
So, we didn’t manage to thread the needle last month, resulting in this issue being around 2 weeks late. July was a tremendously busy month for pretty much everyone in NYRSF, with the combination of the July 4 holiday, Readercon, and DetCon1 (the NASFiC) on successive weekends. As a result, we weren’t able to hold our July Work Weekend until the start of August. We’ve worked very hard to get this issue out as quickly as we could. Being on time, as I’ve said before, is a deeply held ideal of our magazine, and we’d like to get back to it. The good news is that the August issue is in great shape and should ship on time. (Why do I suddenly hear threatening John Williams music in the background?)
Speaking of DetCon1: DetCon1 was great! The guest list was wide-ranging across the field, allowing a lot of relatively new faces some time in the spotlight. One of the explicit goals of the convention was to highlight the (racial, gender, sexual, religious) diversity of the f&sf field, and I think they did a great job with panel parity and representation. The facilities were great, with lots of function space in the unmistakably stfnal Renaissance Center (which I was not alone in identifying as having a distinct Logan’s Run vibe). Detroit itself was lovely; we didn’t get out into much because we three were scheduled on events most of all four days, but reports back from friends and acquaintances were overwhelmingly positive. Everything ran smoothly—or, at least, if it didn’t run smoothly, the problems were well-controlled; other than a panel or two running overly long, I was not aware of any friction, and the con com deserve a lot of points for that. Arthur and Bernadette and I did, in fact, consider ourselves greatly honored to have been a part of this whole event.
A technical note: About three months ago, our print-on-demand provider, Lulu.com, changed their internal processes without notification. This improved their efficiency—turn-around is noticeably faster than before—but when they tried to print NYRSF, the font we use for article headers refused to print properly. It took us several rounds of experimentation to figure out a solution, and as a result the POD editions of issues 301 and up have been unavailable. They should be available again now.
We encourage people to follow us on Twitter (@NYRSF) or on our Facebook page (facebook.com/NYRSF) for updates, announcements, silly stuff, and sundries, including the revelation that Jen Gunnels is now a legend. Go see for yourself!
See you in a couple of weeks, Gernsback willing and the sea levels don’t rise and drown us all.
—Kevin J. Maroney and the editors
The Opposite of Ruin Porn: Downtown Detroit out the window of the DetCon1 con suite on the 69th floor of the Marriot Renaissance tower
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