[ST] vericon guest announcement

[David D'Antonio]

Hi Buzz,

My question wasn't about Boskone, since how that came about had  
already been described; my question was about cons "in general." I'm  
curious about at which cons he's been a GoH recently (for some value  
of "recently") and how those cons justified his appearance. It's  
quite possible that some cons didn't care, that some cons didn't know  
and that some cons believed the same as he does; I'm just curious  
what the breakdown is.

This area is *extremely* liberal and, as a result, the cons in this  
area tend to reflect that (or so it seems to me; others might  
disagree); I know cons are held in other liberal areas and some take  
explicit political stands, regardless of the area in which they are  
held. I'm sure there are cons held in less liberal areas and probably  
in conservative areas, as well; would they have less of a problem  
with OSC's non-SF views and, if so, are the majority of his con  
appearances in those areas?

Put another way, I wonder if his public views have cost him con GoH  
invites or merely shifted the cons to which he was invited. And I  
wonder if any of that matters to him. It is clear it has cost him  
*some* book sales but I wonder to what extent and if *that* matters  
to him.

Perhaps this would be a good panel; not about OSC in particular but  
about the politics of cons and GoH invites?

DDA

On Jul 18, 2007, at 3:47 PM, Buzz Harris wrote:

> --- "Rick Z. Kovalcik" <rk at mit.edu> wrote:
>> --- David D'Antonio <dda at dantonio.net> wrote:
>>> Or do cons take the attitude that they are
>>> honouring his SF
>>> work rather than his non-SF opinions/beliefs?
>>>
>>> DDA
>>
>> I believe that was pretty much the argument Boskone
>> used.
>>
>> -RKOV
>> Rick Kovalcik
>
> Yes, I heard that argument from Boskone concomm people
> at the time (and today as well, over in the
> Vericon_fans lj page).  It is neither a persuasive nor
> a reassuring position.
>
> [snip]

--
DDA
Art Show Director, Arisia '08