There's Klingons off the starboard bow
Actually, now that you mention it (well, now that *I* mention it), I didn't see one klingon costume at the World Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention last weekend. Perhaps they're passee. The crowd was definitely a bit older and more hardcore than other scifi conventions I've attended. I attribute that to the cost of getting in the door. Most of the teenagers seemed like second generation fans attending with their families. WorldCon is the longest (5 days), biggest (5K+ attendees) convention with the most impressive panelists. It also gets to host the Hugo Awards, which were pretty funny.
I enjoyed panels on Interstellar drives, the future of computers, the future of government, the future of sex and sexual morality (and felt I could have done that panel better), unexpected catastrophes, nanotechnology (seperating hype from likelihood), and some others. I didn't attend as much of the Filking as at Baycon, but did cruise more parties and bumped into some interesting conversations and some people I hadn't seen in awhile.
Mostly, though, it was a smart-people convention. Fandom is fine and all, but I really found myself just wanting to be around many flavors of smart, and being reminded what that's like when imaginations really get rolling. That part was what was most exciting for me to do and be.
I enjoyed panels on Interstellar drives, the future of computers, the future of government, the future of sex and sexual morality (and felt I could have done that panel better), unexpected catastrophes, nanotechnology (seperating hype from likelihood), and some others. I didn't attend as much of the Filking as at Baycon, but did cruise more parties and bumped into some interesting conversations and some people I hadn't seen in awhile.
Mostly, though, it was a smart-people convention. Fandom is fine and all, but I really found myself just wanting to be around many flavors of smart, and being reminded what that's like when imaginations really get rolling. That part was what was most exciting for me to do and be.