FA+
Shop
The Ups And Downs of Online Cons
4 years ago
General
It's really something isn't it? Before Covid-19 hit I averaged around two-three cons a year, not counting the small local affairs like anime cons and the annual Christmas furmeet that ballooned to the point of renting out a convention center. This was the most I could afford with the limitations imposed by travel, needing to take time off work, and having to budget for things like hotel fees and con expenses so that I didn't end up losing the house or having to cut back on utilities.
Since Covid forced everything to shut down, people have been forced to get creative. VR has been available to the public for about a decade now starting with the Oculus kickstarter, and the Internet itself is over 20 years old. The growth in development of both of these things has been so perfect in regards to timing with the pandemic that one might be excused for thinking that all that innovation was done just for something like this. (Not far off the mark, actually. Younger furs reading this may not know that the internet was originally invented so that chain of command wouldn't completely break down during a nuclear bombardment.)
The fun and somewhat insane result of all of this coming together is that I have gone to more conventions during the Covid Years then I ever did back before the Age Of Reason came to an end. They are all online now! No travel expenses, no overpriced hotel with disgruntled staff, and you know where all of the food is. No longer are physical barriers like distance an obstacle- I have gone to multiple conventions in Canada since Covid; a near impossibility in real life since the towers fell. I no longer have to constantly worry about losing my implant batteries or portable gaming cartridges. Time is also easier to budget for in a way that is chill-multiple panels at the same time? Open new windows! Starving? Eat during the panel, no one will care! I do still have to take days off work for the whole-con experience, but without the need to budget for travel time I am finding myself burning fewer vacation days for every event. Best of all, all the money saved from travel and hotel expenses means I have more to put into swag....supporting the people who actually run the con. Everything moving online has made attending so much easier that I'm now averaging 5+ conventions a year!
Not everything has been great though. There is still no consensus in how an online convention should be run, so everyone has been doing it differently. Because of this, cons have started varying wildly in quality. I've been to online cons that were fantastic and I've been to ones that were as boring as trying to marathon Wind Waker. Some conventions have been very well organized, making all of their vendors, artists and shops easy to find and contact. Others have organized haphazardly with confusing layouts and still others didn't even have vendors at all. Some have embraced accessibility to everyone while others have locked themselves behind the doors of VR. Some offer interactive experiences that are so close to going to a real con that you can suspend belief for a couple of days, others put on more of a variety show like some kind of telethon for charity, and others still half-ass a schedule and create a discord channel.
Some of the best ones I've been to no longer exist. One lost senior staff to Covid and others by virtue of association to real-world events that intend to abandon online offerings when the world is safe to open once again. A few of them plan to stick to their guns, some more tentatively than others, and I honestly commend them for it. It's been real eye-opening seeing the amount of people who are saying these events are their first experiences with conventions and in some cases the fandom in general. There are scores of people who simply can't participate in actual cons because disabilities or other factors make the usual barriers to entry too great. And none of us would have ever known about this hidden group if convention experiences hadn't been forced online. Don't get me wrong, I too yearn for the days when we might once again travel to fun new places and celebrate the fandom together...but I'm holding out hope that some of these cons will take their experiences during the Covid years and grow them out into hybrid events.
So yeah, somewhat paradoxically, the furry fandom might be one of the very few things to actually come out of Covid-19 stronger than it went in. Hopefully Western Civilization will last long enough for us to capitalize on it.
Since Covid forced everything to shut down, people have been forced to get creative. VR has been available to the public for about a decade now starting with the Oculus kickstarter, and the Internet itself is over 20 years old. The growth in development of both of these things has been so perfect in regards to timing with the pandemic that one might be excused for thinking that all that innovation was done just for something like this. (Not far off the mark, actually. Younger furs reading this may not know that the internet was originally invented so that chain of command wouldn't completely break down during a nuclear bombardment.)
