Conferences and Community in 2020: The Changing Landscape of the Astrology Conference

There is no need to rehash the insanity that has been 2020.  This year has changed how we conduct ourselves in every aspect of our lives- including how we attend astrology conferences!  With lockdowns and stay-at-home orders in place, many in-person events have hightailed it on to the internet.  While it’s disappointing that face-to-face socialization wasn’t possible, the online landscape made many of these astrology events accessible to more people than ever!  I’ve been lucky enough to attend three different conferences this year: The Northwest Astrology Conference (NORWAC), The Great Lakes Astrology Conference (GLAC), and the Queer Astrology Conference (QAC).  This article is an introduction in a four-part series that will chronicle my experiences attending each conference.

In general, I don’t have many complaints about the virtual conferences.  The digital platform made attending them possible for me and many other first-time conference goers.  For one thing, the expense of attendance was remarkably cheaper than an in-person conference.  Typically, the price of attendance includes not only the price of the ticket itself, but also traveling, lodging, and food expenses for up to 4-5 days.  Although the price of full conference attendance can run pretty steep on its own, the absence of those extra expenses is a huge bonus to the bank account! For transparency, here is a breakdown of what I paid for each conference

• NORWAC: $275 Full Conference Pass + $100 Post-Conference Workshop

• GLAC: $275 Full Conference Pass

• QAC*: $60 Full Conference Pass

*The Queer Astrology Conference offered attendance on a sliding scale with a recommended price of $49, and encouraged attendees to pay what they could.

Virtual conferences also make participation possible for people with limited mobility.  Personally, I don’t have impediments to my mobility.  However, as a legally blind person, traveling cross-country alone would be a major challenge- not to mention the added expenses of personal transportation due to public transit options often being inaccessible.  This is yet another hurtle that the online format presents a solution to.  This is beneficial not only to people with disabilities, but also to the average able-bodied person who simply lives too far away to fly to a conference for a weekend.  Both NORWAC and QAC had attendees joining in from across the globe!

Another plus is that virtual astrology conferences give a chance for those who are shy, have social anxiety, or are otherwise sensitive to crowds the chance to participate more comfortably.  Tuning in from a familiar environment may take some of the pressure off of socialization.  I am not particularly shy, nor do I have social anxiety or crowd sensitivities, so I can’t fully speak to how someone who does would experience an online conference.  But I invite anyone who identifies as such to share their experience in the comments!

The bottom line is online astrology conferences are more affordable and more accessible than the alternative.  I’m not suggesting that the community needs to do away with in-person conferences, but this moment of access cannot remain a fluke of the 2020 stay-at-home orders.  As the world (hopefully) returns back to some semblance of normal, the astrology organizations that put on these conferences must figure out how to keep up this same level of affordability and accessibility.  It’s nonnegotiable if the astrological community wants to usher in newer, more diverse faces.  Astrology conferences shouldn’t be elite, exclusive events.  Incorporating options of digital participation needs to be the norm when we look at planning astrology conferences in the future.  Saturn in Aquarius is fast approaching, and there will be a higher need to bring material experiences into the virtual space.  Call this a notice if you will, dear astrology conference organizers.  There are hundreds of astrology lovers and practitioners out there who could participate this year because there was greater access.  When in-person events return, this same level of access needs to return with them.

Next up in the Conferences and Community 2020 series will be an article in which I discuss my very first experience at an astrology conference, attending NORWAC2020.  Stay tuned!