Beginning of the year is what I consider “The Awards Season”. It is when the nominations are being opened, list of worthy works circulate the internet, and people talk on what should be nominated. Some awards already opened the nominations (or voting) while others will do so soon(ish). Hugos, ESFS Awards, Janusz A. Zajdel Award, FAAn Awards, and more. Also the Fan Funds races are usually open at this time of the year. What it all means to me?
2024 A Busy Year
2024 was a tough year. Full of joy and satisfaction, but also of sadness and frustration. Yet here I want to concentrate rather on the positive aspects, as this is what I want to keep remembering. I managed to visit 15 conventions – all except one I attended in person. There were also many other things happening last year!
52 Articles Challenge
Recently I wrote an article for the Journey Planet. Their “call for papers” for Famous Friendships theme was a temptation I couldn’t resist. Writing it was fun. I mean a lot of work, some if it hard but nevertheless a lot of fun. And I kept pondering – how to write more often?
Nordcon XXXVII – My Tenth Anniversary
Ten years ago Toudi convinced me to visit Nordcon. At first I had somehow mixed feelings, yet now, after ten years I can say that I enjoy this convention very much! This year, although being a bit specific to me, was also very good and I am glad that I attended.
Bilcon 2024 – A Long Expected Con
I heard of Bilcon a few years ago. Not sure when exactly, but I wanted to attend it since. Yet somehow each year since then I had some other plans and couldn’t go. This year I finally managed to do so. Bilcon is a small (up to 70 members) convention in Bílovec, near Ostrava in Czech Republic.
Częstochowski Dzień Fantastyki VIII
It was around two years age when Częstochowski Dzień Fantastyki (The SFF Day of Częstochowa) appeared on the convention scene in Poland. It is a small, day long event that to my surprise is held four times in a year. Somehow every time they held it I couldn’t go, yet this has finally changed.
Copernicon x Polcon – Counting Votes
This year Polcon travelled back to Toruń where it was held back in 2018. The main difference, however, is that this time it was joint with the local con – Copernicon, and thus the full name was Copernicon x Polcon. The latter is a huge event spread across most of the city centre.
Background Exhibition at Manggha Museum
In July I had the chance to visit Background exhibition at Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków. Now in the middle of September I came to see it again and I also participated in one of the events accompanying it. As it is something that strongly resonates with my geeky heart I decided to write about the whole experience.
Krakowo Budowo – A Second Experiment
Earlier this year I attended my first furry convention. Once it finished I promised one of the organizers that I can help by preparing a talk about SFF conventions for the next edition. I was curious how I would find this fandom on my second visit. Here you can read my impressions from Krakowo Budowo.
How it was to run a Worldcon
I already wrote a report covering my Glasgow 2024 experience. In short, I found the convention superb but mine is a very subjective opinion. In the report I promised to cover one more topic – how it was to run a Worldcon. This is not a trivial question but here I try to answer it.