Have fun, anybody who’s going to be at WorldCon this weekend! The events start today, I believe. No doubt I’ll see some mentions of this and that WorldCon-related tidbit on Twitter today and all weekend.
I’m giving WorldCon a miss this year mostly because Kansas City is right next door, relatively speaking, which makes Spokane seem farther away; and also because all I have out this year is one self-published book whereas next year I will have two traditionally-published books plus (I trust) at least one self-published book hitting the shelves, so it makes sense to hit more conventions next year. I haven’t been following WorldCon stuff much, so I have no idea who the guests of honor are or whatever.
Anyway, coincidentally, I have a link you might find interesting in this context: Here is a post about what might have been the first-ever SF convention, in Leeds, in the UK, in 1937. Though I see there is some argument about whether Leeds gets to claim the first-ever spot or whether the honor might belong to Philly.
Anyway, I recognize Arthur C Clark and Eric Frank Russell — those are the only familiar names to me.
I wonder what the attendees of those very early conventions would think of WorldCon today — or ComicCon, for that matter!