Doing What I Do: Twenty Years of WorldCon

At the end of August this year, I attended L.A.Con V, the 84th World Science Fiction Convention, or WorldCon.  

It was an anniversary for me.  Coming full circle.  Twenty years previously, in 2006 I had briefly attended the 64th WorldCon, L.A.Con IV, which was held at the Anaheim Convention Center, same as this year.  It was what happened at that convention that set the pattern for the next two decades.  

I guess it really started when I was 13 years old.  I was a huge bookworm back then.  I still like to read, even today, but I don’t devour books the way I did then.  Thirteen was a special age because I encountered several books that changed me in profound ways.  

One was Tunnels in the Sky, by Robert Heinlein.  A friend at school had a copy of one of Heinlein’s books that I saw in his hands.  Something with a strange cover.  I asked him what it was about and was told it was “science fiction.”  I asked him, “What’s science fiction?”  Before this moment my main reading was books on history and science, and my mom’s historical romances. The friend told me the school library had a big science fiction section and where to find it.  The book he had wasn’t on the shelf.  But Tunnels in the Sky was.  I borrowed it.  Stayed up all night in bed to read it all at once.  The next day I returned it, went to the “As” and got a book by Isaac Asimov, a collection of short stories, “Twice Twenty-Two,” which included Nightfall.  By the end of the year, I tried to check out Damnation Alley, by Roger Zelazny, but they wouldn’t let me because the school year was ending that week.  

Another book I read at that time was Shogun, the best seller by James Clavell.  As I mentioned before in previous posts, it was the book that created an interest in Japanese history and culture in me, which led to watching Japanese samurai movies, anime, and reading manga, and eventually, in 2006, starting to study Japanese.  

By 2006, I had attended a number of conventions.  I had been going to ComicCon in San Diego every year, along with my creative partner, William Ruzicka, who also prompted me to start learning Japanese, to get our comics published, along with other comic book conventions, like WonderCon.  I had also been to several Star Trek conventions, whenever one of them was in the area.  But I had never been to a WorldCon.  And that was starting to feel like an oversight.  Science fiction and fantasy were what got me into comic books.  And not attending the one major convention that was focused on that literature felt like a slight.  

The problem was that WorldCons were held “elsewhere.”  Places far from me.  The one the year before was in Glasgow, Scotland.  The one before that was Boston.  And before that, Toronto.  

And I wasn’t a person who “traveled.”  One of the reasons I liked reading was how it gave me the feeling of being to places I wouldn’t go to.  Other countries.  Other times.  Traveling around the world was something “other people” did.  It was a given when I was 13 years old.  By 2006 I hadn’t gotten over it.  

But that year, WorldCon would be close.  The Los Angeles Science Fiction convention had won the bid to host it, and it would be at the Anaheim Convention Center.  A relatively short drive away.  This would be my chance.  

Unfortunately, my employer thought otherwise.  I wasn’t given permission to take time off that week.  I can’t remember for which client, but there was a lot of work that had to get done and they couldn’t afford to have me take off for a week.  On top of that, I would need to come into the office on Saturday to finish up, which meant that even going on the convention’s final weekend was out.  

I was determined, though.  I had no idea where it was going to be next.  To spend any time at a WorldCon, even if I couldn’t attend all of it, this could be my last chance for…  Who knew how long.  

So I went to the office early in the morning and worked for about four hours to get everything finished.  Then, around noon, I started my drive from Calabasas, in the Valley, to Anaheim.  

It was a long drive and traffic was heavy.  When I arrived, late in the afternoon, I parked my car and found the registration table at the convention.  I asked a guy there how much time was left for the convention that day and how much would it cost?  

His answers weren’t good.  There were only 2-3 hours left in the day’s programming.  A one-day membership would cost $75.  

The guy saw the wince on my face.  He then gave me another option.  They had something called a “Taster’s Membership.”  For $20, they would give me a badge for a one-day Membership.  If I brought it back within three hours, it wouldn’t cost any more.  If I stayed longer, I’d automatically get charged for a full day, $75.  

I paid for the Taster Membership.  I asked the guy if I had to return it to him when I came back.  He shrugged.  The registration desk was going to close in about an hour anyway.  I didn’t need to return. 

