WorldCon 09 MR Contingent

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So where is Worldcon 2009 going to be held? I figure by then, it'll take our life savings just on travel. That's why I recommend the cons in or near Boston. As for Boskone 2009, I can easily take public transport or drive to and from and save the hotel cost.

Anticipation, the 2009 Worldcon, is in Montreal, Canada.

I may make Boskone 2009. I will make Arisia, since I'm working on it. (I've been on the Hotel Liaison Staff since 2001, and did their souvenir book form 2001 through 2004.)

Boskone tends to have better guests but suffer in other areas, and Arisia (begun as a splinter group) is about double the size.

Whether I make Boskone is largely determined by who will be there. I attended a few years ago because Fred Pohl was a Special Guest, and I thought it might be the last chance I'd have to see him and thank him for his contributions to the field. He agreed the field would have been different had he not been in it, but was neutral on whether his presence made it better.
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Dennis

[JSWolf]

I might be able to make Arisia 2009. It's in a much more convenient location then 2008. Also, Boskone 2009 is in a rather convenient location as well. Both locations mean I won't have to pay for a hotel as I can commute very easily.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I might be able to make Arisia 2009. It's in a much more convenient location then 2008.

I fail to see how it's in a more convenient location, since the main hotel is the same one as last year... (The Hyatt Cambridge)

Also, Boskone 2009 is in a rather convenient location as well. Both locations mean I won't have to pay for a hotel as I can commute very easily.

Being local always helps.

Arisia was in Boston proper for years at the Boston Park Plaza hotel, but got bumped a couple of years ago when the hotel got new a new owner, who though he could book something else that weekend that would bring in more revenue. He was wrong, and the hotel has been a ghost town the last couple of Arisia weekends.

Unfortunately, by the time it was clear Arisia would not get a new contract, time was limited to search for an new venue, and the curent location was the best at hand. It's required some compromises, since it's a smaller facility, and Arisia has had to implement a membership cap to fit, but the hotel staff has been the best I've dealt with in many years of doing this, and has bent over backward to accommodate the con.

Boskone has hotel issues, too. They had been in the Boston Sheraton, but were simply too small to make effective use of it. The new hotel is a better fit, but I've heard mixed reviews of the location.

Both are worth attending. I find Arisia to be more fun. After the "Boskone from Hell" some years back, which caused Boskone to lose its hotel, the sponsoring organization decied to radically downsize the con and move it partway across the state. Unfortunately, the way they chose to downsize caused a lot of hard feelings, and Arisia began as a response to it.

It tends to attract a younger audience, and has more activities based on gaming, LARPs, anime and the like than Boskone, but it's still essentially a literary con.
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Dennis

[HarryT]

If you want "seriously wierd", go to a "Doctor Who" con. They make Trek Cons look mundane. Seriously. I have some friends who generally have a dealer's table at all the major cons here in the UK, both lit and media ones. They have two teenage children they take to all the cons except the DW ones; they say that there are just too many strange characters there for them to feel comfortable having their kids wandering around on their own there.

I generally attend the "Eastercons" here in the UK (although didn't make this year's, unfortunately); that might be another good place for an MR "get-together".

[JSWolf]

I misread the location from one of the other cons when looking at Arisia for 2008.

When Worldcon was in Boston, I did commute.

But if I do decide to go to either Arisia or Boskone or both, then I think it would be nice to have a MR presence if possible.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm too lazy at the moment to look it up. Sides, Montreal is just too far away to go. Plane fairs are too expensive, gas too high to drive, and trains take too long. So for me, it's a no go.

From Massachusetts?!?

I guess you'd better let Worldcon know, you won't be attending until they host it across the street from you!

[pshrynk]

Across the Street From Wolf '12. We're starting the BidCom right now!

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I
I generally attend the "Eastercons" here in the UK (although didn't make this year's, unfortunately); that might be another good place for an MR "get-together".

You missed a very good Eastercon. I go to Eastercon and Worldcon each year. So if you go to Eastercons maybe we have met

[tompe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As for Boskone 2009, I can easily take public transport or drive to and from and save the hotel cost.

I was at Boskone 34 (1997) which was in Frammingham. It was an OK con with a literary bent. The funny thing was that I took the bus from the airport and totally missed seeing Boston and the hotel was very isolated if you did not have a car.

The con I want to visit in the US is Readercon but I really can usually not afford the money and time to go to both Readercon and Worldcon.

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by tompe

I was at Boskone 34 (1997) which was in Frammingham. It was an OK con with a literary bent. The funny thing was that I took the bus from the airport and totally missed seeing Boston and the hotel was very isolated if you did not have a car.

The con I want to visit in the US is Readercon but I really can usually not afford the money and time to go to both Readercon and Worldcon.

If you run into Sasha Miller at Denvention, tell her hi from pshrynk. She'll know who I am.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tompe

You missed a very good Eastercon. I go to Eastercon and Worldcon each year. So if you go to Eastercons maybe we have met

See you in Bradford next year .

I'll be able to "commute" to that one - it's only about 40 minutes drive from me, so that'll save lots of money on hotel bills.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

See you in Bradford next year .

I'll be able to "commute" to that one - it's only about 40 minutes drive from me, so that'll save lots of money on hotel bills.

I will be there. Especially since I managed to get a room in the main hotel (the Bradford Eastercon has a kind of special hotel situation...). And Tim Powers was a very nice guest at a con in Oslo so it will be nice to see him again.

[HarryT]

Yes, I noticed that the "overflow" hotels are all several miles away. I know they're trying to arrange shuttle buses between the main con hotel and the overflow hotels, but it could still be a bit of a nuisance, especially if you're at a party until 3am .

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If you want "seriously wierd", go to a "Doctor Who" con. They make Trek Cons look mundane. Seriously. I have some friends who generally have a dealer's table at all the major cons here in the UK, both lit and media ones. They have two teenage children they take to all the cons except the DW ones; they say that there are just too many strange characters there for them to feel comfortable having their kids wandering around on their own there.

<Raised eyebrows>

They've got teenage kids they take everywhere save DW cons? Must be some seriously weird characters there. I'd have thought the kids would have a pretty good idea of how to handle themselves by this point.

Over here, SF cons tend to be remarkably safe. Most attendees consider themselves in loco parentis for any kids. I recall a youngster at a con a few years back with his parents talking to another kid, and complaining "This is no fun! There's too many Mommies here!"

I generally attend the "Eastercons" here in the UK (although didn't make this year's, unfortunately); that might be another good place for an MR "get-together".

I think it would be. You might drop a note to the con organizers next time around suggesting ebook related programing.
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Dennis

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

From Massachusetts?!?

I guess you'd better let Worldcon know, you won't be attending until they host it across the street from you!

Boston would be fine. Doesn't have to be across the street. But seriously, I don't have the money now to go to Canada. Don't think I'll have spare money by the time Worldcon 2009 is on either.