In 2019, the World Science Fiction convention came to Dublin, and it was outstanding. Not only my first Worldcon, but my first convention of any kind. (Little did I (or any of us) know what was coming, and that conventions would be going online for a considerable time to come.) Dublin Worldcon was exceptional, the people were incredible, the events diverse and stimulating. I spent time with some of my Glasgow Science Fiction Writers’ Circle friends, and I met my Reading Excuses friends for the first time, not to mention making new friends, including those from appearing on my first ever convention panel on Gumshoes in SFF. It was a glorious experience, and as a result I would recommend conventions to anyone (after carefully considering your safety and risk tolerance, given the current climate). Never have I felt so much a part of a caring, sharing, stimulating, and engaged community as when I was – for those four days – a part of that intellectual congress of SFF fandom.