Where should I begin? It was a long Worldcon and a very special one for me. As probably my readers know I was in the concom for Glasgow 2024 A Worldcon for our Futures. This means that the convention itself was a bit different when compared to my previous Worldcons.
Over a week and far away…
Obviously I had to travel to Glasgow first. Not obviously my Monday morning flight required me to wake up a bit after 3AM. But one can sacrifice a lot for a con one wants to attend ;). We had a flight through Amsterdam. To my surprise, at the gate there we met a few members of the convention.
Glasgow welcomed us with rain. Despite my best efforts with an umbrella I had to accept being wet before reaching the hotel. Here I had a nice surprise. I knew what to expect from my previous visit for the All Staff weekend. Yet due to the lack of other rooms we received Access room which was bigger and more comfortable (no bunk bed and a real bathroom!).
I travelled with Seji so after checking in we decided to do some sightseeing. As we had dinner planned our idea was to see the relative vicinity of the convention venue. It was a bit disappointing that all of the museums and cafes were closing though. So after enjoying a park and some outdoor architecture (and a rain!) we headed to the restaurant. There we met with Meg, Noelle, Emer, and Matt. It was the first time all four of us (Promotions DHs and DDHs) had the chance to meet in person at the same time. It was so good! After years of working together we finally had the option to celebrate it with all of us present.
Glasgow welcomed us with rain but later on we had a few days with nice weather.
The first night came with the first of the series of unfortunate events. The day was pretty long so I wanted to get a decent amount of sleep. When I was already in this spot when one is not yet asleep but definitely not awake either a strange sound pierced my ears. It was somewhere between 11PM and midnight and the sound was a fire alarm. The whole hotel got evacuated. We had to stay outside for like 30-60 minutes waiting for the fire brigade to come and check whether hotel is safe (fortunately it was). The next day I told others that at least I will have something to write about in the report ;).
It was also the next morning when the con began for me. It lasted for eight days (at least for some of us). “Two days for the Move–In, under the sky, five for the con itself in the halls of stone (concrete), one day for the Move Out under the rain”. Or something like that at least.
Move–In
So usually during MIMO at Worldcons I attended I was there to do anything that needed to be done. I still remember unloading a large truck of tech equipment at Loncon 3. This time however I had other tasks – all related to our division. So I helped Noelle with the Glasgow 2024 Merch table. We had tons of stuff. And on top of what we expected two additional boxes came in. They contained special edition Souvenir Book from Interaction 2005 – previous Glasgow Worldcon. They were hard covers, came in slipcases, and contained signatures of the two co–chairs and the Guests of Honour. A real treat for a collector like me. So of course I had to reserve a copy!
There is some magic in seeing how convention is being built up. There is also a bit of sad magic in the tear down process.
I also had the chance to meet with Laurie who was leading our Press Office. It was good to finally talk face to face. Again I helped a bit with the room preparation and then with signage so that the press could find us.
And of course I did many other things. Those included work but also wandering around the halls, seeing exhibits being built, adoring two Batmobiles and the most important – meeting people. On Tuesday after finishing the volunteering Seji and myself went to eat something. We craved for Fish and Chips. In the first place that had the option to eat on site we met two other people. It came out that they came for Worldcon from US. I loved the fact that the „whole city” was getting filled with fans.
I am not a huge fan of Batman but seeing Batmobile in person was amazing. Here it is on a temporary position during MIMO.
Programme
On the second day of MIMO we had a concom meeting where Esther told all of us that we should see at least one programme item per day. Marguerite raised the bar and suggested it should be one apart from those where we were the speakers.
On the said meeting it was also announced that Meg became a vice chair (which was a great decision and definitely well deserved!). We also got our committee medals. It may sound a bit petty but it made me happy. I somehow appreciate such things. I know that this small metal oval will remind me of the time I spent to make this Worldcon a reality.
Press conference was not an ope Programme item but it was held on Thursday in one of the programme rooms.
Yet getting to the programme itself. Glasgow 2024 had almost 1000 programme items to choose from. Before the con I went through them and selected many I wanted to listen too. Of course I knew it won’t be possible (especially considering that some of those were happening in parallel). Still I thought it would be good to know where to go should I have some free time.
And as a matter of fact I did have opportunities to visit a few programme items. I am sure it was less than 20% of what I wanted. Probably even less than 10% but it was still good and I appreciated it a lot. What makes me very happy is the option to rewatch some of the missed talks and panels. I already started doing so and expect to catch–up on a few more.
The crucial things for me were related to Fan Funds. At first there was Fan Fund reception on Thursday where I managed to meet many friends. We also had the chance to take pictures together. It may have been the largest gathering of Fan Funds winners ever and for sure it was the largest I participated in. It felt good to meet Joro – EFF delegate there too. And of course it was the chance to meet this years GUFF delegate – Kat Clay. Back in 2018 she was kind enough to make interview with me at Continuum XIV. Another item was Fan Funds Auction. It was strange not to help with it but at least I managed to spend some money on the good cause. I brought home a Subscriber pin from Loncon 3 and a whole big sheet with groats from Interaction 2005. Unfortunately I was outbid on the full set of Glasgow 2024 ribbons and the propeller beanie.
Panel on history of Scottish fanzines.
I also managed to listen to a few items treating fandom. Despite me having plenty of scientific talks and panels marked in my plan I didn’t visit any of it. Somehow ones I attended were all fandom related and covered conventions and fanzines.
