Michael Lee's Train of Thought

The content of this video is actually NOT surprising to those of us that work on SF Conventions. After all, in events like CONvergence almost everyone PAID to be there. We couldn't do the convention without everyone *wanting* to do it and volunteering.

Obviously the challenge with something like this is that we do that project in our "free time" -- I use vacation days on the convention, and spend my nights and weekends on the project. And to some extent, the same thing is true with the Free Software movement and things described in books like Free: The Future of a Radical Price. The challenge is how to work out a way that you can make a good, solid, 21st Century living with it -- and not just at places like Google, which come close to this -- but in more environments around the world.



Oh -- and if you're looking for something to do for CONvergence 2010, we're looking for people to help us with our Harmonic CONvergence music/performance stage, and more people to be sub-heads (with a possibility as a future head) of CONvergence Programming for managing our panels and discussion sessions.

Labels: business, convergence, fandom, technology

I'm happy to see that the LASFS Clubhouse interview we asked the LASFS for has shown up on our League of Wonders site. One of the reasons why is it is nice to see how it has been done in other areas!

And video is always nice to add to a site...

Labels: community center, fandom, geek, minnesota

Really, this changes nothing. But at the same time, it changes everything.

Not the official word (that went out to the voting members earlier this week) -- but my official word. At our last board meeting of the Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy we decided 12-0 (and the incoming 2 directors agreed as well) to spin off CONvergence from MISFITS, with the details to be worked out by January 1, 2010. Revenue donation will continue at current levels at least through the 2011 convention cycle. And we expect an active partnership between CONvergence and MISFITS for many years in the future.

I was in favor of this for a variety of reasons -- I've been actively involved with both CONvergence and MISFITS from very early on. (I don't quite get to be called a founder, but I was an early adopter.) I care passionately about both organizations, and am very proud of what we have done together. I've seen both organizations grow, mature, struggle, develop, and work together for many years. And I want them both to continue to do so as partners for many years in as successful a manner as possible.

I expect and will work to see that to continue -- and I am personally committed to an ambitious direction for the future as part of this process. The idea here is to build on our successes, support each other -- but then also get out of each other's way and not micromanage either. And let us all be the fantastic, imaginative, exciting community that I know that we are and will be.

There are a lot of details to work out. Lots of details. We'll have FAQs, meetings, discussions, arguments, decisions and paperwork to do.

But it is going to be exciting.

Labels: convergence, fandom, geek, minnesota, misfits, scifi

One of my fellow CONvergence directors, Jon Olsen made the following post today:

=-=-=-=-

Please consider joining our conversation about the next possibilities for our diverse community. This touches the participants in CONvergence, Anime Detour, MISFITS, Marscon, Minicon, Gaylaxicon, Mn-Stf, Omegacon, and more and more. . .

http://leagueofwonders.wordpress.com

We began talking about big inter-community projects this year. There have been conversations at MN Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy open meetings. There have been conversations at closed meetings too. There was a wonderfully interesting panel at CONvergence last week on the subject of a "geek community center." That panel will likely make an appearance at other conventions.

Well we also want to have a public conversation with the members of the communities in which we are active. About joint efforts, about structure, about autonomy and interdependence, and about where we go from here. About what we could do if we start dreaming out loud.

That conversation lives here for now: http://leagueofwonders.wordpress.com and I invite you to take part. Share this info with others and get in on the action. Today!

=-=-=-=-

This is a conversation that I'm actively engaged in as well, and I encourage everyone interested in what we can do as a community in the future to participate.

Labels: fandom, geek, minnesota

However, since many fans enjoy both literary and media fiction, it seems ridiculous not to pool our resources in protecting one another.

There is a very interesting article about some of the recent national SF convention failures.

As we come across our final pre-registration cut off for CONvergence, something like the above article is very sobering. Not every convention *is* run well. CONvergence, which tries to run things as professionally as possible, is still a fan-run affair that is being run for fun.

One thing that is nice today is that technology makes conventions more open -- you can find out about CONvergence by searching for Minnesota Sci Fi Convention on Google; you don't need to find out about it only by going to the right book store, or knowing the right person.

The thirteen year old kid who had his or her mind blown away by Star Trek last weekend deserves the same rich community and opportunity that the Science Fiction Community has given me.

And another piece of setting up that legacy is the very interesting copy of Argentus dealing with convention runnnig. There are some things that are Worldcon specific (which doesn't really interest me) but different sorts of advice are always good to read and take on.

And don't forget -- preregistration for CONvergence ends tomorrow!

