A bit more on Readercon

[ellen_datlow]

Just catching up to lj friend posts and realized I need to at least say a bit more about Readercon (there WILL be pix)...I had a wonderful time but also realized after the fact (and even a little during) that I missed saying hello (or interacting more than saying hello to a few people I know from online groups--I apologize. I either didn't recognize you until too late or kept seeing you enroute to somewhere else that I was running late. Also, there were people I would have liked to have seen that I didn't (even though it's a very small space). Finally, I didn't say goodbye to many folks I would have liked to.

My panels went ok, although I wasn't totally delighted with any of them. They kept getting sidetracked off the center of the topic or avoided the topic completely. No one at fault, just a confluence of panel members, possibly differing agendas, or a misunderstanding of what the panel was supposed to cover.

I attended the 40 minutes movie of Tom Disch reading his 33 poems just after Charlie Naylor's death. He read well. It was "nice" to "see" him one last time. I wasn't as emotionally affected as I worried I'd be. I didn't stay for the discussion afterwards.

I drank too much and slept too little. I had panels at 10 am twice --couldn't use my laptop to fetch email because the hotel wanted to charge $10 a computer per day. I just used the free biz center downstairs to read and respond to the most important emails.

I have to put the photos up before Wed because that's when the Jackson Award fundraiser at KGB is and I'll be taking more photos there!

Comments

[txtriffidranch.livejournal.com]

So...Scott Edelman wasn't pointing behind people and screaming "Oh my God, it's Paul Riddell, AND HE'S GOT A GUN!" this weekend? Pity: I may have to show up next year just to make sure that he follows through on his promises.

[beth-bernobich.livejournal.com]

I saw you several times from across the room, but never had a chance to say hello, alas. Perhaps next time!

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

It was so wonderful to see you again!

[stevenagy.livejournal.com]

couldn't use my laptop to fetch email because the hotel wanted to charge $10 a computer per day.

Ouch. I don't understand why hotels do that. I mean, I understand it, but find it ... slimy and greedy on their part. Makes me pick other hotels when it's possible.

Sounds like it was a typical convention -- too short, and draining and energizing at one and the same time. :-)

[(Anonymous)]

Was good to see you even though didn't get much of a chance to chat.

Gabriel M

[sunpony.livejournal.com]

My panels went ok, although I wasn't totally delighted with any of them. They kept getting sidetracked off the center of the topic or avoided the topic completely. No one at fault, just a confluence of panel members, possibly differing agendas, or a misunderstanding of what the panel was supposed to cover.

Yeah, this happened several times in panels that I attended as well. Mostly I found it to be session leaders who did not steer people back to the topic at hand. In one panel people spent half of the session talking about 9/11 rather pointlessly, for example. The best panels were those in which the participants took on the topic head-on and the moderator kept people on track. The Apocalypse and Historical Eras panels were the best in this regard, because the panel had a conversation with the audience and we threw ideas back and forth, and the session leaders kept the ball rolling.

[scottedelman.livejournal.com]

I'd arrived at Readercon fully intending to attend the Disch screening, feeling that's what Tom would have wanted. But as the weekend proceeded and I talked with Liz and John and then Barry about it, I decided to pass. I'll see it when it comes out, at home, alone.

[julieandrews.livejournal.com]

I bit the bullet and was prepared to pay for Internet for two days. It was noon-to-noon, or I would've signed up Friday morning before the panels started. :P

I had to call tech support at least 4 times across those two days just to get connected, for a total of about an hour of phone time. And once I was connected, it would randomly drop me.

I was going to complain at check-out, but the wireless access didn't appear on the bill, so I didn't want to remind them about it.

I didn't realize the business center was free. Usually it's the wireless that's free and the business center that costs.