Under normal circumstances, I would have spent this past weekend at Norwescon, running around a hotel and getting up to all sorts of geeky shenanigans with ~2,000 of my closest friends. Of course, these are not normal circumstances, so that didn’t happen.
Instead, the party moved online, taking place mostly in the Norwescon Facebook Group, with lots of people posting past costumes, planned costumes, memories of cons past, or silly updates on what they were doing at the con that wasn’t happening. And all in all, it ended up being a pretty good weekend, with lots of community silliness keeping all of our respective spirits up.
I made a point of posting at least once a day on both my personal pages and in the group, starting things off in group each the morning with a photo post asking people what their convention outfits were that day. Here’s my “Norwescan’t” experience this year…
Day 0: Wednesday Should be finishing packing, heading to the hotel, and assisting with setup before the volunteer social and Wednesday evening shenanigans.
Hey all! Though I wasn’t in the DJ lineup for this year, I have been a few times in the past. One of the ways I’m keeping myself entertained during these days of being at home is live streaming DJ sessions weekly over Twitch, and this week, in honor of Norwescon, I have lined up a selection of geeky tunes to play. You’re all invited to a special Norwescon-in-absentia broadcast, this Saturday morning at 10 a.m.!
Day 1: Thursday Using my #nwc40 mug and wearing my #nwc42 “Don’t Panic” shirt and all-purpose NWC hoodie, because though I’m seeing more “I miss con” posts this morning, we will be back! Though today should have been the GOH banquet and Opening Ceremonies, those will come again.
Oooh! Inspired by Ceresa O’Bryan’s post: What’s your Thursday outfit? This could be Thursday cosplay from Norwescons past, what you had planned for today at con, or even just what you’re wearing today (and hey, that could be cosplay too)!
For me, as I don’t do much on the cosplay side, today I’m wearing my Norwescon hoodie and last year’s “Don’t Panic” staff shirt, as a gentle reminder to myself that this is unfortunate, but we will be back!
Day 2: Friday The Philip K. Dick Awards is one of my favorite events each year, and once again, I’ve read all of the nominated works. And I don’t even have to miss the ceremonies this year, as they’ve moved online! 7 p.m. tonight!
Friday outfit check! As with yesterday, cosplay isn’t one of my strengths, so it’s a t-shirt. But for today, one chosen in honor of tonight’s Philip K. Dick Awards, which we’ve moved online so we can still present the award! As I do every year, I’ve read all the nominated works, so I’m really looking forward to seeing who wins. Join us tonight (and if you’ve never come to the awards, because of panels or evening costume prep or parties or other things, what a great chance this is to get a peek at this part of the convention)!
So, after all that rambling – what’s your Friday outfit choice?
Settling in to watch the Philip K. Dick Awards, with our dessert of choice!
And it’s done! Congratulations to Sarah Pinsker and Sarah Tolmie for your wins!
And thanks to the crew who put the presentation together – great job, everyone!
Day 3: Saturday No masquerade and dance tonight? No problem! Getting all set up to stream a set of geeky tunes on my Twitch channel in about 45 minutes. Keeping the con spirit alive!
Saturday outfit check-in!
Just because cosplay isn’t one of my strengths doesn’t mean I totally ignore it! It’s Saturday, so in lieu of the usual Masquerade and dance, I dug out my budget Thor getup this morning, and will be streaming a DJ set of geeky dance tunes starting in about 40 minutes on Twitch!What’s your outfit for today (or convention Saturdays in the past)?
Day 4: Sunday Normally a mix of “why can’t life always be like this?” and “I just want to sleep in my own bed”. Today, I’m incredibly grateful to all in my NWC family who have made this weekend better than it could have been, with much online silliness.
Sunday outfit check-in! What is your final-day-of-con sartorial choice?
Today, it’s my sparklegoth NWC shirt, because the show must go on!
I want to give my sincere thanks to all of you here in the NWC community who have been posting silly threads, costume photos old and new, and generally helping keep the family spirits up and make this weekend a better one than it might otherwise have been.
I look forward to seeing you all as soon as it can safely be arranged, and of course, wandering the hotel halls at Norwescon next year. In the meantime, live long and prosper. 🖖
Well, I didn’t get to hand any of these out this year, but that just means I‘ll still have plenty for next year!
I hand this one out starting on Saturday. You don’t actually have to have literally all the ribbons (that’s impossible), but you do have to have a pretty decent collection to get this one – but I judge on a sliding scale, where it’s harder for ConCom members to get one (because we often have a definite advantage), and much easier for those newer fans of single or early-double digit ages.
How’s your ribbon game? Are you a collector? Do you bring some to hand out or trade? Are ribbons just not your thing? Or are you Barbara? 😉
In the fun little world of our virtual online con, what’s your favorite of the ribbons you might have gotten this year?
If you weren’t able to listen in live on Twitch on Saturday morning, here’s the audio from my “Norwescan’t” DJ set — 90 minutes of geeky dancing fun!