While we had been hoping things would improve in time for CrossingsCon 2021, we’ve decided that due to the ongoing pandemic it’s best and safest to change our plans for this year’s convention. We may not get to see you all in brickspace this year, but we will get to see you in virtual space - that’s right, CrossingsCon 2021 is going digital!
CrossingsCon 2021: Slipping Sideways will take place over the week of August 1st to 8th, 2021 on GatherTown. GatherTown is a proximity based virtual meeting platform, which allows you to walk your avatar around a virtual convention center and talk to people near you, same as you would in brickspace! It also comes with a video option, so you’ll get to see each other’s faces, rather than just the avatar.
Our Guests of Honor from the originally planned CrossingsCon 2021, Mark Oshiro, Diane Duane, and Ursula Vernon, will all be attending the virtual event. Our parallel con-iverse will have everything you love from the brickspace CrossingsCon, but since we know no one wants to spend an entire weekend on a video call, we’ll be breaking our programming into smaller chunks of around 1-2 hours per day over the week so it will be more accessible.
In addition, we’re making Slipping Sideways free to attend, though if you’d like to help make it happen we have a donation portal open here. Anyone who already paid for a badge or merch for an in-person CrossingsCon 2021 will be fully refunded, so watch your emails for information on how we’ll be doing that.
As fun as Slipping Sideways will be it’s still bittersweet not to have an in-person convention this year...which is why we’re very excited to announce that we’re also planning an in-person convention in Montreal in August 2022! We’re not ready to release any details yet so stay tuned, but we’re confident that an in-person convention will be plenty safe by a year and a half from now.
We’re so excited to see you all virtually in August, and in person in 2022! We’ve included some additional information below, but if you have a question you don’t see here, feel free to ask on your platform of choice, or send an email to [email protected].
FAQ:
Q: What does “Slipping Sideways” mean?
A: We’re moving into a parallel universe, so to speak. We’re adapting our plans to better suit a gathering in a digital space. As with any parallel universe, some things will be familiar and some things will be different, but we’re doing our best to ensure that the essence of CrossingsCon is still there, even if we can’t meet in person.
Q: Will I still be able to socialize with other people at the con, or will it just be a livestream?
A: Maintaining the social aspect of the con was one of our top priorities when choosing a virtual platform. We think that GatherTown replicates an in-person experience very well, and several other events that have used the platform recommend it highly for this reason. We’ll also be building a custom virtual space in GatherTown that will have hangout rooms in addition to auditorium-style rooms for events. Said space will be open during the whole week of the convention if people want to hop in and hang out with other attendees, even if no event is taking place.
We’re aware that having to learn to use yet another video call platform may not sound ideal, so to make it easier for people we will be releasing a much more detailed post on GatherTown and how it works soon, and our webmaster will be running some tutorial sessions to teach people how to use the platform closer to the convention.
Q: What kind of events will be held?
A: We’re aiming to replicate an in-person CrossingsCon as much as possible, so there will still be the regular mix of panels, workshops, Q&As, and attendee-led events. We’re also hoping that the digital space will let us do some things you’ve never seen before that are only possible digitally! Our events team is still working on the schedule, so stay tuned.
Q: How long will the events take/when will they take place?
A: The exact schedule for the convention is TBD, but we’re aiming for a couple hours of events every day of the convention, both weekend and weekdays. We’ll be varying the time of day events occur to accommodate for different work schedules and time zones.
Q: Will the merch that was announced for pick up at the in-person CrossingsCon 2021 still be available/can it be delivered? If I bought a badge for an in-person CrossingsCon 2021 can I get it transferred to the 2022 con?
A: We’ve decided not to make the merch we were originally planning for an in-person convention, so we will be fully refunding people in lieu of making and shipping it out. Badges will similarly be refunded as registration is not yet open for the 2022 con.
If you’d like to donate the price of your badge or merch to help us meet the costs of this year’s virtual con you can reach out to [email protected] to do so, but we will otherwise refund everyone shortly.
We hope everyone’s enjoying CrossingsCon: Slipping Sideways so far! If you want to support the con and help us cover costs you can make a donation on our Ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/emfozzing
