Worldcon Report Part One
I have decided to work on my thoughts for Worldcon. It has been a long strange trip and so much was into it. I will do this day by day and then in a seperate post overall thoughts. I will probably do a seperate post about the future of it (in a few days.)
Wednesday
-Trip went smoothly to Montreal. Customs wasn't crowded, so it took only a few minutes.
-Got to the hotel and saw it was a very nice room. I usually don't sleep in Intercontinental's due to price. This is one of the few hotels that I thought were worth the price.
- Had no issues with getting registration. Had to wait until Thursday morning to get Program Participant packet.
-Started to get the arrangements for the Party together. Got the party platters paid for and other things ordered such as Ice. Got a chance to look at the Con Suite and other rooms of the hotel.
-Had Dinner at Noodles Express. Went back to the room to unwind. Tom and Gary came back to the room. We talked a while and they went to dinner. I decided to go to the parties to try to meet other people.
-Parties were a good distance away at the Delta. Had a good time and started to meet some people, but felt a little bit like a fish out of water during the convention.
-Got to bed about Midnight.
Thursday
-After about seven hours of sleep, I got up, got showered and had breakfast. Then, I saw the major churches of Montreal. The Basilica of Notre Dame is a very beautiful facility. It makes any American Cathedral or Basilica look small. I didn't take many pictures during the trip because I forgot my camera.
-I then picked up the Programme Participant packet and looked around the convention center a little bit. The convention center is very big.
-I had lunch and then went over to the Delta to get the room key. The Room was the biggest room I had ever seen. It was a two level suite with a nice sized space along with a Bedroom for sleeping in.
-I headed bag to the Palais to see some of the exhibit hall. I got a chance to talk to some of the future Worldcon bids.
-I then headed over to the Holiday Inn to meet Brian and Cathye Knapp. They are very nice people.
-We then headed over to the Super C for Party Supplies. I had never bought that much food before in my life. I have never bought more than about $100 of food and drink. I spent over $300 on Food and Drink.
-Got back to the hotel and got things setup. The platters got delivered on time. It was a blur. The biggest slowdown was the chocolate taking a while to melt because of an issue with the hotel (they held it for me.) I had room key problems, which made it fun to get back and forth.
-Got it all together with about 15 minutes to spare.
-Party started. I was able to see some of the other parties. I think we over did it on the party because of seeing the other parties. I don't think people are eating as much at parties as they used to.
-I had a chance to finally for a few minutes meet with people throughout the evening and get them excited towards the bid. Things went well. We had over 400 people in the room over the evening. It went very well, but was a long evening. I ended it around 1 AM due to sheer exhaustion. We got cleaned up and everything back to people by about 2 AM. I crashed at that point.
Friday
-After getting out of the hotel and having breakfast, I did my first panel of the weekend called "Continued in the Next Issue." I gave some excellent points, but it was a crowded panel with five people on it. It also gave me some confidence that I could be part of panels that are not just me giving a presentation.
-Will talk about Business Meeting in another part of the Report.
-I listened to Fannish Inquisition because I wasn't going to be at SMOFcon or Aussiecon IV. It was a chance to hear about the upcoming bids and will help me in making a decision for Chicago next year.
-After lunch, I went to the In conversation with Taral Wayne panel. It was very interesting to hear someone's fannish history. Taral Wayne does great fan art and I hope to get the Print of Progress Report 4 soon.
-Got Neil Gaiman's Autograph-This was cool for me because I didn't get his autograph at Balticon in 2006. It still took an hour and a half for me to get his autograph (with a ticket) because of how many people were in front of me. I had my memory book (which his visit to Balticon made me get) and a copy of the Eternals Graphic Novel for the Fan Funds Auction.
-Went to Handicapping the Short Fiction Hugos panel-I only went to part of it. Half of the panel wasn't impressed with any of the Novellette or Short Story Nominees this year. I think you shouldn't say that, but explain that you have different tastes than the nominators and what those tastes are. Then, choose one based on the best one nominated.
-Had Dinner at Valier Restaurant near the Palais. I had a Lamb Burger for the first time. It was very good and well worth the points spent on it. I also had Maple Pudding. It was rich, but very good. I couldn't eat it all. If you ever go to Montreal, go to this restaurant. It is worth every Penny of the $30 CAD I spent. It also has free Wi-Fi.