Labels: convergence, cvg2009, fandom, scifi

It's the time of year where attention now really focuses on CONvergence in July. Events are getting scheduled, PR2 will be in the mail soon, and we get everything else going.

One of the exciting things is that we have this year is schedule.convergence-con.org. It'll help you plan your schedule for the event, and let you slice and dice the many events we have planned -- and we're going to be able to list more things than ever before.


We still have panels left unscheduled though, and you can review that list and contact programming@convergence-con.org if you have a panel that you want to sign up for.

Labels: convergence, cvg2009, fandom

One of the more difficult things in fandom, in my experience, is balancing a year around organization (or club) and a single central convention. They are serving somewhat different social needs; they attract different volunteer groups. This isn't something that I discovered in the last five months I've served as a Director on the Minnesota for Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy -- it is something that I've seen in just about every convention and club combination I've seen over the years.

One of the things that has been a challenge for the Society is how to organize things properly. This has been a work in progress that I don't think people really understand how things are today, especially since earlier models hadn't quite worked properly.

There are really two different parallel organizations when it comes to CONvergence and MISFITS -- one isn't really the "parent organization" of the other. In so much as there is a parent organization, it is represented by the combined group of both the CONvergence and MISFITS directors. We've been generally referring to that as "The Society" because the whole name can quickly be unwieldy.

The MISFITS brand isn't really ideal because that's not quite how thing were originally put together. It serves as a club name, but it can get in the way when one is trying to present yourself in the 'real world' and trying to help in the broader community. It is also confusing because while MISFITS and CONvergence build their long-term vision together, they are two different subcommittees of the entire board of directors of the Society, and one is not the "parent" of the other, but parts of the whole.

There are times where people look at our community as something unique -- but the comparison isn't just the other fan organizations around the world; we don't just look at organizations like LASFS or Arisia, Inc. We share some things in common with fraternal, religious, and artistic organizations; after all.

I look at three different parts when I think of what CONvergence, MISFITS, and The Society are about:

1. The Social Center


2. The Inspirational Center


3. The Education Center

The Social Center is just that -- we're providing a place for people to meet other like minded people. Relationships form. Because of the second two are a part of it, we can provide a networking opportunity for people to do new things.

The Inspirational Center motivates all of us. Our guests of honor are a key part of that. But also as part of our in the schools programs. And coming out of the relationships that are built above, we can inspire new creative pieces; both professional and amateur.

The Education Center certainly looks like it starts with the in the schools program, but it is not limited there. We provide venues for people to get better with public speaking; our convention guests are sometimes people that can share their knowledge and experience to others. We teach each other, because we know the more you know, the more jokes you get.

For me those three pillars all interact -- we inspire each other through our social connections; because you are inspired; you desire to learn new things. Sometimes people think that one part is secondary to another -- that the convention is the fun, and MISFITS is all of the non-profit stuff. But the missions are all there for everything -- the MISFITS social agenda is important, and CONvergence is meant to better the community as a whole as well. All parts of the whole.

---

Oh, I suppose I should disclaim this post a little -- this is purely my own thoughts on these subjects, and aren't the official words of CONvergence or the Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy. I've had elements bouncing in my head for a while, and wanted to get them out somewhere...

Labels: convergence, fandom, geek

It's Halloween season, which is certainly a High Holiday for people that like to dress up in costumes, or attend science fiction conventions like CONvergence. So perhaps it's not surprising to see a reference to the convention show up in the St Paul Pioneer Press.

And seeing this sort of thing is exactly why we have this event -- to provide an environment that lets people do things like this, and not just for one weekend in July, but all year around.

And speaking of CONvergence....

It's official. We are going ahead with CONvergence beings a four day event permanently starting next year. We're very appreciative of all of the feedback and comments that we have -- so we can identify ways to make the four day convention as successful as possible, and make CONvergence continue to serve as a gathering point for our community.

We're looking for new concom members and volunteers -- ane one of the goals for our first concom meeting, on November 2nd, at 2:00 PM at the Sheraton Bloomington -- is to get new people engaged and involved. The organization lives and depend on excited and committed volunteers. So if you're interested, please join us.

There's a Facebook Event if you want a reminder and use Facebook.

Labels: convergence, cvg2009, fandom

Following up on an earlier post, we've scheduled a second meeting to discuss moving CONvergence to a 4 day convention on Wednesday October 22 at 6:30pm at the Rockford Road Library, located at 6401 42nd Ave. N., Crystal.

