Meme-Free Zone

Some histories of science fiction claim that the first SF convention was held in Philadelphia in autumn 1936. That was actually an impromptu gathering of fans, not an organized convention, and the first real convention was held in the UK a few months later, in Leeds in January 1937.

But it turns out that there's another event that can make a reasonable claim to have priority over both - in 1891! The Vril-Ya Bazaar and Fete was basically a media con way ahead of its time, held in London's Royal Albert Hall in March 1891. The media in question was Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel Vril: The Power of The Coming Race, first published in 1871. The Bazaar was a charity event set up to raise money for a hospital, and lasted several days. The fete included cosplay, jugglers, magic acts, and much more. It wasn't a huge success, and didn't really pave the way for later fandom, but it could be an interesting event to throw into a game set in this period.

An overview of the earliest SF conventions

The Vril-Ya Bazaar and Fete

Video about the event

The programme for the event (PDF)
Courtesy of Royal Albert Hall Archive. Ref. RAHE/1/1891/5

Many thanks to Rob Hanson for bringing this to my attention.

Just got my draft schedule for Worldcon programme items. Can't see any problems so far:

Fanfiction Through The Decades - Friday 12:00 - 13:00

Fanfiction as it is broadly understood began with Kirk and Spock. In the first years it was relatively hard to come by unless you moved in the right circles; most people had no idea it even existed. Today it is not unusual for it to be discussed in the mainstream media. Over the decades not only has the ease and accessibility of fanfiction increased but so to has the variety of material that inspires it, the type of stories written, and the styles they are written in. In this drop-in session we will revisit long since forgotten fandoms and encounter new ones while exploring the literary changes in fanfiction. During the session you can try and guess when a story was written and from what fandom it came, discuss the evolution and changes in fanfiction with the experienced readers and writers of fanfiction or simply read some of the stories we will have on hand.

Erin Horakova, Jo Charman, Katherine Jay, Maree Pavletich, Marcus Rowland, Douglas Spencer, Katharine Woods, JY Yang

Lifecycles of Fans and Fandoms - Friday 19:00 - 20:00

When you first became a fan were you 10, 15, 20? Did you assume that 10, 20, 40 years later you would no longer be a fan or did you think that you would be a fan, just for different things or doing different kinds of fan activities? In this session we will ask these questions as well as explore the lifecycles of fandoms themselves. Do fandoms repeat the same patterns as they burst alive and fade out or is this a false impression? Why do fan groups like ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha stay so vibrant while others get forgotten? As well as exploring these questions we will consider the implications of the overlap between fans and fandoms at different life stages and the impact of fannish longevity on inter-generational relations.

Marcus Rowland, Karen Hellekson, Jean Lorrah, Douglas Spencer, Jennifer Zwahr-Castro PhD

Interplanetary Artillery - Saturday 21:00 - 22:00

Wells' aliens, Verne guns. How might they work?

Bill Higgins, Jordin Kare, Henry Spencer, Marcus Rowland, G. David Nordley

Writing Roleplaying Games - Sunday 12:00 - 13:30

Panel version - how to design an engaging TRPG.

Melinda Snodgrass, Colin Harvey, Helena Nash, Emma Newman, Marcus Rowland, Lauren M. Roy


Some familiar names there, and some I don't know at all, but they all look like panels I can actually take part in without looking too much of an idiot.

Just thought I'd update on my plans for The Continuum RPG con. I'll be running adventures for Elvis: The Legendary Tours and The Original Flatland RPG - but I should mention that they're based on outlines I've previously posted to this livejournal and are in the published games. Also possibly something for Forgotten Futures, but since I'm still at the "WTF am I going to do instead of Thorne Smith" stage with that I'm not sure what it will be.

I'm booked to give one talk on Saturday evening - this will be the "What I'm doing these days" thing, maybe brainstorming a third Dianaverse book and/or the next Forgotten Futures if there's time and inspiration strikes. I may possibly be on other things but nobody has bothered to tell me yet...

Finally, a bit of news for anyone who was bracing themselves for WWWithdrawal symptoms at the con - I've had confirmation that the con site has free WiFi in public areas, though apparently the quality of the connection is variable. I suspect that there may be network sockets too, but nobody has said so. I'll have my iBook with me, if anyone wants to use it to get on line for a few minutes when I'm not using it just let me know.