-I went to some parties. Best party of the Night was the Japanese party with the Japanese Soda. I also enjoyed the Con Suite for a bit of that evening. I had some great conversations about collecting books from fans and how they got into the world of fandom.
Saturday
-I had Breakfast at Tim Horton's with Tom Kunsman and Gary. I was thinking about Van Houtte Cafe (nice Canadian chain), but I was craving a Maple Donut. It was one of the only times I really had a conversation with my roommates all weekend. I should have gone out to dinner with them later that evening, but had a 7 PM panel to attend. That is a mistake I hope to rectify in 2011.
-Went to the About Japanese Science Fiction Conventions Panel. It was a nice panel about Halcon (the first bilingual Science Fiction convention in Japan that is happening in 2010). I am glad they are preparing for a possible 2017 run in this manner. I really hope Charles Stross (English GOH) really enjoys that con as much as he did Balticon this year.
-I also got Cory Doctrow's autograph before I went to Business meeting.
-After Business Meeting and Lunch, I went to the Art Show for the first time all weekend. It was the first time I had been in the Exhibit Hall much all weekend. It was a nice Art Show and I nearly bid on a couple of pieces, but was concerned about money. I hope to buy some art at Reno.
-I went to Kevin Standlee's Panel on Trains and Transit Systems. It was a very good panel (even though they aren't the biggest Train nerds out there, really). I enjoyed their talk on all the train systems they had been on. I hoped they had more pictures, but they didn't have many pictures especially of the Japanese Train system (really want to see that).
-I went to the Pia Guerra Kaffeklatsche (artist for Y the Last Man). It was a highlight of my weekend. Kaffeklatsche's are opportunities to meet artists and writers in a group of 10-15 people. If a favorite creator of yours come to Worldcon, sign up for their Kaffeklatsche as soon as it comes available. She was very nice and gave a great conversation with the five of us who were there. I also got her autograph (which I couldn't through normal means due to my panelist schedule.)
-I got Tom Doherty's signature along the way to the Fan Funds Auction. Fan Funds Auction raises money for the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund and Down Under Fan Fund. I lost on most things I bid on, but did get a membership to Winnepeg's convention Keycon. It really seems like a very friendly convention that I may go to next May (will have to look at airfares to Fargo, ND).
-I had to have a quick dinner (over dinner with newly found friends) due to having a 7 PM panel on Watchmen. I gave some strong thoughts that were different than the other people's in the room that strongly liked it. I thought it was okay, but too dark. It was a good back and forth panel where no one really dominated the discussion.
-I was starting to get a headache, so I did do the Masquerade. There was no Best of Show and I will give thoughts on that in the second part of this report.
-Due to the headache, I decided that Fireworks weren't the best idea. I hungout for some quiet conversation over at the con suite instead. I think the Headache was caused partly by the Florescent lights and by me wearing my Ballcap.
Sunday
-After Sleep and Breakfast, I went to Strolling with the Stars outside the Palais. It is a very nice stroll (a Mile in an hour), which was intended to be a Kaffeeklatsch that is strolling. I had some great conversations with Paul Cornell (Doctor Who writer), Mary Robinette Kowal (2008 Campbell Winner and Puppetteer) and John Picacio (well known Science Fiction Artist). That was another highlight of my long weekend
-After Strolling with the Stars, I went to the Business Meeting. Raleigh is the Nasfic and Reno is the host of 2011 Worldcon. Aberdeen Proving Ground in 2011 got 11 votes and didn't beat none of the above. I am not disappointed by this result, but I hope the bid lives on in people's hearts. Meeting was doen in literally 60 minutes. I will talk more about that in part two.
-The first of Three sunday panels for me was "SF Graphic Novels you may have missed." I had a very hard time keeping that panel focused on that due to a panel on a very similar topic two hours before. I should have smartly cancelled it when I realized it a few days before, but didn't. I will look and think harder about that in the future. The panel was well attended, though. We gave a good number of thoughts and some ideas for folks who want to get into this.
