UK Fandom Weekend 2024?

[kat_lair]

***

Hello everyone, but especially people in the UK or willing to travel there!

A long, long time ago, I can still remember
How that music fandom weekend used to make me smile...

*clears throat*

Anyway. Once upon a time there was Connotations, a fan con by fans for fans where I met some awesome people and drank questionable amounts of alcohol. Once upon a time I also hosted 'North-West Fen' meetings in Manchester, and then a 'Broadstairs Bacchanalia' fandom weekend in, you guessed it, Broadstairs. Then life, pandemic, etc.

Now... Possibility? Potential? A vaguest of plan... To maybe do something like that again. In person. In... Well, still considering the location (because sadly I no longer live in a house that can host more than max five people for group activities) because a lot depends on the numbers (though Manchester has been floated...). Next summer(ish) seems like a potentially solid time as well.

Anyway, I am posting this first in my journal but will consider setting up a separate community if there is enough interest. So, please can I ask everyone to

1) Share this post. Look, I made a very professional banner and everything. You could like post it and embed a link to this post and that would make my little heart swell with gratitude.



2) Fill this extremely professional poll.

Poll #29528 UK Fandom Weekend 2024

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 30

View Respondents

I'm able to/interested in attend/ing

View Answers

Yes
14 (50.0%)

No
0 (0.0%)

Depends on factors I will elaborate on in the comments
14 (50.0%)

Ideal time for such an event is... (tick all you think would work)

View Answers

March 2024
14 (48.3%)

April 2024
16 (55.2%)

May 2024
17 (58.6%)

June 2024
18 (62.1%)

July 2024
21 (72.4%)

August 2024
17 (58.6%)

September 2024
17 (58.6%)

October 2024
17 (58.6%)

Ideal location for such an event is...

View Answers

I already have ideas for activities which I will share now!

View Answers

Please feel free to elaborate and offer suggestions in the comments!

Thank you!

***

Comments

[smallhobbit]

I like the idea, but can't guarantee any particular time next year, due to possible changes...

[moth2fic]

Maybe use the link to spread the work to ushobwri? I know a lot of people are US based but probably not all.

[kat_lair]

Timing is always the trickiest, since no time will be convenient for all! But got to start somewhere... And I have such good memories of Broadstairs Bacchanalia that I'd like to add to them :)

[kat_lair]

Hello! If interested please go to uk_fandom_weekend :)

[moth2fic]

I like the idea, especially in Manchester. No preferences re time of year - that will be more crucial for people with things like links to education, their own, their kids, or like you, their students! Thanks for the email link - you clearly know I'm lazy about checking DW!! Will try to spread the word.

[kat_lair]

I'd really like to see if we can make it happen in a reasonable way! Location depends a lot on numbers. Somewhere with public transport connection is usually good (Connotations was great but it was a pain in the ass to get to).

Haha yeah, I knew you don't check DW that often but I've talked about this like at least the last two visits so it was time to do a post!

[x003]

Hey! I know I'm just a random person, but this came up on my reading page and I'd like to say it sounds like a wonderful idea, and if it happened I'd be likely to attend--especially if it was outside of London. :) Thank you for putting this together! I'll drop the link to some of my non-DW using friends.

[kat_lair]

Hello random person! I pimped it on a bigger comm precisely to gather interest outside my immediate circle so great that's it worked :D London can be good for day things but it is too expensive and tricky for anything that's a bit longer, would require overnight stay so it's definitely likely to be outside it. And thanks for spreading the word. I don't really use other social media platforms much outside DW so that's appreciated :)

[trobadora]

I'd love to, but it depends completely on work next year, which is unpredictable this far ahead ... so best not to take me into account. *g* Manchester would be great, though!

[kat_lair]

I know I am starting the planning Very Early, but my memory of doing Broadstairs Bacchanalia which ended up being about 8 people so pretty modest, is that it still took quite a bit of work to pull together. Would be absolutely delightful if you could make it though! And noted on Manchester...

[apiphile]

As always my "it depends" is "am I working that week", although if I get enough advance warning I can book time off :)

[kat_lair]

Hopefully early planning means early decision in time and place... 😊

[turps]

What a blast from the past, back in the day Connotations was my very first slash con.

Most of my UK fannish friends will be travelling back from Camp Sparkle today but I'll share the post for them to see when they get back.

[kat_lair]

Ikr! Like it's possible we were at connotations at the same time just never interacted.

