Picocon con report
So the weekend before last was spent at Picocon - Imperial College's very own sci-fi convention. Unlike previous years (that I've been to) they'd expanded from being just a 1 day event to 2 days, possibly because this was their 30th convention. Or at least they think it was their 30th - much like the problems IFIS has had finding out about it's own origins it seems common for sci-fi groups to have a dim and distant past.
The first day was very easy getting in to London and since most of us had already pre-reg'd, our sign in was much speedier than usual. I obtained the traditional "lousy t-shirt" and then we were launched into the first of many programme items. Nothing amazing stood out - they were all generally very good. I got roped in to help with the University Challenge quiz, for which they'd knocked together their own buzzer system. It was a bit flakey but unfortunately we can't really blame our loss on it. We got some of the questions, but mostly we were just too slow at pressing the button.
I failed utterly to witness the destruction of dodgy merchandise except for witnessing a bit of them dealing with some kind of video game soft drink. Which some foolish people had paid money to drink. The expressions of disgust and horror said it all really.I had to leave early though but by the sounds of it, those that remained had fun.
Day 2 was a bit more exciting getting in. I amazingly managed to make it to the bus stop in time to catch the first bus. The bus however couldn't be arsed and was almost so late I could have caught the next option. I had thought I was the only person who had bothered getting up in time, but our esteemed President had got on at an earlier stop. Despite the delay we managed to make it to the venue with more than enough time and gathered together all the various groups of us who'd come in from different places.
Again the talks and panels were awesome. I discovered a new author - Kate Griffin - to add to my ever growing list of authors I should probably read more by. There was some confusion in the "harmless fun" where at one point we were ahead 3-1 and yet we then lost on the 5th point. And after doing extremely well (ie we didn't come last) in the pub quiz we headed home - tired, but happy.