Con Report #1: Back to the Future
Except for last year and one year back in the late 80s when I had to attend a wedding on Memorial Day weekend, I have been attending Media West Con for almost a quarter of a century. gulffire and I had begun writing together and she found out about the con and proposed going. We met Paula Smith or read through a file of stories I’d brought with me, agreed to publish them the next year and the rest is history. When I was pregnant with my son in 1992, the MFU fans threw me a baby shower with so many presents that Joyce Hindman had to drive them back to Jersey in her van.
The heyday, at least for MFU fandom, was back in the late 90s to early 2000s when a good portion of the fandom would show up. One year, we had 75 MFU fans, 4 panels, one game, and 2 parties, one for gen and one for slash. But since all parts of the community mingled together, we all attended the same 4 hour party. The only difference was during the gen party, the little Solo and Kuryakin dolls sat side by side. When it went to slash, the dolls were stacked one on top of the other.
Those were good times. But MFU fans have always had busy, complicated lives and for various reasons, it has become harder and harder for many to get away. For some, it’s been health, job or family. We also lost a few prominent fans who’ve since passed away. So, in recent times, our numbers began to thin.
As I mingle with the fan attendees this year, most of whom are from other fandoms, I recognize many of the faces even if I can't remember all their names. I’ve seen them at panels or in my workshops. But very few are from the MFU gang. It seems, like the fans themselves, our fandom has moved on to other spaces, mostly virtual.
So, I will be blogging this con with more than a hint of nostalgia and you must forgive me if I occasionally drift back thinking of “the old days.” [For other reports, look in my archive at the end of May/beginning of June each year]
Actually, this trip brings me around full circle to when I first began attending MediaWestCon. One aspect has been the weather. Michigan was always still cold in May back then. I remember going on a trip to Meijer's for room refrigerator supplies with and pushing a shopping cart through cold rain. The weather improved over the later years perhaps due to climate change, but it’s reverted back, at least this year. The weather was abominable yesterday, a cold driving rain, but I landed at Detroit on time with no incident.
Getting to MWC has always been a challenge. I’m guessing it would be easier to fly to Alaska. For years, we flew US Air, which had a reputation of either being on time or crashing. That hub was in Pittsburgh where we then switched to a commuter flight to Lansing. The alternatives, depending upon the airline, were Chicago and Detroit. One year, landing in Detroit with gulffire the thunderstoms were so strong that they grounded the small plane and crammed us all on a bus for the rest of the way to Lansing. She became a bit car sick. It wasn’t a pleasant journey.
Taking a connecting flight to Lansing now runs almost $700, so a few years ago, I switched to landing in Detroit and hopping a ride with przed who picks me up on her way down from Toronto. We’ve got the timing down pretty well now and it works fine.
For the last couple of years, my Continental flights have been landing at the smaller North Terminal. The first year they did that, I wasn’t warned and found myself in a totally different airport wondering where the hell I was for a couple of minutes. This year, I flew Delta.
So I haven’t been to Detroit’s main terminal for some time, but it was nice to see that the tunnel still features a lovely shimmering light and music show. mamacat1715 says it makes her feel like she’s entering a wormhole a la Deep Space Nine and emerging into a new reality with fandom on the other side.
On the other side has always been Lansing, MI, and for the last 20 years or so, it also meant a particular hotel which started out as a Holiday Inn and then became Causeway and is now a Best Western. They used to pick us up at the airport in a van so the party got started often on that van and sometimes, even at several airports before.
But the hotel was renovated a few years ago and I guess they didn’t want a fan con any more. So, we’re back where they started ---a t the hotel where gulffire and I first attended, once also a Holiday Inn and now a Ramada. I must confess, the only thing about the place I remembered was running across the street to Denny’s and almost getting killed by the traffic. The Denny’s is still there but at least there’s a traffic light now.
I’m in the overflow hotel, a Hampton Inn, across the street in another direction. It’s clean and quiet and though I feel a little far away from the center of action, from the problems I’ve been overhearing on Facebook about mixed up reservations at the Ramada, perhaps I am better off.
Last night, after supper with Pauline and Sandy, I shared a bottle of wine with mamacat1715 and caught up on our lives. Just like the old days.
