Swecon 2017

This weekend it was once again time for Swecon, Sweden‘s national science fiction convention. The convention was called Kontur and held at the Clarion Hotel Gillet in Uppsala—a very nice venue for a convention of 200–300 members (which category I estimate this one falls in), and a lovely city to visit.

Swecon was a three-day convention as usual, but since Thursday was a holiday (and it’s a Tradition to go to Åland on Ascension Day for an sf con), a bunch of us Finns started the journey already Thursday morning and went to Mariehamn for smÅcon 8¹/₂, organized by Hanna Hakkarainen, and spent a one-night minicon there eating, drinking, playing games, and having Very Serious Panel Discussions. There were even a couple of members who came just for smÅcon and then returned to Finland.

Fun and Games at smÅcon: drinks & Cards Against Humanity

Even after a couple of days, I’m still way too tired to write a comprehensive con report, so you’ll have to be content with a bunch of comments and photos I tweeted from the con. I do want to mention that the convention was very well run. The venue worked quite well (ok, the bar could have been a little less expensive and closed later, but being a hotel bar you have to accept that you can’t have everything), the program ran in time, there was a very nice souvenir book in addition to the program book (Finnish conventions take note: it is possible to have separate souvenir book and pocket program, and do it well!), the Guests of Honor were outstanding (seriously, if you have a chance of seeing Kameron Hurley, Ann Leckie, or Siri Pettersen at a convention, make sure you take it!) and complemented each other wonderfully.

The convention gave off a vibe of caring about its members and wanting to create a friendly and inclusive atmosphere. Huge thanks to the organizing committee, led by Nahal Ghanbari and Anna Bark Persson, for a job well done!

May 26 17:51
Survived #smÅcon, arrived at Uppsala. #swecon2017 registration done. Next, I think I’ll take a leaf out of @zenaldehyde’s book & take a nap.

May 26 17:54

The Swedes got so close to getting the air conditioning branding for #swecon2017 right…

May 26 20:10
It’s nice to write. Except the writing part.
— Siri Pettersen at #swecon2017

May 26 20:49

All the books… #swecon2017

May 26 21:05

If you are in need of a copy of The Lord of the Rings, #swecon2017 is the place to be.

May 26 21:27
Seconded! #swecon2017

@enhorningenzine
A. Sellin intervjuar hedersg. den norska författaren Siri Pettersen. Har du möjlighet att höra henne i en programpunkt gör det! #swecon2017

May 26 22:10

How to write about men – Ann Leckie & Kameron Hurley killing it at #swecon2017

May 27 01:50

Late night chatting #swecon2017

May 27 13:56

Kameron Hurley interview at #swecon2017. If you want to read sf that mixes genres and plays with tropes you should definitely read her

May 27 13:59
Impressed by people at #swecon2017 – whenever someone claims they don’t need to use the mic everybody shouts Yes you do. Well done, fandom!

May 27
Next year’s Swecon will be in Stockholm in June. Site selection vote took place at #swecon2017

@Swecon2017
Vi har haft Sweconomröstning! Nästa års Swecon blir Fantastika i Stockholm! https://fantastika2018.wordpress.com/

May 27 21:09
— I hate research
— I love it. I have a degree in history you know
— You bastard!
GoHs discussing writing at #swecon2017

May 27 21:10
Being a writer is like having homework for the rest of your life
— Ann Leckie at #swecon2017

May 27 21:15
I think the #swecon2017 panel just launched the concept of Chekhov’s Great Eagle.

May 27 21:25
Panel spiraling out of control. But totally in a good way. Also worldbuilding bartering—maps for research tables on travel time #swecon2017

May 27 21:29
Who knew you can have a worldbuilding panel that’s actually very entertaining‽ #swecon2017

May 27 21:30
Apparently you just need to put Kameron Hurley, Siri Pettersen & Ann Leckie on it. #swecon2017

May 28 04:26

Señor Humidor’s Amazingly Scientifictional Cigar Club at #swecon2017

May 28 04:34

There were more Finns than Swedes left standing (or rather sitting) at the pub. So I guess we won #swecon2017!