-I chilled a little bit (due to not getting into Neil Gaiman's GOH talk) before I moderated the "Adapting Alan Moore" panel. The panel went well, but I ended it early because one person had to catch a flight and the panel sputtered out with half an hour left. I did let programming ops know. There were good thoughts given by the panelists and the audience. I also kept it on topic better.
-The last panel I was on for the weekend was "Anime/Manga: Community and Fandom." After an embarassing opening, I recovered quite well. There are significant differences in the communities of SF vs Anime. Science Fiction fandom loves their creators deeply. Anime fandom doesn't know their creators (I know more creators than most) partly due to conventions unwillingness to bring them and partly due to the people of the fandom. Anime also has a stronger Do it yourself culture (through places like Artist Alley and Anime Music Videos).
-I had probably the worst dinner of the week (at a Chinese buffet) before going to the Hugos. The big surprise of the Hugos was Weird Tales winning Semi-Pro Zine. They are a very good magazine, but I put Clarksworld as my one and Locus as my number three. This will be talking about more and all of the Hugos in part two of my report in the business meeting.
-I went to the Reno and Raleigh combined party, but I spent most of my time talking with people in Con Suite. I went to bed about Midnight, which was my normal time most nights of the con.
Monday
-After shower and Breakfast, I put my bags at the Delta for check in later in the day and went back to the Palais for "Worldcon Next Year in Australia." I saw some and heard alot of interesting things about Australia. At least, I got to see the country through pictures and stories even though there is no sane way (besides winning Mega Millions) to do the trip.
-I browsed around to other programming items before going to the Detention 1959 Worldcon panel. It was a fascinating look back at history of Worldcon (which I now have a connection to). I hope that my party is remembered somewhere down the line in fannish history.
-I went to part of the Gripe Session. People weren't happy about not having tech in panel rooms and other things. I will give my thoughts in part two of the report.
-I went to the Closing Ceremonies. They were pretty typical of closing ceremonies at all conventions (short and Sweet). Pretty much only two of the GOH were there (David Hartwell and Taral Wayne). The total time for the ceremony was 15 minutes.
-Here is a picture of Kuma Bear (Kevin's Friend and I): http://kevin-standlee.livejournal.com/757205.html
-I had a dinner chance with Kevin Standlee and Lisa Hayes at 5:30 PM, so it gave me time to see Chinatown. I found the shop that sold East Asian Live Action. I didn't see anything I wanted badly enough to buy. I didn't find any thing like the old Darna films or Darna series. I didn't even see any Chinese Superhero shows I wanted or good Hong Kong Cinema.
-After Kevin got back down, we all went to Complex Desjadins food court. After a lot of thinking and seeing Kevin's Poutine, I decided to have some Poutine with Montreal Smoked Meats. It was excellent and made me want to have more. I know it is a ton of points, but I don't think Montreal is hosting Worldcon again anytime soon. I had a great conversation with him about Baseball, Life and Fandom. The kind of conversation I should have had with the other people who helped me with the party. I hope I can do that in 2011.
-I finally got a chance to go through the Underground city of Montreal. It is a labryinth of tunnels that lead to most of Downtown. You could go a mile from your residence to the grocery store in your pajamas. It is greatly used in Winter. I only did it once due to it being low 70's in Montreal over that week.
-I went to the Dead Dog party back at the Delta. I spent some time talking to new and old friends and playing some Dominion. I didn't win Dominion, but had an absolute blast at it. I got to bed about Midnight.
Tuesday (the last day)
-After Breakfast, I went on the Canadian Space Agency tour. It is definitely much more educational than the one in Florida. I heard it has changed greatly, since I last went 20 years ago. There is a real scientist who is the guide. The scientist that I toured with is working on how materials would hold up on Mars. I got to see the Canarm part of the Space Station. It is basically one of the key parts of the Station as it lets things be assembled and changed by it's robotic arm. That was very cool for me to see at CSA.
-After the tour and lunch, I got some last souvenirs for the people at work (Maple Candy) and then relaxed some before I started the trip home.
-The trip home was eventful because we were delayed on our first flight from Montreal to Dulles, which nearly caused me to miss the second flight except that the flight from Dulles to Philly was an hour late. I am glad I got a shuttle home, so I could keep them informed. I did get home though at about 1:30 AM and tried to collapse into bed (except for the bathroom issue I had all night on Tuesday.)
