Chron = time, icle = hard water

[threemonkeys]

Back at work today, just as tedious as expected although with 4 days off there was almost enough to keep me occupied. Much better to look at more C4 stuff. I'd continue going through all the people I caught up with but there were so many (too many to list I suspect). As with any con, that was the best part of this one. It could have been even better but for two factors: 1 - I didn't have the stamina to stay up later. 2 - the bar wasn't very fan friendly, therefore reducing its effectiveness for this important function.

I went to (excluding friday stuff already covered):

Richard Harland GoH speech - too funny - the best non-Gaiman GoH speech ever.
The year in science - actually just the last few months in Astronomy and biochem - very interesting
Neil Gaiman - great of course, but not as good as the last one I went to. The video stuff was a bit of a filler.
Book launch for Lucy Sussex's new collection - I bought the book later in the dealer room
Weird patents - Stu nailed it with some good examples
Went to the auction for a while but nothing grabbed me
Looked at the Maskobalo but fled from the noise before very long.
Beyond humans panel - didn't really go where I expected but Danny made good points about evolution that I wish I had made myself [Edit: Dave not Danny]
Glenda, Sue, Gillian readings - damn, they did too good a job and now I will have to read more of their stuff
Panel on cyberpunk to steampunk - some good observations but panel wasn't as well informed as it could have been
Reinventing Creation myth - panel with Neil therefore funny
Australian Fiction overview - more a discussion about Donna's project - I look forward to the outcome
YA panel - could have done with better audience management but some good info for the YA panel I have to chair at Phoenix next month
Worst ever panel - miscellaneous sillyness
Closing ceremony

That is a lot of panels by my usual con going standards. That is a plus for all the good stuff in the programme, but a minus for the socialising for the two reasons above. On Monday I had a chat to Karl from the concom. He pointed out that the size of the event restricted the available venues. There are plenty of venues for 1-200, and there are ample venues for 1000+ but little for the nearly 500 at Continuum 3. The Hilton was very good as far as the first floor convention rooms and rego area space was concerned. It was the bar, the proximity to a sports stadium (and its crowd) and the large number of non congoing people staying at the venue that were not so good.

Almost forgot the dealers room - I went in there a number of times as is my usual habit at cons. My sales resistance starts strong and wears away during a con, but stock levels diminish saving me from total stupidity. But this time I didn't spend too much and most of what I did spend was at the ASIM table. Yay - I have a subscription and a big pile of back numbers to read.

Comments

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Of course I mean Dave. Although memory is a strange thing. I got Danny in my head for that panel and my mental picture of the event had him substituted him for Dave. As soon as I read your correction, the mental image reverted. I'm sure there are interesting thing about the way memory is encoded in the brain to say about that.