With my badge and an Event Guide I set off.  I picked a couple of panels, which were as interesting as they sounded, and then decided to stroll the dealers' floor before it closed.  

It was cool.  At ComicCon, the dealers’' floor had turned into a thrumming, crammed, loud nerd metropolis.  The WorldCon dealers’' floor was more like a village market for sorcerers, scribes, and adventurers, bustling with all manner of trinkets, armor, tomes, and even food.  

I was swinging around one of the aisles when I saw a banner over a stall that made me stop and stare.  

“Yokohama 2007.”  

I had an immediate guess as to what it was telling me.  I felt myself pulled by the sign to stand before the booth, which was crewed by a group of Japanese people.  

Was the WorldCon going to be held in Japan next year?  Why, yes.  It was.  Here is a flyer with the information.  Would you like to join us?  Yes.  Very much so.  Thanks.  Arigatou gozaimasu.  Ah!  Nihongo ga jyouzu desu ne?

The dealers’' floor was starting to close then.  It was time to head back to my car.  As I walked back to the parking lot, only two thoughts were in my mind.  Chasing each other around, like two dogs chasing each other’s tails.  

In addition to attending a full WorldCon, I had the desire to travel to Japan.  It had felt somewhat impossible.  The cost.  The expense.  Me, being not a person who traveled to places like that.  But “someday,” “If I got the chance,” I really wanted to go.  

Heading to my car, these two desires repeated themselves.  “I want to go to Japan.”  “I want to attend a full WorldCon.”  They started repeating more quickly.  One after the other.  

I want to go to Japan.  I want to attend a WorldCon.  Go to Japan.  Attend a WorldCon.  Go to Japan.  Attend a WorldCon.  Go to Japan and attend a WorldCon.  Go to Japan AND Attend a WorldCon.  Go!  To Japan AND Attend a WorldCon.  

By the time I sat before the steering wheel of my car, my two desires had become a single, undeniable goal.  Go to Japan and attend my first Full WorldCon.  

Which I did.  When I got home I started figuring out what I needed to do and what it would take.  I created a “travel fund” in my list of expenses.  Something I’ve continued since then.  I made myself sign up for a full membership for Yokohama 2007 online.  After the purchase was confirmed, I knew I had to go, or the money would go to waste.  I found out about a couple, Ron and Val Ontell, who had a side venture of arranging tours for other countries where the WorldCon was being held.  I made a down payment for that, driving the momentum to go.  

And I did.  A week on the tour.  A week at the convention.  When I boarded the plane to Japan, I thought my expectations had gotten so high that I was doomed to be disappointed.  

I wasn’t.  In fact, it exceeded all my expectations and remains my favorite trip of all time.  

After that, I kept going.  Denver, Montreal, AUSTRALIA!  Reno, Chicago, San Antonio, LONDON!  Spokane, Kansas City.  

I remember balking at going to Denver.  Then an acquaintance I’d met on my Japan trip told me she was going.  And if she could make it from Tokyo, how hard would it be to get to Denver from Los Angeles?  

I’ve missed a few WorldCons.  Helsinki in 2017.  Because of a big, new client was coming on board and PTO for that month was canceled.  Covid impacted going three years in a row.  And Chengdu was…  Too far, and Too China.  

Recently, though, I’ve been going regularly again.  I went to Chicago for a second WorldCon, then Glasgow, followed by Seattle.  And L.A.Con again.  

I’ve also made side trips to Japan.  To watch baseball games.  And attend HaruCon, a science fiction convention they hold in the Spring.  I was invited by some members from Japan I met on the shuttle bus in Spokane.  I’ve returned to attend HaruCon three more times since then.

I remember a conversation I had with my landlord one year, when letting him know I would be away for a few weeks. It was my trip to Great Britain, for LonCon 3, the WorldCon in London, when I was joining another tour set up by Ron and Val, this one a two-week tour through England and Wales before the convention.  It was the longest vacation of my adult life.  And a close second to my Japan trip in regards to enjoyment. 

My landlord asked me where I was going, “this time.”  When I asked what he meant, he told me, “You’re one of those people that just Goes Places.”  

I thought about it and realized he was right.  I do go places.  It’s what I do.  

And it started twenty years ago this year.  At WorldCon.