May 28 04:35
On the other hand, Swedes are the worst (judging by the Cards Against Humanity score). #swecon2017

May 28 04:37
The pub closed and threw us out. I think we’re meant to take the hint and go to bed. Good night! #swecon2017

May 28 12:28

So pretty! #uppsala #swecon2017

May 28 17:59

A Finn, a Swede, a Dane, and a Norwegian walk into a bar… #swecon2017

May 29 01:18
The pubs close early in Sweden. The situation is desperate — Tommy is drinking a lager #swecon2017

May 29 01:39
💀 🐶 celebrated well and properly. Thank you organizers for another 👍Swecon! #swecon2017

Finndom in Swecon

Kontrast, this year’s Swedish national convention, starts on Friday. There are a couple of Finnish program items scheduled this year.

This year, for the first time ever (as far as I know) there’s a Finnish language program item. Suomikummaa (Saturday 2 PM) is a discussion about new and interesting Finnish sf books, in Finnish (apparently there are quite a few Finnish speakers in Swedish fandom and Uppsala who might be interested in finding out about good books to read in Finnish).

On Saturday there’s also a program item about the recent elephant in the Finnish fandom: the Helsinki Worldcon bid presentation (6 PM). The Helsinki bid doesn’t have a table at the convention, and Eemeli, the bid chair, is not attending, so if you have questions about the bid, come here and ask Jukka everything you want to know about the bid.

On Sunday at 11 I’ll be chairing a panel discussion about what’s currently happening in the Finnish fandom. This item is in English, so if you’re interested in our doings here in Finland, welcome!

There are many interesting program items at Kontrast, and quite a few Finns participating in other items as well. Hope to see you at Swecon!

Eurocon

If you’ve been thinking about going to Eurocon, now is the time to arrange your trip! The convention will be held in Stockholm, June 17–19, and it looks like it’s going to be one of the biggest Swedish conventions ever, with members from over 20 countries.

The convention membership fee is 40 € until the end of April, so go over to their site and join up! (If you will be under 26 when the convention starts, you get a free membership; you just need to fill the membership form and you’re all set.)

The convention will have programming from Friday noon to Sunday evening, from morning to well into the evening. GoHs are Elizabeth Bear, Ian McDonald, John-Henri Holmberg and fan GoH Jukka Halme.

There will be a group trip from Finland with programming: Båtcon, from Helsinki to Stockholm on Thursday evening and back on the Sunday evening ferry. Båtcon membership 116 € includes the trips, the Båtcon program on Thursday, dinner on Thursday, plus a 20 € coupon for the trip back. And of course the wonderfully sfnal company on the trip! Båtcon signup deadline is Monday, April 25.

There will be over 20 Finns going to the convention, so you don’t need to worry about having to go alone. So come along!

More information about going to the convention from Finland, Båtcon, where to stay, etc. can be found at <euroconiin.wordpress.com>.

Guest Blog: Swecon Report

Unfortunately, due mainly to scheduling reasons, I couldn’t attend Swecon this year. But Kisu and Karo were there, and have written a report from the convention.

Condense—The Heavy Convention

Swecons always draw in (quite) a few Finns and Swecon 2010, Condense, in Gothenburg was no exception. Due to several reasons, this year the Finnish con-team consisted of only two members: Kisu & Karo from Tampere. Other members of Finnish fandom were sorely missed and everybody sent their best regards to all Finnish fans (especially those, who’d been to Gothenburg conventions before, you know who you are and we heard quite a few tales about your experiences).

The best way to travel to Gothenburg was by air and we arrived to Gothenburg in Friday afternoon. The convention begun in the evening and one of the first items was an interview with the guest of honor, the always interesting Justina Robson. After that it was time to socialise in the bar (and to check out the Alvarfonden books, which is always a costly mistake).

Saturday’s programming begun with book tips and breakfast (the convention offered breakfast to all members for free!). After that, Kisu took part in a panel, “Is there more SF than we see,” with the other guest of honor, Nene Ormes, and Per Åkerman. The three panelists had slightly different views on what the panel was supposed to be about (and the programming information gave a fourth interpretation), but in the end it seemed to be a success, ranging from manga to Swedish and Finnish science fiction and fantasy all the way to amateur films and radio plays (which there should be more of). After that it was time to do a bit of sight-seeing in Gothenburg.

In the evening Kisu attended the Banquet while Karo went out to be social and network with some other non-banquet attending members. The banquet included also speeches from the guests of honor, which were interesting to hear. As traditional in Swedish fandom, awards were also given (Alvar prize went to Helena Kiel, which was nice!). An extremely surprising turn of events took place when the winner of the Tentacle-award was announced. Tentacle is a Gothenburg-based award, given out for societies or persons who have actively bridged the gaps within the fandom. Much to everybody’s surprise, the winner of the Tentacle award was Åcon! The beautiful diploma will (hopefully) make its way to Finland a bit later on.

