My First Orycon: a Report
Deborah Ruppert
much, for quite a while. Life has been...life, you know? Lost the
job in June, having interesting Financial Fun. Have been helping
a friend who is very ill, have been job-searching, and attempting
to be supportive for various friends with various relationship
stumbles. Have been working on getting The Community Canning
Station and the Planet-Wise Kitchen launched. And I really need
to go take care of some household stuff soon but...I had to post
a quickie first.
Went to Orycon. First SF con I've been to in....mmm...probably 25
years, at least. Probably more. First Orycon at all.
Had a BALL. Forgot how frustrating it is to have 4-5 choices of
panels I really really REALLY want to go to, all at the same
time. Remember how lovely it is to be in the middle of people who
know what you mean when you say "Higgs boson". Or want to discuss
how an author can write about someone who is "other"
(gender/ability/species/etc).
Missed: Apparently we were out of the loop on the various
parties. Perhaps I need to figure out how and when they are
announced or the information is spread. Would have also liked to
connect up with other poly folks, as I know several were there
(but I don't know their faces, so did not recognize them).
Lost: much sleep. Not as much as I'd feared. Not enough to make
me unable to function today. Good balance, I think.
Found: a tribe. My tribe is the Tribe Of Filk. I know this
because I am working on a filk of a filk already. And I spent
most of Orycon in the filk room(s).
Best part: John. Who had never been to an SF con before in his
life, doesn't read much of it, watches some but not many movies
or TV series. I was worried he'd glom on to me and be cranky from
all the people and choices and overwhelmingness of it.
Does the phrase "duck to water" mean anything? I barely saw him!
He found his own tribe(s)...Lovecraftians, video production,
anime. When we pulled up in front of the hotel, his first words
were "Look honey! It's Our People!" as we watched our (clearly
geeky, clearly weird) homies walking about.
There will be Orycon next year. There will be Conflikt in
January. Whether we can do any others very much depends on the
finances and my ability to travel.
Hey, I'll be in SE Michigan in April for my dad's memorial. Is
there a con nearby? It would be a welcome respite from my family
of blood...
Deborah
humming
Kai Jones
<drup...@munge.clearspringlabs.com> wrote:
[...]
>Went to Orycon.
This is the Oregon Science Fiction Convention, www.orycon.org, which
takes place in Portland annually in November. My home con, I've been
going (and working on it) since 1995.
>Had a BALL.
One of us! One of us!
>Forgot how frustrating it is to have 4-5 choices of
>panels I really really REALLY want to go to, all at the same
>time.
May I pass that on to the head of programming?
>Missed: Apparently we were out of the loop on the various
>parties. Perhaps I need to figure out how and when they are
>announced or the information is spread.
Parties are noticed two ways: by posting flyers around, and in the
Daily Zine. Otherwise, just go to the party floor and walk around,
Friday and Saturday nights starting at 9:00. Most parties are open to
any con members.
>Found: a tribe. My tribe is the Tribe Of Filk.
Heh. Not my tribe, but certainly welcome.
>Best part: John. Who had never been to an SF con before in his
>life, doesn't read much of it, watches some but not many movies
>or TV series.
>Does the phrase "duck to water" mean anything? I barely saw him!
>He found his own tribe(s)...Lovecraftians, video production,
>anime.
Aww, aren't new fans cute? ;)
--
Kai Jones sni...@panix.com
Smartass by nurture as well as nature. Oh yeah, and I'm contrary, too.
Deborah Ruppert
> On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:00:15 -0800, Deborah Ruppert
> <drup...@munge.clearspringlabs.com> wrote:
>> Forgot how frustrating it is to have 4-5 choices of
>> panels I really really REALLY want to go to, all at the same
>> time.
>
> May I pass that on to the head of programming?
You may, but frankly I don't see a way around it. I have lots
of interests, and I like that there are lots of options and
many interesting tracks. Mostly, I want several clones who
can then data-dump at the end of each day to a common storage
unit. :-)
>> Missed: Apparently we were out of the loop on the various
>> parties. Perhaps I need to figure out how and when they are
>> announced or the information is spread.
