Arisia recap

So... now that I'm a bit removed (but still bouncy)... I've added my very small group of photos to my website's nifty new photobucket. Most of the photos aren't from Arisia, but from the snow this weekend. I sadly missed getting shots of the Stormtroopers in the hallways. But Kimee was kind enough to post some of the Arisia photos FROM the Stormtroopers' website, so I'll link them as well. Erich and I were in the room with them when the portal shots were taken.

So... my Arisia recap...


Highlight of Arisia? Should be obvious. If not, see my last entry. :)

Low point of Arisia? Nothing really horrible, but a few "eh" things.


Overall, it's my least favorite attendance of Arisia so far ('00, '01, '02, '03, '05). Not a lot of programming that thrilled me. But the company was good, and that's what made the con in the end.

The scheduled panels and program as a whole seemed very limited and... bare. In years past, I've had to debate what I'd have to skip panel-wise to fit everything into my schedule. This year? I honestly had trouble finding things to fit into my weekend to fill it. The panels were few and far between, and limited in scope. While there was a panel on copyright and issues with women writing particular fiction, there weren't any discussions of story crafting like years past. Sci-fi panels were abundant, but fantasy was virtually ignored. I was very disappointed in the topic selection this year. I'll attribute part of that disappointment to being spoiled by WorldCon back in September. But it seemed like there were only five or six panels during any given hour-- which seemed small for Arisia. And unless you were into comics, polyamory, or costuming, your choices were extremely limited. I'll have to look at past years to really determine how skewed WorldCon has made me on that, though.

Something that had improved? The dance was very good, from the brief time we were there before Erich collapsed. It was a much wider range of music. I approved. Lots of people there. And it actually started virtually on time. I'm very impressed there. Great job-- especially over what happened two years ago where we finally just gave up and didn't try to attend the dance.

I didn't really go into the gaming room this year. With the two panels I was scheduled for, I didn't expect to have the time to game. From what I did see in the gaming room though, it appeared to be fairly exclusive. I'm not a LARP person, personally, although I've heard some good things about the LARP this year.

I can't comment on the Masq. I was out in the snow getting engaged at the time. :)

Drum Circle comments? I made them two entries ago. I'm not sure what the deal is with the politics surrounding the drum circle-- but the staff members who came downstairs were so incredibly condescending that not only did they give a bad representation of Arisia staff, but also of their outside organization. Needless to say, I do intend on drafting a proposal for next year's circle... and hope to be the one to host it so the power ego "the circle must run this way" bullshit that took over will be less of a factor this year. Very elitist or unfriendly staff people that I came across is one of the things that really struck me about the con this year. It's a shame. I understand they're overworked and frustrated, but if you need to vent, please do so to your friends or your other staff members in a more private setting. It's still somewhat of a professional thing, and PR is the way that the popularity of the con is grown. Particularly as costs increase for the con.

Speaking of which-- it seemed VERY sparsely attended to me for some reason. I'm sure weather was a huge factor as time went on in the con. But even on Friday night, we managed to get every elevator on the first try-- with a nearly bare elevator.

My first experiences with being a panelist were good ones. I was nervous as hell and probably quieter than I should have been, but it's interesting to see it from the other side. I need some time to really wrap up my thoughts specifically on my two panels and will probably post each as a separate entry later. I do intend on offering to sit on panels again in the future, and now that I've seen what's going on, I'll know how to prepare a bit better. I did get ideas down on paper beforehand so I wouldn't be dead in the water, but at the same time, I think it still is a bit of a learning curve.

Dealers Room and Dealer's Row-- again, seemed sparser than usual. But again, weather probably had something to do with that. Even still, it seemed like there were a lot less vendors. Particularly up on Dealer's Row. (and since our room was ON that floor, I spent a lot of time on Dealer's Row). That being said, Arisia still remains unique in the Dealer's Row aspect, and I'm glad that they have that. The 10-6 hours of the Dealer's Room is just weird. It never seems to work with my schedule when I'm at a con. I'm amazed those in the room make much money.

So besides the engagement highlight, my highlights would include catching up with three friends who I don't get to see that often due to our schedules-- I hadn't seen Tony and Rachel in two years (since my last attendance at Arisia) and hadn't seen Kimee since the summertime. It's nice to catch up with them, and at least know that if our schedules are that crazy all year, I can touch base with them there. :)

Anyway, overall it was a good weekend. I know that Arisia is in many ways a weekend to just enjoy being a geek and spending time with friends who are geeks. And in that sense, it was a good con. In the organized con sense, eh... not so much.

But we'll see what happens next year...