temporus | Entries tagged with convention

I'm planning to attend Philcon, coming up this month. I managed to miss my window on pre-registration, but there's been a lot of hectic stuff going on, so by the time I'd locked things down, well, it's November. I guess I'll have to register at the door. Ah well.

If anyone else is planning to attend, let me know, and we'll try to meet up. I haven't been to a Philcon in a very long time. Actually, it was my first SF con many, many years ago. I went there with a friend,

shaydand he had the good fortune to have made the acquaintance of Janet Kagan. Who then brought us in to the SFWA party. Which for a 20 year old who wanted to be a Fantasy writer, felt a bit like a religious experience. Many genuine and wonderful people. Even if I was in awe of quite a number of them. Which was kind of odd, because I'd been chatting with many of those folks on the Wednesday Evening chat on Delphi for almost a year.

I'm looking forward to it, to see how much has changed in the years since I last attended, and how much is the same. I hope to see many folks there.

Tags:

convention

Tags:

convention

Dear future con going self. Here is something for you to look back on, and think about before you embark for your next convention.

Your wife, that highly intelligent woman, advised you to make up some business cards to exchange with people you meet. Next time, listen to her. She is smart, after all. You, on the other hand, I sometimes wonder about.
If you have a question or comment at a panel, raise your damn hand, and speak up. This is, generally speaking, a discourse. Interact.
If you want to have certain people sign your copies of their books, you have to bring them. Which means, pack them ahead of time, so that you don't forget them the day you're leaving. Because that day you will be busy trying to remember everything you forgot last minute, and trying to get out the door early enough to avoid rush hour traffic.
In fact, pack ahead of time. No, not like an hour or two. And not the half-assed job you typically do the night before, then have to scramble in the morning. Aim to pack two nights before, so that if you need to buy anything, you have time.
If you are standing in the store, looking over the snacks, and think to yourself that an extra bag or two of trail mix might be a good idea, buy them. Right then, right there. Do not think to yourself that you only need snacks for the ride, and that you'll pick up more after you get to the con. Because you will either forget to stop, or won't remember to actually leave the con long enough to go get some snacks. Snacks at the hotel will be more expensive, and mostly candy. In fact, you probably should plan out snacks before hand, and not just stop at the drugstore that morning after filling the car with gas. Then, you might even find better, healthier options than a bag of Chex Mix.
Eat breakfast. You'll probably be too absorbed in all the panels you want to see, and you'll skip lunch. (Hence why the above item is important.) You can do that if you have snacks. And if you are going to skip lunch anyway, you can afford to spring for the breakfast.
Speaking of breakfast, when someone mentions that they are hosting a breakfast , and you intend to attend this social gathering (or any other meal/party/whathaveyou) put it on your calendar. This way, you won't feel like an idiot, coming out of the breakfast area, only to see the aforementioned group arriving, and realize you forgot. Because you will forget. So make sure you set a meeting notice on your phone.
Watch the pros and learn. See how many of them carried around their notebooks? Yes, you did too, I know. But notice how they wrote down titles and author names that caught their attention? Yeah. Do that! Because no matter how smart you think you are, you will not possibly remember every title or author that gets mentioned, and then you'll miss out on some cool stuff. Yeah, I know you suck at taking actual notes, but how hard can it be to make a list of authors and books?
Go with people. (Well, try to if you can manage it.) Talk up the con, and let people you know who might be going, or might be interested in going, that you are going. It's more fun with friends.
If people you know will be there, make plans for meeting up. That will be easier than wandering around wondering if you'll bump into them. Probably less stressful too.
If you want to meet up with people you know from online only, and have never met in person, then you have to make finding yourself easier. Or at least make it easier for people to figure out who you are. Don't wait for things to drop into your lap. You thought of printing out your LJ icon and wearing it like a button. Do something like that. And don't whine at me that you couldn't figure out who was giving out the ribbons for the LJ names.
Relax.
Don't whine if you are blessed with a plethora of cool panel topics that you want to attend. Remember all those tech conferences where you end up meandering through sessions that all bore you to tears? It could be like that. Or worse.
Don't sweat it if you didn't get to see every author or editor speak that you wanted to. That's how things go. That's why people do this again and again.
No really, if they don't seem tuned out, or in a rush, they probably wouldn't mind if you stop them in the hall to compliment their work, what they had to say in the panel, or to thank them. It probably won't be seen as pestering them, so long as you leave them the power to accept the complement and move on. If they want to engage further discussion, they will.
It's perfectly okay to not try to hit every available panel. Leave time for the dealer room. Leave space in your plan for those spontaneous meetings that turn into hour long (or more) intense discussions, because that's also a part of the discourse. But try to keep mindful of signals that the other person might want to go to the next panel.
Visit the con suite.
Start more conversations. Talk to people. People are interesting.
Do not be afraid to offer help, if you think you can help. If they don't need it, they will let you know.
Take it all in. But don't be upset later when you realize that it doesn't all stay with you. The energy, the ideas, the information, the camaraderie. It can't maintain at that level ever after, but some of that will carry on. Hopefully it can carry you till the next one.

