Back from Windycon

I have returned from Windycon, which is a bit ridiculous to say consider that I routinely shop in the Target store which shares a parking lot with the hotel. Speaking of the hotel, it was very nice. The con had the usual "first year in new hotel" problems, specifically trying to schedule panels in a room that had a sign with "max occupancy 15" inside it, but they improvised, adapted and overcame. (Extra credit to whomever guesses the military movie that line's from.)

I ran into a collection of the usual suspects at the Con, all of whom I was glad to see. Specifically and in stream-of-consciousness order, here are shoutouts to:

- The Dynamic Duo of Toby Buckell and Jim Hines (jimhines). Buy their books!
- ann_totusek for food in the Green Room, despite her dragooning me into dancing with her!
- Steven Silver (shsilver), half the staff of Isfic Press, who rolled out yet another great anthology. Thanks to providing a strong back at a timely moment, I also scored a free book out of Steven! (Thanks again!)
- Jason Robertson, AKA pyropyga, who's just a nice guy.

I'd also like to take the time to mention the Pritzker Military Library. Their Executive Director, LCOL Ryan Yantis, was the military Guest of Honor at Windycon, and his patient dealing with the rank amateurs (like me) on the military panels was greatly appreciated.

I will have more con-related thoughts in later posts. One of the posts will be a response to a question on the panel I blew, regarding why Naval-style leadership will be the norm for deep-space operations.