Labels: convergence, fandom, scifi

We just put up a FAQ outlying our plans to move permanently to a four day convention starting in 2009. We're planning a meeting on October 7th at 6:30 PM to discuss our plans. [The website has a typo.]

I certainly apologize for the short notice -- it all came together very quickly, and as you can expect, we're up against a pretty tight timeline for implementing it for 2009 -- and we've decided that it is better to continue with the new model that we started in 2008, and make adjustments to that, rather than wait until 2010 for it.

We've had lots of other meetings already on it with our various departments -- so this has been in the works since after the last convention and when we discovered that for most departments, four days was surprisingly easier than three days, not harder.

Labels: convergence, fandom, scifi

Mojo recently posted an article asking if conventions are doomed -- especially in the fall out of the fiascos of Jumpcon and Fed Con USA over the last couple of months. I paid some attention to Jumpcon -- and I'm sorry, I never believed for a second that they'd be successful. They were unrealistically ambitious, and they seemed to be stuck in a time warp from the 1980s.

I think Mojo has a very good point -- the internet *has* changed the nature of fandom, and how conventions work. For years, I've noticed that new television shows don't tend to generate the "fan clubs" that I remember from my high school days. You don't NEED a local Doctor Who fan club when you can go over to the Doctor Who forum and get your Who geek on.

But there are still organizations that do good work -- even in the very difficult media-specific space. United Fan Con has been doing conventions in Massachusetts for 17 years, and they're trying to make something out of the Jumpcon disaster.

Some people think throwing conventions is easy -- get some guests in, and the fans will come. That's really not at all true. I think people want to get together face-to-face -- perhaps even more now, since you have connections with people that you mainly communicate with online. But it's not just "throw a bunch of guests together, get some merchandise, and go" -- you have to plan for more than that. And that's the problem with the people that think that they can make money on a convention -- you really can't. CONvergence is a great and successful fund raiser for the Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy non-profit -- but it wouldn't be a successful business venture. You couldn't pay people enough to do the things they do for love...

One of the things that I'm very proud about my involvement with CONvergence is that so many people do crazy things purely for the love of it all. It irritates me when some people try to exploit that -- and we've had the occasional person that don't understand the nature of volunteering, or take advantage of the organization and community in some fashion. And that makes one tempted to get cynical at times.

I don't think conventions are dying by any means -- certainly in the Twin Cities, I think we have more conventions in 2008 than any year I can remember. And really, it's not that they're that much smaller either -- both Anime Detour and CONvergence are over 3000 people now. And while there is some overlap in audience --- it's certainly more people attending a fan-run convention in 2008 in the Twin Cities than when Minicon was at it's peak fifteen years ago.

But the challenge for those of us organizing is this -- how do we make them relevant? What is the best way to make a dealer's room?

Labels: convergence, fandom

A bunch of videos shot at CONvergence have now been uploaded to YouTube, and you can find links to them on con-news.com

Labels: convergence, cvg2008, fandom

A nice City Pages wrap up of CONvergence.

And lots of comments from Mark Evanier on his blog as well. From here, here, and here.

I'm sure there will be more in upcoming days. I also promised that I'd write up some recommendations of videos from our Cool Britannia panel over the weekend, and I'll get to that soon.

Labels: convergence, cvg2008, fandom

It's only a couple of days away -- and we've got the biggest CONvergence yet. There is so much planning that goes on -- by so many different people -- that it's great to see. And like always, there will be more things going on than any of can take part in or participate in. And this year was so big that three days would not have been enough.. so we get a fourth. And it's an additional full day - an "additional Saturday" is the way it has been described to people as we prepare for it.

It's going to be mad, crazy, fun stuff.

Labels: convergence, cvg2008, fandom

I'm shocked, shocked to hear that Jumpcon cancels its first two events. I always had my doubts about them -- running conventions, especially with a large media guest footprint -- is not easy. And they were very ambitious, trying to do a large-scale series of conventions around the country with a large variety of media guests that certainly require fees.

Certainly as we come to our tenth CONvergence we know exactly how much work an ambitious guest list is with something like two dozen guests. It's a challenge logistically, and it's a challenge to manage -- and it's something that really we've had ten years to prepare for.

And it's exactly because of that experience which makes stories like Jumpcon or FedconUSA so tragic and maddening -- it's difficult for all of us who love conventions, especially those of us that spend many, many hours working for free on these events. Especially when we're fans of media science fiction -- and like to see them a part of our conventions.

Like FedconUSA, this is very sad to see, especially for those fans that bought into it.

