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Report from To Be CONtinued 5
May. 13th, 2006 04:38 pmI mentioned that I live a few miles from the site of To Be CONtinued 5, a Science Fiction convention that’s been in the blogs lately due to troubles getting their guests. (These troubles appear largely self-inflicted). Having nothing better to do on a cold and rainy Saturday, I decided to drop in for the day. Here are some random observations:
• The Con program book had been printed after they knew Rob Sawyer wasn’t attending, and had been scrubbed of his name. However, it still had stuff pertaining to the art show and consuite, both cancelled.
• The dealer’s room had, by my count, six dealers in all. They were not listed in the program.
• Gaming had been reduced to two tables in the lobby.
• Programming was down to two rooms, one of which was the hotel boardroom, which seated 12 or so around a long table. The first session I attended, at 11, I was the only non-panel member. It was nice for me, since all the sessions there were more informal discussions vs. the typical “panel sits in front and talks.” But since the largest session, a reading by Don Bingle, had 3 attendees, probably not so nice for the panelists.
Before I tell this story, I have to make some disclaimers. First, I am not “tied into” the Chicago fan scene. I go to Windycon and Duckon, hit the writer’s track and have a cocktail at the after-hours parties. I have no axe to grind. Second, this is all hearsay, and may be completely inaccurate.
So, one of the Guests of Honor was the artist Larry Elmore. At his noon session, which became “cons I have attended” Larry said that part of To Be CONtinued’s problem was that half of the committee, including the consuite group, had quit Monday of con week. He also mentioned that he didn’t get his tickets (from Louisville, KY) until Tuesday of this week, for a Thursday flight. He was of the opinion that this was a dying con. I tend to agree.
• The Con program book had been printed after they knew Rob Sawyer wasn’t attending, and had been scrubbed of his name. However, it still had stuff pertaining to the art show and consuite, both cancelled.
• The dealer’s room had, by my count, six dealers in all. They were not listed in the program.
• Gaming had been reduced to two tables in the lobby.
• Programming was down to two rooms, one of which was the hotel boardroom, which seated 12 or so around a long table. The first session I attended, at 11, I was the only non-panel member. It was nice for me, since all the sessions there were more informal discussions vs. the typical “panel sits in front and talks.” But since the largest session, a reading by Don Bingle, had 3 attendees, probably not so nice for the panelists.
Before I tell this story, I have to make some disclaimers. First, I am not “tied into” the Chicago fan scene. I go to Windycon and Duckon, hit the writer’s track and have a cocktail at the after-hours parties. I have no axe to grind. Second, this is all hearsay, and may be completely inaccurate.
So, one of the Guests of Honor was the artist Larry Elmore. At his noon session, which became “cons I have attended” Larry said that part of To Be CONtinued’s problem was that half of the committee, including the consuite group, had quit Monday of con week. He also mentioned that he didn’t get his tickets (from Louisville, KY) until Tuesday of this week, for a Thursday flight. He was of the opinion that this was a dying con. I tend to agree.