Michael Lee's Train of Thought

First of all, I have the times for the panels that I'll be on for Chicon

Fri Aug 31 9:00:am	Fri Aug 31 10:30:am	British SF Television: Why Are Their Programs So Good?
Gold Coast		From Doctor Who to Red Dwarf to Primeval, SF programs on British TV have been good. Why is that?

Fri Aug 31 4:30:pm	Fri Aug 31 6:00:pm	Star Wars at 35
Gold Coast		May 2012 marked the 35th anniversary release of the original Star Wars. How did this film change SF movies and what would the world look like if it had never been? Are today's kids seeing it as the first movie in the series or are they now watching it in episode order? And if the latter, why would anyone continue after The Phantom Menace?

Sat Sep 1 6:00:pm	Sat Sep 1 7:30:pm	Doctor Who: Is It Still a Kid's Show?
Buckingham		Has the "kids show" gotten more grown up with the last three Doctors? Was it an adult show even before the original cancellation? When, and how, did the transition happen, if it did?

We're going to have some small-group Krushenko's discussions in the Minnesota Magpie party suite during the convention as well. (The room will be available at con)

FRI	3:00 PM	History of Minnesota Fandom (Eric Heideman, facilitator)
FRI	4:30 PM	Classic MN SF Authors Clifford D. Simak, Gordon R. Dickson, John Sladek and beyond (Eric Heideman, facilitator)
SAT	3:00 PM	Minnesota-Based Conventions and Organizations (Michael Lee, facilitator)
SAT	4:30 PM	The Minnesota Writing Scene (Eric Heideman, facilitator)
SUN	3:00 PM	Why Minnesota Will Never Host a WorldCon (Michael Lee, facilitator)

Also, the Minnesota Magpie party suite will be hosted by different groups each night.  It'll be one of the major places that I'll be during the evening hours.

Thu - MNSTf/Minicon/Mpls in 2073
Fri - Seamstress Guild
Sat - Geek Partnership Society (GPS)
Sun - CONvergence

I'm really excited about this -- it is going to be a full, and exciting, week. Hope to see you there!

Labels: chicon, convergence, geek, magpie, minicon, minnesota, worldcon

I think for many people working on CONvergence, this was a particularly challenging year to get through.  It's so very big now -- approximately 5900 registrations, and 5500 people actually attending.  And despite the challenges, mistakes, miscommunications, and flaws (and I'm keenly aware of every single one of them, both ones that I'm a directly a part of as well as others), this was a successful and memorable year, and I think we're on a good path for the future.

I had some fun panels that I was on -- the Avengers panel was a highlight, with Lyda Morehouse correctly predicting that the Winter Soldier was in Captain America's future, and the love of Shwarma just increasing. I was happy to spread the convention love at our Conventions beyond CONvergence panel, since there are so many things beyond the one weekend both locally and around the country, and there are so many successful different flavors.

I completed a 25 year goal of mine to have Sophie Aldred at a Minnesota convention, and her appearance on a totally warped version of Just A Minute was epic beyond belief.

I was also very happy to see that we had people playtesting the upcoming version of Dungeons and Dragons -- and the future of D & D panel was a particular highlight.  I might actually have to play a game sometime, as it has probably been 20 years since I last played the RPG, but I have fond memories (and have enjoyed the recent board games my brother has worked on).

The musical highlight of the weekend was seeing Marian Call perform, and I hope she comes back to Minneapolis again so I can see her perform again.

I joke occasionally that we're on the road to Fafnircon, and that's a possible future that we need to manage towards.  Our current facilities do cap us at a point, even if there isn't an explicit cap in place.  And that building can still handle larger conventions -- we aren't the largest convention that building has seen, and that building has now hosted multiple generations of science fiction, fantasy, and related fans, so it really is a home away from home for all of us.

And of course, coming next year is CONvergence 2013:



I can't wait.

Labels: convergence, cvg2012, DnD, marian call, sophie aldred

We're just a few short days away from CONvergence 2012. As always, it looks like it's going to be really massive, and there's a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into this year's convention.  The volunteers who help run it and keep it going do a lot, as well as everyone else who attends.

There are a lot of things that I'm looking forward to on the Schedule.  Three highlights of mine:

• Marian Call, Mainstage Thursday 8:30 PM
• Sophie Aldred (Ace from Doctor Who) - especially her mainstage interview, and I've wanted her to come to Minneapolis since she was first in the series in the late 1980s.
• Dungeons & Dragons Next Playtesting - I doubt I'll get a chance to do this myself, but there will be a lot of opportunities to playtest the upcoming version of the definitive fantasy role playing game, and I hope people have a lot of fun with it.

Labels: convergence, cvg2012, DnD, doctorwho, marian call

One of the things I've been working on this year is Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago this upcoming labor day weekend.

