Balticon 50 - A Bit of New Media History
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted something, several months, actually. There are many reasons why, but rather than focus on the why I’d rather just jump back in if you don’t mind. Today’s topic: Balticon 50!
This year was a big year for Balticon. This year Balticon turned 50. For a convention of any kind to hit the big 5-0 is an achievement. For a relatively small, volunteer run convention that has done a great deal to enhance the world of literary SciFi/Fantasy it is huge. Yes, I will admit I am a bit biased, but there are reasons.
I attended one of my first Balticon in the early 1990s. I am pretty sure my first Balticon was in 1994 when the Guest of Honor was Mercedes Lackey. I went for a day, hung out with Ms. Lackey and her husband, Larry Dixon, and thought I would never go again. I was wrong. In 1996 I went for an entirely different reason – work.
1996 was Balticon’s 30th anniversary. It was also the second year I worked for AOL. I was producer for the SciFi/Fantasy message board – a board I was turning into a much larger member area, hoping to attract writers from the newly defunct Genie and give them a space to interact with their fans in a manner much like Balticon. My goal for the day I was there was to hand out as many AOL t-shirts as I could and try to convince Robert Jordan to come play in this new Realm we were creating. Mr. Jordan didn’t bite, but so many other creators did.
While waiting to talk with Mr. Jordan, I wandered into a single panel. It was more than slightly large – it was an incredibly large panel. The draw for me was the title: “Where to Find Science Fiction and Fantasy Online”. So I stepped in only to be completely disappointed. The ladies on the panel, and it was all ladies, knew that there might be discussions about SciFi/Fantasy out there somewhere, but it wasn’t AOL for sure and that’s it. We were doing so much more. I couldn’t keep my hand down I had to say something. That short answer turned into the panelists realizing I had actual knowledge and asking me to join them on the platform. That was the first time I saw that Balticon was looking at new forms of media to find content and I was happy about that.
Fast-forward a few years. It’s now 2008 and we drive up as a family to spend a single day with a friend I hadn’t met in person yet. During the day I spent getting reacquainted with Balticon I realized that a lot had changed. Specifically there was now a track called New Media content. There were panels on websites, message boards, social media, and podcasting. The thing that struck me so much about this group was that it was a family. They were kind, happy to see each other, eager even. I wondered what it would take for me to become part of that group.
It wasn’t until I joined the New Media world officially that I became a part of that family. For me it is joyous and a bit ironic that what started with a single panel I was called to join would eventually, with what I am sure was a lot of work, become such a tight knit group of creators working on their individual projects as well as projects with friends who might live a full continent away from them.
I am thrilled to be a part of the Balticon New Media Community today in 2016 just as I was thrilled to be there when it started it’s infancy during a panel twenty years prior.
It’s one of those circular experiences that only Balticon can give you, like the burst of energy you have after you go, and I am glad it did. I wouldn’t trade this family of the heart and creative energy for anything. Photo of Insomniacs Theater - Midnight Stories by Tori Duke @Balticon 50
