(no subject)

[eldabe]

I'm at the Arisia virtual con this weekend, and it's not my first virtual con (FanWorks con, which, to be fair, is MUCH smaller) and I'm actually really impressed by the way Arisia did this. There's a landing page where you can go quickly to the schedule which links to every panel "room," and VERY easy links to a help desk and safety desk, and an easy link to the dealer's corner....and it's just very pleasant and well-put-together while still being a little dorky and clearly made by fans.

The Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog fan performance thingy last night was done on a streaming page where they had a frame set up to look like a theater which made me think of the MST3K theater which was the exact balance of clever, fun, and dorky.

I don't know if it's perfect for everyone and I do miss the con "atmosphere" because it's not quite the same at home. But honestly, I'm really impressed and I'm much more inclined to try out virtual cons after this.

Comments

[sdelmonte]

I am glad it went well, but we skipped it because it would have been too expensive for both of us to go. I am in fact rather annoyed that they charged anything given how many virtual cons have been free or only asked for donations. They don't even attempt to explain why this needed to charge. Never mind that the filk...I am sorry, the music track was really bad without a single concert.

[eldabe]

:( :( :(

I do wish they had been a little more public about the pricing decisions, the back-end communication was pretty unclear. I will say that Boskone is the same price, so maybe it's a local scene decision?

I did not see that re: the filk track, I'm sorry! I will say it wasn't like, a super immersive con. I ended up being ok with it, but I can imagine some people being upset at the price, especially if they aren't gamers (which seemed like the most robust track).

How have other cons been? How have the free ones been run so far?

[sdelmonte]

The idea that Arisia and Boskone picked the same price based on each other is rather funny, given that the two cons were initially rivals and that there is still a big difference between them (with Arisia being the more inclusive and younger con, and Boskone being rather stodgy). The weird thing is that Boskone has a rather top notch guest list and I think the fee is actually paying for bigger name writers to appear. While Arisia might just need the money for legal fees.

Arisia has a very strange track record in terms of filk. Some years there is a vigorous filk track, others anything but, and they never call it filk. One reason of many that we go to Boskone instead. (I like stodgy.)

The only online con I attended to any degree that wasn't a filk con was Balticon. But I was there mainly as a participant. And something was missing by having interaction only through chat. I will probably offer to participate again, but I haven't really felt much desire to attend as part of the audience. But we have been to several online filk events, many under the rubric of "The Festival of the Living Rooms," and that has been great. It helps that there is a form of open filking and that we can see everyone's faces.

[eldabe]

I know! I think you must have been the one to tell me the history of Arisia and Boskone, because I was surprised that Boskone had a con promotion thread/chat/thing in the Arisia discord, which is how I found out about the same price points.

I would actually love a nice stodgy con, but none of their panels drew me in. I'm going to check back later, when they said they will have the panels finalized. ♥ (And why don't people call filk "filk?" It's such a weird phenomenon and it's not unique to Arisia.)

I will say that interactions through chat do leave a lot to be desired. It's not nearly the same. Although it did have its moments.

How does open filking work digitally? Does the lag affect singing together, or do you stick with the round-table-taking-turns mode?

[sdelmonte]

There are two modes for filking. The first is concerts, which work like panels, but usually the members of the audience can see each other and the performer can see the audience. The second is the open filk, where someone serves as moderator. People in Zoom raise their hands and the mod keeps track of who is next and controls all the microphones as a host or co-host.

For the most part, it's a lot of solo performances with the occasion couple who live together. There is apparently software that can compensate for lag, and Batya and Merav has used it once, but it doesn't work with Zoom, so at this point no one can really sing together. The "sing alongs" I have seen are with one person singing and everyone else muted and silently singing to themselves. It really doesn't match the experience of being in a filk room, but it has been a reasonable substitute. And there is one person who over the years rarely performed because he is very self conscious AND also doesn't want to be recorded, but has been performing a lot from his home, since most of the open filks are never recorded.

[eldabe]

Ohhh, thank you for the outline! This sounds a lot more doable on zoom that I though filking would be, even if it's not all entirely the same.

And I'm glad some people are finding it easier to do in these circumstances! I think it makes sense. I've had one friend who has found working from home incredible while I'm miserable, so some people finding that filk-from-home is better for them is kind of awesome, actually. Do you know if there has been any discussion of keeping remote options once we go back to normal?

[sdelmonte]

There is definitely talk about continuing some form of online "housefilk" since travel is always hard. But I think that once cons start again, there can't be direct competition from anything else. Though I wonder if cons will be more willing to livestream. Most cons have been very reluctant to try for many reasons, but that will look sort of exclusionary now. All the Zoom filks have allowed a lot of people who I have never seen filking into the community.

[eldabe]

I think having SOME livestream options at cons would be amazing. Like, one room is set up with it's own dedicated wifi connection and all the tracks at the con get a certain number of panel slots they can reserve in the "streaming room" and filkers could grab it for a few panels at least. I get that logistics for every panel could be hard, but just a few would be great?

And ooooh housefilk. That opens up all sorts of possibilities! Housefilks with people across the planet! (I was almost going to say "across the country" but that's thinking too small!)

[sdelmonte]

Quite international. I have been filking with people from the UK, Sweden, and Germany, and there are two cons combining forces in February that will have Europeans performing in the morning and Americans the rest of the day. No sign, though, of the one and only known filker in Singapore.

If you want to try attending any of these online filk events, let me know. Or we could invite you to join the Discord filk channels.

[lannamichaels]

I'm glad you're having fun! :D escapade_con is coming up next month if you're interested. I've never managed to go to the in person one, but I've heard great things about the con.

[eldabe]

Thank you! The panels ended up being surprisingly enjoyable, even with tech issues haha.

And ooooh, what kind of con is it? Geography is no longer a limitation!

[eldabe]

Who am I kidding, I'm already on the con website and poking around lol

[lannamichaels]

It's an old school slash fan con, although not limited just to slash. The panel list isn't out yet but I assume meta panels, vidding panels, fandom-specific ones, that sort of thing. It's usually in California right around Purim, so it's never worked out for me.

[eldabe]

OOOOH meta panels are my weakness.

(Meta is one of my many weaknesses, actually, and panels are actually great ways to find fellow meta-people.)

Yeah! Honestly any cross-country travel for a con had better be worth it and I'm not sure I would make the trip in normal years. But this year....this year I can go anywhere my computer can take me...

Are you planning to go to Escapade digital?

[lannamichaels]

Yep! It remains to be seen what the schedule is, but I'm planning on it. :D

[eldabe]

Eeeee!! Ok, one second, I'm going to put this on my calendar. Want to touch base letter when the schedule gets posted?

[lannamichaels]

Yes, for sure. :D