We polled the readership asking where you wanted us. Over a hundred votes, thank you! 

 

Anthrocon won by a landslide.

 

Those who were excited to meet us there, bad news.

 

Last year we were excluded, but it was the very first time AC staff took control of curation, so oversights were understandable. Thank you to the readers who took the time to get in touch after missing us. It was both heartwarming and painful to hear our absence left a hole in your experience.

We heard folks say they couldn’t find their usual friends, as our table had become the de-facto rally point, and now everything felt like a disjointed mass of strangers.

 

It felt bad over here too.

 

We’re told readers also e-mailed AC staff to politely explain our presence was desired. Plus in 2020, the dealer’s room has twice as many tables as ever before. So we had high hopes of reuniting with you this summer.

 

Staff declined our application. All those votes, I figure I better have some kind of explanation for everyone. I asked why they curated us out again, and why they were policing table-sharing so vigorously. They told us that there simply wasn’t enough room, and that they earnestly wanted our participation. 

 

The curator who had us blocked on social media apologized when we pointed that out, saying it was a mistake caused by a blocklist. We accept their apology without reservation, and thank them for reversing the error. But none of this brings you, me ‘n Liz any closer together, so let’s move on.

 

It was a fantastic 12 years. I know many marvelous people that I never would have encountered otherwise. We got to be there from the ground floor, the very first year Anthrocon was in Pittsburgh, and it’s been a thrill to watch the event flourish as more people discover their interest in the genre. 

 

We’re planning to cut down on conventions overall. 

 

Vivid is onboarding new authors, Dreamkeepers is growing into tabletop, video games, animation- our production time is becoming ever-more precious, and we must spend it wisely. 

Even so, we hope to maintain one or two core events every year, where readers can trust that we’ll be there to greet them with a wave of the red hat and a smile. I don’t want to roll the dice on waitlisting or other gambles. We want to maintain a tradition you can rely on, to make travel planning that much simpler. One less variable to worry about. 

 

So we’re trying out some fresh new things. If you’d like to try them with us, check our convention listing on the news page, and hop in our newsletter.

 

 

Thanks for everything so far, we’re excited for the next leg of the journey.