Here are some photos of my hotel:
The only drawback is the walk across the street, which, judging by this morning’s 40 degree temps, will be brisk.
BTW: WTF LJ? Every time I add or edit something in a post, something in the html code gets screwed up. Took an hour to finish this and it's still going wonky.
The heyday, at least for MFU fandom, was back in the late 90s to early 2000s when a good portion of the fandom would show up. One year, we had 75 MFU fans, 4 panels, one game, and 2 parties, one for gen and one for slash. But since all parts of the community mingled together, we all attended the same 4 hour party. The only difference was during the gen party, the little Solo and Kuryakin dolls sat side by side. When it went to slash, the dolls were stacked one on top of the other.
Those were good times. But MFU fans have always had busy, complicated lives and for various reasons, it has become harder and harder for many to get away. For some, it’s been health, job or family. We also lost a few prominent fans who’ve since passed away. So, in recent times, our numbers began to thin.
As I mingle with the fan attendees this year, most of whom are from other fandoms, I recognize many of the faces even if I can't remember all their names. I’ve seen them at panels or in my workshops. But very few are from the MFU gang. It seems, like the fans themselves, our fandom has moved on to other spaces, mostly virtual.
So, I will be blogging this con with more than a hint of nostalgia and you must forgive me if I occasionally drift back thinking of “the old days.” [For other reports, look in my archive at the end of May/beginning of June each year]
Actually, this trip brings me around full circle to when I first began attending MediaWestCon. One aspect has been the weather. Michigan was always still cold in May back then. I remember going on a trip to Meijer's for room refrigerator supplies with and pushing a shopping cart through cold rain. The weather improved over the later years perhaps due to climate change, but it’s reverted back, at least this year. The weather was abominable yesterday, a cold driving rain, but I landed at Detroit on time with no incident.
Getting to MWC has always been a challenge. I’m guessing it would be easier to fly to Alaska. For years, we flew US Air, which had a reputation of either being on time or crashing. That hub was in Pittsburgh where we then switched to a commuter flight to Lansing. The alternatives, depending upon the airline, were Chicago and Detroit. One year, landing in Detroit with gulffire the thunderstoms were so strong that they grounded the small plane and crammed us all on a bus for the rest of the way to Lansing. She became a bit car sick. It wasn’t a pleasant journey.
Taking a connecting flight to Lansing now runs almost $700, so a few years ago, I switched to landing in Detroit and hopping a ride with przed who picks me up on her way down from Toronto. We’ve got the timing down pretty well now and it works fine.
For the last couple of years, my Continental flights have been landing at the smaller North Terminal. The first year they did that, I wasn’t warned and found myself in a totally different airport wondering where the hell I was for a couple of minutes. This year, I flew Delta.
So I haven’t been to Detroit’s main terminal for some time, but it was nice to see that the tunnel still features a lovely shimmering light and music show. mamacat1715 says it makes her feel like she’s entering a wormhole a la Deep Space Nine and emerging into a new reality with fandom on the other side.
On the other side has always been Lansing, MI, and for the last 20 years or so, it also meant a particular hotel which started out as a Holiday Inn and then became Causeway and is now a Best Western. They used to pick us up at the airport in a van so the party got started often on that van and sometimes, even at several airports before.
But the hotel was renovated a few years ago and I guess they didn’t want a fan con any more. So, we’re back where they started ---a t the hotel where gulffire and I first attended, once also a Holiday Inn and now a Ramada. I must confess, the only thing about the place I remembered was running across the street to Denny’s and almost getting killed by the traffic. The Denny’s is still there but at least there’s a traffic light now.
I’m in the overflow hotel, a Hampton Inn, across the street in another direction. It’s clean and quiet and though I feel a little far away from the center of action, from the problems I’ve been overhearing on Facebook about mixed up reservations at the Ramada, perhaps I am better off.
Last night, after supper with Pauline and Sandy, I shared a bottle of wine with mamacat1715 and caught up on our lives. Just like the old days.
Here are some photos of my hotel:
The only drawback is the walk across the street, which, judging by this morning’s 40 degree temps, will be brisk.
BTW: WTF LJ? Every time I add or edit something in a post, something in the html code gets screwed up. Took an hour to finish this and it's still going wonky.