The World is Burning but at Least I Have AC

 The online Nebula Conference was amazing. Ok, so the lack of face-to-face meant that some things were odd or different, but other things were actually better than a "regular" convention. The tech backbone of the convention was run on Zoom, with panels and major events broadcast as a live feed (that is also available to replay after the fact), with a live chat stream for watchers (not available after-the-fact). The social side was also run on zoom as a single chat with several dozen "breakout rooms" which were were everything actually happened. On entry and membership confirmation, everyone was given a "portkey" (i.e., made a co-host) so that they could navigate between the breakout rooms at will. You could see who was in which breakout room, so you could join specific people, or group sizes. The breakout rooms were also used for "hey, let's continue the discussion after this panel" groups. And there were quiet rooms where you could just go park your account so you didn't have to ask for re-entry when you activated again. It was an amazing set-up. There was also a Slack for the conference which was very active.

While there were two "book room" functions (one to order books directly through an online bookshop, one for people to post links to their books) I don't know how much activity they saw. I don't think the Nebulas usually as a dealers' room (there wasn't anything equivalent set up) so it would be interesting to hear how the other recent online conventions did on that front.

I'm feeling a lot more optimistic about how online Worldcon will come off (as well as definitely committing to contributing time on the volunteer side, since there's a lot of behind the scenes action to keep things running smoothly).

One aspect that was better-than-in-person for me was that the breakout-room socializing offered the best aspects of a bar-con without the high ambient noise levels that normally drive me away within an hour or two. I also found there was an unexpected democratizing effect of the zoom platform. Dropping into a breakout room is an on/off thing, so there isn't that thing where you hang out on the fringes of a group hoping someone will catch your eye and invite you in. You're in, and you have equal visual weight with the other participants. There is something of a size limit above which conversational dynamics get weird. And the functionality of zoom (and similar apps) means that a constant, high-overlap talker can not only behaviorally monopolize a room, but can acoustically monopolize the system. (I confess that I took note of a small set of names that I started avoiding in the rooms because they tended to monopolize even in small groups.) The chat function (including private messages to specific people) balance that to some extent because you can't get "talked over" in chat.

A couple other aspects that are better-than-in-person. Greater control over your meals, both in content and timing. (I had food delivered for the two dinners, and had pre-prepared salads for lunches.) People were encouraged to meet up in breakout rooms to share meals, though I didn't really find people doing that as a deliberate thing. No travel fatigue! A very short distance from the programming/parties to your bed. (One could, in theory, continue in the chat rooms after going to bed...)

Convention exhaustion was about the same, with the benefits of being able to step away easily if necessary being balanced out by the extra drain of zoom interactions. The geographic accessibility of the online venue was balanced out by many participants being many time zones off from the official schedule. (You could set your time zone in the log-on so that programming would be displayed with your local time.) The greater accessibility was noticeable, meaning that many people could attend where it not only would have been a time+money burden to travel to the conference, but travel restrictions and currency conversion rates would have made attending functionally impossible in the Before Times. There was evidently a significant contingent logging in from India, though time zones were a burden.

Time zones won't be too awful for me for Worldcon, I think. I'm only 5 hours ahead (minus a whole day) of New Zealand, so if I can train myself to stay up a bit past midnight for the week, it'll be manageable. On the other hand, Europe will be more or less flipped in terms of night/day. (I've been running this fantasy in my head about Worldcon becoming a permanently online convention. It would democratize a lot of aspects. But rotating through time zones would be necessary to make things fair overall.)

One aspect I thought about that didn't affect me directly is that I think it would be hard to be an award finalist for an online convention. Somehow sitting there alone in your home office and experiencing it only through a screen doesn't feel like it would be the same. (On the other hand, not all finalists are able to attend awards ceremonies, so ... shrug.)

In any event, lots of thinky thoughts and very excited to see how this new flavor of convention develops as a Thing.

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In non-convention updates, my garden has burst into productivity. The berries are going full speed. I'm just about to harvest my tart's worth of cherries. There are two (at least) apricots ripening. And while my back was turned, the tomatoes are setting and demanding that I set up supports, and I have zucchinis! Amazing! WIthout even trying, I have zucchinis this year. Also I seem to have figure the trick to not having the basil bolt. (Lots of water and shade at least half the day. The eggplants are thinking strongly about flowering and may be similarly productive.

The new home office feels like it's going to work. The weather cooled off just as I was setting it up last week, and I found that I could manage excellent temperature control simply by leaving the window open and setting up the large fan in the doorway (which also served to remind the cats to keep out until I picked up a baby-gate to serve the function). That seems to work as long as the temperature doesn't get higher than around 80F This week it's warming up again so I can test it better. Today the high was in the mid-90s. I started out with the window open and no fan. After my mid-morning break, I turned on the fan and closed half the curtain to keep the direct sunlight out. Before heading out for my bike ride, I closed the window entirely and closed the door. After lunch, I turned on the fan but kept the window closed. Mid-afternoon, I closed the door and turned on the AC. That schedule keep me comfortable all day. For 100+ days, I'd need to shut the window earlier and would probably start the AC when I left on my bike ride. It'll be hard to judge how much electricity load the AC pulls because working from home is already increasing consumption significantly. (Though the cost difference is still much less than what I'm not spending on gas.)

I did some more measuring and graphing and have determined that a serious rearrangement of bedroom furniture is out (since I'm not willing to have the bed snugged up against two walls). So the wardrobe will simply go where the cedar chest used to be. This means I'll need some other place to toss the clothes that I've worn but aren't ready to go in the laundry yet, but so far the rail at the foot of the bed is serving.

The cats have been bemused by all the furniture moving. They were intrigued at the possibility of exploring the office but since I want to keep it cat-free for its guestroom function, they've been discouraged. (See reference to baby gate. Also, the door would only be open when I'm in there.)

And though it should not need to be said, yet this is the world we live in: Black Lives Matter.