Balticon 42, Day 1
We headed down to Reagan National to pick up matt_wallace yesterday anticipating early holiday traffic. We were surprised at how little was on the road and got there way early. We decided to park and get some lunch before Matt's flight arrived. It is odd how even when you are not travelling through the airport, it can still make you feel tense. Especially since the Friday's where we ate was right next to a security checkpoint.
We had a very enjoyable ride from the airport up to Hunt Valley, despite encountering all the traffic we missed and having the daffy GPS take us through the city. We discovered many shared interests with the incomparable Mr. Wallace and even managed to spawn a new meme, midget ninjas. Ask me if you really want to know.
After we got settled at the hotel, those already at the con seemed to be a bit scattered. Many of our friends and acquaintances hit even more traffic and were much delayed. We hung out in the bar with the larger group for a few rounds before peeling off to get some dinner before sailormur's and my first panels. Mr. Wallance again accompanied us and we have a very delightful meal, andreahg, sailormur, cthulhim, and matt_wallace. The service was insanely slow, however, and I was a few minutes late for my panel.
I was moderating the copyright panel, my first for the weekend. I managed to only miss the introductions by the other panelists so was able to pick up seamlessly. It was an excellent panel with a lot of good insights and experiences shared by the panelists. We managed to squeeze in a few audience questions after covering quite a bit of ground on our own. I did not record it because I had no time to collect my audio gear on the way in from dinner.
Opening ceremonies was interesting. The MC seemed a bit unprepared but that's OK. The inside jokes were kept to a minimum, the bulk of the time was actually given over to a live belly dance performance by a local troupe, Kallisti Tribal. I found that an odd choice to spend so much of the hour on that, though I am not complaining. They were excellent. I really enjoyed the tease that southernronin put together for his event on Sunday, very much looking forward to the world premiere of his adaptation of one of matt_wallace's stories.
I caught the social networks panel immediately afterward. Jason Adams, Heather Welliver and I were live tweeting throughout, only somewhat ironically. I kept my tongue on some of the technical issues I have with these tools. I think the panelists and audience explored the more interesting non-technical aspects well enough. The AC in the room was no functional or running in reverse, though. To anyone who encountered me after that room's hellish climate wrecked my brain, I apologize if I came off as much groucy than normal.
The sexy women in scifi, my last panel, went off better than I expected. Credit goes to blackwell, scifilaura and Helen Madden. I am glad the programming director took me up on my suggestion to pull more women onto this panel, originally it was going to be blackwell and three guys. There were still three guys, myself included, but I, for one, was happy to let the ladies drive the discussion and act mostly as comic relief.
Still really from the harsh thermocline from earlier in the evening, I made a brief appearance at the podcaster meet and greet but moved on to find the wife, andreahg, make nice with a few more friends, and then retire for the evening.
My schedule is wide open, today, in terms of speaking on panels but I need to find the programming director and coordinate my recording assignments. I helped take author readings, last year, and promised to do the same again this year. I am lead to believe there may be a few more volunteers, too, which would be welcome news as there are a few events I do not want to miss such as sailormur's reading.
We had a very enjoyable ride from the airport up to Hunt Valley, despite encountering all the traffic we missed and having the daffy GPS take us through the city. We discovered many shared interests with the incomparable Mr. Wallace and even managed to spawn a new meme, midget ninjas. Ask me if you really want to know.
After we got settled at the hotel, those already at the con seemed to be a bit scattered. Many of our friends and acquaintances hit even more traffic and were much delayed. We hung out in the bar with the larger group for a few rounds before peeling off to get some dinner before sailormur's and my first panels. Mr. Wallance again accompanied us and we have a very delightful meal, andreahg, sailormur, cthulhim, and matt_wallace. The service was insanely slow, however, and I was a few minutes late for my panel.
I was moderating the copyright panel, my first for the weekend. I managed to only miss the introductions by the other panelists so was able to pick up seamlessly. It was an excellent panel with a lot of good insights and experiences shared by the panelists. We managed to squeeze in a few audience questions after covering quite a bit of ground on our own. I did not record it because I had no time to collect my audio gear on the way in from dinner.
Opening ceremonies was interesting. The MC seemed a bit unprepared but that's OK. The inside jokes were kept to a minimum, the bulk of the time was actually given over to a live belly dance performance by a local troupe, Kallisti Tribal. I found that an odd choice to spend so much of the hour on that, though I am not complaining. They were excellent. I really enjoyed the tease that southernronin put together for his event on Sunday, very much looking forward to the world premiere of his adaptation of one of matt_wallace's stories.
I caught the social networks panel immediately afterward. Jason Adams, Heather Welliver and I were live tweeting throughout, only somewhat ironically. I kept my tongue on some of the technical issues I have with these tools. I think the panelists and audience explored the more interesting non-technical aspects well enough. The AC in the room was no functional or running in reverse, though. To anyone who encountered me after that room's hellish climate wrecked my brain, I apologize if I came off as much groucy than normal.
The sexy women in scifi, my last panel, went off better than I expected. Credit goes to blackwell, scifilaura and Helen Madden. I am glad the programming director took me up on my suggestion to pull more women onto this panel, originally it was going to be blackwell and three guys. There were still three guys, myself included, but I, for one, was happy to let the ladies drive the discussion and act mostly as comic relief.
Still really from the harsh thermocline from earlier in the evening, I made a brief appearance at the podcaster meet and greet but moved on to find the wife, andreahg, make nice with a few more friends, and then retire for the evening.
My schedule is wide open, today, in terms of speaking on panels but I need to find the programming director and coordinate my recording assignments. I helped take author readings, last year, and promised to do the same again this year. I am lead to believe there may be a few more volunteers, too, which would be welcome news as there are a few events I do not want to miss such as sailormur's reading.