Tag Archives: Convention

Making a Book Club Work

Posted on by
Reply




Selecting books, recruiting members, and achieving longevity; what goes into a successful book discussion group?

I suspect I was asked to be part of this panel because of my long term connection to Watch the Skies and our 25+ year history as a club. The pre-convention notes were a little thin on this one and I was a little concerned. Turns out there was no need to worry. It was a small panel crowd and lots of lively bits were covered! Here are the notes I had going into the panel:

IF you read my bio at all, part of that list is a group called Watch The Skies. That group started back around the year 2000 as a science fiction and fantasy reading group. We are still going strong here in 2025. We have a lot going on, and a lot of aspects of the group that are only tangentially related.

First – the books (and how to pick them).

We have everyone write a secret selection they want to read on a slip of paper, then drop it into a small bag. Somebody who didn’t add a slip of paper in, reaches in and picks the book for next month. We do have some rules… we try to stay within science fiction / fantasy as a category. Some have been more loose than others. It needs to be in print currently. It should have been in print long enough to reach the paperback stage – we’re not out to bankrupt anyone.

Track your books. Keep that list someplace accessible. Our group has more than 225 titles we’ve discussed over the years.

Next – the social contract.

We’re here to have a chat about the book we read. We’re not here to crush anyone’s opinions, treat them badly or ostracize anyone. It’s meant to be a friendly, social thing. IF somebody picked a totally awful book, discuss the book, not their taste in books. Understand that not every book is for every person, and that’s what makes this fun. We’ve had our share of people come and go over the years – and some that went were the ones who bashed the choices of the group and didn’t bring any discussion points because they refused to read the book. Can’t help those people.

The Social – a big part of what drives it all.

We chat about books. Once we’re past the book chat, our topic wander all over the place. Don’t fear that, add to it. Mix in other social aspects. We’ve done book / movie trip combos for those willing. We have a social media presence (yes, it’s still Failbook) with more than 230 members. We don’t have a huge presence at each meeting, but we definitely have a core who show up on the regular. We connect with each other on our book review platforms. This is a social thing!

The Place – where do you meet?

We started as a book group in a Barnes & Noble. That was a draw back then. The corporate overlords took away the chairs and then the groups. We took our name and our group to another store. Eventually, that store decided it wasn’t for us (they treated us pretty poorly really). We went to another book shop. It’s a wonderful place, but they have many cats and that keeps some of our members away (allergies), combined with a limited meeting space. These days, we’re one of the most consistent and successful groups at one of the branches of our local library. Libraries (and librarians) are awesome. Go there.

In an important development – we also meet via Zoom (and you can join us too). This access is a big deal! There are more than one members that can’t get to our meetings in person for various reasons. Zoom is our connection.

The Extras – what other things add to the mix?

We do other things too.

We’ve participated as a group in small “comiccons” in our area, hosting a table where we gifted donated books to the kids that showed up. We volunteered, acted as cosplay judges and generally just had a good time.

Our members have a presence at many conventions both here and further afield. I’m here at Balticon this weekend. Some dear friends from the group will be headed to Confluence in July. We do our best to bring others on board, even if it’s only briefly.

Do your homework! IF you’re at a con and you’re talking to say… authors and artists and other creators make a connection! Invite them to join you. Ask them about their book and see about getting that onto the selection list – so they can call in or visit and talk about their work. See who is in your area by going to local author events and chatting with folks. Talk to the booksellers. Reach out to distant authors online. You won’t always have success, but other times you’ll be shocked by who’s happy to stop by and read to you!

In the past we’ve been host to authors (big names and local), editors, artists and musicians. We were a venue where they could promote and discuss their work, AND we got insights that other readers wouldn’t necessarily get. Winning all around.

The Zine.

I think the one thing that makes us special is that we also publish a fanzine each month. We’ve published 11 times a year since 2002 (about 23 years now). We have a cover art piece every month. We have articles, convention lists, and advertisements for friends of our group (not just anyone).

We are HUGO eligible (not that we get any love, even from our own membership).

This is your chance to make that extra connection with the creatives in your area and really push your group to be something special.

