More Photos of Sasquan

David Gerrold giving his GoH speech. Photo by Francis Hamit.

David Gerrold giving his GoH speech. Photo by Francis Hamit.

Sasquan Con Suite. Photo by Francis Hamit.

Sasquan Con Suite. Photo by Francis Hamit.

Bobbi Armbruster, Loscon 42 Fan GoH, helping advertise the con. Photo by Marcia Minsky.

Bobbi Armbruster, Loscon 42 Fan GoH, helping advertise the con. Photo by Marcia Minsky.

Bobbi Armbruster, Loscon 42 Fan GoH, staffing the con table. Photo by Marcia Minsky.

Bobbi Armbruster, Loscon 42 Fan GoH, staffing the con table. Photo by Marcia Minsky.

17 thoughts on “More Photos of Sasquan

  1. I don’t think any Sasquan photo collection could be complete without this lovely view of Smokane from my hotel room last Friday.

    Oh yes, the yellow tint color is accurate. It’s apparently what happens when sunlight is filtered through ick.

  2. UncannyValley: I hope I’ve coughed all that stuff out of my lungs by now.

    Once every generation all the hills surrounding the San Fernando Valley catch fire (usually with the help of some arsonist) and it’s like that except add in some ashfall.

    Spokane apparently wasn’t close enough to the fires to get ash, only the bad air.

  3. There was a bit of ash Friday night, just not enough to produce a visible ashfall.

  4. I love convention photos–

    Particularly of cons I wasn’t able to get to!

    But, certainly not to be contentious:

    As a true question:

    Were there people under forty at the show?

    Under thirty?

    In my hey dey of science fiction conventions–and I hope now!–there was a grand mix of folks.

    Best, Jim

  5. @James H. Burns:

    As a true question:

    Were there people under forty at the show?

    Under thirty?

    There were indeed people under forty at the con (including myself). Possibly even people under 30, though I’m not sure if all of the people under 30 came with their parents or not.

  6. Were there people under forty at the show?

    I’d guess about 30% of the con membership was thirties or under.
    Most younger people tend to go to comic-con type events and I think the reason is that organized fandom has become a quite a bit inbred. We make a big thing about diversity but … how many SMOFs are willing to make way for and mentor some younger members in leadership roles? Not many I think.

    So you get things like Regency Dances , Old White Guys Talking On A Panel, and tributes to First Fandom which are all nice but really don’t appeal to the under thirty (40? 50???) crowd.

  7. Here’s the fascinating thing about almost EVERY twenty-something I know:

    They don’t really care about age barriers–

    Or what year a creative project (film, book, music) if from–

    As long as the subject is interesting!

    (You can thank the digital revolution for the second phenomenon, I think.)

    So a First Fandom panel, with the proper promo and intro, could be a most unique draw!

    Best, Jim

  8. They don’t really care about age barriers–

    Then you know some incredible (or incredibly polite) 20-somethings 🙂

    Ageism is a thing. Generational differences are a thing and it extends well beyond the music that we each like. The cool things that interest people of our age are as mystifying to a young person as the references to their own pop-culture are to us. I still view taking a phone out while having dinner together as very rude – the vast majority of 20-somethings do not.

    It’s always been this way and it always will be – I would suggest that the very same people who put on cons that younger people tend not to attend do not view the generational differences as significant or simply do not care.

  9. Were there people under forty at the show?

    Under thirty?

    Yup. I’m a twenty-something, and I was there. Met several new acquaintances around my age, though I would agree that the general demographic skewed older. You were more likely to see those of my generation perusing the Dealers’ Room, in the audience for the Masquerade, or at the panels being put on by the SpoCon folks. (I think this might be because a good chunk of the younger folks were locals, regionally speaking; the con was more affordable to those of us already living in the area. It’s harder for people just starting out professionally to justify the travel and hotel costs.)

    I also saw more people my age at the “fun” events, like First Night, the Worldcon Prom, and Match Game. In stark contrast, maybe one in ten of the WSFS Business Meeting attendees were in their twenties.

  10. Wildcat on August 28, 2015 at 10:37 pm said:
    In stark contrast, maybe one in ten of the WSFS Business Meeting attendees were in their twenties.

    But 40% of the Business Meeting Podium Staff (my son, who was Deputy Presiding Officer and will be Presiding Officer at MAC2, and Jesi Pershing, who was Timekeeper) qualify. The interest is there; it’s just harder to afford Worldcon on your own at that age, so those you do see tend to be local or as was noted, come with their parents. But they don’t stay with them; I barely saw my son outside of the Business Meeting and his 3 AM returns to our room.

  11. It is all clear to me now why the trufans were successful in their No Award campaign. These SJWs are mostly retirees, which confers several advantages.

    (1) They can campaign full time, without the hassle of kids or jobs or mortgages to worry about.
    (2) They can threaten the livelihoods of working stiffs who do not march to their beat without having to worry about retribution in kind.
    (3) They can relive 1968 over and over, notwithstanding that 1968 is almost 50 years ago. Among their peers, they can eternally pretend that the problems of 1968 are the problems of now, whenever ‘now’ happens to be.
    (4) As retires they have both the time and money to attend cons in places most people do not normally go.
    (5) Coming of age at the time of the Apollo program, they have a deep well of optimism unavailable to later generations. To them ‘march of progress’ and ‘arc of history’ are tangible concepts and not a punch line.

  12. @James H. Burns: I was there, and I’m definitely under 40.

    @Edwin: Hi, Edwin! I have a full-time job. I read almost everything in the Hugo packet (didn’t make it to Best Fanzine), and a lot of it got no-awarded because it was pretty bad. “Totaled” was very good, so I put it above No Award.

    What sci-fi/fantasy books do you like? What are you reading now?

  13. (4) As retires they have both the time and money to attend cons in places most people do not normally go.

    My life for the last 30 years has been that I can have either time or money, but not both at once. I think people who do have both are fortunate.

  14. Hi Edwin! I’m not even close to retirement age and couldn’t possibly relive 1968 as I don’t remember it, nor do I have a ton of money. Like many of my friends, the way I afford Worldcon is by saving up my money for it and choosing not to spend it on some other things, because Worldcon is a very special event for me. I have to have a roommate, because I couldn’t afford the convention hotel on my own.

    Edwin: They can threaten the livelihoods of working stiffs who do not march to their beat without having to worry about retribution in kind.

    Please, tell me whose “livelihood was threatened”, and how?

  15. Andrew Trembley: There was a bit of ash Friday night, just not enough to produce a visible ashfall.

    I walked to the post office on Friday afternoon, in the smoky haze, with one of the crafters of EPH to mail the t-shirts to those who were unable to attend Sasquan. We were in there over an hour packing everything up and addressing it, and by the time we came out, we ended up walking all the way back in visibility of about 3 blocks, and very fine ash was falling around us.

    I was hacking so hard and so constantly by the time we made it back (no taxis drove by while we were walking that we could grab) that I had to go to my room and get out the albuterol inhaler I only have to use once or twice a year. Unfortunately, the hotel and convention center scrubbers could not keep up and the smoke smell had permeated both complexes — which meant sleeping in it that night. Things were better by the next morning, but I’m still coughing a lot right now, more than a week later.

    I’m sad about this, because I’ve been told that the Spokane Riverwalk is fantastic, and I was really looking forward to enjoying it.

    All kudos to the Sasquan staff, who this year had to cope with one hand of crap after another after another (the water went out in the hotel where the consuite was located, as well) being dealt to them. They did a great job.

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