Norwescon 38 Wrap-Up

Norwescon WebsiteBlog, Executive Team

The final Norwescon 38 ConCom meeting has been held, and we have some final updates on just how well this year went!

Our final attendance was 3,231! This includes our ConCom, Guests of Honor, volunteers, pros, panelists, artists, dealers, and, of course, all of you wonderful people who came out to join us and enjoy the weekend.

There were 744 (and one-half) hours of programming over four days, brought to you by our volunteers and 224 panelists. That means that for every hour of the con, we had an average of seven different things going on…and that’s assuming we ran events around the clock! A more realistic estimate of about 50 hours of active programming time (noon-midnight Thursday, 9am-midnight Friday and Saturday, and 9am-4pm Sunday) works out to an average of 15 different things going on at any one point. Hard to be bored with a schedule like that!

Our non-ConCom volunteers—that is, those people who stopped by our Volunteer office during the convention to see where they could help out—put in over 500 hours! And the two who put in the most time during the weekend were both first-time attendees! Many, many thanks to all of you who volunteered, both on our ConCom and at the convention itself. We couldn’t do this without you!

Speaking of which: we’d love to see you (yes, you) join us as a volunteer, either at Norwescon 39 or throughout the year as part of our ConCom. If you are interested or are just curious, join us this July at our annual Volunteer Appreciation Picnic. Our formal planning meetings will kick off this August (the date will be announced here in July). Come on down and join the fun of putting Norwescon 39 together!

Finally, here’s a rundown of links to blog posts, photo sets, and a few videos that we’ve collected in the weeks following the con. We love seeing what your weekend was like and what you enjoyed (and even if something didn’t go perfectly, we can use that to work to improve things for next year), so if you have a post, photos, or videos that we didn’t find for this list, feel free to send them our way!