That is the first part of this report. I have two more parts. My thoughts on the convention itself and a post trying to think about the Future of Worldcon (that may be the toughest one).
Wednesday
-Trip went smoothly to Montreal. Customs wasn't crowded, so it took only a few minutes.
-Got to the hotel and saw it was a very nice room. I usually don't sleep in Intercontinental's due to price. This is one of the few hotels that I thought were worth the price.
- Had no issues with getting registration. Had to wait until Thursday morning to get Program Participant packet.
-Started to get the arrangements for the Party together. Got the party platters paid for and other things ordered such as Ice. Got a chance to look at the Con Suite and other rooms of the hotel.
-Had Dinner at Noodles Express. Went back to the room to unwind. Tom and Gary came back to the room. We talked a while and they went to dinner. I decided to go to the parties to try to meet other people.
-Parties were a good distance away at the Delta. Had a good time and started to meet some people, but felt a little bit like a fish out of water during the convention.
-Got to bed about Midnight.
Thursday
-After about seven hours of sleep, I got up, got showered and had breakfast. Then, I saw the major churches of Montreal. The Basilica of Notre Dame is a very beautiful facility. It makes any American Cathedral or Basilica look small. I didn't take many pictures during the trip because I forgot my camera.
-I then picked up the Programme Participant packet and looked around the convention center a little bit. The convention center is very big.
-I had lunch and then went over to the Delta to get the room key. The Room was the biggest room I had ever seen. It was a two level suite with a nice sized space along with a Bedroom for sleeping in.
-I headed bag to the Palais to see some of the exhibit hall. I got a chance to talk to some of the future Worldcon bids.
-I then headed over to the Holiday Inn to meet Brian and Cathye Knapp. They are very nice people.
-We then headed over to the Super C for Party Supplies. I had never bought that much food before in my life. I have never bought more than about $100 of food and drink. I spent over $300 on Food and Drink.
-Got back to the hotel and got things setup. The platters got delivered on time. It was a blur. The biggest slowdown was the chocolate taking a while to melt because of an issue with the hotel (they held it for me.) I had room key problems, which made it fun to get back and forth.
-Got it all together with about 15 minutes to spare.
-Party started. I was able to see some of the other parties. I think we over did it on the party because of seeing the other parties. I don't think people are eating as much at parties as they used to.
-I had a chance to finally for a few minutes meet with people throughout the evening and get them excited towards the bid. Things went well. We had over 400 people in the room over the evening. It went very well, but was a long evening. I ended it around 1 AM due to sheer exhaustion. We got cleaned up and everything back to people by about 2 AM. I crashed at that point.
Friday
-After getting out of the hotel and having breakfast, I did my first panel of the weekend called "Continued in the Next Issue." I gave some excellent points, but it was a crowded panel with five people on it. It also gave me some confidence that I could be part of panels that are not just me giving a presentation.
-Will talk about Business Meeting in another part of the Report.
-I listened to Fannish Inquisition because I wasn't going to be at SMOFcon or Aussiecon IV. It was a chance to hear about the upcoming bids and will help me in making a decision for Chicago next year.
-After lunch, I went to the In conversation with Taral Wayne panel. It was very interesting to hear someone's fannish history. Taral Wayne does great fan art and I hope to get the Print of Progress Report 4 soon.
-Got Neil Gaiman's Autograph-This was cool for me because I didn't get his autograph at Balticon in 2006. It still took an hour and a half for me to get his autograph (with a ticket) because of how many people were in front of me. I had my memory book (which his visit to Balticon made me get) and a copy of the Eternals Graphic Novel for the Fan Funds Auction.
-Went to Handicapping the Short Fiction Hugos panel-I only went to part of it. Half of the panel wasn't impressed with any of the Novellette or Short Story Nominees this year. I think you shouldn't say that, but explain that you have different tastes than the nominators and what those tastes are. Then, choose one based on the best one nominated.
-Had Dinner at Valier Restaurant near the Palais. I had a Lamb Burger for the first time. It was very good and well worth the points spent on it. I also had Maple Pudding. It was rich, but very good. I couldn't eat it all. If you ever go to Montreal, go to this restaurant. It is worth every Penny of the $30 CAD I spent. It also has free Wi-Fi.
