So thats another DWCon come and gone; as I said to someone yesterday morning On the upside, this is the longest the wait for the next one will ever be, so it can only get better. As ever, there were good things and not so good things. For instance, The Frog, popular as he was, isnt yet old enough to bring to a con; there were so many events Tasha and I had to miss because he either couldnt sit still or had fallen asleep and had to be taken to bed. With any luck an almost-five will take to schedules (slightly) better than an almost-three... (Though we were surprised by just how well-behaved he was in general, and he certainly seemed to enjoy himself.) The hotel was great in most respects; friendly and helpful staff, a terrific atmosphere, and great fun for someone with my knack for navigation and enjoyment of exploring. As a Bedotted One, though, there were downsides that have been explored ad nauseam. Stairs within levels not a major problem for me, endless flights of stairs between levels more so, insufficient seating in standing-still areas leading to considerable pain. On a less medical note, the Drum was nice and a great venue for some things (Just A Minute After Dark felt right at home there, for instance) but was sadly incompatible with others - the Dead Monkey Party was deader than usual until we transplanted it and started the Zombie Monkey Party upstairs in what was gradually transitioning back into Tempus. Speaking of Tempus, the atmosphere was nice, the staff were as ever great and the seats were comfortable - but there were nowhere near enough of them. I got the impression that it was designed for standing-up mingling and small groups of people on business, while DWCon bars seem to do better with large clusters of tables and chairs for mobs of looneys to have singalongs around. In the end, though, everything about a DWCon - events, panels, all that - pales compared to the key thing: getting a critical mass of old and new friends in one place and chatting until the night sky starts brightening again, while making giggly snark about the weather and unpredicted technical disasters Five Thirty Picnic. Some Id have liked to chat to more were busier than usual by dint of purple shirts (Clare, David, Pete (exactly as busy as usual, of course)), others finally found circumstances beyond their control that meant theyd sit still for more than eight seconds at a time (Kirstine), others still proved as delightfully mad in person as theyve always seemed on FB (Batty) and of course other favourite chatterees (Heather, Peter, Eric) end up simply not coinciding as much as Id like. Then of course there are those whose programme items are eternal highlights (Örjan, Marco, Donal - yes, I always go to the Trolls Guide), those who are always fun to catch up with (Jan and Nigel, Tim, Paul) those whose brains I like to pick (Ian Stewart, Pat Harkin) because there are few things as enjoyable as an expert with a sense of humour and a DWConish mindset, and of course a few old acquaintances I finally got to meet and a bunch of new chums. Also fun to meet a few old friends from the Roundworld who braved the public bar - Lisa, for instance, and James - and some of Tashas old friends (Terri and Michael) that we dragged into the net. A good weekend, all in all. And as usual I forgot to take pictures.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 18:04:45 +0000
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