It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. It’s been a busy couple of months. We attended Chicon 8, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention and Archon 45, so I thought I’d write a bit about them.
Chicon 8 was held on Sept 1-5 in Chicago, IL. It was held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Chicago. This is the 5th Chicago-based Worldcon held at the Hyatt Regency, and I confess we have attended all of them. Chicon IV in 1982 was our 2nd Worldcon. Sandy and I were Division Heads for Events at Chicon 7 in 2012.
The Hyatt Regency is a good facility, at least as far as space is concerned. It does suffer from having multiple levels and distance between areas. The former isn’t that common, but the latter is not at all unusual. The logistics of a Worldcon require it. They are space intensive, as are most SF conventions. They require multiple rooms for panels, a ballroom or similar space for the Hugo Awards, Masquerade, and Opening/Closing Ceremonies, as well as other possible events. The Art Show, Dealer’s Room, and Exhibits Area each need a separate, large space. Dances, theatrical productions, and subsidiary events each require space as well.
This is part of the reason Worldcons tend to have high membership rates. The large space requirements for a Worldcon, which traditionally attracts four to six thousand attendees, call for a convention center, and convention centers are expensive.
Attendance was a over 3500 persons on site. This is down somewhat from Chicon 7 which had around 4700 persons. I would attribute that to the concern many people still have from the pandemic; and I think this decline in convention attendees is likely to continue for some time. Everyone has a different level of risk tolerance, and the pandemic was a traumatic time for all of us.
We enjoyed the convention a lot. It was great to be getting together with people. I know I said roughly the same thing about Costume-Con 40 in my last post, but it is still true. Worldcons draw a different circle of friends than CC (though there is overlap, of course).
All the Exhibits areas (which includes Exhibits, Dealer’s Room, and Art Show) were smaller than in past years. Again, not unexpected. The Dealer’s Room had a good selection of dealers, which was nice. The Art Show was good, though we didn’t see anything we wanted to buy this year. The Exhibit area had mostly convention tables and site selection and only a few independent exhibits.
The Masquerade was quite small. Sandy and I competed our “Sadric the 86th and His Empress.” This was a tribute costume to Anne Chancellor, a great costumer from a number of years ago, sadly no longer with us. Sandy and I have started a project of honoring past costumers. We take a title of a past presentation and reinterpret it in our own style. We were pleased to be awarded an Award for Best Master Workmanship.
Overall, Chicon was a successful convention. We haven’t heard if they will bid for a Chicon 9, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.
Archon 45 was held from Sept. 30 through October 2. Archon is a regional St. Louis convention (hence the name Archon after the St. Louis Arch. However, it is pronounced Ar-Con, not Arch Con.) It is actually held across the river in Collinsville, IL at the Gateway Convention Cener. Archon is one of our usual convention stops. It has a good selection of panels and a good Art Show. The dealer’s room was a little sparse, but again that is likely due to the remaining concern of the pandemic.
For us, of course the main attraction at any convention is the Masquerade. Archon has always had a great masquerade and it is enthusiastically supported by the committee. Traditionally it draws around forty entries, though this year there were only twenty-four. We took some costumes we made a couple of years ago for hall wear, added some veils and created a central prop. The prop featured an umbrella covered with a sheer, blue-green fabric, painted plants to simulate seaweed, lights, and fake coral we created by melting insulation foam blocks (wearing filter masks, of course). In a repeat of Chicon, we won Best in Class Workmanship.
On the Thursday before the Convention, the Masquerade Director, Sheila Lenkman Corwin, arranged a tour of the clothing collection at the Missouri Historical Society. Adam MacPharlain, the Curator of Clothing and Textiles, was our tour guide. He showed us a fabulous assortment of historical garments from many periods. The climax of the tour was a fascinating gown from YEARish with back hip details that made it impossible to sit in and a crazy quilt that featured embroidery and taxidermy. A great time was had by the attendees. Making life interesting, Adam was one of the workmanship judges at the masquerade.