-I went to some parties. Best party of the Night was the Japanese party with the Japanese Soda. I also enjoyed the Con Suite for a bit of that evening. I had some great conversations about collecting books from fans and how they got into the world of fandom.
Saturday
-I had Breakfast at Tim Horton's with Tom Kunsman and Gary. I was thinking about Van Houtte Cafe (nice Canadian chain), but I was craving a Maple Donut. It was one of the only times I really had a conversation with my roommates all weekend. I should have gone out to dinner with them later that evening, but had a 7 PM panel to attend. That is a mistake I hope to rectify in 2011.
-Went to the About Japanese Science Fiction Conventions Panel. It was a nice panel about Halcon (the first bilingual Science Fiction convention in Japan that is happening in 2010). I am glad they are preparing for a possible 2017 run in this manner. I really hope Charles Stross (English GOH) really enjoys that con as much as he did Balticon this year.
-I also got Cory Doctrow's autograph before I went to Business meeting.
-After Business Meeting and Lunch, I went to the Art Show for the first time all weekend. It was the first time I had been in the Exhibit Hall much all weekend. It was a nice Art Show and I nearly bid on a couple of pieces, but was concerned about money. I hope to buy some art at Reno.
-I went to Kevin Standlee's Panel on Trains and Transit Systems. It was a very good panel (even though they aren't the biggest Train nerds out there, really). I enjoyed their talk on all the train systems they had been on. I hoped they had more pictures, but they didn't have many pictures especially of the Japanese Train system (really want to see that).
-I went to the Pia Guerra Kaffeklatsche (artist for Y the Last Man). It was a highlight of my weekend. Kaffeklatsche's are opportunities to meet artists and writers in a group of 10-15 people. If a favorite creator of yours come to Worldcon, sign up for their Kaffeklatsche as soon as it comes available. She was very nice and gave a great conversation with the five of us who were there. I also got her autograph (which I couldn't through normal means due to my panelist schedule.)
-I got Tom Doherty's signature along the way to the Fan Funds Auction. Fan Funds Auction raises money for the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund and Down Under Fan Fund. I lost on most things I bid on, but did get a membership to Winnepeg's convention Keycon. It really seems like a very friendly convention that I may go to next May (will have to look at airfares to Fargo, ND).
-I had to have a quick dinner (over dinner with newly found friends) due to having a 7 PM panel on Watchmen. I gave some strong thoughts that were different than the other people's in the room that strongly liked it. I thought it was okay, but too dark. It was a good back and forth panel where no one really dominated the discussion.
-I was starting to get a headache, so I did do the Masquerade. There was no Best of Show and I will give thoughts on that in the second part of this report.
-Due to the headache, I decided that Fireworks weren't the best idea. I hungout for some quiet conversation over at the con suite instead. I think the Headache was caused partly by the Florescent lights and by me wearing my Ballcap.
Sunday
-After Sleep and Breakfast, I went to Strolling with the Stars outside the Palais. It is a very nice stroll (a Mile in an hour), which was intended to be a Kaffeeklatsch that is strolling. I had some great conversations with Paul Cornell (Doctor Who writer), Mary Robinette Kowal (2008 Campbell Winner and Puppetteer) and John Picacio (well known Science Fiction Artist). That was another highlight of my long weekend
-After Strolling with the Stars, I went to the Business Meeting. Raleigh is the Nasfic and Reno is the host of 2011 Worldcon. Aberdeen Proving Ground in 2011 got 11 votes and didn't beat none of the above. I am not disappointed by this result, but I hope the bid lives on in people's hearts. Meeting was doen in literally 60 minutes. I will talk more about that in part two.
-The first of Three sunday panels for me was "SF Graphic Novels you may have missed." I had a very hard time keeping that panel focused on that due to a panel on a very similar topic two hours before. I should have smartly cancelled it when I realized it a few days before, but didn't. I will look and think harder about that in the future. The panel was well attended, though. We gave a good number of thoughts and some ideas for folks who want to get into this.
-I chilled a little bit (due to not getting into Neil Gaiman's GOH talk) before I moderated the "Adapting Alan Moore" panel. The panel went well, but I ended it early because one person had to catch a flight and the panel sputtered out with half an hour left. I did let programming ops know. There were good thoughts given by the panelists and the audience. I also kept it on topic better.
