Co-Geeking

A random assortment of memorable moments, thoughts, and quotes from our time at Worldcon 75 in Helsinki.

From the presentation: Crackpot Archaeology in Scandinavia by Martin Rundkvist

• One of the distinguishing traits of the crackpot is the insistence on finding meaning in every discernible pattern. To the crackpot, randomness is never acceptable.

(This is a particularly useful observation for me as a historian who works on areas and periods where we have extremely limited evidence. When evidence is so scarce, it is tempting to squeeze as much meaning as we can out of every text or artifact. Sometimes we just have to accept the randomness.)

From the workshop: Beyond the Great Wall of Europe: Worldbuilding for Non-European Settings by Jenn Lyons

• In this workshop, we were divided up into small groups and assigned to come up with various aspects of worldbuilding for a hypothetical fantasy world. The group assigned to government (which I was not part of) described a society of small scattered bands without permanent leadership who pull together in times of crisis and select a temporary leader. Their ideas were based on certain Native American societies of the northeastern woodlands and gave a fairly accurate description of how societies at that scale historically tended to operate. Some other folks in the room—including the workshop leaders—critiqued them based on a European colonial misunderstanding of native North American cultures.

(It was a good reminder of how difficult it can be, even with the best of intentions, to think ourselves out of Eurocentric traditions—and why it might have been a good idea to spend a little more time working through what we mean by “European.”)

From the panel: Non-Binary Representation with Nick Hubble, D Franklin, and Nino Cipri

• Non-binary characters in fiction written by binary authors have a tendency to feel like thought experiments rather than people.

From the panel: Editor’s Dream with Thoraiya Dyer, Masumi Washington, Katrina Archer, and Robert S. Malan

• Always follow the submission guidelines!

(As someone who has coordinated academic conferences, I cannot agree with this strongly enough!)

From the panel: Asexuality in SF with Todd Allis, Kat Kourbeti, and Jo Walton

• The portrayal of asexuality in fiction tends to be gendered. Female asexual characters are often portrayed as inexperienced, with the assumption that she will blossom into sexuality once she finds the right person, while male asexual characters are often portrayed as quirky, damaged, or focused on obsessions that leave no room for romantic love.

From the presentation: Logic of Empire: Economics of Colonialism in Fantastic Fiction by Jesper Stage

• North America in the age of European colonialism was a real post-apocalyptic setting, once European diseases had wiped out over 90% of the native population.

(I’ve never thought of it in those terms, but it’s one of the most apt descriptions I’ve ever heard.)

From a panel presenter whose name I didn’t catch, when the audience let him know they couldn’t hear him:

• “You’re different to English audiences; they just sit quietly and complain at the end.”

From the panel Loses Something in the Translation: Conveying Humor, Idioms, and Cultural Concepts across Languages with Gili Bar-Hilel, Shaoyan Hu, Elena Pavlova, Dirk van den Boom, and Mirka Sillanpää

A few choice quotes:

• “Writing something funny is actually very serious and hard work.”
• “Toilet jokes work in most languages”
• “As you know, Germans are not funny.”

From the panel: Fantasy Worldbuilding without Ableism with Fran Wilde, Marieke Nijkamp, Likhain, Nalo Hopkinson, and Leon Adams

• Disability can be a too-easy go-to for authors who want to make a hero “unlikely” without engaging with the reality of living with disability.
• What counts as a disability depends on context. Issues that are trivial to us, such as eyesight problems that are easily corrected with glasses, could be serious disabilities in a world without that technology. On the other hand, dyslexia, which is a challenge in the highly literate modern world, would be trivial in a world without writing.

How It Happens is an occasional feature looking at the inner workings of various creative efforts.

Our Worldcon 75 trip was a combination of a family visit and con activities. First we went to the north to see relatives, and the latter half of our visit we spent south in Helsinki. Although we were in town primarily to do the con, we did have a chance to visit family there, too, and enjoy some of Helsinki’s offerings, including some walking and eating at our favorite places.

Since it was a long trip and since our luggage needed to accommodate our clothes, presents for family, and books for the con, we needed to prepare more carefully than usual. I’ll share below some of our successful preparation strategies.

For more of our Worldcon 75 thoughts, check out the collected links page.

Accommodation sticker shock: Airbnb to the rescue

We tried Airbnb for the first time, because we knew we wanted to stay extra days in Helsinki both before and after the con and therefore hotel fares would’ve gotten hair-raisingly high. Fortunately, we managed to book an entire apartment in a quiet building about 10 minutes’ tram ride away from Messukeskus, with really considerate, friendly, and helpful hosts, plus in-building laundry, a neighborhood grocery store, all-round excellent transit connections and several restaurants in the vicinity.

Self-catering worked really well. Skipping a hotel meant also missing out on the fantastic, enormous hotel breakfasts, but we made hardy breakfasts ourselves. We also packed a few small ziplock bags for veggies and other finger food instead of buying overpriced snacks at Messukeskus.

