DisCon III, Day 1
Dec. 15th, 2021 10:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
goobergunchAfter finally getting to sleep last night (staying up for the Sunnyvale City Council meeting, uh, may have been a mistake), I woke up this morning to discover some new information about 2023 Site Selection had been released. All I am going to say about that for now is that it’s still possible to vote in Site Selection even if you’re not at the convention if you can get somebody there to print off a copy of your ballot. There is a FedEx Office about half a mile from the Omni Shoreham for handy printing or copying services.
However, my first item on today’s agenda was to tag Point Reno, which turned out to be only about a twenty minute walk from my hotel. It’s nothing particularly special really, being the top of a hill in a Tenleytown park with obstructed views, and isn’t really even the highest ground around—there’s an artificial hill near a nearby reservoir that’s noticeably higher. But at 409 feet, it’s the highest natural ground in D.C., and counts as my 68th county(-equivalent) high point. There’s a nice little sign and large benchmark to mark the spot.
I stopped back at my hotel room to switch to a con t-shirt, then headed to the convention, with a detour to Big Planet Comics to grab a copy of Batman: Urban Legends #10. I got to DisCon at about 13:20 and was dismayed to discover that the registration line (which I had seen earlier reported as taking about an hour to traverse) had reached the lobby. It took just over an hour to get to the vaccine checkpoint (which was quick and painless for me, although I was prepared with ID and vax QR code at the ready) and then an additional fifteen minutes or so to get to the registration desk itself. That gotten finally out of the way, program book and pocket program in hand, I headed to the Exhibit Hall, which is best described as cavernous. I haven’t fully explored all of the fan tables and dealers quite yet solely because the space is just that large. I did skim through a bunch of the book dealers, and although a lot of this is window-shopping for me (Would I like that set of Book of the New Sun signed first editions? Yes. Can I afford it? No.) I did grab copies of Nancy Kress’s Beggars and Choosers (a 1995 Hugo finalist) and Meg Elison’s Big Girl Plus... (containing one of this year’s Hugo finalists). I also voted in Site Selection, and if somehow you are reading this, care about Worldcons, and haven’t voted in site selection yet, I’d really encourage you to find a way.
Soon enough, it was time for Opening Ceremonies. It was surprisingly hard for me to locate the Regency Ballroom despite the helpful maps that are posted everywhere (and in the pocket program), but fortunately I ran into a few other fans that were having the same navigational problem and somebody pointed us in the right direction. (The Omni Shoreham has, I think, six different levels, which makes figuring out whether or not a corridor leads in the right direction a bit of a challenge.) Opening Ceremonies were decently well-attended, but the room was large enough that there were plenty of seats available, particularly in the back section.
The Ceremonies were hosted by Ulysses E. Campbell; after a land acknowledgement and a brief opening bit about the diversity of science fiction fandom, he introduced Mary Robinette Kowal, DisCon III’s chair, and she gavelled the convention to order at 16:15. He then introduced the Guests of Honor and Special Guests; Nancy Kress told an amusing anecdote about the Boskone when she first realized fandom was her community, Ben Yalow described himself as a representative of the fannish community and its gift economy, and Sheree Renee Thomas described herself as a representative of the more invisible fandom that usually can’t afford to travel to conventions. Next up was a presentation of colors from the Roosevelt High School Honor Guard, followed by the Big Heart Award and First Fandom Awards. The Big Heart Award, presented by Steve Francis, went to Linda Deneroff, who frequently serves as WSFS Business Meeting Secretary and basically does a spectacular amount of work into keeping WSFS functioning. (Her stunned acceptance was one of the highlights of the ceremony for me.) The First Fandom Hall of Fame Award went to William F. Nolan, who passed away in July but was informed of his win beforehand; his acceptance remarks were read by John Pomeranz. The First Fandom Posthumous Hall of Fame went to Richard and Pat Lupoff; a letter from their son Ken was read by Tom Becker. The Sam Moskowitz Archive Award went to Kevin L. Cook; he had sent a statement which was read by Warren Buff.
After the First Fandom Awards, it was time for a musical interlude by the Duke Ellington School of Music Show Choir. This in total ran about fifteen minutes, and... well, look, I don’t want to be That Fan who picks on a bunch of talented high schoolers, and the performance itself was extremely good from a musical perspective. However, they opened with what I will generously describe as a winter-themed medley (which, though not my cup of tea, was within reasonable expectations given the season) and then got, well, Jesusy. I was not the only Jewish fan who was just a bit uncomfortable with performances of ‘What Child is This,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” and “Come Let Us Adore Him” at the Opening Ceremony. (Although I did consider “Glory to the Nonborn King” as a possible filk lyric, so that’s something.) If you have to feature Christmas music during an all-inclusive fannish ceremony, may I suggest the HP Lovecraft Historical Society’s lyrics next time?
Following the musical performance, there was a video presentation from Bob Madle, the final living attendee of the first Worldcon, about said 1939 convention, and then remarks and a slideshow from Sebastian Martorana about how he designed this year’s Hugo base, which resembles a cross-section of the Washington Monument using Beaver Dam marble reclaimed from disused steps in Baltimore. Finally, Kowal returned to read a proclamation from Mayor Muriel Bowser regarding the convention.
After grabbing snacks and chatting a bit, I headed to the “A Closer Look at the Business Meeting Agenda” panel. The Blue Room has a maximum occupancy of 1200, but there were only eleven attendees (plus the four panelists) present when the panel started—a few more trickled in later. There was a lot of interesting discussion about the history and traditions of the Business Meeting, which unfortunately compressed the time available for talking about this year’s actual agenda, although the panel did ultimately get through all of the items. I then went up to the party floor. The only party posted on the party board for tonight was the Glasgow in 2024 party, which featured snacks, alcohol, and a nice little collection of items to showcase the TAFF vote, which opened today. After hanging out at the party for a bit, I headed back to my hotel. Best to call it an early night tonight in anticipation of a potentially interesting day tomorrow....
