Chicon 8, the 2022 Worldcon, has posted Progress Report #5, which is available for the public to download from their website. It contains detailed information from many departments. Here are a few excerpts.
VOLUNTEERS. Hundreds of in-person volunteers are needed – check out Volunteer Opportunities. They also are looking for Virtual volunteers. See Volunteering – Chicon 8.
Virtual C8 also needs volunteers – consult the same links shown above.
Chicon 8 is creating a fantastic virtual experience, Virtual C8, with a robust program track, static exhibits, meeting spaces, and, of course, parties! We are looking for volunteers to assist with it. If you are attending virtually and want to lend a hand, we want to talk to you. There will be virtual volunteer rewards! If you are attending virtual program items and can assist with running them, why not watch, participate, and get rewarded for it?
MEMBERSHIP. Progress Report #5 summarizes Chicon 8’s membership demographics as of July 9, 2022. These include country breakouts, and a U.S. map with state-by-state numbers.
However, the Chicon 8 financial report in the 2022 WSFS Agenda has even more recent figures, with a membership count as of July 31, 2022.
- ATTENDING: Adult Attending 2,251; First Worldcon Attending 875; Young Adult (18-24) Attending 81; Teen (14-17) Attending 41; Child (10-13) Attending 30; Kid-in-Tow Attending 30.
- TOTAL ATTENDING: 3,308
- VIRTUAL: 245
- SUPPORTING: 1,491
- GRAND TOTAL: 5,044
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Chicon says they are not publishing Progress Reports “for environmental reasons.” What does this mean for people who don’t have smartphones?
Martin Wooster asks Chicon says they are not publishing Progress Reports “for environmental reasons.” What does this mean for people who don’t have smartphones?
Almost everyone has a computer. Or tablet. Or both.
Yes, it’s so-o-o easy to carry a desktop computer around with you at a convention…
Will there be a printed-out Chicon Archive for the benefit of Future Fannish Scholarship?
Location TBD?
John Lorentz says Yes, it’s so-o-o easy to carry a desktop computer around with you at a convention…
So you don’t have a portable computer or a tablet? If you don’t, the hotel does that you can use. Seriously you don’t have a smartphone, a portable computer or a tablet? Really?
Believe it or not, I’m actually capable of thinking of other people besides myself. (For the record, I had a laptop, tablet and smartphone at DC last year, but then my income then was in the upper 10% of US incomes.) (I’m retired now.)
By require a smartphone or tablet to know what’s going on at a convention (a laptop is not really practical to be carrying around a convention), you’re raising barriers that prevent people from participating.
Cat Eldridge: No. I don’t carry around a tablet or a portable computer. I have a flip phone to tell people I’m late or in emergencies. And when I’m sitting on a bus or the subway I read PRINTED READING MATTER. You know–books.
WHY do I HAVE to be constantly connected to the Internet at all times? And why can’t there be at the very least printed programs on a wall for those of us who don’t want to constantly stare at screens?
I hate to interrupt a good Fannish argument, but has anyone noticed that Chicon 8 said ‘Progress Reports’ NOT ‘Con Programs’? I’ve attended many Cons over the decades and carry a Con Program Book/ Daily Schedule with me at the Con, but not usually the Prog reports. Most Cons also have a place to get printed and view printed daily schedules, even if it is the Hotel Business office to print one out on the spot. I assume there are ADA issues that require Cons to address both physical accessibility and Con info access.
That being said, I may be fortunate enough to own electronic devices, but I understand that may people do not, either because of financial OR vision issues. I don’t mock or shame them for it, just sympathize with the increasing difficulty operating in a world that is moving toward operating mostly online.
https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/reports/broadband-progress-reports/eighth-broadband-progress-report#:~:text=
I know con-goers other than Martin who go to cons without anything electronic besides a flip phone (generally turned off).
Well, today I went to the county fair and read two-thirds of a FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. I supposes I should have spent this time staring at a screen.
I do hope the Chicon concom at least has the pocket program posted in a place where people can read it!
Seconding the observation that progress reports aren’t programmes.
I’ve been to Worldcons while I was technically homeless and/ or unemployed. Any phone I’ve had access to was a free government phone. These days, that would be the cheapest smartphone available. I have a Kindle that I’ve hacked to get Google Play, but that also means, everything is very slow, clunky, and with no guarantee that any given app will work at all.
Because I am also hard of hearing, this may force me to buy a new device, so I can both read a program online, and have real time captions, because I also did not auto-magically learn sign language or lip reading as I became more hard of hearing. I have hearing aids, yes. But y’all still sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher to me. Worse when all y’all talk at once. Even an app ain’t gonna help with that.
Oh, the irony, once again, of hearing (pun intended) about an event that is all inclusive, and welcoming to people with disabilities, not actually providing…
Also, because I have been ahem residence challenged for so long, I have lots and lots of time, but not lots of money. Guess who’s been volunteering to help these cons keep running? You’re welcome?