Labels: chicon, convergence, magpie, minicon, worldcon

I decided to run again for the Convergence Events board in the election in January. It's a hard job, especially when you both try to keep your own opinions as well as working collaboratively with others. But it's also especially rewarding, and I think Convergence Events can use my experience within the organization as we go forward. Like every candidate, I wrote up some responses based on some pre-existing questions. One thing that makes this particular election difficult for me is that I'm going to miss the actual election meeting, and I'm missing it because I'm going to Arisia, in part because I feel that part of my role as a director is to be an ambassador for the organization at other conventions around the country, as that's one thing that I've felt CONvergence could do a little better at. Because I'm not going to be able to make the meeting, I'm especially open for people to ask me questions, here as comments on this post, or via twitter, or via facebook, by email, or by any forum. Thanks, Michael

Labels: convergence, fandom

I suppose I should Speak Out With My Geek Out.

But then, I probably have for years, and helped others speak as well, by working and volunteering for conventions.

I've been involved with CONvergence here in Minnesota since the very first year back in 1999; it allowed me to bring together my love of science fiction and fantasy in all of its various forms -- specific brands and media types, both the classics and next year's model. Unless there is a larger one that I'm not aware of, it had more members this year than any other non-profit, volunteer-run Science Fiction and Fantasy convention in the world -- and perhaps for a few years before that.

But there are lots of other conventions, and the best elements of all of them is the chance to band together and celebrate your favorite things.  You see this in lots of ways; the cosplay and parade at Dragon*Con, the Hugos of a Worldcon.  Even the big dog & pony show of a San Diego Comic Con is at its best when the Hollywood machine responds to the audience with what it loves -- something that is much more difficult behind a TV or movie screen.

And we see conventions reach out into the rest of the world -- locally I think about things like the over thirty thousand that Anime Detour raised for the Red Cross for Japan. The various activities of Geek Partnership Society.

And this isn't unique to activities in Minnesota -- if you look at something like con news you'll see conventions every single weekend. Some are very focused, others are extremely wide-reaching. That's as it should be; one size doesn't need to fit all. You can have Fencon or Arisia or Gallifrey One or Capricon or any number of other conventions.

That's one way to celebrate whatever sort of geek you have...

Labels: convergence, speakgeek

Oh yeah. This is why. Thanks Paul!

Labels: convergence, cvg2010

I couldn't possibly write up everything about CONvergence last weekend. It was quite incredible in lots of ways, even though my glasses broke on the first day and I spent the rest of the weekend either looking nerdier than usual with taped up glasses or blind as a bat.

Thanks to everyone involved -- it's an amazing co-operative enterprise, and being a part of it is incredible and re-invigorating.

A highlight was the following animation from opening and closing ceremonies.

Labels: convergence, scifi

From this year's closing ceremonies at CONvergence. I'm not in it. [I haven't seen any of the things I was in yet either...]

Labels: convergence, cvg2009, youtube

The content of this video is actually NOT surprising to those of us that work on SF Conventions. After all, in events like CONvergence almost everyone PAID to be there. We couldn't do the convention without everyone *wanting* to do it and volunteering.

Obviously the challenge with something like this is that we do that project in our "free time" -- I use vacation days on the convention, and spend my nights and weekends on the project. And to some extent, the same thing is true with the Free Software movement and things described in books like Free: The Future of a Radical Price. The challenge is how to work out a way that you can make a good, solid, 21st Century living with it -- and not just at places like Google, which come close to this -- but in more environments around the world.



Oh -- and if you're looking for something to do for CONvergence 2010, we're looking for people to help us with our Harmonic CONvergence music/performance stage, and more people to be sub-heads (with a possibility as a future head) of CONvergence Programming for managing our panels and discussion sessions.

Labels: business, convergence, fandom, technology

Really, this changes nothing. But at the same time, it changes everything.

Not the official word (that went out to the voting members earlier this week) -- but my official word. At our last board meeting of the Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy we decided 12-0 (and the incoming 2 directors agreed as well) to spin off CONvergence from MISFITS, with the details to be worked out by January 1, 2010. Revenue donation will continue at current levels at least through the 2011 convention cycle. And we expect an active partnership between CONvergence and MISFITS for many years in the future.

I was in favor of this for a variety of reasons -- I've been actively involved with both CONvergence and MISFITS from very early on. (I don't quite get to be called a founder, but I was an early adopter.) I care passionately about both organizations, and am very proud of what we have done together. I've seen both organizations grow, mature, struggle, develop, and work together for many years. And I want them both to continue to do so as partners for many years in as successful a manner as possible.

I expect and will work to see that to continue -- and I am personally committed to an ambitious direction for the future as part of this process. The idea here is to build on our successes, support each other -- but then also get out of each other's way and not micromanage either. And let us all be the fantastic, imaginative, exciting community that I know that we are and will be.

