owlmoose: (da - brosca)
KJ ([personal profile] owlmoose) wrote2021-11-20 04:00 pm
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No WorldCon for me

It's official: I've decided not to attend DisCon III in person. Almost none of my friends are attending, and while I can enjoy other cons solo, WorldCon is just as much about seeing my fandom friends as it is the larger con community. I realized a couple of weeks ago that I was cutting it close in terms of trying to find affordable flights, and that I had basically no interest in doing so -- in fact, I found the very thought of even opening the flight search apps exhausting. So today I cancelled my hotel reservation and emailed the con registration team about converting my membership to virtual.

Although I made my decision before this happened, the mayor of Washington DC recently announced that the district will be lifting its mask mandate, and although the con is still going to have strict vaccination and masking polices, rumor has it the hotel will not be following suit. Although I was able to cancel my hotel reservation on the website, I sent them an email anyway asking them to change their mind. I doubt any one customer will change their mind, but maybe if enough people push back on it, we'll see a change.

I'm a little sad, but it was definitely the right call, and I'm glad to have made the decision final. And now I can hopefully look forward to next year in Chicago, as well as Wiscon next year.

brainwane: My smiling face, including a small gold bindi (Default)

[personal profile] brainwane 2021-11-21 06:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I appreciate your post about this - I am also not going in person and it's helpful to read another person talking about why.
zahraa: (Default)

[personal profile] zahraa 2021-11-23 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, we're not going, either, and I just converted my membership to virtual. Thank you for the reminder to cancel the hotel reservation!

I have some awesome news--I'm starting a new job on December 16, going back to work for a smaller, San Francisco-based organization. So, even if we felt it were COVID-safe, that sort of travel is impossible right now.

So, I probably won't be able to attend virtually on the weekdays, but maybe we will see each other online at some of the weekend events.
lokifan: black Converse against a black background (Default)

[personal profile] lokifan 2021-11-24 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Makes a lot of sense to me, esp if your friends aren't going - there are definitely cons I only got to to see people. <3
lassarina: (Default)

[personal profile] lassarina 2021-12-01 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
oof. I don't blame you for cancelling, although I'm sorry you won't have the in-person time with friends. ♥