>
> Parties are noticed two ways: by posting flyers around, and in the
> Daily Zine. Otherwise, just go to the party floor and walk around,
> Friday and Saturday nights starting at 9:00. Most parties are open to
> any con members.\
Oh. OK! Now I know.
>> Best part: John. ...
> Aww, aren't new fans cute? ;)
They are, they are! It was a tad disconcerting at first, but I
adapted well. :-)
And did I mention that my scooter totally rules?
Deborah
way not the only differently mobilized fan unit at the con
Kai Jones
<drup...@munge.clearspringlabs.com> wrote:
>Kai Jones wrote:
>> On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:00:15 -0800, Deborah Ruppert
>> <drup...@munge.clearspringlabs.com> wrote:
>>> Forgot how frustrating it is to have 4-5 choices of
>>> panels I really really REALLY want to go to, all at the same
>>> time.
>>
>> May I pass that on to the head of programming?
>
>You may, but frankly I don't see a way around it. I have lots
>of interests, and I like that there are lots of options and
>many interesting tracks. Mostly, I want several clones who
>can then data-dump at the end of each day to a common storage
>unit. :-)
I was thinking of it more as a compliment on the great job she did
scheduling interesting speakers and topics. :) And she needs good
news, they got home from the con to a collapsed dog, a rush to the
emergency vet, and saying goodbye to a beloved pet.
>And did I mention that my scooter totally rules?
>
>Deborah
>way not the only differently mobilized fan unit at the con
Heck no! We have great people working on accessibility. I was
present at a conversation about next year's program room assignments
that explained to a new person why we can't use the lanai rooms
(around the pool): they're only accessible by stairs. It's a shame,
they're beautiful rooms, but useless for programming or parties
because of the stairs.
Deborah Ruppert
> On Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:15:45 -0800, Deborah Ruppert
> <drup...@munge.clearspringlabs.com> wrote:
> I was thinking of it more as a compliment on the great job she did
> scheduling interesting speakers and topics. :) And she needs good
> news, they got home from the con to a collapsed dog, a rush to the
> emergency vet, and saying goodbye to a beloved pet.
Oh, duh. Totally! And send on my condolences on the loss of her
pet. That is very sad...
> Heck no! We have great people working on accessibility. I was
> present at a conversation about next year's program room assignments
> that explained to a new person why we can't use the lanai rooms
> (around the pool): they're only accessible by stairs. It's a shame,
> they're beautiful rooms, but useless for programming or parties
> because of the stairs.
And yay for concoms who pay attention to it. Thank you! Yet
another reason to keep going to Orycons. :-) And the hotel staff,
for the most part, was very respectful and accommodating, willing
to do whatever would make it work for me. As were nearly all the
fen.
In fact, the only unhappy part of the con was one oblivious hotel
staffer who patted me on the shoulder as he passed me (my having
just successfully negotiated a particularly clumpy clump of folks
in my way), with a "you're doin' good!".
By the time the "DO ***NOT*** **PAT** ME!!!!!" was coming out of
my mouth, he was long gone behind me. Grump!! But, a call to the
hotel desk Monday left me satisfied that the staff would be made
aware of how a) condescending, b) infantilizing, and c)
boundary-violating that little act was. So I am overall happy
with my accessibility experience at the hotel and in the con.
Deborah
really...have things I'm supposed to be doing here....
Aahz Maruch
Deborah Ruppert <drup...@clearspringlabs.com> wrote:
>
>There will be Orycon next year. There will be Conflikt in
>January. Whether we can do any others very much depends on the
>finances and my ability to travel.
Congrats! Maybe I'll see you at Orycon one of these years...
>Hey, I'll be in SE Michigan in April for my dad's memorial. Is there a
>con nearby? It would be a welcome respite from my family of blood...
About the only one I could find on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_science_fiction_conventions
was
http://www.penguicon.org/
which is from what I've heard a very nice con that is attended by at
least some [former] alt.poly posters. (Despite being part of ground
zero for the Open Source Boob Project, in case you were wondering where
you'd heard of it before.)
--
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 http://rule6.info/
<*> <*> <*>
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