I love online events. Not only does it ease my social anxiety, it allows me to meet new friends and catch up with existing friends (and writers, and steampunks) from all over the world.
This weekend, the local Adelaide SF/F group, Critical Mass, held their (usually) annual mini con online. The organiser, Roman (a friend), asked me to host a steampunk tea, and to sit in on a Doctor Who panel – my two favourite things – so, of course I said yes!
(Pics above are some of the teaser pics I posted on Instagram, and some screenshots from the tea and the panel.)
Other panels/chats included one on new SF books people have read, a talk by Eugen Bacon on ‘Afrofuturism, Speculative fiction, genre boundaries and interfaces‘, a talk about the early days of AUSFA (a local group), and a talk by John D Berry on typography (useful for formatting!). Other talks included best new SF on television, audio/radio dramas, and podcasting (also very useful). Australian Ditmar winning author, Gillian Polack, spoke about Jewish SF in Australia.
A lot to pack in one day!
Many talks were recorded, so I hope they’ll surface soon for those who couldn’t attend to view.
A big thank you to everyone who attended, and to the organisers for asking me to participate. I’d forgotten how much I missed fan run cons.