I pretty much know the answer to this question for the regular commenters here, given locations, but is anyone else lurking around who might be going to Philcon this weekend? I'm going to be doing the donut version, attending Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday morning/early afternoon, then leaving for a gig in Gettysburg around three in the afternoon and returning Sunday morning. I'm not on program, but I'll be working program ops, checking in panelists and otherwise being useful, so I should be fairly easy to find. That's assuming I manage to find the convention, which is actually in New Jersey this year, in a Philly suburb called Cherry Hill. According to Mapquest there are two different Cherry Hills in New Jersey. If I find the correct one, the hotel has free wireless, as does my Saturday night hotel in Gettysburg, so I expect to be online now and then all weekend. (Once upon a time I went to cons and didn't even check my email...sigh.)
I took a look at the program, which is up on the Philcon website, for ideas about structured things to do when not working. The one program item I am determined to go to is the Chromatics children's concert at 2:00 Saturday afternoon, since I'll miss their masquerade half-time show. I'm not a huge a capella fan, but I'm fond of the Chromatics; see my earlier post for three of their music videos if you want a sample of NASA people singing about science. I figure if I wear my lavender deely-boppers and stay seated I will blend in with the children. I hope they'll do "Doppler Shifting" (video here). I'll head out to Gettysburg right after the concert to dress up in 1860s costume and run a ball.
The list of panels does not have much that I find desperately compelling, and in any case will probably change before Friday, but some possibilities for spending time listening to people include:
Friday:
"Corrupting Innocent Minds" - limits in YA fiction
"Survivability of Electronically Published Material" - if I die, whence Rixo?
"Wicked Songs for Mature Fans" - but will they do "Kafoozalem"?
Saturday:
"Are Alternate Histories Really Science Fiction?" - Yiddish Policemen, I'm talking to you!
"Redrawing the Tree of Life, the new Taxonomy" - to indulge my love of lists and classification systems
"Building a Web Presence for Free" - will this assist me in getting more commenters?
"What is the Final Taboo?" - okay, what? (I have a few ideas, but no one is asking me)
All four of those are at the same time, which probably means I will become overstressed by the number of options and not go to any of them. Alternatively, I could have myself pulled apart by wild horses and send a body fragment to each. This would negatively affect my evening gig, however.
Sunday:
"What happens at Worldcon..." - I've got some stories I could tell (but probably won't)
"Wait til I post this on my Blog!" - um, since the hotel has free wireless, why wait?
I also want to observe Andrew Wheeler in his natural habitat, since I drop by his blog when I have time, so perhaps I will go to "Science Fiction Had a Lot More Freedom in 'The Good Old Days'" on Saturday morning for this purpose. It at least has the virtue of not being at the same time as all those other panels.
If you read Rixo and are going to be at Philcon, please say "hi" if you get a chance.
I'm going to be doing the donut version
I especially like the honey-glazed one.
Posted by: Serge | November 17, 2008 at 07:06 PM
I like pumpkin donuts, but they only have those in the fall.
I can't afford Philcon; I wish I could. Have fun!
Posted by: Marilee J. Layman | November 17, 2008 at 08:53 PM
What happens at Worldcon...
These vile canards are nothing but lies spread by my ennemies!
Posted by: Serge | November 17, 2008 at 11:41 PM