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

[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!