Would be awesome if you could come and thank you very much for disseminating the call 💓

[verdande_mi]

I would be willing to travel to the UK for this! At least if it happened when I am off work. I don't have a location in mind, but I have never been to Manchster so that would be great.

[kat_lair]

Pooh it would be awesome if you could join us 😊 Manchester is one of my favourite cities and it seems to be relatively popular...

[leanwellback]

I miss Connotations! I would love something similar to happen. The "it depends" is generally getting time off work and travel/accommodation costs if it's not local to me like Connotations was.

[kat_lair]

Yeah I just miss having occasional fandom meetings with more that three people. Yeah conscious that these things always come up with a cost attached, part of the reason for early thinking so people can eg advance tickets for trains and things like that.

[hils]

I have an IRL friend who was involved with Connotations so this is exciting. I live in York which is the only reason I listed that. My sister lives in Manchester and I’m sure would let me crash at her place. Might even be able to drag her along.

Can I gently suggest some covid precautions be put in place. I’ve managed to avoid catching it so far so I’m still wary about big groups

[kat_lair]

Oh very cool. Yeah I'm not aiming for anything quite that big necessarily but sort of "let's see if we can make it happen"

Yes, good point. One would hope the "don't travel if you are ill" msg has been internalised but a reminder will be important, maybe also request to test prior? I'd be really happy to take suggestions here.

[spikedluv]

That sounds like such fun!

(Could you create a text box with the image and a link to your post and any other info you'd like included?)

[kat_lair]

Wasn't gonna bother until maybe something more official was in the works but by your wish... :D

In the UK or willing to travel there? Interested in possibly attending (or even helping to organise) an in person Fandom Weekend in 2024? If yes, we'd like to here from you! Follow the banner to a poll and more details. <a href="https://kat-lair.dreamwidth.org/873159.html"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/K87f9hF.jpg" alt="UK Famdom Weekend Banner" /></a>

[cesy]

Love the idea, I have fond memories of Connotations and Nine Worlds as well as the UK filk con, I haven't made it to VidUKon in a while and can never do EasterCon due to dates. A small con sounds nice.

May Bank holiday could work for me. Manchester would be fine, or anywhere cheap with good trains.

[kat_lair]

Gotta say I haven't even heard of EasterCon... Yeah, I'm avoiding 'con' to keep expectations realistic 😁

Noted on all of those. I don't drive so public transport links are high on my list of criteria.

[pushkin666]

You know me hun, willing to help organise. Preference Manchester. Summer months might be expensive and hot (witness 3 weeks ago). I'd personally prefer a smaller gathering than something the size of Connotations (of which I have VERY fond memories). As you've said above even with the small gathering we had for Broadstairs Baccanalia there was a lot to organise. But I'm onboard and have posted on my journal.

Right off to sleep now to be ready for Durham Miners Gala tomorrow and a bloody 4 hour parade!

Right awake. Yes it's 2.38am and it's insomnia time. Also tea and biscuits time. So, I marked March as good time. March not good for me because its the UK ghost writing festival in March and I want to go to that again, as it was so good this year.

Right, tea, biscuits, solitaire and gonna try to get back to sleep 😴

[kat_lair]

Yeah, I'm definitely going to need help with organising. Looks like the summer months are the most popular in terms of availability though. I don't think the temperature will necessarily be a problem as we'd have most things inside in air conditioned rooms.

To be honest, down the line I'm thinking that there's nothing stopping us or other people organising more than one fandom weekend per year and in different locations (e.g. one in the North, one in the South) to give some options for people. But let's start with one...!

Enjoy the gala!

[static_whisper]

I'm unable to travel to attend, but I shared a link to this with some people who are in/closer to the UK.

I noticed the comment above about being willing to take suggestions on Covid-19 precautions, so I hope this doesn't seem too overwhelming or uncalled for:

Try to find a venue with enough space for social distancing in any indoor and outdoor areas. (I don't know enough about upgrades to ventilation that might allow for no social distancing offhand. That will likely be venue specific if you go that route.)

Have attendees take a Covid-19 test before traveling to the venue. (Ideally, have some sort of alternate and/or online plans for still hanging out for anyone who tests positive or shows signs of illness between a negative test and traveling. This can vary on your attendees and the specifics; someone who's really sick with Covid-19 might not want to do anything that weekend, but someone who traveled to the UK and is now sick but capable of joining an online thing from their hotel might appreciate having some sort of alternate plan.)