Coming Out of the Dungeon

Posted on by
Reply

From classic dungeon crawls to slice of life storytelling, role-playing games have evolved and mutated in the fifty years since their conception. Many vintage games and titles are still played, though their presentation and execution may differ from the original intent. How are modern players clashing with old-style expectations, and how can you blend nostalgic charm seamlessly into your current games?

This was one panel that I totally misunderstood before the convention. I had a handful of notes about games that were NOT old school D&D, but that was not the direction of the panel at all.

How do we deal with all the history various games have now? Is there a way to bring some of those things forward to use in a modern game?

This is a panel that I wish was recorded. It was a nuanced and interesting discussion with players from various backgrounds. That is always the danger when talking about older versions of games – there was a distinct lack of diversity. There are any number of old adventures, adventure settings and interactions that would be considered “problematic” by a lot of folks today.

Can some aspects of those games and adventures be updated? Certainly. There are examples of many classics being updated to the latest game systems and being republished. Are there some that likely won’t make the cut? Absolutely. Dark Sun was a prominent one in the discussion as a significant portion of that setting revolved around slavery. There was a small mention of the 1st edition module series “Aerie of the Slavelords” and A2 “Secret of the Slavers Stockade” in particular. Those have some very specific issues. Could they be mined for ideas and maps? Maybe – but you’d very much have to have clear boundaries and discussions with your players as to how they feel about topics like that and if they are suitable for game play.

A good topic, a great discussion and one I hope to revisit – at the very least so I can take better notes.

So you want to be a Game Master?

Posted on by
Reply

First time Gamemastering? Are prospective players asking whether you run your table Rules as Written or Rule of Cool, but you don’t know how to answer? Are you new to TTRPGs and want to get your friends to join you at the table? Have you wanted to give your Forever GM friend a break? Come to “So you want to be a Game Master?”, where our panel of experienced game runners will teach you how to lead an RPG, and ensure the fun is spread evenly around the table.

The home set up.

I’ve done posts and videos about being a DM before. I’ve also run a workshop at Balticon in the past for first timers. I like the idea of empowering others to invest in creating something wonderful and fun for everyone. For the record, I am very much a ‘rule of cool’ kind of game master. Here are my notes for this panel:

My personal house Rule #1: It’s just a game.

We’re here to have fun, and if we’re not having fun, then why are we doing it?

Finding an RPG you like is partially about the game itself and partially about the people you’re playing with. Both parts matter. These games are by their very nature social. The single biggest challenge is finding a group, or a series of groups of people that you really, truly enjoy gaming with. The people are the key to it all.

As for the games themselves, part of that is learning what your group is into, and what you are all looking for in a game.

How many people do you want the game to handle?

You don’t have to be an expert on fantasy lore or a master rules lawyer; anyone can be a GM.

The hardest part of it all, battling the demons of three to five other people’s schedules.

Find inspiration (in art, in books, in movies, in conversation with others)

Prepare to the amount you feel comfortable with – SET A SCENARIO, NOT A STORY PLOT

Roll with choices your players make – be flexible

Adapt encounters that were ‘missed’ into something else later in the campaign (save your work)

Keep a list of names (like sounding names from a similar area – on hand just in case random NPC)

Keep notes – particularly of who all those random NPCs are, b/c they might stick and come back (Cabbage guy from Avatar the Last Airbender anyone?)

Feel free to watch shows like critical role – but understand what they’ve got going on behind the scenes (and if you don’t have that, how can your game match that?)

Even the best, luckiest and most talented groups don’t last forever, and sometimes that’s what makes them truly magical. Take advantage of having fun while you can.

What Makes a Good Player?

Posted on by
Reply

The description for this panel:

Countless tales are told of the legendary “That Guy,” the fiend who destroys the good times of tabletops everywhere. But little is said about the others, the celestial beings who remember names, piece together plot points, and work with their GM on narrative and theme. This panel of GMs and Players will tell stories of the best player moments, and elucidate what makes these angels so special.

I’ve been playing various role playing games for a very long time. I’ve played a lot, and over the most recent years I’ve been the game master more often than not. Running a game and staying ahead of a group of creative, talented and smart people is a fantastic challenge. Here are the notes I had for this panel.