Would I do it again: Yes. I would research the heck of the host(s), though, and pack cloth napkins to avoid using disposable ones at the flat.

Con notes: Add a folder

I typically keep notes of my con trips in small paper notebooks. In addition, I lug around a random assortment of A4 / letter-sized papers (notes on directions, restaurants, programming, etc.) folded and tucked into the notebook. At W75 I ended up picking up way more than my usual share of papers, though. For one, I was for some reason completely unprepared to get a bagful of freebies at registration, even though I knew we were going to get at least the pocket program and a souvenir book. (D’oh!)

Would I do it again: Yes, with improvements. I plan to continue using a small notebook for the actual note-taking, but upgrade to a letter-sized folder for the rest. Also, note to self: bring a few sheets of blank paper and maybe a Sharpie.

Day pack: Needs improvement

I traveled with a fairy sizeable day pack, because the trip was a long one and because Helsinki weather forecasts had looked unsettled and uncertain before we left the U.S. I tend to get cold easily, so I wanted carrying capacity for extra clothes, umbrella, water bottle, snacks, etc. Unfortunately, my backpack turned out too bulky for my comfort in the crowded Messukeskus corridors even when it was half-full.

Would I do it again: Probably not, unless I’m planning on cosplaying and need the space. I’m considering getting a smaller backpack (or maybe a cross-body bag) for my extra sweater, scarf, umbrella, book(s), and other bigger con gear, and using it with a small cross-body purse for faster access to water, snacks, pens, and notes.

Fun with flags: So. Many. Languages!

For the first Nordic worldcon, I wanted to flag myself as able (and delighted!) to function in more than one language, so I made myself a language tag to stick on my badge: Finnish and Swedish flags for my Nordic languages, and U.S. flag for American English. (I learned British English at school and at university, but I’ve since gone over to the dark side. Bwahahaha!) For good measure, I added my pronouns (she / they / hän).

Would I do it again: Yes, although I’d print out the flags instead of drawing them freehand. (Poor, butchered U.S. flag!) And make them larger. And as long as I’m including Swedish, I’d add those pronouns as well (hon / hen).

Introvert care: Off days between activity days

We’re both introverts. When planning this trip, we knew we were likely to feel overwhelmed, so we consciously scheduled introvert care days into our itinerary both before and after the con. Introvert time before the con was necessary, because our visit in the north was a whirwind of family meetings. And it was necessary after the con, because the thought of flying into one of the high-traffic airports in the U.S. in a tin can stuffed full of strangers, then standing in line for goodness knows how long in a room stuffed full of strangers in order to get a shuttle stuffed full of strangers, and, finally, exhausted, to find ourselves driving on roads stuffed full of strangers was just too much immediately after a five-day event—you guessed it—stuffed full of strangers.

Would I do it again: YES! I’m not sure I would’ve been able to do this trip without blocking off the no-people days.

Making many meetings succeed: Plan for a spot

I had heard through a Finnish contact that it’s very easy to lose track of people at a Messukeskus con. Although I have a Finland-compatible cell phone, Erik doesn’t, so we couldn’t count on being able to text each other updates during the times when we wanted to go our separate ways. So, after the Messkeskus floor plan was available, we found a spot that looked out of the way enough (to not clog any passageways) but easy to find and fast to get to. Each morning we’d go over our schedules and find at least one and preferably two times that we could meet at our spot to connect and re-plan if necessary. And if it should happen that we didn’t get into any programming we wanted, or didn’t feel like attending, or just had a change of heart and were available for doing things together again, our spot was where we’d find each other.

Would I do it again: Absolutely. We even arranged to meet my sister at our spot a few times.

Maintenance medications and time zones: Make it into a program item

Figuring out the proper time, in Finnish time, to take my maintenance medications was easy. However, I had the darnest time remembering to do it, until I wrote it in my personal con schedule. (Outside the con I had an alarm on my phone, but in Messukeskus I kept the phone on silent.)

Would I do it again: Yes! So easy! If it’s Saturday and 4 o’clock, it must be Food Lies panel and pill time.

Public transit pass for the win!

The W75 membership included a 5-day transit pass for the greater Helsinki area, and it was marvellous. It allowed for so many options for the week. About half the time we just used it to get to Messkeskus and back, but half the time we took additional trips.

Would I do it again: Yes, even if I had to pay for a weekly ticket myself.

Pre-prep is next to godliness: Following Worldcon 75 online

I’m a preparer. Even though I’m a Finn and have visited both Helsinki and Messukeskus before, I’ve been away from Finland long enough to know my local knowledge is partially outdated. I followed W75 on social media and read each and every one of their publications. (I didn’t mind possible overlap; the info put out through different channels varied to some extent and any repetitions were really easy to skip.) Just before the con, the W75 KonOpas / Grenadine guide / online program guide was hugely helpful for updates of new, deleted, or moved program items.

Would I do it again: Yes. And enthusiastically yes for any possible future worldcons, too.

Images: Eppu Jensen

How It Happens is an occasional feature looking at the inner workings of various creative efforts.