The exact specifics might depend on the venue, but ideally, every attendee should wear a face covering in communal areas, and if you can find a box of N95 masks, you should have at least one face covering to provide to attendees. (There's nothing wrong with asking attendees to bring their own face coverings, but providing one usually lowers the barrier to compliance if, for example, everyone needs to wear one before going into a small room together.)

Dining options might depend on the venue and the weather, but if eating together is part of the appeal of the event, socially distanced outdoor dining will probably carry a lower risk than indoor dining. (If group meals aren't a planned part of this event, you may want to consider letting people get their own food and eating wherever they feel is best to reduce their risk - outside, in their hotel room, etc.)

Afterwards, have a way to communicate with all attendees if someone starts showing symptoms of illness after they've traveled back home. (It may not be Covid-19, even, but you should still plan on possibly needing to notify everyone.)

[kat_lair]

Hey, thanks very much for sharing the link.

And thank you for all of those suggestions, very useful. A lot depends on the number of people as that will then impact on things like what kind of venue is needed. I really like the idea of an online aspect. There are definitely some things that could be potentially be ran as hybrid or to offer some parallel online hangouts. I shall keep in mind!

The dinner options are again depended on numbers. When I've done this in the past the numbers were small enough that a 'bring something' shared lunch and a larger table at a local restaurant were feasible. Larger the group, more likely it will be a 'sort out your own food' type of solution for practical reasons anyways.

Some really good ideas here. I will put these kinds of things for communal decision when we get some more certainty. Thank you again for taking the time <3

[enchantedsleeper]

I would love to come to something like this! I'm happy for it to be held wherever - Manchester seems like a good shout as there'll be good transport links and options for accommodation, etc. I'm not local but I love having the excuse to travel a bit for a couple of days, and I've never been to Manchester! As I'm not local I feel like my help with organising would be limited but if there is anything that you need that doesn't need a local, let me know? ^^ And I'll try to keep an eye on developments!

[kat_lair]

That's awesome to hear, thanks for dropping by to do the poll :) To be clear, I haven't been local to Manchester for ten years :D But I think a lot of the organising can be done remotely anyway, like researching suitable venues, accommodation options and travel connections, planning activities and programme etc. I've created a community, but I'm going to leave this post to do the rounds for a few days still to do its work of attracting some initial buy in, and will then drop a link to everyone and we can think about the detail together. Thanks for the offer to help!

[dreamersdare]

Lets be honest, my attendence will depend entirely on when it is, where it is, what I'm working, whether Mr DD is available, whether the stars are in alignment and whether Cthulhu has arisen from the slumbering depths. So, yeah.

But here's my thoughts on location/date/activities

Location: Somewhere central. The southeast is the most populous part of the country, but things in the southeast continually put the cost and burden of travel onto those living more north/west, especially into Wales or Scotland. For sharing the pain of travel (!) I would say look somewhere in the window between Birmingham and Newcastle. I'd also think about access - let's assume all attendees are coming via public transport, so we want to think about mainline train services, decent public transport infrastructure (and possibly airports with decent transport links if there's international interest). That points toward Birmingham or Manchester as obvious candidates to me, maybe Newcastle? But people who know those areas better than I do can probably comment more helpfully on that.

Dates: I marked them all, but I think it depends on location. If we choose a tourist hotspot, for example, we're gonna want to avoid school holidays, because costs will be astronomical, and getting things booked will be a bitch (book thy restaurant early or go hungry...). June/July/August are also potential heatwave horror months now, apparently so... that might be a consideration? Bank holiday dates reduce the need for people to book holidays, but tend to hike up the costs.

Activities: Depends on attendees, I guess, but literally any of the things we've done in the past?

[dreamersdare]

Actually on location, also think about access via car, in particular parking, which is a bitch and a half in city centres. Because some folks will be coming via car, I would expect, for various reasons.

[lilly_c]

Here via DW network.

This sounds like it could be a lot of fun :)

For my it depends answer it is done to getting the time off work unless it was to fall on what are normally days off for me and my work use a 12 weeks rolling rota but I can easily ask for a shift swap somewhere or an extra day off if needed (I have set shift pattern but sometimes pick up overtime as and when I need to).