Chemistry.

We play these games because we want to have fun. It’s definitely no fun if the person sitting next to you is the verbal equivalent of a pebble in your shoe while you walk.

Finding your people is NOT easy. It IS a role-playing game, so you will have to get past the anxiety part in order to make it work… unless that’s your whole party and the game adventure becomes who’s actually going to be forced to speak to the service person you’re facing…

Flexibility.

You’re here to have fun, right? Sometimes that means getting outside your comfort zone and pretending to do a thing you would NEVER do in real life, for whatever reason. Sometimes you need to change a little to allow others to do the same.

No Judgment.

This one is a balancing act. It ties in with the chemistry thing. What if your rogue character does something that you, on a deeply personal level, find abhorrent? Is it just the game? Is it how the character would actually behave because reasons? You can’t leap on the judgmental band waggon or it will kill certain creative parts of the game.

Pay attention.

Sounds dumb, matters a lot. When in person games were more common than virtual there was always that one person that was on their phone or who fell asleep on the couch. It can hurt the flow of any session if we all have to stop, back up five minutes to tell you what you weren’t paying attention to and then wait for you to re-read your spell list to figure out what you were doing.

Be creative.

Not everyone is a mastermind with 56 plot lines weaving in and out of their minds, but do any little bit you can. Take on something small if you feel like you don’t know where to start. Look at your character and create from there. What do you really know about? Slide some of that into your character, and use that as a starting point. If you’re a hair stylist, allow your character to wear a hair style that you’d love to see, then leap off from there and make it a quirky part of that character – the character constantly tries to get others to color their hair or braid their beard or something. Those little bits of flavor make a very rich game.

Be understanding.

Sometimes gamers need to take a knee. The real world intrudes. This ties together with chemistry and flexibility. My best games have come after we’ve had to skip a week because of family stuff or during really tough real world issues for my players.

Favorite things from my players? I had a OCD person with a color coded notebook. She wrote everything down. I have a great note taker in my campaign now. She takes the greedy character to a whole new level, so she tracks all the party wealth.
New players rock because they don’t have tropes to rely on. They do something weird every time!

Convention Sales Pitch

Posted on by
Reply

Over Memorial Day weekend I was once again able to participate in Balticon, the annual science fiction convention of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. I’ll be posting a full report here (once it’s been published in its initial place), but until then I wanted to post up some of the notes I had for the panels I was on.

In general, I think all the panels went really well. There was one that was close to being a clunker, but some well timed moderation and good stories carried the day. I am already struggling to recall a lot of the details of each individual panel, so I will be sticking to just my notes and impressions and generally not what the other panelists brought to the table.

That is the best sales pitch I can think of for actually attending a con in person these days. It’s the experience of the whole thing. Anecdotally I’ve heard that lots of people are trying to get away from the pure consumer / materialistic aspects of life. Well, the experience of the convention is definitely something fitting to that category. A fleeting gathering of like minded folks looking to share the joy of their favorite genre topics. Things you won’t see anywhere else. Chances to dress up, talk nerdy and play games. Worth the effort to get there.

Yes – I’ve posted a number of other items here about the difficulties and challenges science fiction conventions have had lately. I still think they’re viable. I don’t want them to die. I love the idea of spending a weekend away just geeking out about the latest game / book / show and all the conflicting ideas about just how good it is. We can and should do better. If you get the chance – go.

My Con Schedule

Posted on by

Once again I’m headed to Balticon over Memorial Day weekend. I’ve been attending there for decades, and speaking or presenting there for a few years now. I consider them my “home con” if you will. They have had some struggles of late and some of my friends have moved away from this convention in particular. We’ll see what it brings this year.


