Worldcon, bitches!

[M Fnord]

To be precise, http://www.denvention3.org]Denvention 3, the 66th Annual World Science Fiction Convention.

I will be there in the dubious flesh, so if anybody else is attending & wishes to meet&greet, or simply punch me, look for the guy in goggles, leather jacket and a variety of hideous hawaiian shirts. If not on the convention grounds proper I'll be somewhere in LoDo drinking mai tais and arguing nationalism with the ghost of Robert Heinlein.

That is all, England Prevails.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[SkyeFire]

Had an unexpected hole open up in my work schedule, and grabbed it. I'll be one of the overweight geeks wandering about with a map, a schedule, and a
harried/bemused expression....

[LynnInDenver]

I'm there, was there today, gonna be there the other four days.

I might pull out my old An'lashok vest with pin for the next few.

And while I did it in person earlier, Hi Fnord!
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[SkyeFire]

Okay, maybe it's just me. I'm *hoping* it's just me. But so far, this Worldcon seems awfully poorly set up -- it certainly gave me the *worst*
con experience I've ever had, and it's only the first day.

I got into town w/o incident, parked in the Convention Center ($10 for 12hrs), and went roaming. The functions are rather scattered -- all the anime and a lot
of the films are over at the Sheraton, 6 blocks away. And of course it rained all day. Well, I experimented with the local mass transit -- not bad, not
great.

What I had no way of knowing was that, when I got back to the Center just before 10PM, the ENTIRE PLACE was locked up tight as a drum. Say what? My
*car's* in there. I still have to drive out to my hotel and get checked in -- my *luggage* is in the *car.* And I can't get to it. There's no
signs, no staff presence, nothing. And I didn't see or hear anything during the afternoon to suggest that people should expect the Center to turn into
Fort Knox at... I dunno, 9PM? 8PM?

And I'm not the only one -- there were at least a couple dozen congoers wandering around the outside of the Center (in the rain, many without umbrellas),
after dark, unable to get in. Several of whom I suspect were foreigners with poor-to-nonexistent English skills, judging from some conversations I overheard.

I eventually found a security entrance and talked them into letting me in. Whereupon I found myself the only living soul (as far as I could tell) inside a
huge Convention Center with most of the lights turned off, and all of the elevators and escalators shut down.

My car is parked 5 floors up.

Yep, that mile-high atmosphere really hurts when you're trying to climb five floors of stairs. I actually had a near fainting spell (again, all alone in a
completely abandoned Convention Center).

What cheezes me off about the whole thing is that there was no warning, and no help. If someone had *told* me that the building was locking up at xPM, I would
have made sure to clear my car out before that. And like I said, I wasn't the only one who didn't get the memo -- why wasn't there any staff
presence, or at least some SIGNS, to clue in the people wandering lost around the Center in the dark? I mean, COME ON! You've got people in a strange
city, late at night, locked out of the one building they know much of anything about, their stuff locked *in* the building, and no idea of who to call or what
to do? At least put up some signs. Put some BIG BOLD WARNINGS in the convention schedule and guide. SOMETHING. Right now, as far as I can tell, we were
just expected to *know* this somehow and plan around it. *I* had no idea, and I've been doing cons for business and pleasure for quite a few years now.

Gah. I'm ranting. I'm exhausted, hungry, and my nerves are *shot.* I won't even go into the way the functions are spread all over, or how the
Sheraton's internal layout is downright Escherian....

[Feinan]

Bleah. I'm sorry to hear your first day was so bad. I hope the rest go better. Keep passing on word of your impressions of the con? I have to admit to
being morbidly curious. Columbus, where I live, was up for the 2008 vote so I'm interested in how Denver handles it.

[LynnInDenver]

SkyeFire wrote:

---

>I got into town w/o incident, parked in the Convention Center ($10 for 12hrs), and went roaming. The functions are rather scattered -- all the anime and
a lot of >the films are over at the Sheraton, 6 blocks away. And of course it rained all day. Well, I experimented with the local mass transit -- not bad,
not great.