Blog Posts

  • #Norwescon 2015 Wrap-up: “…an amazingly fun learning experience. I had a great time with some great people, and got to see some other folks I like, as well as meeting new folks and seeing a ton of really great cosplay.”
  • 2015 Philip K Dick Award Winner Announced!: “Being on the Philip K Dick jury last year, for paperback original works, was a terrific experience for me, enabling me to discover numerous talented writers whose books I would otherwise not have read. And the ballot this year, in my opinion, was exceptional.”
  • A Norwescon 38 Debriefing: “I spent four amazing days hanging out with the good people of Norwescon 38 in SeaTac, Washington. There’s something very awesome about small sci-fi/fantasy conventions. Everyone is always warm and friendly, and there is a lot of support from fellow attendees, the whole place feels a bit like a family reunion.”
  • ANOTHER NORWESCON: “It seems that every time I go to Norwescon, I opt to do it a little differently. Last year, I had a vendor’s table. The time before that, I sort of wandered aimlessly. This year, I’m doing a mix of things.”
  • At Norwescon: “Last night’s reading, despite being at the awkward hour of dinner-o-clock on the first day of the convention, was reasonably well-attended, and by some people I didn’t know from Joe! That’s always nice.”
  • back from norwescon with a big announcement: “…it’s been my baby, but after six years running music at Norwescon and five years building nwcMUSIC as a festival, I need to hand it to other people. I’ve built a legitimate programme here, and I’m really excited that it has momentum and all the tools are in place and everything – but it’s time for me to step down.”
  • C Is for Costumes: “One of the most fun things about Norwescon is all the zany costumes. It’s not required to dress up, but it certainly keeps it colorful and you never know what you’ll see around the next corner.”
  • Come Monday – Jimmy Buffet: “I went to 20 panels in 3 days, it would have been more but I had to coach soccer Friday afternoon and missed a couple of things I wanted to see in consequence. I learned sooooo much. Seriously, even the panels where it didn’t ‘apply’ to what I am currently writing, I jotted down a nugget or two of really cool information.”
  • Conventions: Hawking your books vs attending the convention: “…I did see [George R.R. Martin] in the lobby while I was getting coffee, and I saw many, many people who really love his work, far more than I do–and they stood for hours to get to see him.”
  • Cosplay: Beaker at Norwescon: “I attended Norwescon 38 this past weekend and saw many wonderful costumes. This Muppets Beaker – my personal favorite – was kind enough to pose for me.”
  • D is for Different: “Tonight I went to the Philip K. Dick Awards at Norwescon. It was a cool and fun experience. I’m so glad I went. And after I was done, I realized that I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t been willing to follow my interests that are different. I left my friends and went by myself.”
  • Daleks and Dothraki – Rod Duncan reports on the Philip K. Dick Awards: “Any Norwescon member reading this will guess what follows for me over the weekend – I’m made welcome, I meet like-minded people, make lots of new friends, we wallow in geekiness and an outpouring of creativity.”
  • F is for Fantastic: “Fantastic fits this year’s Norwescon in more ways than one. It is of course a Fantasy and Sci-Fi convention, but I thought the whole production and experience was fantastically well done.”
  • Geek Girls Rule! #311 – Norwescon 2015 Wrap-Up: “I really enjoy working this convention, and I really like building up tracks like this. I have many, many evil plans in store for next year. We will have ALL the female comics professionals, mwaa haa ha haaaaa!”
  • George R.R. Martin at Norwescon: Comics, Game of Thrones and his new HBO series (yes!) ‘Captain Cosmos’: “The Pacific Northwest event that celebrates everything wonderful about sci-fi, fantasy and more, hosted Martin as its Writer Guest of Honor. He appeared for a Q&A Friday before a packed room, and was full of jokes and opinions, healthily punctuated by a few choice swear words.”
  • Hello new Emerald City and Norwescon friends!: “Emerald City Comic Con and Norwescon are probably my two biggest conventions every year, and since I just did them back to back, I met a metric ton of lovely folks over the past few weeks. Hi everyone!”
  • Home from Norwescon: “If you have any literary interests in the SF&F genre, I highly recommend Norwescon. The veteran writers are very approachable and eager to share both their experiences and their options!”
  • Kristi’s Read, Play List and Norwescon 38: “This was my first time out at a conference as a debut author and GRR Martin was GoH. I repeat — it was awesome. Thanks so much to Norwescon for inviting me, and Philip K. Dick award nominee, Rod Duncan, and 2015 Hugo nominee, Jennifer Brozek, for being my Periscope interview test bunnies.”
  • Live from NorWesCon…: “Less than an hour ago, the finalists for the Hugo awards were announced here at Norwescon.”
  • Nerdversity 189 – Norwescon 2015 report: “Join Aaron, Alex and Katt as they sit down and talk about Katt’s recent visit to Norwescon, the Pacific Northwest’s premier sci-fi and fantasy convention. We learn more about what you can expect to find there.”
  • Norwescon – First Day was Colorful and Lively: “It was a great first day sharing books and attending writing panels at Norwescon. Here are a few highlights…”
  • Norwescon 2015 highlights: “Science panels! The Philae comet landing and the Launch disaster panels were incredibly interesting with the benefit of having actual rocket engineers on the panels.”
  • Norwescon 2015: “…it was a great con–both for meeting new people and for learning new things. I went to a lot of panels and only ended up leaving one (a good sign). The panelists were interesting, intelligent, and articulate. The moderators kept a hold on things and kept any one person from dominating, which always adds to the efficacy of a panel.”
