Concarpetology

A modest proposal. Essay, with photos. 500 words (3-minute read).

Image: Sadly extinct Atlanta Marriott carpeting

Concarpetology

By Ray Tabler

Concarpetology – The science of identifying a science fiction/fantasy/comic/etc... convention from photographs of the carpet.

I just made that term up, concarpetology. I’ve been to a few science fiction conventions. Or, “cons” as the cool kids call them. And one thing I’ve noticed about such events is that they typically take place in convention centers or hotels. And these venues tend to have one thing is common: funky carpeting, throughout.

Supposedly, busy carpet patterns hide stains, and help keep people awake during boring presentations. That’s likely the case. I have sat through a few snoozers of panel discussions at cons. Although, I won’t point any fingers. Lest finger be pointed back at me. 🙄 And, it is entirely believable that con attendees might spew liquids of various description on the floor. ‘Nuff said on that subject.

Whatever the reason for the psycho carpeting at cons, they are eye-catching and differ from each other radically. There is an opportunity here, an entirely new subject for fans to obsess over. Which fans eagerly do. Can you identify a con simply from photos of the carpeting?

Let’s first address the most celebrated con carpeting, the Atlanta Marriott pattern of DragonCon fame. The sadly now extinct Marriott pattern was so eye-catching, and pleasing to the soul, that people actually cosplay as carpet squares. See the photo at the beginning of this post. And here’s another, if you don’t want to scroll up.

Image: Cosplaying as carpet squares

I’m sorry to report that the much-beloved Marriott carpet has gone the way of the dodo bird and the woolly mammoth. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth were heard throughout the land when the pattern was retired from beneath the feet of attendees to DragonCon. But the memory lives on, a form of immortality to be sure. Can we have an F in the chats for the DragonCon Atlanta Marriott carpeting?

Image: Can we have an F in the chats?

We move on.

There are, however, other cons, and other carpets. Below is presented a selection of images from cons, with most cropped out but the carpeting. These are randomly chosen images from a Google search. There must be thousands, if not millions, of such photos lurking in cameras and c-drives around the world.

Can you name the con? No fair if you recognize your feet. That wouldn’t be cricket. Links to the sources are listed at the end.

1.)

2.)

3.)

4.)

5.)

How did you do?

Con organizers are starving for ideas to fill slots in their schedules. Concarpetology contests sound like as good a topic for a panel as any other. Now, this type of thing would select for serious con attendees, who’ve seen many funky carpet patterns. But fans excel at memorizing enormous volumes of obscure, superfluous details. Like what the floor looked like at a con they attended seven years ago. Maybe the championships could be held at WorldCon each year.

Well, there’s the challenge. Who’s game?

Sources for carpet images 1.) through 5.) are below.

1.)     NorwesCon - https://www.instagram.com/norwescon/

2.)     MileHighCon - https://www.flickr.com/photos/milehicon/19424571799/

3.)     TusCon - https://www.threads.net/@creative_playandpodcastnetwork/post/DCKCGZ3vQCh/so-begins-tuscon-science-fiction-convention-51-day-two-tuscon51-scifibooks-write

4.)     ChiCon - https://www.hugh57.com/cons/chicon7/fri-sat-sun/chicon7-0026.htm

5.)     Anime Midwest - https://sciencefictioncons.com/biggest-scifi-cons

END

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