Pricing in Downtown Denver is just plain goddamned fucking expensive, especially during the working day. This is in part because what little parking there
is, they have firmly ensconced in buildings, or with meters that you have to move after two hours, or other such nonsense. And I hope to never work in
downtown again.




As for putting things in the Sheraton several blocks away, that struck me as being very poorly planned, but it looks like the Hyatt next door is rather
booked too, they might've run across that during the stage of booking the whole thing. And I have the sneaking suspicion that the convention center is
specifically contracted that you *don't* set up something like the con suite so that you're forced to buy the exceedingly overpriced food there. I
mean, my gods, I haven't seen food pricing that bad at a convention in a long time.




>What I had no way of knowing was that, when I got back to the Center just before 10PM, the ENTIRE PLACE was locked up tight as a drum. Say what? My
>*car's* in there. I still have to drive out to my hotel and get checked in -- my *luggage* is in the *car.* And I can't get to it. There's no
signs, no staff presence, >nothing. And I didn't see or hear anything during the afternoon to suggest that people should expect the Center to turn
into Fort Knox at... I dunno, 9PM? 8PM?


>And I'm not the only one -- there were at least a couple dozen congoers wandering around the outside of the Center (in the rain, many without
umbrellas), after >dark, unable to get in. Several of whom I suspect were foreigners with poor-to-nonexistent English skills, judging from some
conversations I overheard.


>I eventually found a security entrance and talked them into letting me in. Whereupon I found myself the only living soul (as far as I could tell) inside
a huge >Convention Center with most of the lights turned off, and all of the elevators and escalators shut down.




My parents had that issue, but more because at 6ish, they closed the elevators closest to where the con is. We were still inside. It'd have been nice to
have had *warning* they were going to do so, my mom has foot and knee and back issues that make climbing that many stairs, even to just the first garage
level, an experiment in sadism.




>My car is parked 5 floors up.


>Yep, that mile-high atmosphere really hurts when you're trying to climb five floors of stairs. I actually had a near fainting spell (again, all alone
in a completely >abandoned Convention Center).




Oh, what fun.




>What cheezes me off about the whole thing is that there was no warning, and no help. If someone had *told* me that the building was locking up at xPM, I
>would have made sure to clear my car out before that. And like I said, I wasn't the only one who didn't get the memo -- why wasn't there any
staff presence, or >at least some SIGNS, to clue in the people wandering lost around the Center in the dark? I mean, COME ON! You've got people in a
strange city, late at night, >locked out of the one building they know much of anything about, their stuff locked *in* the building, and no idea of who to
call or what to do? At least put up >some signs. Put some BIG BOLD WARNINGS in the convention schedule and guide. SOMETHING. Right now, as far as I can
tell, we were just expected to >*know* this somehow and plan around it. *I* had no idea, and I've been doing cons for business and pleasure for quite
a few years now.




Well, to be blunt, this is the first time I've heard of them (Colorado Convention Center) hosting a convention of this nature, where the participants
expect to be able to be around well into the evening hours. They should have at least have pointed out, I believe there is an exterior accessible elevator
between the entrance and the light rail stop out front that can get one into the garage, yet doesn't have an access to the convention spaces. I used it
to get out after seeing my parents off.




>Gah. I'm ranting. I'm exhausted, hungry, and my nerves are *shot.* I won't even go into the way the functions are spread all over, or how the
Sheraton's internal >layout is downright Escherian....




I do not blame you. And I had to get help from one of the people who works at the Sheraton so I could even *find* the con suite. That, and the distance
required, means I'm just gonna say 'sod this' and buy some stuff to pack in my bag for the next few days to munch on for lunches.

--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[SkyeFire]

Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. Much better day today.

I slept in, debated taking my car, and eventually decided to drive, even though my hotel is *technically* only about 15 blocks away (and badly located to pick
up the local mass transit). Not that confident of my navigation around here yet. My trusty GPS got me back to the Center, at which point I shrugged and
parked in the garage again. THEN I buttonholed the Center's information desk about when the building locks up. Turns out that if you *exit* the Center on
the correct side, and go to the far side of the parking structure, there's a structure-only elevator that does *not* get shut down. Plus, I was planning
on getting out of the Center at the end of the last function anyway.