I know that Northern England is a big area to cover but I have family in the West Yorkshire area and travel there from North East Scotland a few times a year so I know the rough travel times for getting there and back home. London or southern England in general would be a lot trickier because of longer travel times and less familiarity with it. (I hope that makes some sense)

[ephemera]

I have fond memories of Connotations and Nine Worlds, and smaller gatherings in specific fandoms, so this idea as a whole sounds ace (more or less anywhere along the size scale) - my "depends" factors would be timing, the general area of fandom focus having some overlap with my own, and if anyone in my direct circle is planning to go.

[quailfence]

I’m interested, but due to living across the pond and starting uni/college in September I’m not sure if I’ll have the time/money to attend. I’ll still keep and eye on things, though!

[kat_lair]

It would of course be great if people were willing to travel that kind of distance! Fingers crossed things will work out... But if not, maybe look at organising something locally to you?

[athenejen]

I'm interested, but a lot depends on how the specific details end up panning out -- I'm in the US, but have never been to the UK and would love to have an excuse to go, but there are a lot of factors that might affect how practical it would be (primarily scheduling, finances, and logistics), not all of them entirely predictable at this current time.

[kat_lair]

O_o Well it would be Wholly Awesome to have you there of course, didn't think this would attract people beyond the borders BUT even the possibility is cool. I'm in the process of setting up comm etc for further discussion because there clearly seems to be a critical mass of people (the threshold was like ~10 in my head so...)

[soggymulder]

this is SO COOL

unfortunately i am on the other side of the world BUT if i were in the northern hemisphere i'd be there. i hope it goes great!!!

[kat_lair]

Thank you! I've had such good time at these kinds things so wanted to see if I could make it happen again.

[fred_mouse]

Hi! here from, umm, fictional_fans, I think.

I love the idea of meeting new fannish people. Partner and I are looking at attempting a trip from Australia to Italy for a thing at the end of July, and then carrying over to Worldcon in Scotland in August. So if it happened to coincide, I would be tentatively interested.

[kat_lair]

Welcome, welcome. All travelers welcome. Currently looks like July is the most popular month. I'm sorting out a comm atm for further discussion, will drop a link when set up!

[pensnest]

I'm tentatively interested, thought it would probably depend on details of which exact weekend (etc) as I have quite a few weekend commitments.
As to location, well, if there were only a dozen people, my house would work! Assuming more than that, I'm willing to go wherever. Manchester is entirely doable.
I have been co-organising a fannish get-together every year (excepting the Covid years) since 2007, and would recommend looking into holiday cottage rentals. The largest we stayed at was The Ship Inn, in Old Colwyn, North Wales. Accommodated about 30 people, plenty of showers, decent kitchen, good sized sitting room. Something like this is ideal as it's an exclusive space (no fretting about outsiders overhearing and being Shocked!) and comfortable, though some thought has to be given to catering. I'll be happy to share more information, should it seem like a fruitful avenue. turps has been to many of these.

[kat_lair]

Lovely, thanks for the offer of hosting and helping. Where are you based? A lot absolutely depends on numbers, but I'm also thinking of accessibility in terms of public transport and people with mobility issues like wheelchair users. I love the idea of a house to ourselves but it does then limit other things... Pros and cons!

[lexin]

Hi there, I used to run the pre-Connotations slash convention called Red Rose. We held it in Telford, in a hotel which I think is now a Holiday Inn. Getting there was a minor irritation as it involved changing trains in either Birmingham or Wolverhampton, but the hotel was lovely once we'd trained them on what was and was not vegetarian food.

I would definitely come as long as the event isn't in August, because I do have another (gaming) event I attend in that month, and have been going to that one for thirty-odd years.

I would second Old Colwyn - but that's because I live in Bangor. It's practically next door!

Other places I'd suggest would be Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, because they're on direct train routes to me.

One lady did run a convention on a weird spread out site that was in Shropshire. It was at a place called Eaton Manor, but it did require that a lot of the attendees come in cars so as to ferry the non-drivers (like me) around. Nice place, though.

One of the pre-Connotations conventions was run in Chester. They called it Deva-Con. I don't recommend that hotel (which was just up the road from the railway station) because it was so drab. But I'm sure there's a non-drab hotel in Chester.

[lexin]

Oh, yes, and one famous set of K/S conventions was run in Leicester, at the university halls of residence. That was Closet Con of sacred memory.

So university halls are an option if the convention is in July/August, though I mentioned my problems with August.