Labels: fandom, scifi

With the convention around the corner, there will be
posting pictures to websites like Flickr, and using services like
twitter or livejournal to record what you're doing. To help everyone
find these messages, I'm encouraging people to use the tag CVG2008 to mark
entries related to the convention on whatever services you are using.

Labels: convergence, cvg2008, fandom

I would love to attend MinneBar but sadly I've had a conflict both this year and last year. But one of the things that interests me is that at least for me, the nature of how we try to do programming at the science fiction convention CONvergence is not that far off of the BarCamp philosophy.

Obviously, unlike a BarCamp there is a membership fee for CONvergence -- and if you haven't registered, now is the time to do so -- but that's because we aren't sponsored by organizations and companies in the same way either. We're renting the space, buying the food, flying in and putting up the guests of honor. We're also fund-raising for our non profit -- sending authors and scientists to schools, supporting our community in both the narrow and larger sense.

An event like a BarCamp is mainly scheduled collaboratively online by the participants -- it's user-driven and built by the people attending it. That's different from some other conferences where the event may be packaged by some corporate sponsor and you have people in the audience and the people on stage.

And as I look at this, I see that we have a similar sort of programming philosophy at CONvergence in a lot of ways, and did before the BarCamp phenomena really started -- we certainly encourage our membership to present and participate in programming. It's not identical -- we have a little bit more centralization and formal scheduling -- but I certainly find this sort of method a good way to do it for the more informal type of events like this.

Even as we bring in outside professionals and expect our programming to be organized ahead of the event -- so we can make it accessible and organized -- we certainly try to have it so our program in proposed and filled out by people that volunteer for events.

This is certainly a bit different from how some other sf events might do it -- while we do dig up panelists, and invite people to sit particular events -- the expectation is that most of the event is participant-driven.

One of the complaints I hear from time to time is that "CONvergence doesn't have moderators" -- and certainly I don't think the programming department should always be dictating who the moderators actually are -- but I would certainly encourage any panel to have a moderator. But that's really something that can be decided on a panel-by-panel level, and shouldn't (and with several hundred panels, realistically can't) be addressed by a programming head in many cases. That's the sort of thing that can --and to some extent, really should -- really be driven by the participants.

I suppose there is always some degree of overlap between technology and SF Conventions -- but I think sometimes it's not even as overt as Penguincon does it...

Labels: convergence, fandom, it

I may not be the programming head -- but the programming head will be reporting to me starting next year as part of the events division, and as I'd previously been a head, it's important for me to promote the schedule.

The schedule has started to solidify now, and to quote the current programming head:

And please, please, please - if you are attending the convention and see some panels you would like to be on - follow the email instructions at the top of the webpage and let me know. Usually we have a limit of six people per panel, so if you see a panel that already has six people on it, then it's full - pick some that have 0-4 people instead, you can really help the programming dept. out!

Likewise, some panels are just for guests of honor or are gameshow style panels that have certain panelists who are running the event (again, should be pretty clear which these are from the panel description).

We recommend a limit of eight panels per person to avoid burnout (but if you can handle more and I have personal knowledge of that - then we can make exceptions).

So, if you are attending the con, please sign up for some (more) panels and pass the message along!

It's going to be an exciting year -- and I'm really excited to see the schedule come together.

Labels: convergence, fandom, scifi

I can't believe for a second that it would actually happen, but I'd be very amused if Barack Obama made an appearance at the San Diego Comics Convention.

One of my strangest memories mixing politics and fandom was meeting Senator Paul Wellstone in the hallways of the Sheraton after a CONvergence planning meeting. We gave him a brief description of what we were doing -- though I regret not going into the non-profit side of MISFITS a bit more.

While I look at the convention and fandom as a whole as being a bit of fun and a recreational activity, I also think it's a good way for us to do good as well. And one thing I've also realized is that some of the skills that you get out of this sort of organization running transfer over into other realms as well.

Labels: convergence, fandom, politics

As I'll probably be getting day passes for Marscon - provided I get over this virus I've been fighting for the last couple of days -- I thought it was interesting to think about the reasons to have or not have day passes for your science fiction convention.

Day Passes make sense for some conventions and don't make sense for others. I think you lose some of the community aspect of a convention if you have people drop in for only one day. One of the appealing parts of a convention is that community aspect -- and day passes are more appropriate for the "show" events where people get tickets to see a celebrity, as opposed to the user-generated content of my favorite fan run conventions and the attendees are members and active participants.

I'd generally be against day passes for a convention like CONvergence -- if you have a large enough attendance that you don't need the additional people to make your budget, or if you were in a position where you need to cap membership (like Anime Detour) -- Day Passes make much less sense.