My schedule for the panels I’ll be on:

 Start Time      Duration            Room Name          Session ID                      Title
Sat 2:30 PM    1 Hr          James                      45          What Makes a Good Player                         
Sat 5:30 PM    1 Hr          James                      29          Coming out of the Dungeon                         
Sun 1:00 PM    1 Hr          Guilford                   24          So you want to be a Game Master?                 
Sun 2:30 PM    1 Hr          Room 7029                  167         Making a Book Club Work                           
Sun 4:00 PM    1 Hr          James                      140         Being a bad guy without being a Bad Guy           
Sun 7:00 PM    1 Hr          James                      43          Your Player Said What??                           
Mon 10:00 AM   1 Hr          Mount Washington           259         Knights of the Virtual Table 

Con Trouble

Posted on by

I’ve seen a couple of different posts lately that talk in various aspects about how poorly certain conventions either have been run or are currently being run. I think a new pastime is going after convention staff and criticising what they do. Admittedly, some of them do need a critical eye turned their way. Creating something for other people to consume is not an easy thing. Doing that – putting your work out there for the scrutiny of others – is no easy thing. Creating something… anything is work. I have found it very difficult dealing with people who make nothing of their own but take great joy when they criticize or tear down the things that others have made. I know, I know – not something new. Internet trolls have been around and they are not going away.

Let’s start with World Con. A group of volunteers working to create something for the world and getting bashed left and right. Sometimes (often) justified, and sometimes not. Their choices for the current incarnation have been subject to a lot of scrutiny. I don’t know if the current set of choices under the critical eye were given much in the way of thought in terms of how others may react. Using tools like AI to create their convention seems like a time saving idea. Others have seen that as catastrophic and called it that. Do I think that using AI is some desperate or despicable act in terms of running a convention? No. No I do not. Do I think that it’s very easy to point fingers at a volunteer crowd when they are overwhelmed with work and say clearly you should have thought this out? Yes, it’s very easy to point fingers. Do I think there are better choices out there? Maybe. I’m not a fan of AI. I don’t suspect that I ever will be. Do I think that worldcon should use all the tools at its disposal? Absolutely. I would say that there needed to be some thought given to how those tools are presented. I think AI at this stage of its development is problematic on a good day, but I don’t know that it’s an end of the world scenario. They’re not creating Skynet, they’re sorting panelists and other information sorting tasks. Is a human touch better? When it comes to dealing with people and how they feel, it sure is. Worldcon has done enough damage to itself over the past few years that this just feels like piling on.

Worldcon clearly has a long way to go. They have struggled and they will continue to struggle. I actually hope the learning curve will help them to become a better and stronger convention going forward in the future. Long ago the con that presented the Hugo was a powerful thing. Now? Now I wonder at the value of the brand. I have stopped advocating to get onto the Hugo nomination list. Maybe someday that will change. Here’s a thing I wrote about my last interaction with them: https://www.ehardenbrook.com/withdrawal/

The other convention is a convention debacle that has been making the rounds on book tok and reviewer blogs. It is either a monumental underestimation by those without experience OR a naked cash grab by some less than scrupulous company. I’m talking about the “Million Lives” convention for ‘Romantasy’ authors and fans. I have no first hand knowledge of the event – but the reports are calling this the equal to the Fyre Festival. Check out one of the reports here. 

The thing about this kind of event is… effort. Fans, particularly fans laying out hundreds of their hard earned bucks, want results. I’ve seen it first hand. I know the sort of effort it took when the kids programming team set out to run a successful weekend for a few dozen children. Now amplify that to a point where you believe you’re going to fill a section of the Baltimore convention center. That’s a tall order.

This debacle feels like one of two things. First, it could be an ‘event company’ that really overshot on their first attempt. If that’s true, this will kill that company. Second, and the more cynical part of me believes this, the so called event company is at least a partial scam because they can skate away with the cash and it doesn’t really matter what happens with the attendees in their view. This particular convention (from all accounts) was a complete disaster. When I say complete – I mean from the things that people take for granted, like directional signage, all the way through an entertainment venues layout. The use and decoration of spaces in a convention location will only go so far. A bare concrete floor generally doesn’t say fantasy ball to me.

Grandiose visions, expansive events and immersive atmosphere  take time, effort and cash. Emphasis on the effort.

I guess (in this jumble of words that I have just sort of laid out here) what I’m trying to say is creating a thing like a convention is not easy. It is time-consuming and takes a team of dedicated people to do it. Sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes things go catastrophically wrong. Sometimes that is the fault of the staff and sometimes it’s not.

