ConDFW plans, or possible lack thereof

[celticdragonfly]

So ConDFW finally got their programming schedule up, and we're looking through it. We paid for memberships ahead of time. We're not terribly impressed. There's NO social stuff going on Friday or Saturday nights at all. FenCon will be doing their room parties, but nothing hosted by the con. There are definitely panels we're interested in from 10 am Saturday to I think 4 pm Saturday. But that's it. And apparently no video rooms.

Now, often at cons, most of the really fun stuff we end up doing is not on the schedule at all. But I don't know of any friends of ours who are coming in from out of town, and I don't know of anyone throwing personal parties. The general socializing area at that hotel tends to be pretty smoke heavy, which knocks out the idea of what the heck, just go sit with my knitting until somebody interesting comes by.

We had been planning to get hotel rooms, but I'm not sure we're going to bother anymore. We may just see if we can get a babysitter to come to the house, where the kids have babyproofing and toys and such, for a chunk of the day Saturday. I suppose we'd probably eat dinner out there - there's a Chinese place I went to last year with friends that had a chicken dish I'd like to have again, and I don't think we'll have time for lunch, so I expect we'll want something before heading home. But I don't know if we'll stay beyond that. I'd like to stay for art show stuff - but if there's nothing later going on, it's probably not worth getting hotel rooms.

Sigh. Well, I expect way more of FenCon. This is disappointing, but then with them having Lois Bujold as GoH last year, we had so many friends there and so many things we just had to go to.

Well, there are those panels we want to go to, so I must get selenite to contact our potential babysitter.

Comments

[telophase.livejournal.com]

We haven't ever done any "official" social things - we don't have enough attendees for us to be able to justify a full-scale masquerade or dance, and the con pretty much gravitates to the bar anyway, so there's a permanent party happening there and up in the consuite for those who don't wish to sit in the smoke.

There's also a concert by PNH and Brust on Saturday night, and if Brust follows his usual con practice, he'll throw open his hotel room for an ongoing social thing. I would also not be surprised if Tor throws a room party -- they threw one at Dillocon a couple of years ago when Jim Mainz was a guest there.

THe smoke situation should take care of itself in the future -- we're looking at other hotels for next year because we're outgrowing this one, so the problems associated with this hotel will go away (and we'll gain a whole new set of problems, but that's a given).

As for the video room, like I said on the list, we can use the room normally scheduled for videos for panels and events that people will actually attend, seeing as how nobody actually *attends* the video room.

Of course if you really want a party and you're not sure that there's going to be one, one solution is to find some people and *throw* one.

(Apologies if this sounds bitchy - I've got a tight deadline for a comic so I've been drawing nonstop for the past 48 hours and have about 24 more to go, and I'm so tired that I'm cross-eyed and headachy right now and can no longer judge how I'm coming across. It's not my intention to be bitchy.)

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

There's also a concert by PNH and Brust on Saturday night, and if Brust follows his usual con practice, he'll throw open his hotel room for an ongoing social thing.

I know some people who are getting very excited about Brust, but myself, I don't know a thing about him.

Really about the first time that I've been planning to go to a con that doesn't have either an author I'm excited about or lots of friends at it.

THe smoke situation should take care of itself in the future -- we're looking at other hotels for next year because we're outgrowing this one

Oh yay. That's good.

Apologies if this sounds bitchy

Don't worry about it. How much of ConDFW I go to is my problem, anyway, not yours! Thanks much for having gotten them to put the schedule up!

Of course if you really want a party and you're not sure that there's going to be one, one solution is to find some people and *throw* one.

I did that at FenCon. Well, and last year I was helping throw one at ConDFW. With dragging the kids there, just too much work this time. And I'm not sure if enough people I know will be there to come to the party.

We're looking into a babysitter, and may well be able to go to the FenCon room party anyway.

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

If you guys had the budget, I would suggest you get a suite and throw a filk party. Not this year, I suspect. Us neither.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

It isn't just the budget - it's the time and energy I'd have to pour into it, planning all the extra stuff we'd need, SHOPPING for all the extra stuff we'd need - food, drinks, cups, plates, napkins, papertowels, pens to mark the cups, coolers and ice, etc, etc. And then having to drag all that stuff up to the room WHILE managing two small children and all their stuff. We did a room party at FenCon, so I am remembering this all vividly.

Also, I'm not sure we'd get anything. For my birthday filk party it was a night with nothing local competing against it, we managed to get 5 people to come, from 2 households. I suspect most of the people will be at the FenCon room party. Which we might want to go to, but it's hard to take kids to someone else's room party, and last year it was crowded, hot, and high-alcohol. Hard to keep the kids out of everybody's cups. I'm considering suggesting to Russ that he oughta see if he can get a function room for the party, but I don't know if they'd go for that.

What's that icon from?

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

Well suggest it anyway, the worst that can happen is Nothing At All, no risk to you.

The icon is clips from the Errol Flynn Robin Hood. Welcome to Sherwood! [ObBujoldList! hehehe]