-The last panel I was on for the weekend was "Anime/Manga: Community and Fandom." After an embarassing opening, I recovered quite well. There are significant differences in the communities of SF vs Anime. Science Fiction fandom loves their creators deeply. Anime fandom doesn't know their creators (I know more creators than most) partly due to conventions unwillingness to bring them and partly due to the people of the fandom. Anime also has a stronger Do it yourself culture (through places like Artist Alley and Anime Music Videos).
-I had probably the worst dinner of the week (at a Chinese buffet) before going to the Hugos. The big surprise of the Hugos was Weird Tales winning Semi-Pro Zine. They are a very good magazine, but I put Clarksworld as my one and Locus as my number three. This will be talking about more and all of the Hugos in part two of my report in the business meeting.
-I went to the Reno and Raleigh combined party, but I spent most of my time talking with people in Con Suite. I went to bed about Midnight, which was my normal time most nights of the con.
Monday
-After shower and Breakfast, I put my bags at the Delta for check in later in the day and went back to the Palais for "Worldcon Next Year in Australia." I saw some and heard alot of interesting things about Australia. At least, I got to see the country through pictures and stories even though there is no sane way (besides winning Mega Millions) to do the trip.
-I browsed around to other programming items before going to the Detention 1959 Worldcon panel. It was a fascinating look back at history of Worldcon (which I now have a connection to). I hope that my party is remembered somewhere down the line in fannish history.
-I went to part of the Gripe Session. People weren't happy about not having tech in panel rooms and other things. I will give my thoughts in part two of the report.
-I went to the Closing Ceremonies. They were pretty typical of closing ceremonies at all conventions (short and Sweet). Pretty much only two of the GOH were there (David Hartwell and Taral Wayne). The total time for the ceremony was 15 minutes.
-Here is a picture of Kuma Bear (Kevin's Friend and I): http://kevin-standlee.livejournal.com/757205.html
-I had a dinner chance with Kevin Standlee and Lisa Hayes at 5:30 PM, so it gave me time to see Chinatown. I found the shop that sold East Asian Live Action. I didn't see anything I wanted badly enough to buy. I didn't find any thing like the old Darna films or Darna series. I didn't even see any Chinese Superhero shows I wanted or good Hong Kong Cinema.
-After Kevin got back down, we all went to Complex Desjadins food court. After a lot of thinking and seeing Kevin's Poutine, I decided to have some Poutine with Montreal Smoked Meats. It was excellent and made me want to have more. I know it is a ton of points, but I don't think Montreal is hosting Worldcon again anytime soon. I had a great conversation with him about Baseball, Life and Fandom. The kind of conversation I should have had with the other people who helped me with the party. I hope I can do that in 2011.
-I finally got a chance to go through the Underground city of Montreal. It is a labryinth of tunnels that lead to most of Downtown. You could go a mile from your residence to the grocery store in your pajamas. It is greatly used in Winter. I only did it once due to it being low 70's in Montreal over that week.
-I went to the Dead Dog party back at the Delta. I spent some time talking to new and old friends and playing some Dominion. I didn't win Dominion, but had an absolute blast at it. I got to bed about Midnight.
Tuesday (the last day)
-After Breakfast, I went on the Canadian Space Agency tour. It is definitely much more educational than the one in Florida. I heard it has changed greatly, since I last went 20 years ago. There is a real scientist who is the guide. The scientist that I toured with is working on how materials would hold up on Mars. I got to see the Canarm part of the Space Station. It is basically one of the key parts of the Station as it lets things be assembled and changed by it's robotic arm. That was very cool for me to see at CSA.
-After the tour and lunch, I got some last souvenirs for the people at work (Maple Candy) and then relaxed some before I started the trip home.
-The trip home was eventful because we were delayed on our first flight from Montreal to Dulles, which nearly caused me to miss the second flight except that the flight from Dulles to Philly was an hour late. I am glad I got a shuttle home, so I could keep them informed. I did get home though at about 1:30 AM and tried to collapse into bed (except for the bathroom issue I had all night on Tuesday.)
That is the first part of this report. I have two more parts. My thoughts on the convention itself and a post trying to think about the Future of Worldcon (that may be the toughest one).