Went out to lunch (Hard Rock Cafe -- my sister collects shot glasses from the various cities). I must say, Denver's 16th street pedestrian mall is pretty
nice. The free shuttle bus tends too crowded for my taste, but it's definitely handy. I wish I had more time to explore.

Went back to the Center, half-slept my way through a bunch of panels (dunno why, I got plenty of sleep), hung out at the last Center function of the evening,
the film about the Chicago 2000 WorldCon. I took off before the end, around 20:15, and discovered that the escalators, at least, *had* been shut off. This
was a problem b/c the movie was being held in the sub-street-level ballroom. Now, *I* could walk up the single storey of stairs easily enough, even at this
altitude and with my weight, but this con has a *lot* of attendees with disabilities of various degree -- I've heard some serious grumbling from that
demographic that the con management *badly* under-resourced the handicapped-assistance elements of the con. I don't know if the *elevators* near the
ballroom were shut down in addition to the escalators, but if they were, I expect some serious bloodletting at the gripe session.

Anyway, armed with my secret knowledge of how to get up into the parking structure without near-killing myself, I returned my car to my hotel ($18/night for
parking, argh, and the Center charges $7-10), then walked back halfway to get to the Sheraton, where most of the late-night functions and the Con Suite are.
My vague plan is to just haunt the Center by day from now on, and hit the Sheraton at night. I watched some Original Gundam in the anime room, and then camped
out in the Con Suite looking for interesting conversations -- my favorite part of most cons. Ended up trading Programming Horror Stories (robotics vs server
sysadminning) for a couple hours. Decided to leave about midnight so I could get up in the morning. After some thought, I sprang for a cab back, which cost
me about $2.50 for six-seven blocks. Probably money wasted, but I would have been walking through several blocks of completely shut-down businesses, and I
just don't know this area well enough to feel confident taking unecessary chances.

The Sheraton, BTW, has an INSANE layout, and I say that as someone who survived the Hyatt Regency in Chicago when it hosted the 2000 WorldCon (another con that
had functions spread out over multiple hotels, but there you could walk the pedestrian sub-street tunnel/mall and have no problems with weather or traffic).
The con functions are either on Floor 22 (all room parties on one floor, not a bad idea), or two-three levels underground. And the signage is very poor.
Also, the Sheraton has two buildings, but their underground sections don't connect, leading to some Keystone-Cops scenes where people entered the main
building, followed the signs underground, ended up going back *up* a different set of elevators, crossing the street or the second-story sky bridge, then going
back *down* into the sub- or sub-sub-basements to get at the anime, film, gaming, and Con Suite areas. If you ran a LARP in that place, you'd have to call
out the FBI to *find* everyone afterwards.

All in all, a much better day than Wed, now that I have my feet under me and a better handle on the contextual terrain. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be up to
full steam and can really wring the most out of my remaining time.

[SkyeFire]

Well, it's just about over. Posting this before things start on Day 5. My flight schedule is such that I can't stick around -- I can catch the first
one or two panels this morning, then I gotta fly.

It's been fun. The usual WorldCon frustration that for every activity I'm attending, there's four more I want to be part of that I'm missing.
And feeling guilty over going to sleep at night instead of hanging out with the nightowls -- after what I spent to come here, it feels like sleep is a waste of
time and money. But the mortal clay requires it...

Hit the dealer's room yesterday, wasn't going to spend much... yaright. Spent more than I should, less than I wanted.

Attended the Bujold reading for the next Miles novel. I'm predicting weaponized chickens.

Hit the Baen room party around midnight, bumped into Howard Tayler and joked with him about matchups between Tagon's Toughs and the Dendarii. Howard's
conclusion: "it depends on who gets the most/last punchlines."

