Radcon Day 1

[nonionay]

i'm at my first ever Radcon, sharing a room with specimusprime (Who went to bed at a sensible hour and is now lying on his bed reading,) and kehrli who, along with myself, did not go to bed at a reasonable hour, and is sensibly passed out. I slept for like three hours, and am now posting about it.
This is a party con, and I've done well despite it. At the party last night, the room (which was occasionally but not always packed to sardine-level) was full of people I knew, so I actually didn't cower in a corner for once. I had a few early drinks, realized everyone else was on their way to getting smashed, and stepped back to enjoy the show. I love herding drunk people. They're always so grateful. Keffy and I ended up in the lobby with our drunk companions, with a silent Adult Swim playing on the wall behind us. By 2:30, when we were all brain dead and staring at the post-Adult Swim banality on the tv, I decided it was time for bed, even though I was still full of energy (and caffeine-free all day, even!) Thus, three hours sleep.

(PS. Spencer wants me to tell you his proudest moment was when he almost kissed Jay Lake on stage.)

I've mostly been to smaller, writing/book oriented cons, and the stratification here is incredibly visible. There's a lot of people I know, but they're a very small percentage compared to the gamers and costumed high schoolers. (Last night a couple of scantily-clad minors asked mcjulie if they could use her credit card to buy them a room--they'd pay her in cash.)
The panel rooms are tiny--literally just a hotel room with the furniture cleared out--and they don't need any more space than that.

Comments

[jsbangs.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

That stratification sounds a lot like V-Con in Vancouver. I went by myself, and as a result I felt somewhat disconnected and isolated for most of the con.

However, Patrick Rothfuss was there, who turned out to be an awesome speaker and panelist, so I mostly followed him around all weekend.

[criada.livejournal.com]

V-Con was one of the first cons I ever went to. I'd say it's about the same size as Radcon, but I thought the proportions were more writers to gamers. They had a master class and writers workshop at least!
Going to the workshop and master class meant that I did get to make friends from the start. I don't want to think about how hellish RadCon would be if I didn't know anyone. THANK GOD I DON'T LIVE IN EASTERN WASHINGTON!!!

[jsbangs.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

V-Con had a master class/writer's workshop? They didn't have either of those last year. The writing panels that they *did* have were really good, though.

[criada.livejournal.com]

I went...three years ago? Four? I really liked it. That's sad if things have changed.

[criada.livejournal.com]

Hey, at Radcon, I talked to the guy who did the programming for V-con this year and passed on your concerns. He took over from the person last year who just kinda vanished without leaving any notes, so Paul didn't know to arrange any workshops. Maybe next year he'll be able to get something going again.

[paulcarp.livejournal.com]

Hi!
Correction: I am in charge of programming for October of this year (October 2009), and had nothing to do with last year.

The rest is correct, and regrettable.

And for trivia's sake: VCON is about 500 people. Radcon is about 1800 people.

[criada.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Paul. Sorry for the error. Wow, Radcon didn't seem that big, possibly because I was only hanging out in one corner of it. :-)

[kehrli.livejournal.com]

"Uh, we asked politely, ma'am."

bwahaha

[jaylake.livejournal.com]

I mentioned that luscious heterosexual man kiss in my LJ as well...