I was really quite honored to be behind the scenes at Fiyahcon this weekend. I say this not just because it was a great con. I say this not just because I got to sit in on some great panels. I say this not just because I feel like as part of the team I have to. I say this because it was very clear from the beginning that this was a con that wanted to make a really amazing thing happen. And every moment of stress, or working to problem solve, it was all, from start to finish about creating a great experience for the attendees.
Now, I always feel like someone thinks I am secretly sub-blogging some other event. I am not, in this moment. And I've been behind the scenes in various ways for several cons and that is usually the focus.
But it reminded me that sometimes it is so easy, especially as writers, especially as people dealing with the publishing industry, to get stuck on the vision, and fail to appreciate the reality. As I reminded several people, I have been to longstanding, well-established, in person cons where a panel got moved to a different room, a speaker showed up late, or there were technically difficulties that delayed something.
And amid a pandemic where we've all been on a virtual gathering where someone's screen froze, someone's naked child showed up, someone's doorbell rang, we have all learned that these things happen and no amount of planning can address all of them. (Although if anyone knows the goddess of virtual gathering's preferred offerings, I am ready to make some. Also, these are hypothetical examples. To my knowledge there are no naked children in the Fiyahcon archives.)
Publishing will do that to you. You get published, but what was your print run? What stores are you in? What awards were you nominated for? It's easy to keep looking to the goals you haven't yet met and forget to look at the one's achieved.
Fiyahcon lived up to its name. I can't wait to see what they have planned for the next one.