Renovation (WorldCon) 2011 Part One

So…WorldCon. How am I going to keep this post a reasonable length? Clearly, I’m breaking it into more than one :).

First of all, as some of you knew, I was supposed to get a tooth pulled the day before WorldCon started. Despite the toothache, I chose to delay a week so I could talk. Why is this relevant? Because besides tiring me out a bit, I hardly noticed the tooth. I was enjoying myself too much.

My WorldCon started at 9am on Wednesday with the TeachingSF program. Though not a traditional teacher, I have offered writing workshops in online venues for many years now, a good portion of which had speculative fiction aspects. This one-day program was geared toward current teachers from elementary to college who wanted to incorporate genre into their classrooms. I did not go to the whole program, but on my panel we touched on where to start; whether to focus on recent SF, foundation SF, or a mix; and how to use the way speculative fiction requires readers to be open to new ideas and cultures as a learning experience. It was an interesting discussion, and though I wish I’d brought handouts with some exercises I’ve used in the past, I think the participants got ideas that they can incorporate in their own curriculum.

One of the reasons I did not go to the whole TeachingSF program is because I had the pleasure of being on the first panel of the full convention, Welcome to Reno. I hope the folks who chose to attend got a better sense of Reno proper. It’s easy to develop a limited impression of the city when travelling between the conference center and two casinos that both had programming and the hotel rooms. However, our panel discussed the historical sites in the local area, the nature trails and where to find them both within the city limits and slightly further, shopping, dining, and fun activities. I can tell you I took notes for a bunch of places I had not discovered in my five years here. Apparently I need to go explore 4th Street, and Susan Palwick’s description of Pyramid Lake has made getting out there an imperative. I also got to see one online friend and meet another, though I’m not 100% sure we haven’t met before (darn Facebook for giving me a face to recognize ;)).

As is usual for conventions, half of the panels I wanted to attend were either when I was on a panel or all at the same time. Since my interests are too varied for the programming to do this deliberately ;), I have to say the world is against me…of course every con goer seems to feel the same, so that really represents how much of the programming piqued my interest.

I settled on Designing Believable Physics, which devolved into a conflict of views on string theory and quantum mechanics. This meant I did not learn anything I could use in my SF, but it was an education in the difference between how science is taught and the reality of science.

Which reminds me of another of the TeachingSF panels I went to on Scientific Literacy in which Stephen Potts made the statement I appreciate above all others. I wish I’d written it down, but in paraphrase it was something to the effect of teaching science should be teaching a way of thinking and approaching learning as opposed to a collection of facts. This resonates with me because in my lifetime I have seen scientific “fact” become a “belief” that was later disproved too many times, and one of the reasons I respect Stephen Hawking because he honored his bet when it turns out black holes do release something…X-rays.

In between, I walked through the dealer’s room looking for The Way of the Wizard (which I didn’t find) and delighting in the artwork, books, and other items in the room.

Every once in a while, my brain was full, so I stopped at the gathering tables and caught up with Deirdre from BayCon, talked to folks in the green room, and ended the day going out to dinner with my husband, Colin Fisk, and Jed Hartman (who was a friend of Colin’s from high school).

Now that was just the first day. Did I mention this will be long? I have much more I want to mention, and I know I’m forgetting things that will come back to me over the next few weeks…when I get some more sleep…but for now, I will stop here and post some more tomorrow. I hope I have successfully left you with the impression of WorldCon as wonderful, fun, stimulating, and amazing. This was my first WorldCon, and also the first where all four (plus my older sister and my son’s fiancee) of my family went to a con together. However, we’re contemplating making this our family vacation.

So, did you come? What was your impression? Or what are your fond memories of previous WorldCons?

This entry was posted in Appearances/Interviews, Conventions, Education, News, Science and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Renovation (WorldCon) 2011 Part One

  1. I saw the second half of the “Welcome to Reno” panel, and did not even make the connection between your name tag and who you actually are until after the panel when Erin introduced us. My excuse is that it had been a long and frustrating drive from Sacramento to the con.

    If I may plug my own website, I blogged about my own reactions here.

    • MarFisk says:

      Hugs on the frustrations, but I go past Sacramento a couple times a year. Maybe we can meet for coffee someday.

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