Con Report 09
The con was good this year.
I am always so impressed by how well-run CONvergence is. Every year, there's a new twist to how things are organized and it's great to know that the people running it pay attention to problems that crop up and look for ways to improve things for the next year. Traffic flow this year was particularly good.
Four days is still a pain when it comes to time off of work and all, but it does take off a lot of pressure as far as trying to have THE MOST FUN EVER on Saturday. With four days - particularly with two full days - it isn't so important to stay up late and wake up early in an attempt not to miss anything. I was actually able to get a decent amount of sleep, especially at the beginning, which kept me on a more even keel for the rest of the weekend.
I was on three panels, "Stage Movement for Masquerades," "Convention Costuming Survival Guide," and "Re-Creating Costumes from Media Sources." These, combined with two other panels on beginning and advanced costuming, made for a pretty solid costuming "mini-track."
"Convention Costuming Survival Guide" was something Mom and I had wanted to do for a while. It was a panel not about making costumes, but the art of being in costume while at a convention - i.e. how to plan, how to pack, and how to be comfortable, as well as a sort of primmer on masquerades. It was surprisingly well-attended. I had thought a lot of people wouldn't think this was a terribly important subject. "Re-Creating Costumes from Media Sources" was also well attended and one of those "We could talk about this all day" kind of panels.
I helped back stage at the masquerade and was glad for it because there were some costumes that benefited from a close-up look. They also had a video feed in the green room, so I still got to get a view of the presentations. The Best in Show winners - the name of the entry escapes me - were really cool and very well done up close.
Between all that and some really fun panels I went to, it was an enjoyable time. I came away pretty inspired to get cracking on some new hall costumes - fueled in part by the fact that I hadn't made anything new for this year.
This is one of my absolute favorite things about CONvergence - the silly caution sign on the chandelier in the coffee bar. For at least a few years now, the room has been organized in such a way that people waiting in line for coffee are in much less danger of hitting their heads on low-hanging light fixtures, but the sign remains, and I love it. I hope it never goes away
I went to the car show at the Frolics this morning. Again, I tried to find the newest car there. There seems to be a subset of the show that isn't for classic cars at all, but modern cars that were "owner-built" or modified. Several of these didn't have info cards in the window at all, but 1999 was the newest that did. Of those that seemed to be displayed as "classic" there was 1) a funky convertible from 1980 (okay, fine) and 2) and some random thing from... 1991. (?!?)
I think if it's not even old enough to buy alcohol, it has no business being called "classic."
I am always so impressed by how well-run CONvergence is. Every year, there's a new twist to how things are organized and it's great to know that the people running it pay attention to problems that crop up and look for ways to improve things for the next year. Traffic flow this year was particularly good.
Four days is still a pain when it comes to time off of work and all, but it does take off a lot of pressure as far as trying to have THE MOST FUN EVER on Saturday. With four days - particularly with two full days - it isn't so important to stay up late and wake up early in an attempt not to miss anything. I was actually able to get a decent amount of sleep, especially at the beginning, which kept me on a more even keel for the rest of the weekend.
I was on three panels, "Stage Movement for Masquerades," "Convention Costuming Survival Guide," and "Re-Creating Costumes from Media Sources." These, combined with two other panels on beginning and advanced costuming, made for a pretty solid costuming "mini-track."
"Convention Costuming Survival Guide" was something Mom and I had wanted to do for a while. It was a panel not about making costumes, but the art of being in costume while at a convention - i.e. how to plan, how to pack, and how to be comfortable, as well as a sort of primmer on masquerades. It was surprisingly well-attended. I had thought a lot of people wouldn't think this was a terribly important subject. "Re-Creating Costumes from Media Sources" was also well attended and one of those "We could talk about this all day" kind of panels.
I helped back stage at the masquerade and was glad for it because there were some costumes that benefited from a close-up look. They also had a video feed in the green room, so I still got to get a view of the presentations. The Best in Show winners - the name of the entry escapes me - were really cool and very well done up close.
Between all that and some really fun panels I went to, it was an enjoyable time. I came away pretty inspired to get cracking on some new hall costumes - fueled in part by the fact that I hadn't made anything new for this year.
This is one of my absolute favorite things about CONvergence - the silly caution sign on the chandelier in the coffee bar. For at least a few years now, the room has been organized in such a way that people waiting in line for coffee are in much less danger of hitting their heads on low-hanging light fixtures, but the sign remains, and I love it. I hope it never goes away
I went to the car show at the Frolics this morning. Again, I tried to find the newest car there. There seems to be a subset of the show that isn't for classic cars at all, but modern cars that were "owner-built" or modified. Several of these didn't have info cards in the window at all, but 1999 was the newest that did. Of those that seemed to be displayed as "classic" there was 1) a funky convertible from 1980 (okay, fine) and 2) and some random thing from... 1991. (?!?)
I think if it's not even old enough to buy alcohol, it has no business being called "classic."