After the NoFF-auction (where they also auctioned off a few interesting beers, which sold for high prices) it was time for more relaxing discussions in the bar, outside the convention venue and in the Swecon 2011 bid party organised by Eurocon 2011. Sunday morning came way too soon, but we still managed to make our way to the convention to hear first about the future of fantasy, and then to take part in “How can conventions be improved” discussion, which highlighted some of the real successes of Condense. Breakfast for members!! After that, it was time to vote for Swecon 2011, and the Stockholm Eurocon gave a nice presentation about why they should also be Swecon. The other conventions of 2011 declined to run, and so the Eurocon 2011 won the vote and is now also Swecon. After the spirit of Swecon had once more been captured, and the tearful goodbyes said to the guests of honor, it was time to go back to the hotel to pack before the dead-dog party (where the Finns were the last to leave…).

Condense might’ve been the “heavy convention” but it all seemed very light and most especially friendly. We were warmly welcomed and will certainly come back some day! But first next year and Stockholm!

Kisu & Karo

Swecon Is Go

We’re in Stockholm for Imagicon 2, this year’s Swecon. There is a good-sized delegation of Finns here (12, plus 2 children), including a couple of first timers which is always great. The ferry trip was fun as usual, and there was time in Stockholm for a really thorough breakfast, some shopping (did manage to do almost no impulse shopping at SF bokhandeln and Comics Heaven, and discovered that Uppsala’s famous English Bookshop now has a store in Stockholm as well), and a really nice Swedish meal at a pub. Then it was time to go see the convention for a few hours, although arriving in Sweden at way too early an hour (wakeup call at 5:30) took its toll on the Friday evening festivities.

Imagicon seemed again to have a better handle on organizing things than the average Swecon—there even were guide signs from the metro station to the local library/culture center where the convention is held. Everything was in place when we arrived, registration went smoothly and the printed program booklet and badges awaited the members.



The culture center is not very big but is quite well suited for hosting a small, cozy convention. There are a couple of rooms for programming, a hallway where the vendors are (not many of those, the Alvarfondet book sales tables take up most of the space) and there’s also a cafe/bar that offers some vegetarian dishes and a very attractively priced selection of beers (some ciders too).



There was some programming on the first day, but I didn’t see much of it; instead the evening was well spent meeting friends and chatting in the bar. Today I plan to go see at least the GoH speeches and interviews, and there were a couple of other program items too that seemed interesting. Plus also Jukka’s “Never mind the Buzzaldrins” quiz, lifted from Åcon, and is of course a must. The beer is not expensive and the books sold at the con are even cheaper, so this looks to be shaping into a great little convention.

Going to Swecon

Imagicon 2, this year’s Swecon (foreign GoHs Liz Williams and Graham Joyce), is held October 16–18 in Stockholm. A bunch of us Finns are going there, and our agent Ben Roimola has arranged a group trip with accommodation.

We’re leaving from Turku by ferry Thursday (Oct 15) evening and return to Turku on the Sunday evening ferry. The cost of the trip including a cabin on the ferries plus two nights at a hotel near the con site will be about 119 € (depending a bit on how many people will attend).

If you’re interested in joining us for a fun trip to a fun convention, contact Ben for details! (And remember to pay the convention membership fee before the 1st of September and you’ll save 5 €).

Finnish NoFF Delegate Announced

Senja Hirsjärvi is this year’s Finnish NoFF (Nordic Fan Fund) delegate. Senja has been active in fandom for several years, and has had a hand in a few Finncons, including many in Jyväskylä and this year in Helsinki. Senja was also one of the people behind the Finnish room party at Interaction. Senja will be traveling to Imagicon 2 in Stockholm in October.

Back from Swecon

ConFuse is over and we’re back home. And what a great convention it was!

On Saturday evening, after the programming ended, people stayed at the con site drinking beer and chatting (and some of us having a cigar in honor of the half-Finnish team that was victorious in the quiz program), when suddenly the door started beeping menacingly at us. Apparently the burglar alarm had been set so that after one o’clock going back and forth through the door wasn’t a terribly good idea. I think some people still stayed for a while, but shortly after witnessing Tommy sprint from the building with Pasinen in tow (presumably to catch the bus, not to escape from the scene before security came to investigate the alarm), we decided to call it a night and left for the hotel. Jukka entertained Ben and me well into the night with obscure sf trivia questions from a book he had bought.



