Nine Worlds [Public]
Running the fanfic track at Nine Worlds 2013 was the hardest, most satisfying work I've ever done. When I wrote an impassioned email to Ludi back at the start of this year, begging to be allowed to run the stream, I had no idea what I was taking on. I haven't done much but work and con this year. But it was worth every late night, every slippery deadline, every bleary morning, every declined invitation, every time I had to ask someone to repeat themselves. It was worth all those things, and much more.
The people I've been working with have inspired me, supported me, taken care of and helped me in ways I didn't know existed. I hope that many of them will be friends for life. I'd be lost without them now. I am a different (and much better) person for knowing them.
Standing in the lobby of the Ren on Saturday, seeing it filled with such a diverse bunch of people, was one of the best experiences of my life. Let's be clear about this. I've been to Ringcon, Redemption, various comic cons and expos, conferences, ten Eastercons, a slash convention and a Worldcon, and I have never seen anything like that. Ever.
We did pretty well on our track. We were fairly diverse in terms of sexuality, we didn't do too badly on race (though it could have been better), and gender was more diverse than one might expect on a fanfic stream. Our joint items were raving successes, and people flitted in and out of the stream, or stuck with it, as it took their fancy.
One thing I was delighted with personally was the way the professional authors (and others) responded to the fanfic track. As well as Roz Kaveney, Kari Sperring and Una McCormack appearing on a panel about fanfic and professional writing, Stephanie Saulter turned up at the tea party to find out about us. Several more authors came to our programme items, and Jenni Hill rather wonderfully came along to one of our writing workshops after running All The Books all weekend. Jaime and Ollie also found the time to come to one of our early morning discussions. It means so much to me to be taken seriously like this. I knew I'd found my people when we discussed fanfic seriously (and sillily) in the early planning meetings; I just didn't know there were so many of those people.
I know that there were problems, both on the track and with the con as a whole. We're taking a break right now, but the issues will be addressed, and improvements made next year. We are not complacent. Many, many notes have been made.
I also know that I fucked up badly on the Problematic Issues panel. I said something really stupid, regretted it instantly, and threw myself so badly that I lost control of the discussion. I should have apologised straight away, but I second-guessed myself and genuinely didn't know what to do. I still don't, to be honest. But I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been on that panel in the first place. I won't be next year.
One thing I am proud of though is that we ran that panel at all. It would be easy to duck the issues; pretend they don't exist. And if we don't talk about them, they'll get worse. So, we'll try, and we'll keep trying, and hope that we get it as right as possible. We have a great team of people to help us improve. And we meant it when we asked for feedback and suggestions. fanfic@nineworlds.co.uk is the place to write to.
We've already had some great follow-up and feedback with our panellists and attendees. I'm confident we'll have a bigger team next year, which means less stress on individuals and hopefully an even better programme. But for this year, a big thank you to the Hive Mind (Ludi, Erich and Dan), Tori, Sian, Andy, Jenni H, Jenni G, Ollie, Jaime and the other stream heads, Sarah, Kath, Steph, Emma, John, Carrie, Lindsey & the amazing tech crew, Misha (who saved me from the edge of breakdown on more occasions than he probably knows), Amy, and of course Tanya (couldn't and wouldn't have done it without you!), Berlynn, and the unexpected but very welcome helper Hazel. And my lovely husband Tony, who appeared on no less than five programme tracks (including fanfic). And everyone else who spoke, organised, rearranged chairs, drank tea, ate cupcakes, brought fanart, tidied, presented, sampled the brain bleach and retcon, participated, wrote, laughed, discussed, and joined in with the track and the con. I loved working with you all and I can't wait for next year. Well, I can wait a bit. Until I've had some more sleep, at least.
The people I've been working with have inspired me, supported me, taken care of and helped me in ways I didn't know existed. I hope that many of them will be friends for life. I'd be lost without them now. I am a different (and much better) person for knowing them.
Standing in the lobby of the Ren on Saturday, seeing it filled with such a diverse bunch of people, was one of the best experiences of my life. Let's be clear about this. I've been to Ringcon, Redemption, various comic cons and expos, conferences, ten Eastercons, a slash convention and a Worldcon, and I have never seen anything like that. Ever.
We did pretty well on our track. We were fairly diverse in terms of sexuality, we didn't do too badly on race (though it could have been better), and gender was more diverse than one might expect on a fanfic stream. Our joint items were raving successes, and people flitted in and out of the stream, or stuck with it, as it took their fancy.
One thing I was delighted with personally was the way the professional authors (and others) responded to the fanfic track. As well as Roz Kaveney, Kari Sperring and Una McCormack appearing on a panel about fanfic and professional writing, Stephanie Saulter turned up at the tea party to find out about us. Several more authors came to our programme items, and Jenni Hill rather wonderfully came along to one of our writing workshops after running All The Books all weekend. Jaime and Ollie also found the time to come to one of our early morning discussions. It means so much to me to be taken seriously like this. I knew I'd found my people when we discussed fanfic seriously (and sillily) in the early planning meetings; I just didn't know there were so many of those people.
I know that there were problems, both on the track and with the con as a whole. We're taking a break right now, but the issues will be addressed, and improvements made next year. We are not complacent. Many, many notes have been made.
I also know that I fucked up badly on the Problematic Issues panel. I said something really stupid, regretted it instantly, and threw myself so badly that I lost control of the discussion. I should have apologised straight away, but I second-guessed myself and genuinely didn't know what to do. I still don't, to be honest. But I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been on that panel in the first place. I won't be next year.
One thing I am proud of though is that we ran that panel at all. It would be easy to duck the issues; pretend they don't exist. And if we don't talk about them, they'll get worse. So, we'll try, and we'll keep trying, and hope that we get it as right as possible. We have a great team of people to help us improve. And we meant it when we asked for feedback and suggestions. fanfic@nineworlds.co.uk is the place to write to.
We've already had some great follow-up and feedback with our panellists and attendees. I'm confident we'll have a bigger team next year, which means less stress on individuals and hopefully an even better programme. But for this year, a big thank you to the Hive Mind (Ludi, Erich and Dan), Tori, Sian, Andy, Jenni H, Jenni G, Ollie, Jaime and the other stream heads, Sarah, Kath, Steph, Emma, John, Carrie, Lindsey & the amazing tech crew, Misha (who saved me from the edge of breakdown on more occasions than he probably knows), Amy, and of course Tanya (couldn't and wouldn't have done it without you!), Berlynn, and the unexpected but very welcome helper Hazel. And my lovely husband Tony, who appeared on no less than five programme tracks (including fanfic). And everyone else who spoke, organised, rearranged chairs, drank tea, ate cupcakes, brought fanart, tidied, presented, sampled the brain bleach and retcon, participated, wrote, laughed, discussed, and joined in with the track and the con. I loved working with you all and I can't wait for next year. Well, I can wait a bit. Until I've had some more sleep, at least.