There are a lot of details to work out. Lots of details. We'll have FAQs, meetings, discussions, arguments, decisions and paperwork to do.

But it is going to be exciting.

Labels: convergence, fandom, geek, minnesota, misfits, scifi

However, since many fans enjoy both literary and media fiction, it seems ridiculous not to pool our resources in protecting one another.

There is a very interesting article about some of the recent national SF convention failures.

As we come across our final pre-registration cut off for CONvergence, something like the above article is very sobering. Not every convention *is* run well. CONvergence, which tries to run things as professionally as possible, is still a fan-run affair that is being run for fun.

One thing that is nice today is that technology makes conventions more open -- you can find out about CONvergence by searching for Minnesota Sci Fi Convention on Google; you don't need to find out about it only by going to the right book store, or knowing the right person.

The thirteen year old kid who had his or her mind blown away by Star Trek last weekend deserves the same rich community and opportunity that the Science Fiction Community has given me.

And another piece of setting up that legacy is the very interesting copy of Argentus dealing with convention runnnig. There are some things that are Worldcon specific (which doesn't really interest me) but different sorts of advice are always good to read and take on.

And don't forget -- preregistration for CONvergence ends tomorrow!

Labels: convergence, cvg2009, fandom, scifi

One of the things that I realized when Len Wein was a guest of honor at CONvergence for the first time was that he wrote the first issue of The Fantastic Four I ever purchased. And he turned out to be one of those people that was as great to meet in person as you would want to have, and was one of my favorite guests at CONvergence. So when I heard that his comic collection burned down with his house, I was especially saddened.

I really want to see
The "Let's Rebuild Len Wein's Comic Book Collection" Project succeed. And if you are in Minnesota, you can bring any comics to the MCBA Spring Comics Show, and hand them to either Christopher Jones or Melissa Kaercher. They will both have table space at the show.

Labels: comics, convergence, x-men

It's the time of year where attention now really focuses on CONvergence in July. Events are getting scheduled, PR2 will be in the mail soon, and we get everything else going.

One of the exciting things is that we have this year is schedule.convergence-con.org. It'll help you plan your schedule for the event, and let you slice and dice the many events we have planned -- and we're going to be able to list more things than ever before.


We still have panels left unscheduled though, and you can review that list and contact programming@convergence-con.org if you have a panel that you want to sign up for.

Labels: convergence, cvg2009, fandom

We're using a different system for CONvergence programming this year. As a part of that, we now have our list of programming items on Google Docs as a spreadsheet.

I'm aware that the google gadget is sometimes a little awkward -- so you can certainly also access it on Google directly.



All programming requests -- like if you're interested in sitting on a panel -- should go to programming@convergence-con.org

Also, I recently did a presentation about the underlying technology that I'm building for the Twin Cities Salesforce.com User Group. The slides are here:

Labels: convergence, cvg2009, google, salesforce

One of the more difficult things in fandom, in my experience, is balancing a year around organization (or club) and a single central convention. They are serving somewhat different social needs; they attract different volunteer groups. This isn't something that I discovered in the last five months I've served as a Director on the Minnesota for Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy -- it is something that I've seen in just about every convention and club combination I've seen over the years.

One of the things that has been a challenge for the Society is how to organize things properly. This has been a work in progress that I don't think people really understand how things are today, especially since earlier models hadn't quite worked properly.

There are really two different parallel organizations when it comes to CONvergence and MISFITS -- one isn't really the "parent organization" of the other. In so much as there is a parent organization, it is represented by the combined group of both the CONvergence and MISFITS directors. We've been generally referring to that as "The Society" because the whole name can quickly be unwieldy.

The MISFITS brand isn't really ideal because that's not quite how thing were originally put together. It serves as a club name, but it can get in the way when one is trying to present yourself in the 'real world' and trying to help in the broader community. It is also confusing because while MISFITS and CONvergence build their long-term vision together, they are two different subcommittees of the entire board of directors of the Society, and one is not the "parent" of the other, but parts of the whole.

There are times where people look at our community as something unique -- but the comparison isn't just the other fan organizations around the world; we don't just look at organizations like LASFS or Arisia, Inc. We share some things in common with fraternal, religious, and artistic organizations; after all.

I look at three different parts when I think of what CONvergence, MISFITS, and The Society are about:

1. The Social Center


2. The Inspirational Center


3. The Education Center

The Social Center is just that -- we're providing a place for people to meet other like minded people. Relationships form. Because of the second two are a part of it, we can provide a networking opportunity for people to do new things.

The Inspirational Center motivates all of us. Our guests of honor are a key part of that. But also as part of our in the schools programs. And coming out of the relationships that are built above, we can inspire new creative pieces; both professional and amateur.