Sunday started, again, with the Guests of Honors on a panel; this time they talked about blogging and all the ways modern writers are expected to promote themselves. In addition to mentioning that a blog can be a useful tool for a writer, one that can be used for creating a personal connection to ones readers, it was noted that we may once again be entering an era of performing creators and that these things go in cycles (when audio recordings were invented, performers were furious that their art would be reduced to mere “clerking in a studio,” and now authors are lamenting that they can’t necessarily do their work secluded from the audience again but are “required to be performing monkeys” to promote their work.

Sunday was more quiet than the earlier days, as these things tend to go. In addition to not sleeping enough the previous couple of nights, the mood changes a bit when people start to leave already during the day. So did also we because we needed to catch the evening ferry from Stockholm: after Jukka and Mari were done with their Evil in Fantasy panel, we said our goodbyes and headed for the railway station for the train to Stockholm. The train left almost on time despite Juha’s timetable-bending warp field being present. On the way home we stopped four or five times to grab a quick bite (I swear Dr. Pasinen has a Tardis stomach; it must be bigger on the inside—and if you don’t take him eating when he’s hungry, he’ll just stare at you with his puppy eyes until you cave), got a lot of bad ideas (and some good ones too), learned what mozzarella is really made of, educated Ben, Jukka, and Marianna on certain unmentionable horrors of the Internet (they’d rather not had learned about), and reminisced about the con.



So what was so good about it? The location was excellent, very close to the city center, the hotels, and many restaurants. And the venue worked very well for a convention this size. Everything was close together, with the second-hand book tables and the bar on the entrance level, and a lounge area, the art show, and the program rooms half a floor down, close enough for easy access but not too close to the bar to disturb each other. There was a notable amount of interesting programming (a lot of it with the GoHs), and it run admirably on time—mainly thanks to Britt-Louise, who kindly but firmly announced when the items were supposed to start winding down.

Swecons aren’t know for their t-shirts and other merchandise but this time the organizers had made stylish ConFuse mugs. In addition to being very inexpensive, they included free coffee or tea for the duration of the convention. Exellent! And as Sten said, every convention automatically becomes 30 % better with an ice cream buffet.



Did I already mention books? The Alvar Appeltofft Foundation had their traditional book sale, and were they selling! In addition to the normally impressive selection of books they had just had a sizable donation of books they wanted to move—and they were priced as such. There was a lot of fluff, but also real finds on those tables, to be had from 5 crowns up (that’s about 50 cents).



According to the organizers there were 95 warm bodies present, which made this the biggest ConFuse ever. Huge thanks to the Linköping fandom for a great time, and hope to see many of you at a Finnish con also! And congratulations to Anders Reuterswärd (two-time Swedish agent of Åcon, among other things) for the Alvar Appeltofft memorial award!

I’ve put up some more photos of the con on Flickr.

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Swecon: Saturday

After yesterday’s festivities (at midnight, the whole city center seemed to be full of happily drunk teenagers celebrating finishing their school) the streets seemed very quiet this morning. Some people went on a walking tour of medieval Linköping. (They told me later that they saw a lot of beautiful decaying old buildings and places where a lot of people had been killed which was interesting and fun. I have strange friends.)

I went to prepare for my program item. I had a suspicion that 11 AM isn’t really a good time to have book discussion, and my suspicion turned out to be correct. Ten minutes after the item was supposed to start Jukkahoo walked in, and we chatted about this and that. Marianna came in about five minutes after that, so we continued chatting. At about 25 minutes past 11, Tommy and Carolina arrived, and we decided there were enough people and had a short but fun discussion.

The Guests of Honor are really being worked today. They’ve both taken part in at least two program items in addition to their speeches, and Cory Doctorow was interviewed today for the second time (this time about his other activities than writing fiction). At the moment they are talking on stage about the craft of writing science fiction. Neither of them confessed to wearing a tiara while writing.

I have to say the Swedes have once again managed to pick excellent Guests of Honor for their convention. Both Roberts and Doctorow have been constantly interesting and entertaining, and very approachable to the fen. Cory Doctorow started the day’s GoH programming by discussing the future of books. The discussion was interactive, the audience having many questions and comments. It didn’t stay on one topic very well, partly because of all the comments and opinions, but also partly because I don’t think they had decided whether “the future of books” meant the future of the book as a physical object or the novel as a literary form (which I think are two completely different, but equally interesting topics). The discussion had many good points for (and against) electronic books, and also some speculation about the future forms of fiction and reading.

