On Conventions and the People that Make them Great
Written by the illustrious Jay Swanson
I’ve been to four conventions now. I had booths at two of them and then just schmoozed my way through the rest.
Entering the convention scene as an unknown is intimidating, it will probably terrify me to some degree for the duration of my career, but there were groups and individuals who made the experience much more enjoyable. I just read Kameron Hurley’s call to be kind on the convention scene and it reminded me that even though -unlike her- I’m practically a nobody, I can always do more to open doors to those who feel as awkward or intimidated as I do. It also reminded me that while it’s so easy to focus on the negative moments and insecure feelings, it does more good to encourage the positive.
Kameron was one of those people who wound up making me feel welcomed, both at the Angry Robot party and during BarCon (the post-convention social scene centered around the bar – terminology of which you need to be aware should you find yourself at a convention). She wasn’t alone.
The beer run for the AR party was possibly the most dangerous part of the whole experience – is there something in my teeth?!
While there were some people who made me feel even more like an outsider, and others who simply disappointed (and let’s not forget the series of faux pas that I committed as I stumbled along), I’d rather spend a moment to highlight the people who made me feel welcome. Who legitimized me as both an author and a human being. They deserve some spotlight.
Mike Underwood and Megan O’Keefe were pretty much the main reasons I even attended ConFusion. Megan invited me not only to the convention on multiple occasions, but to the archery-with-authors event that opened the whole schindig. Then Mike offered to share his room with me and suddenly the whole thing became possible on a financial level. Mike, if you don’t know him, is simply one of the kindest people around. Joey (carrying beer above) really helped me enjoy the start of the convention, too.
Mur Lafferty and I were able to save the village corn from ravaging coyotes dire wolves during that archery-with-authors event. Not only is Mur an affable human being, but she’s a terror with a bow. I’ll try to avoid ending every sentence with “THIS PERSON MADE ME FEEL WELCOME,” but Mur definitely did. She still owes me a beer, which is important for me to remember because it’s like a free ticket to hang out with her again.
Dave Robison isn’t just a voice, but a force of nature. He dragged me into a live discussion on Periscope over the importance of maps in fantasy books and through that experience I met Patrick Tomlinson, who took his welcome to different extremes involving some very cuddly moments with my head. Dave’s inclusiveness is legendary – he just loves people, and he’s so perpetually positive that you might think his mustache is held in that smiling position by sheer joy.
This is quickly turning into a name-drop session, so forgive me for that, but Andrea Phillips and Diana Rowland sat and talked with me for a really long time about the struggles of writing and comparison with others. It came at the right moment (the peak of my jet-lagged exhaustion and end of my convention energy) and it meant a lot to me. Adventures in Rav4’s with Adam Rakunas and long discussions about the merits of Belgian chocolate with Greg van Ekhout made for equally high levels of warm-fuzzies.
Steve Drew and Tim Sharpe were rock stars. Long conversations at the bar or off to the side of the restaurant left me encouraged and with plenty through which to think. It makes sense that the driving force behind r/Fantasy would be warm, inclusive, and thought-provoking.
Howard Taylor gave me even more to think on with regards to Into the Nanten, Patreon, and Kickstarter, in a surprisingly in-depth discussion on the monetization of creative work (over which Andrea also kicked my butt). And M Todd Gallowglass gave me some great stretches of time and kind words to match, as did Stina Leicht, who is as kind as she is hilarious. Not to mention nerding out over Final Fantasy Tactics with Susan Dennard and a long self-pub discussion in the airport with Elise Kova.
There were plenty of other moments – like being included in the signing and selling a few books – which made for good memories. While there were some awkward patches or relatively invalidating moments (which were probably more in my head than real), the good times and these good people leveled the field for me. I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention plenty but that doesn’t mean they weren’t great to me too.
TL;DR
What I took from the entire experience was that on a moment-by-moment basis, it costs so little to be kind and the results of those small investments can be powerful. Overall ConFusion was filled with good people and great moments. I watched a few corners turn exclusive but many others maintained a warm inclusiveness. I want to build on that and, wherever I end up in conventions in the future, I want to open circles to include more people in conversation.
Unless we’re saving the village corn, then it’s probably just up to Mur and I to get the job done.
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