Loscon

LOSCON 2014 was an enjoyable con that I have no hesitation in recommending it to others. There were loads of great people to meet and interact with and I made a number of new connections with some of those same people.
In regard to the masquerade, well, you will always have some troll out there, who thrives on putting a negative spin on anything that doesn’t fit their personal criteria of what they like.
I participated in it myself for the very first time. In regard to it being referenced with the statement «No one really cosplayed as anything in particular, it was more a ‘mishmosh’ of steampunk costumes.», well this troll needs to get a life.
Does this image look like a «mishash» of Steam Punk costumes?
Granted there were not a lot of people competing, yet there was some incredible originality and creative work with some of the contestants. The half-​time show was unique and entertaining. The event was a fun and new experience for myself. Anything can always be better yet this event still holds a majority that enjoyed it, minus the trolls. :)
If any trolls out there have a need to be trying to make LOSCON look bad, then why did you bother to watch the entire Masquerade show in the first place if it was so bad?
To be fair in my opinion, LOSCON 2014 was not as busy as last year. It has a few things that could be improved upon but that is all a part of evolving. The 17^th floor parties were great and had plenty of variety.
There was a vast variety of panels to visit and there were several of personally found of great interest. Unlike many of the bigger shows, LSCON provides an environment where you can connect with new friends and learn something new, while having fun simultaneously.
From a more independent perspective, I see LOSCON simply going through growing pains as it begins to evolve in preparation for newer and better offerings.

I go every year out of habit, I must admit, and since I have very little family I don’t have anything else much to do on the Thanksgiving weekend. However, what really bothers me is the fact that no one at LASFS wants to bring in new people, and they don’t advertise. So it’s basically dying out. Very sad; this could be an awesome convention but as long as they are not open to new people and sending out press releases then I guess it will gradually fade away.

Loscon is one of those good, ol’ boys sorta cons that’s been around for 40 years and its main draw is 1,000 or so science fiction fans with an average age of about 45.
The convention is maintained by the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, largely considered the world’s longest running science fiction club with previous members like Ray Bradbury and Robert A. Heinlein.
I tend to be out of town when Loscon happens, which is Thanksgiving weekend, but being home during the holiday this year afforded me the opportunity to visit.
This year, seemingly in order to keep their convention fresh and relevant, the theme was steampunk and zombies. There were about 12 panels just for steampunk with names like, «Steampunk Your Shoes» or «Steampunk Your Raygun» or «Steampunk Your Jewelry» or «Steampunk Your Shirt» or «What If Steampunk Happened?» I cringe to think that many of those panels probably subscribed to the «Just glue some gears on it» mentality. I mean, what else is someone going to do for some of these «Steampunk Your…» workshops? Brandon D. and I did partake of the steampunk scavenger hunt and had fun with it.
Loscon also went overboard on the zombie programming with make-​up workshops, survival tips, movie discussions, and a zombie dance from 10 to midnight on Friday.
There were 30 minute breaks between all the panels, so there were huge chunks of time when nothing was going on, and while there were so many panels and workshops, you really were stuck choosing between a few that sounded vaguely interesting.
Their website, which has since been updated showed five special guests on the front page: one author and four people I not only did not recognize, but there was no information at all on who they were. In fact, they were actually labelled as «Fan guests,» which are apparently regular people who have escalated to Guest of Honor status. Amusingly, though, they had people like J. Michael Straczynski and Len Wein, but dropped the ball on promoting them.
The Masquerade, which is usually the highlight of a convention, had all of 10 entrants, an obnoxious host who kept stalling for time, walking to the center stage to babble about nothing, and kept getting heckled by even children who were shouting, «Get on with it!» It was the most painful masquerade I’d ever witnessed. No one really cosplayed as anything in particular, it was more a mishmosh of steampunk costumes and virtually everyone got a prize — including an entry that was admittedly «a shameless plug for Westercon.»
Loscon’s allure is in getting to hang out with old friends who share a love of sci-​fi and other related fandoms. Your experience pretty much relies on knowing people in this pocket of the geek world, and you might not have as great an experience if you’re a completely new person who doesn’t know anyone.
So… what was good about the con for a Loscon first-​timer like me?
The 17^th floor parties.
On Saturday night, the 17^th floor opens up with all sorts of themed gatherings hosted by other conventions or just a group of individuals who wanted to open up a room for others to come in and have a good time.
Brandon D. and I clawed our way out of the masquerade during the immensely painful halftime show to hit up the Dexter party, the Zombie Red Shirt party, the My Little Pony party, the Pendergast (password: «Goats!»), a salsa tasting party, a party hosted by folks trying to get Helsinki to hold a future World Science Fiction Convention (serving up herring and mulled wine, of course), and many other bashes. We just interwove from room to room, talking it up with new people, and snacking on everything that was offered.
On top of this, the convention goes all out for their complimentary con suite (FREE See’s candy ALL OVER THE ROOM:
).
The exhibit hall, while small, yielded some interesting things. First there were some cool dealers who had all kinds of unique items. In addition, there was a mini maker faire of sorts in the back of the room. Though about a quarter of them were showing off 3D printers (photo:
), there were still those with robots, kinetic art, homebrewing kits, and other nifty gadgets and DIY projects.
I’m not sure how well I could recommend Loscon if you haven’t been before. The same people also host Animé L.A. and Gallifrey One (Doctor Who convention) in the same hotel, and I would say that those are more «accessible» to people who aren’t familiar with the things Loscon more represents (old school science fiction novels, series, and fandom).
In other words, if you don’t know who Forrest J. Ackerman, Harlan Ellison, Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Theodore Sturgeon, or Henry Kuttner are, move along.