Adam Roberts talked about his research and opinions on the history of science fiction, a topic that was also discussed a bit in his interview yesterday, but which he was now able to go deeper into. He had very interesting opinions on the differences between science fiction and fantasy, and the connections these might have with different religions and materialistic world views. He also observed how modern science fiction (and especially the general perception of it) has been influenced by film. Later on the day he again continued and expanded the topic on his Guest of Honor speech with for example some definitions of what he views as the science fiction literature. The topic of the speech was “Encyclopedic SF,” and he raised some excellent points about the birth of sf around the same time encyclopedias were invented, and further connection between these. He is an interesting and intelligent speaker you really want to pay attention to, because he regularly makes insightful observations (among the wonderfully wry comments about things).

Cory Doctorow’s interview about technology, civil rights, and activism didn’t really contain much new information for anyone who’s read his columns and other writings before, but I think these things are very relevant in today’s society and it’s important they are talked about. Besides, he’s such a captivating speaker with really sound arguments that he’s a pleasure to listen to and it’s very easy to get swept along with his enthusiasm. He started his GoH speech with a short short story that nicely tied up with his earlier discussion about the future of books. The other part of the speech on the other hand touched the same issues as his interview, but from the point of view of how important it is to have control over your tools and the things you own to be happy, and how important it is that people are allowed to use their creativity and make stuff themselves even in this era of “no user-serviceable parts”.

It‘s been a long day, but there’s still some programming left. There have been many good and fun conversations with other members of the convention. Ben and Jukka went to defend Finland’s honor in some kind of a frog sport. I think I’ll head for the bar.

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ConFused

When we approached the convention site, everything looked par for a Swecon: a couple of people sitting outside, no visible indication of a convention just about to start. But then we noticed small signs saying “ConFuse,” and from there things went weird. Everything has been extremely organized for a Swecon: a convention book, up-to-date program leaflet, professional badges (that have been pre-printed and cut), and also a “readme” leaflet telling people useful things about the convention and surroundings. They even have a soundboard in the main program room and free wi-fi in the convention area!



The opening ceremony started almost on time and was pretty unceremonial. After that, we found some beer and comfy sofas, so life was good. The organizers say there are 81 paying members: I estimate about 50 of them have already showed up (more will no doubt be arriving during the evening and also tomorrow). They have a discount membership for people under 20 and also for people attending their first convention, which I think is a wonderful idea (and very good for bringing new people to fandom), and about a dozen or so have taken them up on the offer, so it seems to be working.

The bar is well stocked on tasty beers (and actually gives you the third degree if you try to by a Tuborg), although I’m pretty sure they don’t have “every kind of whiskey” as advertised. Juha has a Dalek drink (which, as he tells me, consists of apple juice plus essence of cactus and lime).

The first program item I saw today was the interview of one of the GoHs, Adam Roberts. Witty and entertaining all the way through. So far, this is gearing up to be definitely one of the best Swecons I’ve attended.

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In Linköping

We’ve arrived in sunny Linköping, the city of ConFuse, this year’s Swecon. The night ferry trip to Sweden and the train journey from Stockholm to Linköping went without incident (the extremely bad humor expressed during the trip doesn’t really count as an incident, since it is pretty much the norm with this crowd). On the way we invented a great new fandom game (more on that later) and even smoffed a bit (about what could be done to improve the inner workings of the Atorox nomination process and who’d make a great GoH for the Turku 2011 Finncon).



It appears there are some end-of-school festivities going on around here today. Lots of young people in white caps driving around the city center in carriages pulled by tractors and general merriment. All the young girls seemed to cheer and wave to Ben.

We have a very nice (and roomy) hotel room near the city center, about a block from the con site. We circled around a bit to see the city, eat (Mongolian barbecue, yum…) and buy supplies (beer seems to be ridiculously cheap here). We ran into Jonas, and later Tommy, who both were on their way to the con site to prepare things. A total of seven Finns have traveled to Swecon this year. Marianna and Pasi went to see the town, Juha is at his hotel, and the rest of us (Jukka, Ben, the other Pasi and me) are sitting in our nice (and roomy) hotel room, waiting for the convention to start.

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