Post by attoboy on Jul 7, 2005 2:46:15 GMT -7
Starting a new thread, 'cause this post is pretty long.
After all was said and done, WC58 turned out to be a worthwhile adventure.
Quick background:
Calgary's local SF convention, Con-Version, has lagged seriously for several years. In its heyday over a decade past it enjoyed an enthusiastic membership of around 750. Today it limps along at around 350, which is a barely sustainable number. With the injection of Westercon funds and energy, they managed to put together an event this year that was the best I've attended in five or ten outings.
Back to the present:
The art show (which is where I spent most of my time) was well attended and about four times larger than usual. The standard of art was generally high, with most artists published or at least publishable. The influx of talent was due largely to the return of old-time artshow organizers Ryan Deines and Dave Volk. They ran the last good art shows in the late nineties. Based solely on their involvement, I decided to display work in the show for the first time in five years. It was obvious that other senior artists were of the same mind. We enjoyed the return of Tim Hammell, Jeff Doten and Richard Bartrop, among others.
As usual, sales were not spectacular (they rarely are), but I met lots of new people (such as Jaysin at dpistudios.net-- awesome work! and Roberta Gregory who does Naughty Bits for Fantagraphics-- thanks for the comics!) and spent a bunch of time chatting with Rik Van dyke about his movie display which included a fully functional life-size killer robot! A documentary maker interviewed Rik while the editors of Locus took pictures of all the artists in front of their individual displays.
See what repositioning three chairs can do, Rik?
As predicted in other threads, the comics panels were fairly pedestrian. It should be noted that the writers' panels are not much more engaging despite their higher attendance figures. It's a fan convention after all, so discussions don't get too deep.
On a personal note, I debuted the work for my upcoming illustrated book "Monsterology" and came away with a "Best Black and White" award:
and my table partner Dan O'Driscoll won "Best SF" for one of his cool-ass spaceship renderings. Dan has done covers for Asimov, On-Spec and Neo-Opsis magazines in addition to having his work featured on the Sci-Fi Channel's website.
Memorable moments:
-- Rik, when introduced to the concept of a hospitality suite: "they give you as much beer as you want... for free?!!" (Not exactly free, but still a pretty sweet deal, snacks included.)
-- Another Rik moment occurred when, two days into the show, the convention organizers realized he had not purchased an attending membership. Ryah Logan slapped someone's unused membership badge on Rik's shirt and said, "your name is now Kim." Problem solved!
-- yapping with the ever-affable and amazingly talented Jim Beveridge. He's still single, ladies!
-- Jaysin winning the "Best Colour" artwork award in his first show!
-- Larry Niven walking out on my and Andrew's and Tiina's discussion panel on comics as art and literature.
Though it was more crowded than in previous years, the rest of the convention was pretty much the same as it always is. So while I am not down on Westercon or Con-Version any more than usual, I will probably not be back next year, barring some earth-shaking event.
Cheers!
-Derek
After all was said and done, WC58 turned out to be a worthwhile adventure.
Quick background:
Calgary's local SF convention, Con-Version, has lagged seriously for several years. In its heyday over a decade past it enjoyed an enthusiastic membership of around 750. Today it limps along at around 350, which is a barely sustainable number. With the injection of Westercon funds and energy, they managed to put together an event this year that was the best I've attended in five or ten outings.
Back to the present:
The art show (which is where I spent most of my time) was well attended and about four times larger than usual. The standard of art was generally high, with most artists published or at least publishable. The influx of talent was due largely to the return of old-time artshow organizers Ryan Deines and Dave Volk. They ran the last good art shows in the late nineties. Based solely on their involvement, I decided to display work in the show for the first time in five years. It was obvious that other senior artists were of the same mind. We enjoyed the return of Tim Hammell, Jeff Doten and Richard Bartrop, among others.
As usual, sales were not spectacular (they rarely are), but I met lots of new people (such as Jaysin at dpistudios.net-- awesome work! and Roberta Gregory who does Naughty Bits for Fantagraphics-- thanks for the comics!) and spent a bunch of time chatting with Rik Van dyke about his movie display which included a fully functional life-size killer robot! A documentary maker interviewed Rik while the editors of Locus took pictures of all the artists in front of their individual displays.
See what repositioning three chairs can do, Rik?
As predicted in other threads, the comics panels were fairly pedestrian. It should be noted that the writers' panels are not much more engaging despite their higher attendance figures. It's a fan convention after all, so discussions don't get too deep.
On a personal note, I debuted the work for my upcoming illustrated book "Monsterology" and came away with a "Best Black and White" award:
and my table partner Dan O'Driscoll won "Best SF" for one of his cool-ass spaceship renderings. Dan has done covers for Asimov, On-Spec and Neo-Opsis magazines in addition to having his work featured on the Sci-Fi Channel's website.
Memorable moments:
-- Rik, when introduced to the concept of a hospitality suite: "they give you as much beer as you want... for free?!!" (Not exactly free, but still a pretty sweet deal, snacks included.)
-- Another Rik moment occurred when, two days into the show, the convention organizers realized he had not purchased an attending membership. Ryah Logan slapped someone's unused membership badge on Rik's shirt and said, "your name is now Kim." Problem solved!
-- yapping with the ever-affable and amazingly talented Jim Beveridge. He's still single, ladies!
-- Jaysin winning the "Best Colour" artwork award in his first show!
-- Larry Niven walking out on my and Andrew's and Tiina's discussion panel on comics as art and literature.
Though it was more crowded than in previous years, the rest of the convention was pretty much the same as it always is. So while I am not down on Westercon or Con-Version any more than usual, I will probably not be back next year, barring some earth-shaking event.
Cheers!
-Derek
