Loncon 3 report

[watervole]

 This is liable to be a short report as I picked up a post con bug and I'm still down with it...

It was a good con, but a bit disorienting for me.

It's the first time I've ever attended a con as a disabled fan (I have costochondritis and it means I suffer from chest pain and exhaustion)

All power to the access desk for telling me I was disabled and to stop waffling about not needing help.  I only used the access ribbon twice, but both times I really needed it.

I felt a bit alone the first day -I arrived on Friday as I had morris commitments on Thursday.  I'm not used to going around cons on my own.  I much prefer to share the experience with someone.  I kept passing friends heading in the opposite direction.

Hm, typing seems to be setting off the chest pain again...

Very brief. I ended up attending a lot of filk concerts which were excellent and I could enjoy even when pain made me a bit fuzzy.  I got to see 'Before the Dawn' which I greatly enjoyed.  I went to two Shakespeare items which were both hysterically funny (intentionally so).  I hit a few lit and science items and felt the overall programme was very good.

I liked the food in the boulevard -thought the prices very reasonable and a good variety too.

Some people were over-programmed. One rather haggard moderator said it was his sixth panel of the day!

I also enjoyed meeting Gillian Polack, hte Australian GUFF representative.  Very interesting conversation and I wish I could have afforded a copy of her book (I'll have to hope it comes out as an ebook).  I love writers who love research.

Comments

[gaspode.livejournal.com]

If its the same bug as me take it easy - Its playing heavily on my chest so my inhailer is never far away x

[watervole.livejournal.com]

You too? I had an bad asthma attack this weekend, really caught me on the hop as I've been pretty good this summer.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Hope you feel better soon, pity that it caused problems in the con...

[inamac.livejournal.com]

Sorry I missed you - you seem to be the only person who shares my view that the food prices were reasonable (I thought it was just a London view, but clearly not.)

I was only there for about 6 hours in total and seem to have avoided concrud - look after yourself and get well soon.

[xenaclone.livejournal.com]

Sorry I missed you :-(

[eledonecirrhosa.livejournal.com]

I spotted you once in the distance - you were deep in conversation and I was hurtling to a panel so I didn't have time to stop. :-(

Hope the bug passes soon.

[thebobby.livejournal.com]

Sorry I missed you; I too found the food prices reasonable (for the venue and location).

I went to the wearable electronics / etextiles panel and my head is awhirl with ideas.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I didn't even know you were there! I was keeping an eye out especially for you as I was hoping we'd like some of the same panels and items. Probably my fault for not posting in advance that I'd be there.

[thebobby.livejournal.com]

Yes, i was under the impression you weren't going to be there, so I didn't try and get in touch, sorry.

My current plans are every Redemption, Eastercon and 9worlds, and the Worldcon when it is in the UK.

This year that means i spent 10 days in London, due to the cons being 1 week apart, so i got to explore a bit.

[julesjones]

The access desk told a lot of people to stop waffling about whether they were disabled enough and just take the ribbon, please. :-)

[camies.livejournal.com]

I also got an access ribbon on the basis of not being able to hear any of the panels unless I was sitting right at the front. Even when using my hearing aid (and there was only a T-loop in two of the spaces).

[del-c.livejournal.com]

I'm disappointed I didn't see any T-loop signs anywhere; I would have had an opportunity to play my customary game of "see if the sign is accompanied by an actual working T-loop". My least favourite bit of accessibility theatre.

[rockwell-666.livejournal.com]

It was good to see you, unfortunately I also seem to have picked up someone's cold at the Con :-(

Although I had a good time, I think the Programme organisers rather didn't get things right, eg scheduling a panel on Military and SF with Joe Haldeman(!) in London 2 which they could have filled about four times over given the number of people queueing outside. There were also plenty of other examples of items being too popular.

The hour and a half programme slots in the middle of the day were a good idea, although some of the hour long ones (which were actually, of course, only about 45 minutes by the time everyone got in) could have done with being longer and a couple of times I had to catch the Moderator's eye and point at my watch because I wanted to get to another item but didn't want to walk out before the end.

Still, it was a reasonably fun experience all told.

[valydiarosada.livejournal.com]

As I am almost always on my own at conventions, I can appreciate how you felt. However this time I'm afraid my involvement with Before the Dawn meant I got to see very little of the con, and the only real time I had for hanging out with friends was on the Friday. So I'm sorry I didn't notice that you were by yourself this time.