Arisia '05
Jan. 25th, 2005 01:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mangosteenSo, it's a day after Arisia, and I'm sitting here on the couch with my laptop, wireless net, and good techno coming out of the stereo speakers. That means it's time for a con report.
I really only have one solid litmus test when it comes to evaluating a sci-fi convention of Arisia's ilk. To wit:
The "Around The Block" test: Could my con experience have been satisfactorily replaced by packing my things, getting in a cab, going around the block, giving the cabbie a really huge tip, getting back into my house, and putting myself in stasis for the next 52 hours?
There was one Arisia (I think two years ago, now), to which the answer to the above question was "yes". A con so frenetically unmemorable that I don't actually remember anything about it. That was bothersome.
I am pleased to report that my con could NOT have been replaced with Folger's Crystals, or for that matter, a small styrofoam dodecahedron.
For those of you who don't know, I was one of the at-con Hotel Liaisons for the convention. This roughly works out to constantly reminding the hotel of its agreement with the convention, and vice versa, for the length of the convention. There's an immense amount of pre-con negotiation that the Hotel Liaison does, but I didn't have the time or energy to be involved in it.
As for what we look like during the con, picture five guys in business suits with walkie-talkies, talking about ice deliveries, backed-up toilets, and figuring out how we're going to move 500 chairs in five minutes.
Note: I would just like to say that I look mighty fine in a business suit.
So, let's see. Most of my con was spent running around looking official, and taking care of the little random hotel things that will make your average attendee say "WORST CON EVAR!", even if the thing in question is truly trivial. People get all weird about shelter. So, in short, Friday and Saturday days were frenetically unmemorable. Running the zoo isn't nearly is interesting as walking around it.
Come to think of it, I don't remember much of Friday night either, and I was stone-cold sober for most of it, and only slightly buzzed for the rest. The con attendance was low, as people canceled in anticipation of the storm that was going to drown Boston in a deluge of white and fluffy. Friday night was just low-energy, in general. To be sure, there were a couple of parties with interesting people, but nothing worth writing home about.
Saturday night saved my con. The first thing I did was that I went off-duty at around 10pm. I changed back into civilian gear, and--
Hmm. You know? Fuck it. It was a good con, and I'm tired of being witty. Here we go.
There were a few memorable moments:
I stayed up until 5am,
watched a massive amount of snow fall on the deserted streets of downtown Boston,
heard some good music,
watched pretty people dance (inability does not preclude appreciation),
gave and received massages,
sat in a circle at 3am and commented on the evolution of conventions,
got to be the cool kid who knew where all the parties were (and could get people into most of them),
lifted people only slightly smaller than me off the ground using my patented Giant Bear Hug Technique(tm),
introduced several people to the phenomenon of high-quality tequila (Don Julio Añejo),
saw a bunch of people in contexts I don't normally see them in,
and for the first time,
in approximately forever,
I didn't feel tremendously alone and adrift at the con,
come Sunday morning,
at 3am.
On Sunday, we eventually went home.
Thank you, and good night.
I really only have one solid litmus test when it comes to evaluating a sci-fi convention of Arisia's ilk. To wit:
The "Around The Block" test: Could my con experience have been satisfactorily replaced by packing my things, getting in a cab, going around the block, giving the cabbie a really huge tip, getting back into my house, and putting myself in stasis for the next 52 hours?
There was one Arisia (I think two years ago, now), to which the answer to the above question was "yes". A con so frenetically unmemorable that I don't actually remember anything about it. That was bothersome.
I am pleased to report that my con could NOT have been replaced with Folger's Crystals, or for that matter, a small styrofoam dodecahedron.
For those of you who don't know, I was one of the at-con Hotel Liaisons for the convention. This roughly works out to constantly reminding the hotel of its agreement with the convention, and vice versa, for the length of the convention. There's an immense amount of pre-con negotiation that the Hotel Liaison does, but I didn't have the time or energy to be involved in it.
As for what we look like during the con, picture five guys in business suits with walkie-talkies, talking about ice deliveries, backed-up toilets, and figuring out how we're going to move 500 chairs in five minutes.
Note: I would just like to say that I look mighty fine in a business suit.
So, let's see. Most of my con was spent running around looking official, and taking care of the little random hotel things that will make your average attendee say "WORST CON EVAR!", even if the thing in question is truly trivial. People get all weird about shelter. So, in short, Friday and Saturday days were frenetically unmemorable. Running the zoo isn't nearly is interesting as walking around it.
Come to think of it, I don't remember much of Friday night either, and I was stone-cold sober for most of it, and only slightly buzzed for the rest. The con attendance was low, as people canceled in anticipation of the storm that was going to drown Boston in a deluge of white and fluffy. Friday night was just low-energy, in general. To be sure, there were a couple of parties with interesting people, but nothing worth writing home about.
Saturday night saved my con. The first thing I did was that I went off-duty at around 10pm. I changed back into civilian gear, and--
Hmm. You know? Fuck it. It was a good con, and I'm tired of being witty. Here we go.
There were a few memorable moments:
I stayed up until 5am,
watched a massive amount of snow fall on the deserted streets of downtown Boston,
heard some good music,
watched pretty people dance (inability does not preclude appreciation),
gave and received massages,
sat in a circle at 3am and commented on the evolution of conventions,
got to be the cool kid who knew where all the parties were (and could get people into most of them),
lifted people only slightly smaller than me off the ground using my patented Giant Bear Hug Technique(tm),
introduced several people to the phenomenon of high-quality tequila (Don Julio Añejo),
saw a bunch of people in contexts I don't normally see them in,
and for the first time,
in approximately forever,
I didn't feel tremendously alone and adrift at the con,
come Sunday morning,
at 3am.
On Sunday, we eventually went home.
Thank you, and good night.
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no subject
Date: 2005-01-24 11:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 04:08 am (UTC)Several people Friday remembered my being your roadie/groupie at that con. :)
no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 04:14 am (UTC)Yes, yes you do, hon. ;) It was good to see you!!
no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 05:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 06:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 09:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 04:54 am (UTC)Yeah.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 05:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 08:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 10:56 am (UTC)And can I get a license on the Giant Bear Hug Technique(tm)? I've been using it for a while, and didn't realize I was infringing. Perhaps I can get a patent on the Total Bear Hug Technique...