Had Bubb-Gump Shrimp Company for lunch yesterday. Seafood's not my thing, but this was pretty good. Bumped into another con attendee (this is why we wear
the badges all around town), and ended up having a pleasant lunch with a complete stranger. *This* is why I go to cons.

Really, REALLY kicking myself for not taking more time off -- I wish I could stick around and explore, Denver's a pretty city. And a great backdrop. But
I (foolishly) only allocated time to arrive at the con on Day 1 and depart on Day 5. Better planning next time. Next year is Montreal, and 2010 is going to
be Melbourne, Australia. Problem is, I don't know if I can take the flights to get to Oz -- the 3hr flight from Detroit to Denver was enough to give me
back spasms.

[robkelk]

If I've got the timing right, you'll be home before you read this post...

parked in the Convention Center ($10 for 12hrs),

That cheap? Wow. (In Ottawa, Toronto, or Montreal, $10 might get you three hours of parking, if you're lucky. Mind you, Toronto and Montreal both have good mass-transit systems.)

Gah. I'm ranting. I'm exhausted, hungry, and my nerves are *shot.*

Now you know why "old-timer" convention-goers always pack a bottle of water and a pack of cookies or a granola bar. That and the usual price of convention food, that is... 8)

Went out to lunch (Hard Rock Cafe -- my sister collects shot glasses from the various cities).

Does she have one from Ottawa yet? If not, drop me an e-mail (my board handle at gmail.com) with your snail-mail address.

Hit the dealer's room yesterday, wasn't going to spend much... yaright. Spent more than I should, less than I wanted.

Isn't that always the case, at any con?

Attended the Bujold reading for the next Miles novel. I'm predicting weaponized chickens.

"It's a chicken! A giant-" "Never mind." 8)

But I (foolishly) only allocated time to arrive at the con on Day 1 and depart on Day 5. Better planning next time. Next year is Montreal, and 2010 is going to be Melbourne, Australia. Problem is, I don't know if I can take the flights to get to Oz -- the 3hr flight from Detroit to Denver was enough to give me back spasms.

If you're going to Montréal from Detroit, take the train. Take the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel to downtown Windsor and turn left onto Riverside; the train station's at the corner of Walker. http://www.viarail.ca/en_index.html]VIA runs to Montréal via Toronto, and the Metro (local subway) has stops inside the train station and the Palais des congrès. The seats are comfortable (VIA 1 (first class) is very comfortable, and offers wi-fi Internet access for the entire trip), it costs less than a plane ticket plus taxi rides to and from the airports, and (considering you don't have to show up three hours early for a pre-flight security check and the train goes downtown-to-downtown) it's just as fast as flying.

Hmmmmm... Montréal's literally just down the road from Ottawa, and I've always wanted to go to a Worldcon... (surfs to http://www.anticipationsf.ca/]the Worldcon 2009 website and downloads the registration form)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Foxboy]

Just a moment to squee at the Logo for the Montreal Worldcon.

Seriously, taking a Canadian flag, replacing the maple leaf with a rocket made from a Fleur de Lis is GENIUS.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Bob Schroeck]

Hmmm.... Peggy's been wanting to go to Montreal for a couple years now.... I wonder if I could talk her into a dual-purpose visit...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[LynnInDenver]

OK, for those who are wondering, I played shutterbug.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jferio/

Feel free to comment on photos over there.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[M Fnord]

And just for clarity purposes, photo DSCF0437 is me, and yes I am holding up a package of gummi sandworms. I blame Kevin J. Anderson.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[LynnInDenver]

And took the liberty of adding your fen name into the description for clarity.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[robkelk]

Hmmm.... Peggy's been wanting to go to Montreal for a couple years now.... I wonder if I could talk her into a dual-purpose visit...

Well, being able to hand a copy to you for proofreading would give me incentive to have LoGG chapter 3 ready before Worldcon Montreal... 8)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Bob Schroeck]

The hell with LoGG, I want to see Blue Water!
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Bob Schroeck]

The hell with LoGG, I want to see Blue Water!
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.