The Education Center certainly looks like it starts with the in the schools program, but it is not limited there. We provide venues for people to get better with public speaking; our convention guests are sometimes people that can share their knowledge and experience to others. We teach each other, because we know the more you know, the more jokes you get.

For me those three pillars all interact -- we inspire each other through our social connections; because you are inspired; you desire to learn new things. Sometimes people think that one part is secondary to another -- that the convention is the fun, and MISFITS is all of the non-profit stuff. But the missions are all there for everything -- the MISFITS social agenda is important, and CONvergence is meant to better the community as a whole as well. All parts of the whole.

---

Oh, I suppose I should disclaim this post a little -- this is purely my own thoughts on these subjects, and aren't the official words of CONvergence or the Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy. I've had elements bouncing in my head for a while, and wanted to get them out somewhere...

Labels: convergence, fandom, geek

It's Halloween season, which is certainly a High Holiday for people that like to dress up in costumes, or attend science fiction conventions like CONvergence. So perhaps it's not surprising to see a reference to the convention show up in the St Paul Pioneer Press.

And seeing this sort of thing is exactly why we have this event -- to provide an environment that lets people do things like this, and not just for one weekend in July, but all year around.

And speaking of CONvergence....

It's official. We are going ahead with CONvergence beings a four day event permanently starting next year. We're very appreciative of all of the feedback and comments that we have -- so we can identify ways to make the four day convention as successful as possible, and make CONvergence continue to serve as a gathering point for our community.

We're looking for new concom members and volunteers -- ane one of the goals for our first concom meeting, on November 2nd, at 2:00 PM at the Sheraton Bloomington -- is to get new people engaged and involved. The organization lives and depend on excited and committed volunteers. So if you're interested, please join us.

There's a Facebook Event if you want a reminder and use Facebook.

Labels: convergence, cvg2009, fandom

Following up on an earlier post, we've scheduled a second meeting to discuss moving CONvergence to a 4 day convention on Wednesday October 22 at 6:30pm at the Rockford Road Library, located at 6401 42nd Ave. N., Crystal.

Labels: convergence, fandom, scifi

We just put up a FAQ outlying our plans to move permanently to a four day convention starting in 2009. We're planning a meeting on October 7th at 6:30 PM to discuss our plans. [The website has a typo.]

I certainly apologize for the short notice -- it all came together very quickly, and as you can expect, we're up against a pretty tight timeline for implementing it for 2009 -- and we've decided that it is better to continue with the new model that we started in 2008, and make adjustments to that, rather than wait until 2010 for it.

We've had lots of other meetings already on it with our various departments -- so this has been in the works since after the last convention and when we discovered that for most departments, four days was surprisingly easier than three days, not harder.

Labels: convergence, fandom, scifi

Mojo recently posted an article asking if conventions are doomed -- especially in the fall out of the fiascos of Jumpcon and Fed Con USA over the last couple of months. I paid some attention to Jumpcon -- and I'm sorry, I never believed for a second that they'd be successful. They were unrealistically ambitious, and they seemed to be stuck in a time warp from the 1980s.

I think Mojo has a very good point -- the internet *has* changed the nature of fandom, and how conventions work. For years, I've noticed that new television shows don't tend to generate the "fan clubs" that I remember from my high school days. You don't NEED a local Doctor Who fan club when you can go over to the Doctor Who forum and get your Who geek on.

But there are still organizations that do good work -- even in the very difficult media-specific space. United Fan Con has been doing conventions in Massachusetts for 17 years, and they're trying to make something out of the Jumpcon disaster.

Some people think throwing conventions is easy -- get some guests in, and the fans will come. That's really not at all true. I think people want to get together face-to-face -- perhaps even more now, since you have connections with people that you mainly communicate with online. But it's not just "throw a bunch of guests together, get some merchandise, and go" -- you have to plan for more than that. And that's the problem with the people that think that they can make money on a convention -- you really can't. CONvergence is a great and successful fund raiser for the Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy non-profit -- but it wouldn't be a successful business venture. You couldn't pay people enough to do the things they do for love...

One of the things that I'm very proud about my involvement with CONvergence is that so many people do crazy things purely for the love of it all. It irritates me when some people try to exploit that -- and we've had the occasional person that don't understand the nature of volunteering, or take advantage of the organization and community in some fashion. And that makes one tempted to get cynical at times.

I don't think conventions are dying by any means -- certainly in the Twin Cities, I think we have more conventions in 2008 than any year I can remember. And really, it's not that they're that much smaller either -- both Anime Detour and CONvergence are over 3000 people now. And while there is some overlap in audience --- it's certainly more people attending a fan-run convention in 2008 in the Twin Cities than when Minicon was at it's peak fifteen years ago.

But the challenge for those of us organizing is this -- how do we make them relevant? What is the best way to make a dealer's room?

Labels: convergence, fandom