  • Norwescon 2015: “…this was the biggest Con I’ve attended so far, with many more costumed folks and some very creative designs. Since George R.R. Martin was the author guest of honor, the Con had a very ‘Game of Thrones’ vibe.”
  • Norwescon 38 – Aliens and Outsiders: “…the month of April began with a really awesome experience at Norwescon, where I had a wonderful chance to attend and participate in fantastic panels, meet some very cool writers, artists and editors, and see crazy things.”
  • Norwescon 38 Wrap-Up and Recap: “In fact, there were plenty of geeky sights to see. I even got to sit in the (non-metal version) of the Iron Throne…. It was a busy weekend at Norwescon and we had a blast.”
  • NorWesCon 38: a Glorious Blur: “NWC 38 was one of the best weekends of my life so far. It’s been a month since then and it feels like years ago and yesterday. I am so grateful for all of it, and for everyone I saw there and everyone who welcomed me home.”
  • NORWESCON 38: A RETROSPECTIVE: “Cons like Norwescon really help drive home the small but deeply connected community of sci-fi and fantasy. It gives us the opportunity to peer into each others projects and say, ‘Holy shit that’s cool. How can I help you?'”
  • NorwesCon 38: “From my cramped observation spot in the Dealers’ Room, a Dalek rolled by while announcing in its static-mechanical voice, “Doc, doc, exterminate!!” Behind the Dalek walked a woman with a remote control in hand, eager to drive the crowds out of the way. Rolling behind her, a masked lady rode on a scooter that had been transformed into a red dragon.”
  • Norwescon 38: “The pre-reg line was out into the parking lot! But once Registration opened, the line moved fast. My time at the counter was about 30 seconds. Best registration experience ever!”
  • Norwescon and Sakura Con photo recap…: “My favorite costume of the weekend! This youngster’s first cosplay at a convention! This was a pretty damn good Princess Mononoke, right?”
  • Norwescon Awesomeness: “Norwescon has always been impressive since they have such a wide variety of fandom going on. Like many of the mega-cons, there is a big cross section of love for all things pop culture and media and we’re just excited to be a small part of it. Thank you Norwescon, we can’t wait until next year!”
  • Norwescon I—Reading, Dalek, Footfalls: “I was at Norwescon—the region’s largest science fiction and fantasy convention for writers—over the weekend. On Thursday I only arrived in the evening, so besides attending the opening ceremonies, I simply listened to one author do a private reading from an upcoming book of hers.”
  • Norwescon II—Carbon, It’s Her: “I realized it’s HER…. It’s the same person each time. And I fail to recognize her when she changes.”
  • NorWesCon was a really a great experience. : “I met a lot of kind and amazing people, sold a ton of art and books, and managed to be on several panels without messing any of them up too badly (I hope). Overall it was the confidence boost that I was very much needing after a long winter of self-doubt, and I’m really pumped to be getting back to work on new stuff. “
  • Norwescon!: “Did you see me at con? … Probably not because this is what I looked like.”
  • Norwescon: “Thanks to everyone who stopped by my table and who bought cute things to take home! I appreciate you all.”
  • Rachel and Miles Fail to Review the X-Men: “Norwescon just recently began introducing comics programming–it’s mostly an old-school SFF con–so today’s comics track ended up being like 90% the Rachel and Willow Show. Also, I just realized that all but one of the comics panels I was on today were all women, and none of them were women-in-comics panels, and that is so cool.”
  • Recap: Norwescon 2015: “Like a hurricane we descended upon the Doubletree, in plenty of time for our Friday night performance. What a crowd! The place was packed, and when we got to ‘Nathan Fillion (Please Take Off Your Pants)’, it was deafening.”
  • SEATTLE, WA DAY 2 – APRIL 2015: “…at first it was a little overwhelming. Thankfully, due to the laid back nature of those in attendance I was able to feel right at home with all the good nerdiness.”
  • SEATTLE, WA NORWESCON – APRIL 2015: “In the morning as I was eating my breakfast I was lucky enough to see George R. R. Martin again while he was just walking around, which was pretty awesome.”
  • So Norwescon happened this last weekend.: “I love that my wife and I both love the con, but for different reasons. We barely see each other, but are then so happy to share what we experienced.”
  • The Norwescon 2015 report, and what I learned running merch!: “This year at Norwescon was a totally new experience for me, since I spent the vast majority of the convention attempting to sell stuff!”
  • Things You Are Not Allowed to Ask George R.R. Martin: “fans filling the chairs in the ballroom were warned, on pain of death, not to ask two questions; 1) What is your favorite character? 2) When is the next book coming out? …we feel he gets these a lot.”
  • Today has been the most amazing day.: “Coming to this con was one of the best impulsive decisions I’ve ever made.”
  • Top 10 Unexpected Geeky Sights We Saw at Norwescon: “There is so much geek in this photo from the Maleficent cosplayer to the photographer wearing a kilt and Chuck Taylors. But what’s really great is that shadow. How awesome is that?”
  • Waving Hello: “Norwescon eats up my time but good every year about this time. The short of it for this year is: I had the luck of meeting George RR Martin, I sat in the Iron Throne, I worked hard, and I danced one of the nights away.”
  • Worldbuilding Lessons from Norwescon 2015: “I attended Norwescon for the first time this year, and spent the weekend immersed in panels that shared lots of insights about creating realistic worlds.”

Photo Sets

Videos