The fun and somewhat insane result of all of this coming together is that I have gone to more conventions during the Covid Years then I ever did back before the Age Of Reason came to an end. They are all online now! No travel expenses, no overpriced hotel with disgruntled staff, and you know where all of the food is. No longer are physical barriers like distance an obstacle- I have gone to multiple conventions in Canada since Covid; a near impossibility in real life since the towers fell. I no longer have to constantly worry about losing my implant batteries or portable gaming cartridges. Time is also easier to budget for in a way that is chill-multiple panels at the same time? Open new windows! Starving? Eat during the panel, no one will care! I do still have to take days off work for the whole-con experience, but without the need to budget for travel time I am finding myself burning fewer vacation days for every event. Best of all, all the money saved from travel and hotel expenses means I have more to put into swag....supporting the people who actually run the con. Everything moving online has made attending so much easier that I'm now averaging 5+ conventions a year!
Not everything has been great though. There is still no consensus in how an online convention should be run, so everyone has been doing it differently. Because of this, cons have started varying wildly in quality. I've been to online cons that were fantastic and I've been to ones that were as boring as trying to marathon Wind Waker. Some conventions have been very well organized, making all of their vendors, artists and shops easy to find and contact. Others have organized haphazardly with confusing layouts and still others didn't even have vendors at all. Some have embraced accessibility to everyone while others have locked themselves behind the doors of VR. Some offer interactive experiences that are so close to going to a real con that you can suspend belief for a couple of days, others put on more of a variety show like some kind of telethon for charity, and others still half-ass a schedule and create a discord channel.
Some of the best ones I've been to no longer exist. One lost senior staff to Covid and others by virtue of association to real-world events that intend to abandon online offerings when the world is safe to open once again. A few of them plan to stick to their guns, some more tentatively than others, and I honestly commend them for it. It's been real eye-opening seeing the amount of people who are saying these events are their first experiences with conventions and in some cases the fandom in general. There are scores of people who simply can't participate in actual cons because disabilities or other factors make the usual barriers to entry too great. And none of us would have ever known about this hidden group if convention experiences hadn't been forced online. Don't get me wrong, I too yearn for the days when we might once again travel to fun new places and celebrate the fandom together...but I'm holding out hope that some of these cons will take their experiences during the Covid years and grow them out into hybrid events.
So yeah, somewhat paradoxically, the furry fandom might be one of the very few things to actually come out of Covid-19 stronger than it went in. Hopefully Western Civilization will last long enough for us to capitalize on it.
Personally, I prefer going in person. It allows me to wear my fursuits, really interact with friends and I get to leave my living room. For those that don't have that need, virtual is an alternative.
Keep in mind, cons don't charge to attend a virtual convention, and have to rely on donations to keep going. Eventually, one may have to pay admission to go to the virtual side of a convention. At least you won't have to pay for a hotel room and transportation costs to get there. However, saving just one weekend's hotel costs can easily cover the cost of a new Oculus.
I've tried the virtual route. For me personally, I prefer to spend the time, hassle and money to go to the real thing. I'm tired of being cooped up in my living room.
I hope virtual conventions stick around and scale-up though, because it enables me to attend cons that I otherwise never would have. A real-life flight to Canada is still prohibitively expensive, even for just a weekend, and though you don't hear many stories about border harassment these days, getting stuff confiscated is still a real possibility. It affords me the chance to attend multiple events in the same month, and enables people who can't leave their homes to participate in the fandom on a broader scale.
Virtual cons aren't going to be for everyone and that's ok. I just like the idea of there being more options...different flavors of con for people of different tastes.
I've attended Furnal Equinox in Toronto several times, travelling on a direct flight from Charlotte, NC. Never had a problem with any aspect of getting there, attending or leaving. Using a credit card simplifies the currency difference, and the exchange rate is like getting a 25% discount on everything while you're there. I will admit, the first time you make the trip, the "unknown" parts - getting through customs, passport control and finding the train into town can be a little daunting. The airline ticket can be fairly reasonable if you purchase it early enough.
But I digress from the original topic.
I believe that keeping virtual cons as a parallel to the live one would be a nice option. It's a lot of effort with little return, and I doubt the virtual event would continue unless the event charges an admission fee to attend the virtual one.
I would love to attend FE in person! Going to their virtual con was so much fun! Perhaps one of these years I should just do it; take a deep breath and jump into the deep end. It probably won't be in 22 though...I'll set my sights on 23.