I hope, as I head out next weekend, to attend a convention, that Lessons Learned and growth will be part of how things are moving forward. I really wanted to go over these things just because I want to see Science Fiction and Fantasy conventions succeed. What does that level of success look like? I don’t know. Maybe everyone wants it to become Comic-Con but what we will be left with in the end is returning to something like what conventions were in the past. Smaller events, more tightly controlled and made for and with the Fans.

After I return from the Baltimore science fiction convention this year I intend to do a write-up as I always have in the past about my personal experiences and my thoughts on how things went. Maybe, if I’m really energetic, I’ll be able to post while I’m there! Stay tuned to find out!

Upcoming Convention – Getting Ready

Posted on by

I’m happy to say that I’ve been invited to be a panelist at the annual convention of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society again this year. I’m very excited for it!

Fandom in general and conventions in particular have had a lot of hard times lately. Things that might have been easier to deal with in different social environments have become bigger and noticeably more damaging. Sometimes for the better – exposing less than wonderful people and removing them from the processes. Sometimes for the worse – bending to inappropriate social pressures and attacking people without just cause. All of these things have made what was once a shining thing for me a lot more tarnished.

I have been attending or speaking at this particular con for somewhere in the realm of 30 years. I’ve been through a number of things with them, a number of locations and a bunch of changes. I know a number of people who’ve decided to go other directions and can’t or won’t forgive the people running this convention enough to support them. I understand that – I have made that choice with a number of other conventions myself. I’ve decided to keep going here, and I’m glad they’ll have me.

I got my draft schedule the other day and I started digging into panels and descriptions.

I’ve shifted away from a lot of the author things. I haven’t had anything published in so long I almost don’t remember the process. I am still connected to fandom and gaming, so I’ve been added to a bunch of those panels. My draft list is:

What Makes a Good Player?

So you want to be a Game Master?

Coming out of the Dungeon

Being a bad guy without being a Bad Guy

Your Player Said What??

and – Making a Book Club Work

I spent a fair portion of my afternoon writing up a bunch of notes for these descriptions and doing some homework on my fellow panelists (not going to get caught off guard again if I can help it). I can’t wait to see what everyone else has to say… and I am really looking forward to coming back and giving a full report on it here. Stay tuned!

Upcoming Convention

Posted on by

I have volunteered as tribute… I mean, I volunteered to be on panels at the Baltimore science fiction society’s convention again this year. I made that choice back around the first of the year (or maybe earlier?) when they sent out invitations. I haven’t heard anything yet, but that’s typical for any convention – many details, including schedules, run close to the last minute. I expect the schedule won’t be final until close to Memorial Day weekend (when the convention happens).


I understand there are any number of folks out there who are very down on Balticon and the people running it. I’ve witnessed some people getting rotten treatment and half ass apologies or no apologies. I know a large number of authors and vendors who are specifically not going this year, and likely never will again. There have been struggles.

Part of me very much wants to support my friends. I know first hand how behind the scenes stuff spirals out of control and becomes ‘news’. I’ve stopped all support for any worldcon and Philcon specifically for personal reasons much like theirs. I’ve posted about that before, both here and other places. Treating people shabbily is not excusable.

Balticon was the first convention I ever attended back in 1993. They were the first convention to invite me as an author guest. They were the first convention I displayed art at. They’ve been my ‘home con’ where I’ve participated for more than 3 decades. I’m going again this year. I am hopeful for improvements, but mindful of what has gone before.

Fleeting Magic

Posted on by

Bear with me. This one is going to be rambly and possibly incoherent but I’m going to do my best to tie it together.

I read an article recently by an author I have had an opportunity to interview before. This article (linked here) is about people idolizing celebrities. The author states it differently, however that’s what it amounts to. Idolizing, much like western religions have taught against for many hundreds of years in fact. I have written in the past about my experiences with relatively famous or infamous people and how I felt about them versus how I felt about their work or how they have portrayed themselves in their public facing persona. Your protest may vary. This is why I wanted to try to pull these thoughts together. This isn’t going away. People are always looking for the next wondrous thing that will give them good feelings and happy memories. In reference to the title of this post, Fleeting Magic, the things that we tend to find the most valuable or particularly special are things that do not necessarily last.

