ArmadilloCon Report

[atcampbell]

Last weekend I attended and worked on my 21st consecutive ArmadilloCon. I and John Gibbons were in charge of programming for the convention, so I was busy part of the time helping the convention run smoothly.

One of my goals for the weekend was to meet as many of the program participants as possible. Most of the scheduling was done via email, so

Comments

ArmadilloCon 30

[anonymous]

It really was a fine con, probably the best ArmadilloCon I've attended. And thanks for the kind remarks about my part.

Bill Crider

Sculpture Winner

[anonymous]

AT - I got an email last night from Henry Melton which indicated that he won the fabulous Armadillo sculpture crafted by Kendall.

[smofbbs]

There seemed to be more international attendees than I recall from previous ArmadilloCons. I wonder if that was positive fallout due to our proximity to the recent WorldCon?

[atcampbell]

Yes. Several international fans decided to visit ArmadilloCon on the way back from WorldCon. They were friends of co-chair Kurt Baty, and they wanted to see and support his con.

[spikeiowa]

I believe you had Scandinavians -- were there also some of the Irish Jameses at Armadillocon this year?

[atcampbell]

Didn't meet any, but they may have been there. Saw a couple of women from Sweden, a guy from Germany, and a former WorldCon chair from Scotland.

[wedgeofspite]

This con was fantastic fun, but then they *do* just keep getting better and better each year...

[lonfiction]

Hi! It was nice meeting you, too. I'm glad you enjoyed the Lovecraft panel. It was my first time moderating (hopefully that wasn't too obvious!) and I was very happy to be a part of it. As I pointed out afterward to the fellow who spoke out about the lack of Lovecraft rah-rah up front, the con was put together by volunteers who couldn't possibly know who would be the best folks for the panel out of the dozens of panelists available--much less schedule them to give this panel priority over all the others even if they did. It could have easily turned out the same on a Jules Verne panel or a Lord Dunsany one for the SF and F equivalents.

Please pass along to the concom a hearty Navy-style Bravo Zulu (Job Well Done!)

Thanks to you and all the other folks who put together a splendid weekend. I wish I could have stuck around longer on Sunday, and I would recommend Armadillocon to anyone who likes good old fashioned intelligent fun.

[atcampbell]

You were so well-prepared that I never would have guessed you hadn't moderated before. I was impressed by how well you handled a panel composed mostly of people you didn't know.

Those of us who put together programming schedules don't ever want to see a situation where a panelist says they don't belong on the panel. We use an extensive questionnaire to determine areas of interest and knowledge, and we send out the preliminary program weeks in advance so the participants have a chance to look at their individual schedules and let us know of any problems. I was particularly sensitive to the Lovecraft panel because it was one of the few panels I attended its entirety, and multiple participants made the complaint.

[lonfiction]

Well despite what the paper said, it was tricky, but not a nightmare.
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Blogs/Books?oid=oid%3A661753

Or at least not a Lovecraftian nightmare! :)

Thanks again for a wonderful con experience.