Minicon 2008 Report

[mmerriam]

Saturday, March 22, 2008

8:45 am

Hello all. I'm writing a Minicon report, which I will then post to LJ on Sunday night, since I cannot seem to get the hotel internet to work for some reason. You know what Sheraton Hotel, I'm will to pay $10 to have internet in my room for 24 hours, but I've spent 20 minutes wrestling with something that should be plug and play, so the hell with it.

We got to the Con a little late on Friday, but still caught the second half of panel about taboos in SF/F. Talked with hatfield13 and naomikritzer afterward, then up to the room to map out the rest of the panels we want to do and eat some food. We hooked up with mrissa, and greykev dropped her off at the panel she was on, then careswen and I went to the Nasty Characters panel.

I realized I've done a lot of panels over the last few years. It's getting to the point where I'm not really hearing anything different.

Once that panel was over, I wandered among the room parties, stopping at Krushenko's to talk with Eric Heideman, Jason D. Wittman, and the rest of the crowd for a bit. I'll be taking part in the Speculation Reading Series this September. I ran into pentacon in the hallway and chatted with him for a bit, then Sherry and I went to the hotel bar for some hot food before bed.

This turned out to be a mistake. It took 15 minutes to get the attention of the waitress, it was another 15 before she took our order, the food (a couple of appetizers) took 30+ minutes to come out to our table, she forgot drinks, and then it took another 20 minutes after we asked for the check for it to arrive. Folks, the place wasn't all that busy. So all together, what we thought might take 30 to 45 minutes ended up being an hour and a half.

Anyway, I had a decent night of sleep and I'm ready to hit the con again! I'll write more entries as time allows.

12:08 pm

I'm back in the room, resting my back. I had forgotten how uncomfortable I find the chairs in the programming rooms here. Went to pameladean's reading, which was just lovely, and spoke with wordswoman and Pat Sullivan from TCSFWN afterward.

Saw mrissa, truepenny, and elisem in the dealers room, and I had a nice chat with elizabethth from DreamHaven Books. I also talked a bit with Tyree Campbell from Sam's Dot Publishing which is always a good thing.

A not so good thing: I was reminded at one point that some people in fandom believe only the major-league publishers (the Tor's and Asimov's of the field) are legit, or if a small press/semi-pro is somehow legit, it must be low-quality. Look up people, a lot of good work is being done by small press publishers. Many of these publishers are grooming the next generation of emerging writers. I'm just saying.

I'm really glad I came this year. I really need to be around fandom and my friends within it right now. I've missed this.

By the end of Con season (heck, by the end of Minicon, even) I might be singing a different tune, but for now, this rocks.

8:58 PM

I'm trying to decide if I have enough energy left to manage anything more tonight. The programming room chairs are really making my back hurt, and I think I need a little quiet time.

The Editor's Impression Panel, where professional editors were given the first page of a novel submitted (blind) by local writers and asked to react, was pretty much a blood bath, which was pretty much what I expected anyway. I got some really good things from this panel while listening to these editors read and talk about the pages they were looking at. Brutal stuff, but well worth it.

TCSFWN reading went well. We had a decent turnout and I pretty much enjoyed what was read by everyone. We had some people ask about the group afterward. I'm still reading too fast, but I was also under a time constraint, so we shall see if I can slow it down tomorrow. Sherry and I talked with materia_indigo, and I spoke to Dana Baird for a few minutes before her reading.

careswen and I skipped out half-way through the next panel to go have food with mrissa and greykev. Good conversation, good friends, and adequate food.

I made a mad dash to my next panel, the one about the difference in magic between Minneapolis and St. Paul. lyda222 moderated, with naomikritzer, kalmn, and C.J. Mills rounding out the panel. I thought we did really well, lyda222 kept it moving and was enthusiastic. I actually managed to contribute. The panelists and audience were great, and had plenty of excellent input.

Talked to hatfield13, and then Mike Shoenberg. for a bit, then careswen went to Jane Yolen's bedtime stories reading. I talked with Joel Arnold, Mike Shoenberg again, and poked my nose into the LJ party, where I talked with dsgood and greykev before I wandered off. I talked with kalmn about how impressed I was with Wiscon's accessibility (GIANT LARGE PRINT POCKET GUIDE!), saw Dana again, and then decided to head up to the room. In the elevator I was with a young lady of about 12 or 13 who enthusiastically showed me the D&D Mini she had just painted, burbling happily about how it was her very first painted mini and showing me all the details (which I couldn't make out, but I made appropriate noises, because really...). She got off two floors before I did.

And now I am in the room and kind of tired. Also, wrote 750 words on the Not a Milk Maid of Destiny novel.