I have worked behind the scenes for some conventions that brought in celebrity guests. My experience with those particular people actually matches relatively closely to what is presented in Scalzi’s article. The people I wanted to meet the most, frequently turned out to be the worst people to meet. The people I met without expectations from me generally became my favorites.  Working behind the scenes and being part of the creation of an event rather than a consumer of an event has helped me shape this point of view. Creative people are putting on public faces. I’ve seen a pro at work and she was amazing (cold read of a work that she just crushed) and when she walked off stage, out of sight from the crowd she said, “that was a really hard room to work”. She was right, but the people she performed for had a very different view of the entire experience. For them, the magic was there.

I have often daydreamed about being successful. I think most people do. I do not daydream about being famous. I don’t want to be famous. These days that’s far too invasive. There will, without question, be people who appear from my distant past with stories of how rotten I was at the time. They’re probably not wrong. Everyone is the villain of somebody else’s story. I don’t want or need to relive any of those times. I have grown and changed. I’m working on my version of success and being a better person every day. The real question, or catch, here is can you be successful (particularly financially) and not become famous?

How you define success is the most important part of that question. What is success to you?  I guarantee success from your point of view does not match success from my point of view. One of my written goals when I started creating (both artwork and writing)  was to become successful enough to be an invited guest at a science fiction convention and not have to pay to go. I have, in fact, achieved that first goal. It’s not my only goal, but it is the first one I have achieved. It is something that makes me happy. It is not something that makes me famous nor does it make me any money. I get to continue to do some of the things that I genuinely enjoy and visit and chat with other creators in the genres I love.

Where is the fleeting portion of this?  That’s easy to pinpoint. My behind the scenes convention work is done. Those conventions, no matter how  wonderful they were, no matter how amazing my team was, are done. The company is defunct and those teams disbanded. There are wonderful memories from that time, but they are just that, memories. They were snippets in time that gave me a view into event creation and minor celebrities behind the scenes. I suspect that my interactions with celebrities, both good and bad, are what have given me my disdain for putting them up on a pedestal. As is stated in the article, they are just people. Those people are doing their job and trying to get paid. That’s it, nothing more. Sometimes those people are wonderful, sometimes those people are assholes. Pretty much how people always are. Even your favorite people have bad days.

Should a bad day count against the person? Maybe not. Will it count against them in YOUR book? You bet it will. It will color all of your thoughts and interactions with them going forward. Will they notice? Unless you see them every day, no they will not. They probably won’t remember. If an egregious transgression comes to light, some heinous act that you will not stand for, should that destroy the joy that you once had from their creative work? Maybe not,  but it will certainly color your point of view from that day forward. It will make you not want to give them money. It will make you question what went into that thing you love and have you wondering if that thing that has been brought to light was part of the process of making the creation you’ve enjoyed so much.

I wonder if media, including social media and sports, have become the modern equivalent of religion. People are searching for something or someone to believe in. They want an example to look to. This makes failings and shortcomings significantly more devastating when they are discovered. Thing is, this happens. People are people and they will screw up. It’s fair to be disappointed and it is also fair to withhold further support from somebody whose actions have been proven to be in opposition to what you support. Don’t give money or fame to those who stand against what you believe in. Simple, right? Just how well do you know them? How well do you know the structure of your religion? Where are the lessons and will they survive being brought into the light of public scrutiny?

I think, someday, we will sort this out and come to some balance. Perhaps. Right now I believe the best thing that people can do is practice moderation with any form of media. As Mr. Scalzi suggests, do not put creators on a pedestal. Do not idolize athletes. Change your priority. Enjoy art or sport in all its forms, but not at the expense of what is real and around you every day. Most people don’t get to interact with the famous or successful every day except through the media. Take some time and get away from your screens. Go outside and meet your neighbors. Go volunteer locally, do something good, treat people around you with kindness whenever you can.  It’s not a big ask and that’s what I think will make it successful. Handle the small things and enjoy the things around you. When you have the opportunity to participate in something that could be magic, take that opportunity. Create that magic. Be part of that team. If it doesn’t last, just know that being part of that magic has given wonderful memories to others that they will carry with them. No matter how fleeting your magical creation is, enjoy it and cherish it.