Many cons have moved online now. Sadly necessary, but happily accessible. The fact that we can connect via the internet means conventions don’t have to be, and shouldn’t be, limited to one country or one timezone. Futurecon is a convention that’s happening right now, as I write this, which is truly global in scope. Panels are happening at all times of day and night, all weekend long. Membership can be as cheap as free (if you already have the wherewithal to connect to the internet). There’s been some really cool discussion on the practicalities and challenges of translation already.

I could quibble with some of their choices: Zoom is a bad platform, for privacy reasons; they are focused almost solely on prose fiction, to the exclusion of all else; and although the overall stance has been anti-imperialist and decolonial, some pro-imperialist and pro-colonial discourse has gone unexamined.

Overall, though, it seems well worth checking out. So, do!