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Listen "141: A Whole Episode Without Business Meeting Content"
Episode Synopsis
John is worried, Alison volunteers, and Liz is warm.
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: None
Letters of comment
Chris Hurley (email)
Dave O’Neill (Bluesky, DM)
Ivan Sinha (Facebook)
Jesi Lipp (email, Facebook)
John Hertz (typewritten letter with pasted image from File 770 scanned by Fedex and sent by email)
Mike Glyer (email)
Neil Ottenstein (Facebook)
Nicholas Whyte (email)
Nuala (Bluesky)
Paul Weimer (Bluesky)
Rory Hennell James (Bluesky)
Tammy Coxen and Jesi Lipp (Bluesky)
We also heard from Doug Faunt and Farah Mendlesohn
Worldcon 2025: Seattle
Business Meeting
Jesi Lipp posted some excellent infographics on JOF
Jesi also posted a small table on our Facebook of attendances back to 2014 and John made them into a graph
NASFiC is gone
The USA has a national con now and it’s Dragon Con, so why compete? We will return to this question…
The end of fan-run conventions in the USA
NASFiC is gone, leaving Dragon Con as the de facto national convention
The Westercon by-laws have been repealed
Wiscon has not got enough volunteers to run an in-person convention
Gallifrey One is coming to an end, Showmasters Events are running a commercial replacement
GeekGirlCon and Penguicon are struggling
Arisia, Baycon, Boskone, Loscon have all shrunk (anecdotally)
The end of fan-run conventions more widely?
New Zealand: Fan-run conventions have been struggling since CoNZealand
Finland: SMOF News recently reported that Finncon is not running due to lack of volunteers
More widely to do with volunteering?
Maybe more true in the UK?
Picks
John: The Tyrant Philosophers by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Alison: Control Room B at Battersea Power Station (and Battersea Power Station Station)
Liz: Woodworking by Emily St. James
Credits
Cover art: “Mildly Wes” by Alison Scott
Alt text: A photograph of a cocktail bar at Battersea Power Station. The words “Control Room B” are above the cocktail bar, and the words “Octothorpe 141” overlaid in similar style.
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: None
Letters of comment
Chris Hurley (email)
Dave O’Neill (Bluesky, DM)
Ivan Sinha (Facebook)
Jesi Lipp (email, Facebook)
John Hertz (typewritten letter with pasted image from File 770 scanned by Fedex and sent by email)
Mike Glyer (email)
Neil Ottenstein (Facebook)
Nicholas Whyte (email)
Nuala (Bluesky)
Paul Weimer (Bluesky)
Rory Hennell James (Bluesky)
Tammy Coxen and Jesi Lipp (Bluesky)
We also heard from Doug Faunt and Farah Mendlesohn
Worldcon 2025: Seattle
Business Meeting
Jesi Lipp posted some excellent infographics on JOF
Jesi also posted a small table on our Facebook of attendances back to 2014 and John made them into a graph
NASFiC is gone
The USA has a national con now and it’s Dragon Con, so why compete? We will return to this question…
The end of fan-run conventions in the USA
NASFiC is gone, leaving Dragon Con as the de facto national convention
The Westercon by-laws have been repealed
Wiscon has not got enough volunteers to run an in-person convention
Gallifrey One is coming to an end, Showmasters Events are running a commercial replacement
GeekGirlCon and Penguicon are struggling
Arisia, Baycon, Boskone, Loscon have all shrunk (anecdotally)
The end of fan-run conventions more widely?
New Zealand: Fan-run conventions have been struggling since CoNZealand
Finland: SMOF News recently reported that Finncon is not running due to lack of volunteers
More widely to do with volunteering?
Maybe more true in the UK?
Picks
John: The Tyrant Philosophers by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Alison: Control Room B at Battersea Power Station (and Battersea Power Station Station)
Liz: Woodworking by Emily St. James
Credits
Cover art: “Mildly Wes” by Alison Scott
Alt text: A photograph of a cocktail bar at Battersea Power Station. The words “Control Room B” are above the cocktail bar, and the words “Octothorpe 141” overlaid in similar style.
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
More episodes of the podcast Octothorpe
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144: I Have Opinions on Women
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143: A Major Movie in the Sand Genre
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142: A Lot of Double-Sided Bra Tape
28/08/2025
140: Nerdiest Nerds Who Ever Nerded
31/07/2025
139: Mostly Just a Wide Spot on the Road
17/07/2025
135: Very Slightly Soggier
22/05/2025
In God we trust