Friday, November 18, 2022: The Philadelphia Science Fiction Society (PSFS) played host to the Philadelphia Science Fiction Conference (Philcon) at the same hotel as last year, but with a different name: DoubleTree by Hilton, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. After I registered, I visited the Convention Suite (Con Suite). Just like last year, the con committee offered plenty of snacks, soft drinks, chances to talk with other science fiction fans (SF fans), and views of Route 70. Later, I spent most of my time recruiting our space exploration support club, National Space Society/Philadelphia Area Space Alliance (NSS/PASA), at a fan table in one of the main hallways. Again, just like past years, Philcon offered different kinds of activities and programming: animation, art, and costuming, as well as music, gaming, literary, media, science, etc. PSFS also offered workshops in writing, and other stuff to see and do. Anyway, a few hours later, I headed home for the night.
Saturday, November 19: I started Philcon’s busiest day by visiting the Art Show. For 2022, I noticed that there seemed to be a little more SF and space art—about one-third, and the rest displayed fantasy art. Meanwhile, about three-fourths of the art medium exhibited paintings and drawings, and the remainder showed other kinds of art: sculptures, quilts, jewelry, and so forth. Overall this room was about the size of a small art museum. Then I spent the rest of the day at the NSS/PASA table where I noticed other clubs and conventions promoting their interests. (It’s a great way to meet other SF fans because almost everybody stops at our table or passes by: I stay in one space, and the con comes to me!)
That night I watched the Masquerade. I was disappointed to see only nine costume entries, and all of them wore fantasy costumes. Earlier, I also glanced at hall costumes when I was at the NSS/PASA table, and in some cases, they looked better than the costumes in the Masquerade. (If for no other reason, you should go to Philcon to show off your costume in the Masquerade. Philcon also sells one-day memberships in case you don’t want to attend for the whole weekend.)
Sunday, November 20: As Philcon wound down on the third day, I stepped into the Dealers’ Room. Just like other years and similar to other literary-based SF cons, about half of the dealers sold reading materials in the form of books, magazines, comic books, and fanzines. The other half of the dealers sold other merchandise: jewelry, accessories, and toys, as well as games, clothing, models, posters, and so on. I ended up buying a few books. For the rest of my time at Philcon, I sat at the NSS/PASA table before I headed home.
