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Our Vision for Westercon 56
When I began our bid for another Westercon in western Washington, I did so with a clear vision of what I wanted to accomplish this time around. Hugo Gernsbeck, the founder of Astounding and the beginning of modern science fiction, did what he did as a celebration of technology and science. In a somewhat similar vein I see Westercon 56 as a celebration of a new and even greater period of change and growth in both technology and science and believe we should explore how it affects our speculative literature, our culture and our media. This could include computer technology, communication technology, bio-technology and space science. This focus goes beyond simple theme, however. It also gives us an opportunity to make Westercon 56 a testbed for technologies that can make a convention have broader dimensions both for those running the convention and those attending. So, with luck and effort, we hope to have now old standards like network gaming and an internet room. Beyond that, we hope to have virtual guests, that can be present in panels either via voice or both voice and video, but be half way across the world. Other possibilities include information kiosks, online chats, real video archives of paneling or real time streaming video broadcast of certain paneling. In the interval between now and 2003 many other innovations will become possible to use. We invite all those reading this to suggest possible additions to our list to explore and try to bring to Westercon 56. Jack Beslanwitch |