I can see where Day Passes would be useful for other conventions -- especially if you're looking to get as many people as possible. I can see it as being sensible if you've got certain sorts of entertainment guests -- this is why I think it makes more sense for Marscon, because they tend to have more celebrity actors, and their Dementia music track has a "show" quality that may have an appeal for day people.

The interesting thing is that Day Passes aren't really just an economic decision -- but one that can end up reflecting the kind of convention that you put on.

Labels: convergence, fandom, scifi

He was one of those people that you really only get to know because of your time in fandom. As I remember him, he was larger than life. When he dressed up as Swamp Thing - as you can see on Len Wein's wikipedia page - it was exactly the sort of thing that you expect from him. I'll remember him being thrilled to come up to Len as Swamp Thing's "Daddy" in that outfit -- and it was one of those moments that really made me enjoy this little community that we all build.

Jeremy of Fantasy Flight has some good memories as well.

We'll all miss him greatly. He was one of a kind. Like everyone is.

Labels: fandom, obituary

One of the things you realize when you look at something like Con-News is how many science fiction-type conventions there are out there, especially once you expand it to include comics, anime, gaming, and all of the other styles.

Labels: fandom

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I was a candidate for the CONvergence Events Division Coordinator position, and I got the most votes, so I'll be running the events division for the 2009 and 2010 CONvergence. (I just realized that was 2010. Can I be scared now?)

It's a bit daunting looking at the nine ring circus an event with 3000 science fiction and fantasy fans can be But it'll be an exciting challenge -- and I hope you check it out, and if you're willing to help -- I'm sure we'll need it.

Labels: convergence, fandom, scifi

One of the more interesting questions came up as part of last weekend's CONvergence committee meeting. As I mentioned as I started to look at building a SF Convention IT Infrastructure, one of the biggest challenges in working with a non-profit volunteer organization like a science fiction convention is that you have a variety of different operating systems amongst the people working on it, and unlike a business environment, there's very little centralized control over what sorts of systems that people have.

I was interested in seeing that about 25 percent of the people attending the committee meeting were Macintosh users, with the rest being Windows users. I was surprised that there were only 1 or 2 people that were primarily Linux users; I would have expected to see that higher than average.

My biggest take away is how much you'd like to build systems that can handle multiple OSes -- a department like programming should ideally work where the heads don't need to be running a particular operating system in order to handle the data needs of their department.

I'm curious how our percentages compare to other convention committees, both locally and around the country -- that's a higher percentage of Mac users than generally reported on in the general population, but that is really difficult to be sure about.

Labels: convergence, fandom, it

Neil Gaiman reported some alarming news about one of my favorite stores, Dreamhaven. They suffered a break-in, and it has been rough for their business.

The small bookstore is a very rough business, especially in our internet and big box bookstore age -- but one of the nice things about stores like Dreamhaven or Uncle Hugos is that they provide a center of gravity for our local fandom. They are the heart of our community. When out of town visitors that are science fiction fans come into town, I've always made sure that they visit these stores.

Labels: comics, fandom, minnesota, scifi

I've worked on CONvergence for nearly a decade now, and one of the things that I'm now looking at is the information technology needs for a science fiction convention (and also for the related nonprofit)

Unsurprisingly, the SF community is filled with IT professionals -- it is perhaps the most common job category. But then you also have a wide variety of skill sets -- people that are partisans about one sort of technology or another.

You have several departments in a typical convention that might have a need for some sort of data storage need -- convention and organization membership is the first, but then you also have your programming and other event schedules, your art show, and your dealers' room.

You have two environments as well -- you have the environment of 360 or so days a year, where the convention staff is geographically diverse, and unlike a business environment, there's no way to really dictate what sort of operating system people may use. The other 3 or 4 days you are all at the same location -- but it's an environment that you set up there, and in some situations may have need to get at that data at all hours.

One of the other challenges is that your available pool of skills is limited to what you can have for free -- but that means that you don't really want to make something that requires very specialized skills. You need something that just about anyone with IT skills can pick up.

Technology really helps the modern convention -- I can't imagine how this would have been done in the era before e-mail. But many of the pieces in place right now are frequently of the personal computer era; using Microsoft Office applications like Excel and Access. To go buzzword happy -- and as such I deserve serious abuse -- what is the Web 2.0 convention IT architecture for a Science Fiction convention?

Right now I mainly have questions, and don't yet have answers.

Labels: convergence, fandom, it