However, my first item on today’s agenda was to tag Point Reno, which turned out to be only about a twenty minute walk from my hotel. It’s nothing particularly special really, being the top of a hill in a Tenleytown park with obstructed views, and isn’t really even the highest ground around—there’s an artificial hill near a nearby reservoir that’s noticeably higher. But at 409 feet, it’s the highest natural ground in D.C., and counts as my 68th county(-equivalent) high point. There’s a nice little sign and large benchmark to mark the spot.
I stopped back at my hotel room to switch to a con t-shirt, then headed to the convention, with a detour to Big Planet Comics to grab a copy of Batman: Urban Legends #10. I got to DisCon at about 13:20 and was dismayed to discover that the registration line (which I had seen earlier reported as taking about an hour to traverse) had reached the lobby. It took just over an hour to get to the vaccine checkpoint (which was quick and painless for me, although I was prepared with ID and vax QR code at the ready) and then an additional fifteen minutes or so to get to the registration desk itself. That gotten finally out of the way, program book and pocket program in hand, I headed to the Exhibit Hall, which is best described as cavernous. I haven’t fully explored all of the fan tables and dealers quite yet solely because the space is just that large. I did skim through a bunch of the book dealers, and although a lot of this is window-shopping for me (Would I like that set of Book of the New Sun signed first editions? Yes. Can I afford it? No.) I did grab copies of Nancy Kress’s Beggars and Choosers (a 1995 Hugo finalist) and Meg Elison’s Big Girl Plus... (containing one of this year’s Hugo finalists). I also voted in Site Selection, and if somehow you are reading this, care about Worldcons, and haven’t voted in site selection yet, I’d really encourage you to find a way.
Soon enough, it was time for Opening Ceremonies. It was surprisingly hard for me to locate the Regency Ballroom despite the helpful maps that are posted everywhere (and in the pocket program), but fortunately I ran into a few other fans that were having the same navigational problem and somebody pointed us in the right direction. (The Omni Shoreham has, I think, six different levels, which makes figuring out whether or not a corridor leads in the right direction a bit of a challenge.) Opening Ceremonies were decently well-attended, but the room was large enough that there were plenty of seats available, particularly in the back section.
The Ceremonies were hosted by Ulysses E. Campbell; after a land acknowledgement and a brief opening bit about the diversity of science fiction fandom, he introduced Mary Robinette Kowal, DisCon III’s chair, and she gavelled the convention to order at 16:15. He then introduced the Guests of Honor and Special Guests; Nancy Kress told an amusing anecdote about the Boskone when she first realized fandom was her community, Ben Yalow described himself as a representative of the fannish community and its gift economy, and Sheree Renee Thomas described herself as a representative of the more invisible fandom that usually can’t afford to travel to conventions. Next up was a presentation of colors from the Roosevelt High School Honor Guard, followed by the Big Heart Award and First Fandom Awards. The Big Heart Award, presented by Steve Francis, went to Linda Deneroff, who frequently serves as WSFS Business Meeting Secretary and basically does a spectacular amount of work into keeping WSFS functioning. (Her stunned acceptance was one of the highlights of the ceremony for me.) The First Fandom Hall of Fame Award went to William F. Nolan, who passed away in July but was informed of his win beforehand; his acceptance remarks were read by John Pomeranz. The First Fandom Posthumous Hall of Fame went to Richard and Pat Lupoff; a letter from their son Ken was read by Tom Becker. The Sam Moskowitz Archive Award went to Kevin L. Cook; he had sent a statement which was read by Warren Buff.
After the First Fandom Awards, it was time for a musical interlude by the Duke Ellington School of Music Show Choir. This in total ran about fifteen minutes, and... well, look, I don’t want to be That Fan who picks on a bunch of talented high schoolers, and the performance itself was extremely good from a musical perspective. However, they opened with what I will generously describe as a winter-themed medley (which, though not my cup of tea, was within reasonable expectations given the season) and then got, well, Jesusy. I was not the only Jewish fan who was just a bit uncomfortable with performances of ‘What Child is This,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” and “Come Let Us Adore Him” at the Opening Ceremony. (Although I did consider “Glory to the Nonborn King” as a possible filk lyric, so that’s something.) If you have to feature Christmas music during an all-inclusive fannish ceremony, may I suggest the HP Lovecraft Historical Society’s lyrics next time?
Following the musical performance, there was a video presentation from Bob Madle, the final living attendee of the first Worldcon, about said 1939 convention, and then remarks and a slideshow from Sebastian Martorana about how he designed this year’s Hugo base, which resembles a cross-section of the Washington Monument using Beaver Dam marble reclaimed from disused steps in Baltimore. Finally, Kowal returned to read a proclamation from Mayor Muriel Bowser regarding the convention.
After grabbing snacks and chatting a bit, I headed to the “A Closer Look at the Business Meeting Agenda” panel. The Blue Room has a maximum occupancy of 1200, but there were only eleven attendees (plus the four panelists) present when the panel started—a few more trickled in later. There was a lot of interesting discussion about the history and traditions of the Business Meeting, which unfortunately compressed the time available for talking about this year’s actual agenda, although the panel did ultimately get through all of the items. I then went up to the party floor. The only party posted on the party board for tonight was the Glasgow in 2024 party, which featured snacks, alcohol, and a nice little collection of items to showcase the TAFF vote, which opened today. After hanging out at the party for a bit, I headed back to my hotel. Best to call it an early night tonight in anticipation of a potentially interesting day tomorrow....