Current Mood: geeky

Tags:

convention

Dear future con going self. Here is something for you to look back on, and think about before you embark for your next convention.

Your wife, that highly intelligent woman, advised you to make up some business cards to exchange with people you meet. Next time, listen to her. She is smart, after all. You, on the other hand, I sometimes wonder about.
If you have a question or comment at a panel, raise your damn hand, and speak up. This is, generally speaking, a discourse. Interact.
If you want to have certain people sign your copies of their books, you have to bring them. Which means, pack them ahead of time, so that you don't forget them the day you're leaving. Because that day you will be busy trying to remember everything you forgot last minute, and trying to get out the door early enough to avoid rush hour traffic.
In fact, pack ahead of time. No, not like an hour or two. And not the half-assed job you typically do the night before, then have to scramble in the morning. Aim to pack two nights before, so that if you need to buy anything, you have time.
If you are standing in the store, looking over the snacks, and think to yourself that an extra bag or two of trail mix might be a good idea, buy them. Right then, right there. Do not think to yourself that you only need snacks for the ride, and that you'll pick up more after you get to the con. Because you will either forget to stop, or won't remember to actually leave the con long enough to go get some snacks. Snacks at the hotel will be more expensive, and mostly candy. In fact, you probably should plan out snacks before hand, and not just stop at the drugstore that morning after filling the car with gas. Then, you might even find better, healthier options than a bag of Chex Mix.
Eat breakfast. You'll probably be too absorbed in all the panels you want to see, and you'll skip lunch. (Hence why the above item is important.) You can do that if you have snacks. And if you are going to skip lunch anyway, you can afford to spring for the breakfast.
Speaking of breakfast, when someone mentions that they are hosting a breakfast , and you intend to attend this social gathering (or any other meal/party/whathaveyou) put it on your calendar. This way, you won't feel like an idiot, coming out of the breakfast area, only to see the aforementioned group arriving, and realize you forgot. Because you will forget. So make sure you set a meeting notice on your phone.
Watch the pros and learn. See how many of them carried around their notebooks? Yes, you did too, I know. But notice how they wrote down titles and author names that caught their attention? Yeah. Do that! Because no matter how smart you think you are, you will not possibly remember every title or author that gets mentioned, and then you'll miss out on some cool stuff. Yeah, I know you suck at taking actual notes, but how hard can it be to make a list of authors and books?
Go with people. (Well, try to if you can manage it.) Talk up the con, and let people you know who might be going, or might be interested in going, that you are going. It's more fun with friends.
If people you know will be there, make plans for meeting up. That will be easier than wandering around wondering if you'll bump into them. Probably less stressful too.
If you want to meet up with people you know from online only, and have never met in person, then you have to make finding yourself easier. Or at least make it easier for people to figure out who you are. Don't wait for things to drop into your lap. You thought of printing out your LJ icon and wearing it like a button. Do something like that. And don't whine at me that you couldn't figure out who was giving out the ribbons for the LJ names.
Relax.
Don't whine if you are blessed with a plethora of cool panel topics that you want to attend. Remember all those tech conferences where you end up meandering through sessions that all bore you to tears? It could be like that. Or worse.
Don't sweat it if you didn't get to see every author or editor speak that you wanted to. That's how things go. That's why people do this again and again.
No really, if they don't seem tuned out, or in a rush, they probably wouldn't mind if you stop them in the hall to compliment their work, what they had to say in the panel, or to thank them. It probably won't be seen as pestering them, so long as you leave them the power to accept the complement and move on. If they want to engage further discussion, they will.
It's perfectly okay to not try to hit every available panel. Leave time for the dealer room. Leave space in your plan for those spontaneous meetings that turn into hour long (or more) intense discussions, because that's also a part of the discourse. But try to keep mindful of signals that the other person might want to go to the next panel.
Visit the con suite.
Start more conversations. Talk to people. People are interesting.
Do not be afraid to offer help, if you think you can help. If they don't need it, they will let you know.
Take it all in. But don't be upset later when you realize that it doesn't all stay with you. The energy, the ideas, the information, the camaraderie. It can't maintain at that level ever after, but some of that will carry on. Hopefully it can carry you till the next one.