MediaWest*Con
So, MediaWest happened. It was a good con, a bit laid-back, perhaps, but that's not a bad thing. Membership was down to around 500, which is a little low but did mean that there was plenty of elbow room.
It was bizarre being back in the old hotel. Just enough remained the same to make the things that were different really make my brain hurt. By Monday, I had almost sussed out the layout of the hotel (the function space was easy, but I spent most of the weekend bewildered by the rooms sections, despite the hotel-provided maps). There were some glitches with function layout, especially in the dealers' room, but some bugs are to be expected in a new venue -- and after 22 years, this definitely qualified as a new venue for organizational purposes! There are good ideas already in the works to address the issues for next year.
Except for the inevitable few whose first fandom is Complaining, people generally coped with the glitches and got on with having a good time.
The hotel staff were awesome, accommodating pretty much any request they could. The hotel itself is a little rough around the edges; the current owners took it over only a year or so ago, after several years of it standing vacant. But everything worked and was clean, and there were nice touches like the hotel waiting to varnish the new wainscoting until after the con so we wouldn't be bothered by the fumes.
Finances being what they are, I mostly sang the "hands in pockets" song, though there was some lovely stuff in the art show and the usual range of goodies in the dealers' room. I did score DVDs of a show I'd all but given up hope of finding. Had several good meals with a variety of company.
Panels... well, it's long been known that the panel organizers and I do not overlap much in interests. There was a pretty good Blakes 7 panel, and a classic Trek panel that happily wandered all around the show.
I spent a fair amount of the evenings running old spy shows in the room, especially Callan. Didn't get much walk-in traffic, but I enjoyed it anyway. I'm contemplating making my own fun by doing a couple of video parties next year, one for old-school spies and one for new-school; we'll see if the ambition survives. And if the hotel's updating extends to new TVs, and whether the aspect ratio is acceptably adjustable.
The contract's not signed for next year yet, but plans are to return to the new-old-whatever-Ramada hotel again. I frankly think it's a fine venue, and I'm glad to be back.
This entry was originally posted at http://lizvogel.dreamwidth.org/83554.html because LiveJournal has broken posting on my browser. Comments accepted here, but please comment on Dreamwidth if you possibly can.
It was bizarre being back in the old hotel. Just enough remained the same to make the things that were different really make my brain hurt. By Monday, I had almost sussed out the layout of the hotel (the function space was easy, but I spent most of the weekend bewildered by the rooms sections, despite the hotel-provided maps). There were some glitches with function layout, especially in the dealers' room, but some bugs are to be expected in a new venue -- and after 22 years, this definitely qualified as a new venue for organizational purposes! There are good ideas already in the works to address the issues for next year.
Except for the inevitable few whose first fandom is Complaining, people generally coped with the glitches and got on with having a good time.
The hotel staff were awesome, accommodating pretty much any request they could. The hotel itself is a little rough around the edges; the current owners took it over only a year or so ago, after several years of it standing vacant. But everything worked and was clean, and there were nice touches like the hotel waiting to varnish the new wainscoting until after the con so we wouldn't be bothered by the fumes.
Finances being what they are, I mostly sang the "hands in pockets" song, though there was some lovely stuff in the art show and the usual range of goodies in the dealers' room. I did score DVDs of a show I'd all but given up hope of finding. Had several good meals with a variety of company.
Panels... well, it's long been known that the panel organizers and I do not overlap much in interests. There was a pretty good Blakes 7 panel, and a classic Trek panel that happily wandered all around the show.
I spent a fair amount of the evenings running old spy shows in the room, especially Callan. Didn't get much walk-in traffic, but I enjoyed it anyway. I'm contemplating making my own fun by doing a couple of video parties next year, one for old-school spies and one for new-school; we'll see if the ambition survives. And if the hotel's updating extends to new TVs, and whether the aspect ratio is acceptably adjustable.
The contract's not signed for next year yet, but plans are to return to the new-old-whatever-Ramada hotel again. I frankly think it's a fine venue, and I'm glad to be back.
This entry was originally posted at http://lizvogel.dreamwidth.org/83554.html because LiveJournal has broken posting on my browser. Comments accepted here, but please comment on Dreamwidth if you possibly can.