Bits of Orycon

Previous: Red Cloud's War | Picofarad #20 contents | Next: Days of Yore

I spent Thanksgiving assembling badges, and then most of the weekend sitting at a fan table in the quietest corner of Orycon's new home, the Lloyd Center Doubletree. I was therefore about the last person to hear that with Orycon being unable to get its usual days this year, being forced onto a holiday weekend, going up against Loscon, the projected drop in attendance to 800 people hadn't quite happened.

Well, actually, it didn't happen at all. 1400 warm bodies was the total announced afterward.

In retrospect, one could have been suspicious when the staff were commenting at Thanksgiving dinner that this was their best volunteer turnout for setup ever. But that could just have been that they promised to feed everyone who volunteered on Thanksgiving, and more than one person admitted that having some work to do for a local charity made a terrific excuse for not spending more time with their relatives.

Then there was the fact of the 4-digit numbers on some of the badges I saw... but many conventions practice non-contiguous numbering, so that was easy to explain away.

As I've said, I hardly saw the crowds thanks to the Seattle in 2012 Westercon bid table being tucked away in the corner by the filkrooms where no one went unless they were filkers or very determined explorers. But here are the bits I did see:

• My first panel on "Gaming Conventions", which had a total of 2 panel members. I thought we'd be struggling to fill an hour, but having almost no overlap in our experience, it went pretty well.
• A hard-fought sf spelling contest Friday evening, culminating in a multi-round faceoff between me and a woman from Steve Jackson Games. The moderator was a little bemused, swearing that the last con he'd done this at, three people had been eliminated in the first round. I am proud to say that I eventually squeaked by with a win, walking off with a "Magic School in a Box", which I immediately determined was the sort of thing to be opened carefully later.
• The Endeavour Awards and the traditional infamous opening ceremonies, which this year were set at the OryConvalescent home for retired conrunners. David Levine was the star of the night, first winning the Endeavour for Space Magic, then getting to shoot an editor during the opening ceremonies ("Why, I recognize that red pencil-- you're Lou Anders, the Orycon 32 Editor Guest of Honor! [whips out gun] My name is David Levine. You rejected my novel. Prepare to die!"), then holding a brief auction when the ceremonies were interrupted by the mind-controlling "Clarionites" for a preview of their scholarship fundraiser.
• Attending a packed panel on tax basics for the self-employed professional, which was indeed very helpful to those of us contemplating projects that would put us in that category at least temporarily. (More on that next issue.)
• Being on the panel "Fanfic I: Dancing With the Stars", where I contributed my experiences writing and editing Mystery Science Theater 3000 fanfic, and some knowledge picked up from having worked for a very small publisher. Others had background in Harry Potter and Joss Whedon. (Fun new fact I learned: Having your Whedonverse fanfic invalidated by newly revealed information is "being Jossed".)
• Going to a session of Munchkin and winning the "De-Ranged" expansion due to beating all one of my opponents who were not Steve Jackson representatives and having made a comment about my character having an animal follower thanks to being stuck with the "Chicken On Your Head" curse for much of the time.
• Being on two panels back-to-back on Sunday, up against the entire chocolate tasting. However, they were willing to be accomodating by taking my money before it opened to set a plate aside for me to pick up afterward.
• Those panels were "Stepford Children", on raising kids in fandom, where I represented the former fannish child demographic up against two fannish moms, and one on Worldcons, which I escaped from without actually volunteering to do anything for Reno. (But it couldn't last; I eventually opened my mouth on the SMOFs mailing list later and volunteered to tabulate the results of a survey.)

From what I saw, it was a good convention at a lovely hotel that was happy to see us. (Also the first hotel I've ever stayed at where the wastebaskets in the rooms are subdivided into bins for the actual waste and for recyclables.) And in a terrific location-- in addition to being right next to a light-rail line, the massive number of restaurants was a welcome change from the food desert around the Marriott. Myself, I went to the food court at Lloyd Center both nights of the con, and can report that the fish-and-chips place is mediocre, but the pad Thai and coconut bao at the Asian stand were excellent.

So, for the next couple of years, Orycon's back at the same digs and back on Veterans' Day weekend, and those few of you regulars who missed it need to come check it out.

Previous: Red Cloud's War | Picofarad #20 contents | Next: Days of Yore

Picofarad home