Being on programme
This year I had the chance to speak in three panels. It somehow happened that they were all scheduled on Sunday. Because of that on that day I didn’t manage to go to any other item (apart from the Hugo Awards ceremony). Unfortunately it also meant that I missed the speech by the Fan Guests of Honour – Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer (this one I already rewatched).
So what panels did I participate in? In the morning we discussed the post con blues topic and how we are dealing with it. Just a few days later I had to remind myself of what we covered. When Glasgow 2024 finished the sadness came to me. Then there was a discussion on topic very dear to my heart – love of paper and tangible items. I was not sure whether I should be calling myself a collector or a hoarder. During the panel I was assured that the prior option is true for me. The last item was in the evening – back to back with the Hugo Awards ceremony. With a few other fans from Poland we talked about the Polish SFF awards. It was a bit sad that most people on the audience were from Poland and probably already knew most of what we covered. I can only hope that they had the chance to learn something new.
Events and Ceremonies
Worldcons usually come with a set of interesting events and ceremonies. Glasgow 2024 was not different in this regard. We even had an event before the con. The day before the con Roger Sayer had a recital of the score from the Interstellar on the pipe organ at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. At the convention we had musical from Dune, a Morrow’s Isle opera, Pipe Band, a concert by the Irish Video Game Orchestra and many more. Somehow I didn’t manage to attend any of those.
The opening ceremony of Glasgow 2024 A Worldcon for Our Futures.
What I managed to visit, however, were three ceremonies. Opening and closing of the con, and the Hugo Awards ceremony. Those were all held in Armadillo. A building to which I feel somehow connected. Not because I spent so much time there. Yet it was the most recognizable symbol of our venue. It appeared on our logo and in many other places. And apart form being characteristic it was also nice and had good AC!
It was good to see all of those ceremonies. I was especially moved by Esther’s speech at the Closing. She showed how much Glasgow 2024 meant for her and she expressed that it changed and keeps changing her life. It was not a long speech but it will definitely stay with me.
I won’t be describing the whole Hugo Awards ceremony. What I can say is that I was very happy to see some of the people I know win the Hugo. I was also sad to see that some didn’t win. At one point there was a technical glitch. We were not able to see (and hear) the recorded presentation by the Glasgow Special Guest – Professor Catherine Heymans, the Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Despite two or three attempts it didn’t work. When I started to be concerned the day was saved by another Special Guest – Dr Meganne Christian. She came to the stage and read the speech we missed. At first I was shocked that it was her who reacted. Then I realized – she is an astronaut – trained for any situation that may happen in space. It is logical that she was the first to react. It was very impressive!
A group photography of Hugo Awards winners.
Worldcon is about people
How can I briefly describe all the meetings that took place in Glasgow? This would be definitely impossible. I met so many friends! With some I barely had the time to exchange a few words. With others I managed to spend some more time. I will not manage to list everyone here but some of the meetings I would like to mention.
As I wrote above it was the first occasion for all of us – the Deputy Division Heads and Division Heads of Promotions, to meet in person. And this was very important to me. With Meg, Matt, and Noelle we spent so much time over the last four years. Should anyone tell you that you cannot properly bond online don’t believe them! I met them online and had mainly such contact and now I treat them as friends. I will write more about running Worldcon in a separate post but I can tell here that having such a wonderful team was a great plus of working at Glasgow 2024. So the fact we finally had the time to meet and bond together was amazing. And even after the con when I unfortunately caught Covid it was Meg who helped me with the groceries when I was stranded in the hotel bed.
Promotions Division Leadership. It was the best team I could have imagined to work with!Left to right: Noelle, myself, Meg, and Matt.
It was magical to, together with Seji and Rynvord, make a belated birthday surprise for Geri. Making friends happy is a great thing. Speaking about Geri she made me glad when I gave her the newest issue of A~Zyn and she decided to publicly read one paragraph from it. It was important for me not only because she liked it enough to read it. You see I generally am not a big fan of my own writing. Yet when she read it I somehow liked it more. And this is the feeling I will treasure.
There were over 7000 people on site. And somehow I managed to meet so many people without any prior arrangements! I tried to write a bit more and when I got to close to a page listing everyone I decided it won’t make sense. So instead I want to thank everyone with whom I met. Regardless whether it was a brief “hello” or a longer discussion. Maybe we knew each other for years before or met in Glasgow for the first time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this con so wonderful.
Fan Funds reception was the great occasion to see many of my friends!
A Great Experience
Earlier I mentioned about the series of unfortunate events. You already know about the fire alarm in the middle of the night and about catching Covid. The latter may have happened after the con. On top of that I also got the achievement for being splashed with water from the puddle from the top of my head downwards. Even coming back home posed a challenge and airline had to move me to another (later flight). Should it not be enough they also managed to leave my luggage in Amsterdam thanks to which I lost another 30 minutes. Yet you know what? All those unlucky incidents didn’t spoil my experience.
Glasgow 2024 was an amazing adventure. I have not seen as much of Scotland as I wanted to but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I had a great time. Once the con finished I was sad that it was over. And it lasted for eight days for me so, I dare to say, was rather long! It was definitely different than any of my previous Worldcons but I am happy with how it went. I don’t think that I should be rating it. As a member of concom I am not objective so I will leave the rating to the other members. Yet what I can say is that my experience was something I will treasure for many years to come.
You can find more pictures in my FB gallery.
My next post will also cover Glasgow 2024 and will appear within a week.