Confluence 2009
Jul. 27th, 2009 04:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribIf Scalzi won't come to Chicago, (a fan from) Chicago will have to go to Scalzi. Thus, I'm back from Confluence 2009 in lovely Pittsburgh. In truth, since I flew into the airport and took the hotel shuttle all of five miles to the hotel, I didn't see much of Pittsburgh, so I have no idea if it's lovely or not. At any rate, John Scalzi, the Guest of Honor, proved to be a good egg, and was much like what readers of his blog would expect.
Before I talk in more detail about the con, I did want to express a bit of surprise at being recognized by a couple of con attendees, solely based on my Internet presence. On the one hand, I shouldn't be surprised - that's a recent photo of me, my blog and my con badge are all variants on my real name. On the other hand, it was a bit weird to introduce myself and the introducee say "I know." Part of that surprise is that I am bad with names (hell, I forget my character's names) and I project that problem on others.
Confluence thoughts:
- It's a small con. I would guess attendance at 250 people or so, which puts it in league with Duckon, Chicago's smallest con. Thus, programming was light, with the grid never more than six wide. Don't get me wrong - the programming was good, just not a huge selection.
- The hotel was good, with all the amenities one would want for a con. Also, Scalzi was right - the shrimp-chorizo chowder was very nice.
- The con wasn't much for themed parties - actually none so far as I could tell. But the hotel bar was nice and had a good lounge / conversation area.
- Confluence had two programming ideas I've seen before. One, which I recommend for any con, was the Kaffeeklatsch, which is an opportunity for attendees to sign up and attend a small-group meeting with a selected author or dignitary. The other, which can be problematic, is the Guest of Honor speech. Confluence stopped the entire con for Scalzi's speech. Now, John being John, he delivered an entertaining talk. Shy-er guests could make that less entertaining.
- Another interesting "stop the con" event was a play by the "Parallax Second Players." This was a spoof / mash-up of Doctor Who and Serenity. Now, I mentally christened the players the "Not Quite Ready For Local Cable Access Players" but they knew their limitations and were aiming for the "so bad it's good" mark. Which they hit. Especially memorable was the riff (using Doctor Who) on the Who's On First routine.
- The fellow that runs this blog gave an interesting talk on "The Meteorology of Scent." Basically, he does work with search and rescue dogs, and has figured out a lot of information on micro-area winds.
- Lastly, the con publishes an annual short story anthology. This year's edition is called Triangulation: Dark Glass. I bought a copy and will report on it after I read it.
Before I talk in more detail about the con, I did want to express a bit of surprise at being recognized by a couple of con attendees, solely based on my Internet presence. On the one hand, I shouldn't be surprised - that's a recent photo of me, my blog and my con badge are all variants on my real name. On the other hand, it was a bit weird to introduce myself and the introducee say "I know." Part of that surprise is that I am bad with names (hell, I forget my character's names) and I project that problem on others.
Confluence thoughts:
- It's a small con. I would guess attendance at 250 people or so, which puts it in league with Duckon, Chicago's smallest con. Thus, programming was light, with the grid never more than six wide. Don't get me wrong - the programming was good, just not a huge selection.
- The hotel was good, with all the amenities one would want for a con. Also, Scalzi was right - the shrimp-chorizo chowder was very nice.
- The con wasn't much for themed parties - actually none so far as I could tell. But the hotel bar was nice and had a good lounge / conversation area.
- Confluence had two programming ideas I've seen before. One, which I recommend for any con, was the Kaffeeklatsch, which is an opportunity for attendees to sign up and attend a small-group meeting with a selected author or dignitary. The other, which can be problematic, is the Guest of Honor speech. Confluence stopped the entire con for Scalzi's speech. Now, John being John, he delivered an entertaining talk. Shy-er guests could make that less entertaining.
- Another interesting "stop the con" event was a play by the "Parallax Second Players." This was a spoof / mash-up of Doctor Who and Serenity. Now, I mentally christened the players the "Not Quite Ready For Local Cable Access Players" but they knew their limitations and were aiming for the "so bad it's good" mark. Which they hit. Especially memorable was the riff (using Doctor Who) on the Who's On First routine.
- The fellow that runs this blog gave an interesting talk on "The Meteorology of Scent." Basically, he does work with search and rescue dogs, and has figured out a lot of information on micro-area winds.
- Lastly, the con publishes an annual short story anthology. This year's edition is called Triangulation: Dark Glass. I bought a copy and will report on it after I read it.
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Date: 2009-07-28 03:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 03:39 pm (UTC)