to their reading circle, whether or not I have also granted them access to locked posts". Something to investigate.

Comments

[chanter1944]

Oh oh oh that was *you* with access in your Discord handle, wasn't it? I finally put two and two together and did not get twelve, but it took me until boinging around in the postmortem to do it.

[soc_puppet]

😂 Yep, that was me! I was wondering if I should say "hi" more formally when I first saw you in the Discord, but then I was like, "Would Chanter even recognize the name 'Socchan'?" And then there's the risk of Crossing the Streams, which is why I didn't go with Socchan for my WisCon identity in the first place, and... yeah, anyway, my brain over-complicated things and I just didn't say anything 😅

[chanter1944]

Zero worries! I admit, I was going... wait, should I use what I'm fairly sure is eir DW handle, or would that be an overstep? Ah crud. :P

Would you mind a Discord friend request thingie, if I haven't already sent one at some nebulous time in the past?

[soc_puppet]

I would absolutely be on board for Discord friending thingamajigs if we haven't already gotten to one! I don't know that I'll get to it myself tonight, as it is Sleepy Times soon, but I may see about tomorrow if you don't beat me to it.

[mistressofmuses]

I'm glad you still got to participate in the con, even if you did have to do so from home. Stupid Covid. :(

I remember in-person cons always being exhausting (in good ways, but... exhausting.) I'm not terribly surprised that they're exhausting even virtually.

[soc_puppet]

It was a pretty good substitute, I must admit!

Conventions are one of the few places where I actually do get somewhat energized by being around people. I think it's because my anxiety brain can relax a bit over whether the people there will automatically hate me, because I can pretty much guarantee that most of us are there for the same reason: We like the thing!

[jesse_the_k]

Yesssssss! And a significant percentage of us are similarly anxious, which I can recognize (at least in person).

[soc_puppet]

Right? Knowing you're with "your people" can really help a person relax. I wonder how many of us would be extroverts if not for social anxiety. Not all of us, certainly, but I'll be the numbers would shift in very interesting ways.

In my experience, cons are

[jesse_the_k]

...places to practice being extroverts!

[mistressofmuses]

It's true! I remember having the same experience con-going. I'm extremely shy, but knowing that everyone else is there for the same reason (and that a lot of them are probably also extremely shy) helps!

[oracne]

*waves hello*

[soc_puppet]

😃 *waves both arms back*

[krait]

A good chunk of this was the fact that I'd also frequently follow along on the con Discord channel for the panel I was attending, so it was not only like attending two panels at the same time, it was also like I was in an actual conference for at least one of the panels.

Goodness, that sounds challenging! Though I guess the prospect of screenshots would be handy. I'm so glad you had a good time and enjoyed a lot of panels!


some kinda attendee did take notes for the majority of it

:D (I'm guessing that was meant to be 'kind,' but either way, thanks for the giggle!)

I'm not sure Dreamwidth has a good catch-all term for "person who has me added to their reading circle, whether or not I have also granted them access to locked posts."

I've always gone with 'readers,' if that helps.

[soc_puppet]

Challenging is definitely a good word for it! There were definitely times I let my attention to either the stream or the Discord wane in favor of the other.

🤣 Thanks for catching (and immortalizing) the typo! I'll get on that in just a sec here.

Hmm; I'll have to give that more thought. I'm not sure "readers" fits quite what I'm looking for. Come to think of it, I kinda want to go with "circulars" now, because it amuses me. (They're the ones who are around!)

[fuzzyinthehead]

*waves* Hello!

[soc_puppet]

Hello~ 😀 *waves back*

[satsuma]

I'm glad you enjoyed the con! I ended up working most of the weekend (I was a pre/at con Online volunteer) but it was still fun

[soc_puppet]

If I hadn't tested positive for Covid, I expect I would have done much the same! It's how I usually end up spending a lot of AnimeIowa, after all 😅 Still, I wouldn't still be doing that if I didn't enjoy it!

[satsuma]

Oh yeah same :D

& I hope you feel better soon!

[soc_puppet]

Luckily, I either had a false positive or mild-to-unnoticeable symptoms! Mom and Dad had a much worse time of it, though they are also well on the mend now.

[satsuma]

I’m glad you weren’t hit by it too badly! And that your parents are on the mend as well

Waves back enthusiastically

[jesse_the_k]

I was exhausted as well -- and I wasn't even officially attending.

You're so clever: traditional WisCon jargon divides volunteering into pre-con and/or at-con, but con-current is so much fun.

Whose staff table are you wanting to put in the dealer's room? Traditionally there are other-con tables in the hallway just outside the dealer's room door -- WorldCon bids, Broad Universe recruiting, an archivist encouraging zine donations, and such-like.

Re: Waves back enthusiastically

[soc_puppet]

I didn't even make it to as many panels as I'd originally planned, and I was still wrung out!

Thanks 😁 I'll have to officially suggest it to the concom; I know we were using "during-con" for the, well, during-the-convention volunteers, since virtual volunteers weren't necessarily "at" the convention, but puns are just so much more fun!

All the WisCon staff/concom, actually! AnimeIowa has its own art table for con staff, literally called the Staff Art Table, which is why I defaulted to the more familiar term rather than concom 😅 Anyway, since we're all busy during the convention and obviously can't be there the whole time at AI, we've got one person more-or-less in charge of the staff/concom art table and we try to all take at least one shift over the weekend. It's worked out pretty well for us, IMO.

Re: Waves back enthusiastically

[jesse_the_k]

Oh yes ... of course concom at an anime include artists.

Most of the WisCon concom are readers and do con-running as their fandom gift.