Sunday 6:18 pm

We got out of the room in good order. We went to the dealer's room, where careswen was enchanted by the knit dinosaurs. We encountered Andy. I started my programming day with my reading, which, among the five attendees, included one person I didn't know.

careswen and I then went to "Geek Be Not Ashamed" panel, and then off to lunch with greykev, mrissa Andy, and Jason, after saying hello to dd_b. I spoke with Dana one last time and careswen, greykev, and I hung out near consuite and played a quick game before making a last turn around the dealer's room.

The last panel I was on was good, but I didn't contribute much. Shannon Gibney and Jane Yolen were way quicker on the draw than I am. This, added to the fact that I was just about done with Con at that point, made me a little less involved in the discussion than I would have liked to be. It was a good panel, I just kind of faded.

It was a good Minicon this year.

Comments

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you had a great Minicon.

I don't think we'll be doing much in the way of congoing until L. is quite a bit older, especially not to Minicon, which seems to require quite of bit more Sitting Quietly and Thinking than some other cons. In the meantime, I really enjoy reading con reports. :-)

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Are you getting your impression of Minicon from other people's reports, rather than your own experience? Minicon's children's programming is exemplary.

K.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I poked my nose into the kid's programming room at one point and there were games and interactive stuff going on, not to mention Richard and his bubbles. Your older son would likely enjoy the Science room stuff as well.

Minicon does an excellent job of having programming and activities for children.

[laurel]

Children's programming at Minicon has been great of late and when it wasn't active, lots of kids and teens hung out in the gaming area and seemed to enjoy it quite a bit (and learned some new games). (kaustin was in charge of gaming this year and may very well do it again next year.)

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

I noticed that was well, and was pleased to see it. I thought the gaming space really lent itself to being found easily and was an inviting area where folks could hang out near the center of things and play games.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

We went to Minicon last year. Maybe we just caught at a bad time, but children's programming was empty when we went by there. But this really is more about L. than about cons - he's going through a stage right now where it's difficult to take him anywhere.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I was dismayed at the number of panelists who never came to the Green Room. At least, if you came in, it was not while I was there, and it was my department so I was there a lot.

The only panel I went to was the one on MPLS/St. Paul magic. The point I thought the panel touched on but didn't make explicitly is that St. Paul is more Catholic, and Minneapolis more Protestant. This manifests in the Protestant culture being less inclusive and better able to create monolithic business entities like the big milling firms. The more inclusive, more "piece-meal" business approach in St. Paul gave more immigrant groups the opportunity to fit in and thrive. The Jews in Minneapolis were treated very poorly compared to the Jews in St. Paul, as one example.

To me, this is the primary and central difference between the cities and from this all else comes. It isn't a terribly magical theory, however. I got to mention it to CJ in the green room after, but not the rest of the panelists.

Anyway.

K.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

I think that is an excellent point! One thing that was talked about a bit by the panelist before the panel, but I cannot remember if it came up during, is how Minneapolis is constantly changing, and will demolish old, beautiful, historic buildings to make way for glass and concrete monsters and their adjacent parking garages, while St. Paul seems more cautious and better at preserving their heritage.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but why?

The Gateway was torn down because of the post-war bums drinking on the grass there. Was it damaged souls from WWII, was it the riverfront businesses complaining, was it the monolithic WASP culture asserting itself?

K. [or was it something else?]

[jerrygordon.livejournal.com]

Always appreciate the Con reports. Thanks for sharing!

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I like reading other peoples con reports as well, it makes me feel more connected to the community.

[laurel]

Excellent report. I didn't get to as much programming as I would've liked to, but enjoyed what I did see.

We had bad luck in the bar when seeking quick food there as well. On Saturday or Sunday at 2pm we went in there and sat at a table for five minutes and neither bartender (there were two) approached us even though we were the only people in the bar area at that time.

We gave up, went to the restaurant, and were told that they'd just closed "but they have the same food in the bar." We explained to the restaurant staff-person that we'd just came from there and why. She said "I'll get their attention." We returned to a table in the bar and there was absolutely no one there. She went in search of someone, returned after five minutes to say she was still searching, we waited another 5-10 minutes and then gave up and went elsewhere. Gah! At other times we had very attentive staff there and good food. Just weird.

Glad you had a good convention!

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

I had a really good time at Minicon this year, and I especially liked how the con used the hotel space this year. I was not a fan of having programming at one and Consuite/Green Room/Bar/Room Parties/Krushenko's at the other. The only advantage I can see to having programming in the atrium area would be all the couchesand comfy chairs in the atrium itself.

They only regret I have is that careswen and I meant to hang out at consuite more, with the intent to meet new people and get to know other folks better. We didn't do that, which I suspect was mostly my fault, since I tire out pretty quickly. I'm thinking I might ask to take a turn at the registration desk next year and let the con come to me!