Keycon 2010 Report
This past weekend was Keycon, Winnipeg's geektastic convention. Much geeking was had by all, as one might expect.
Friday night we were mostly there with the kids for the opening ceremonies and ice cream social. They love the excuse to dress up in costume, and this year everyone was a pirate. Well, everyone except for me, because it's hard to find a pirate costume that is both the size and shape of a planet.
Saturday was a full day of activities, and I spent most of that time stalking the literary guests. (No surprise there.) Also ran a panel about e-books, which mostly went well. With a topic like that, you've got to expect some heated opinions and debating. Fortunately, my co-panelist was a reasonable sort who knew his e-book stuff, so that helped a lot. In the evening was the masquerade (which I missed) and the regular night parties. The husband and I hung out with the Rock Band geeks, during which he played a few songs.
As is the standard, Sunday was more laid back, with everyone still a little sluggish from Saturday. More bookish panels, and I ran one on blogging which actually had a better turnout than I expected (I expected 0; I had 7 or 8, which is a comfortable size for the back and forth I enjoy.)
Most commonly heard phrases over the weekend:
-"Oh, you're Tanya's friend!" (There were a lot of people from DAW hanging around, so I gained instant coolness points for knowing Tanya Huff.)
-"How due are you?!?" (This came in many formats, everything from "Please don't go into labour during my panel..." to "Oooh, it would be so cool if you had your baby during my panel! We could make the news!" I guess when you're 6 weeks away from your due date, it becomes a pretty prominent topic.)
-"Hey, you run that review site, right? I have this book that just came out..." (This one is to be expected at every convention.)
I've spent the last two days sleeping in recuperation, so you know it's been a good time. Also, we've trying to figure out how to kidnap Julie Czerneda, Sheila Gilbert, and Nalo Hopkinsin so they'd be here all the time.
Friday night we were mostly there with the kids for the opening ceremonies and ice cream social. They love the excuse to dress up in costume, and this year everyone was a pirate. Well, everyone except for me, because it's hard to find a pirate costume that is both the size and shape of a planet.
Saturday was a full day of activities, and I spent most of that time stalking the literary guests. (No surprise there.) Also ran a panel about e-books, which mostly went well. With a topic like that, you've got to expect some heated opinions and debating. Fortunately, my co-panelist was a reasonable sort who knew his e-book stuff, so that helped a lot. In the evening was the masquerade (which I missed) and the regular night parties. The husband and I hung out with the Rock Band geeks, during which he played a few songs.
As is the standard, Sunday was more laid back, with everyone still a little sluggish from Saturday. More bookish panels, and I ran one on blogging which actually had a better turnout than I expected (I expected 0; I had 7 or 8, which is a comfortable size for the back and forth I enjoy.)
Most commonly heard phrases over the weekend:
-"Oh, you're Tanya's friend!" (There were a lot of people from DAW hanging around, so I gained instant coolness points for knowing Tanya Huff.)
-"How due are you?!?" (This came in many formats, everything from "Please don't go into labour during my panel..." to "Oooh, it would be so cool if you had your baby during my panel! We could make the news!" I guess when you're 6 weeks away from your due date, it becomes a pretty prominent topic.)
-"Hey, you run that review site, right? I have this book that just came out..." (This one is to be expected at every convention.)
I've spent the last two days sleeping in recuperation, so you know it's been a good time. Also, we've trying to figure out how to kidnap Julie Czerneda, Sheila Gilbert, and Nalo Hopkinsin so they'd be here all the time.