2021 – year when I visited no in-person convention

Traditionally my first post of the year is a look back at the previous year. I see no reason to do otherwise now. Let me then take a look at 2021 and see what went well and what – not so much.

Conventioning

I attended my first con in 2002, and 2021 was the first time since then when I was not physically present at any con. Yet this of course doesn’t mean I wasn’t attending cons – oh no. In fact I broke my personal record as I visited 21 events. Should I say 21 cons for year 2021? It may be a nice catchphrase but I didn’t plan it to be exactly that – it somehow happened ;). In fact I was a bit at one more con but I didn’t spend enough time there to feel I truly attended it.

Convention badge hold in hand. The badge shows convention name ('SMOFCon 2021') and the name of the member. Picture on the badge depicts a tall modern building, aqueduct and an alien holding yellow tram.
The only physical badge I got (so far) from 2021.

Large majority of those events were online however close to the end of year a few decided to go hybrid. This includes SMOFCon Europe where I was responsible for online part and DisCon III. I think we – as community, have quite good grasp of online conventions. Yet going hybrid is still not a well known territory. I don’t mean those events were bad! I had a good time – I just believe that we will learn more and improve such experiences in the future.

When it comes to numbers per country:
– USA – 8
– Poland – 7
– UK – 2
– Ireland – 1
– Canada – 1
– Croatia – 1
– Portugal – 1
Those numbers look quite nice for me. I would love to visit more countries though.

What I regret is that I did not decide to attend any physical con. There were a few such events in Poland. For some of them I was not feeling fully well while for others I was too concerned with the infection rates. From the time perspective I regret I didn’t decide to attend those when I felt good. Right now though there is nothing I can do about it.

Fanzines and Fanwriting

I made a resolution last year to read more fanwriting. In a way I succeed – and in a way not. I definitely read more fanwriting than before but I had hopes to read even more. In total I finished reading 22 fanzines and one book of fanwriting. Maybe this year I will be able to beat it – we will see.

In summary of 2020 I mentioned about starting a fanzine. It didn’t have the name then but it does now – A~Zyn. I published three issues (and the fourth one is being prepared. If you consider Polish names of the months publishing schedule was in nice alliteration:
– Luty (February)
– Lipiec (July)
– Listopad (November)
I would love to publish four issues in 2022 but am not sure whether it will be manageable. Depends on how many article submissions I’ll receive.

A pile of fanzines in a box. The cover is printed on red paper. Picture depicts an astronaut in front of the lander. In the helmet a reflection of an alien is visible.
The second issue of A~Zyn.

When mentioning fanzines I must also point out that during Punctuation 2 I was involved in creation of Scavenger’s Daughter. We did two issues during the con and a third one in the following month.

Worldcons

Close to the end of 2020 I was recruited for the Promotions Division of Glasgow in 2024 Worldcon bid. It was (and still is!) an adventure. The fact that I beat my own record of cons visited in a year is directly related to my responsibilities of coordinating fan tables for Glasgow. I am happy to be a part of the team and I hope we will bring the Worldcon back to Glasgow after almost twenty years (previous one was in 2005).

For half a year I was sure that would be it. I mean there was no option for me to staff one Worldcon bid and on top of that be involved in another Worldcon. Yet I was wrong. I was asked to join Chicon 8 team as an Area Head for Polish programme track. This is a very interesting opportunity and I couldn’t refuse. So I agreed and joined the team. This is a big challenge but I hope that with the help from others we will succeed.

Front and back cover of the Souvenir Book. Picture shows a huge space station with a few vessels near it. There are three inscriptions: 'DisCon III', 'The 79th World Science Fiction Convention', and 'December 15-19, 2021 Washington, DC'.
DisCon III Souvenir book cover.

Blogging

Sometimes I have a feeling I didn’t devote enough time to this blog. Yet when I look back it seems I posted exactly 26 posts in 2021 – average of one every two weeks. I am satisfied with this number. I would love to post more – like twice a week but I am aware it is not something I will manage to do. What I can hope for is however publishing convention reports a bit faster after the cons. I will try doing so this year.

And this would be it for the summary. The year was busy and tough in some ways. Yet from the fannish perspective I am quite happy.

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