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hrjSo much to report, but much of it is just a list of people I spent time with. Thanks to my trip diary, I can list a bunch of details.
August 7 - Up early to catch the flight to Glasgow. Once we were at the gate, it was easy to spot some of the other Worldcon-bound folks. Chatted a bit with Naomi Kritzer (who was about to have an amazing con). Got a window seat, which gave me a glimpse of the recent lava flows when taking off, and a few scenic views of islands and rolling landscapes on arrival, at least when there were gaps in the clouds. Minor glitches on check-in at the Clayton Hotel, as the electronic key mechanism in the room we were assigned wasn't working, but it took two sets of replacement keys to determine that. But our replacement room also had the requested river view, so no harm, no foul.
The maps had suggested that the SEC (Scottish Event Center) where the con was held was within a doable walking distance of the city center. This was technically true (as I demonstrated to myself on two occasions) but at 1.5 miles each way, it was not trivial, so I took advantage of the convention special 5-day rail pass. Picked up my badges (one as me, one as registration staff) but no sign of a working schedule yet. (The working schedule wouldn't make it's appearance until the next day. People who showed up at reg just got put to work.)
Joined up with a group of friends I've known since Usenet days (Abi Sutherland, and (by online handles) Praisegod Barebones and Fromankyra) and we went off to a nearby pub to christen our tastebuds with something "authentically Scottish" which turned out to be something best described as "haggis poutine."
August 8 - Worldcon starts in earnest. Met a few people we knew over breakfast at the hotel, then off to the SEC. While I was waiting around at reg to see if my work schedule was available, I ended up putting in a shift anyway. Then did a tour of the dealers' room where I picked up the "special Worldcon yarn colorway" that I'd pre-ordered (it will make something very pretty but as yet undetermined) and dropped by the Portal Bookshop table where I signed copies of my books. (They had all five in stock -- yay! The Waterstones table had copies of The Language of Roses, but not the Alpennia books. Still and all, it's never a guarantee that anyone will carry much stuff unless by prearrangement.) Attended a panel then went to opening ceremonies. Finally got my volunteer schedule.
Looked around to see if I could snag dinner company. Ended up getting fish and chips at the SEC cafe and then doing my usual thing of inviting people to join the table. First was someone (didn't catch the name) who had just come off of supporting a pre-con writing retreat, then joined by Roz Kavenny, with whom I somehow ended up discussing translations of Catullus and the mystery of his fate. After that, back to the hotel in time to refresh my hair color before bed.
Aug 9 - I tried to put in some time at the business meeting before my reg shift, but they were having technical issues with the captioning system so after an hour and a half the meeting was just getting started when I had to leave. Reg was steady work but never overwhelming. After that I went to see if there was any space left at Kari Sperring's table talk (there was) and got to hear her do a capsule lecture on the history of Arthurian literature. We made tentative plans to get together with Catherine Lundoff at some point later which I was in charge of coordinating. After that, off to the bar at the Radisson (lots of hiking between the scattered hotels for non-programming activities) for the SFWA casual meet-up and chatting a bit with Brenda Clough (whom I've mostly hung out with at FOGCon previously) and (oh dear, I can't quite read my notes -- another lovely human being). Another dinner involving sitting in the open dining area and snagging someone who wandered by, in this case someone I think I knew through SCA heraldry once upon a time? Maybe? Took in the first half of the symphony concert but didn't want to stay up late enough for the second half. Which was a mistake because when I got to the rail station, it turns out I'd hit the regular Mystery Gap in the usually-every-ten-minutes schedule and it was an hour until the next train. So I walked. No biggie, but a long day.
Aug 10 - Worked reg in the morning, though not much traffic. Then met Catherine and Jennie Goloboy for tea at a cute little tea shop near the SEC. Another turn through the dealers' room mostly checking out books, then had another meet-up, this time with Catherine and Sara Uckelman for sitting and chatting. Sara and I went off to the Writing Historic Fantasy panel, then to dinner at the SEC cafe again but at this point I'm not quite sure with whom. After dinner, went to the podcasting meet-up and had a lovely chat with Gretchen McCullough. (The meet-up space was, alas, too loud to talk to more than one person at a time.)
[Have a dinner reservation soon, so breaking off the summary here.]
August 7 - Up early to catch the flight to Glasgow. Once we were at the gate, it was easy to spot some of the other Worldcon-bound folks. Chatted a bit with Naomi Kritzer (who was about to have an amazing con). Got a window seat, which gave me a glimpse of the recent lava flows when taking off, and a few scenic views of islands and rolling landscapes on arrival, at least when there were gaps in the clouds. Minor glitches on check-in at the Clayton Hotel, as the electronic key mechanism in the room we were assigned wasn't working, but it took two sets of replacement keys to determine that. But our replacement room also had the requested river view, so no harm, no foul.
The maps had suggested that the SEC (Scottish Event Center) where the con was held was within a doable walking distance of the city center. This was technically true (as I demonstrated to myself on two occasions) but at 1.5 miles each way, it was not trivial, so I took advantage of the convention special 5-day rail pass. Picked up my badges (one as me, one as registration staff) but no sign of a working schedule yet. (The working schedule wouldn't make it's appearance until the next day. People who showed up at reg just got put to work.)
Joined up with a group of friends I've known since Usenet days (Abi Sutherland, and (by online handles) Praisegod Barebones and Fromankyra) and we went off to a nearby pub to christen our tastebuds with something "authentically Scottish" which turned out to be something best described as "haggis poutine."
August 8 - Worldcon starts in earnest. Met a few people we knew over breakfast at the hotel, then off to the SEC. While I was waiting around at reg to see if my work schedule was available, I ended up putting in a shift anyway. Then did a tour of the dealers' room where I picked up the "special Worldcon yarn colorway" that I'd pre-ordered (it will make something very pretty but as yet undetermined) and dropped by the Portal Bookshop table where I signed copies of my books. (They had all five in stock -- yay! The Waterstones table had copies of The Language of Roses, but not the Alpennia books. Still and all, it's never a guarantee that anyone will carry much stuff unless by prearrangement.) Attended a panel then went to opening ceremonies. Finally got my volunteer schedule.
Looked around to see if I could snag dinner company. Ended up getting fish and chips at the SEC cafe and then doing my usual thing of inviting people to join the table. First was someone (didn't catch the name) who had just come off of supporting a pre-con writing retreat, then joined by Roz Kavenny, with whom I somehow ended up discussing translations of Catullus and the mystery of his fate. After that, back to the hotel in time to refresh my hair color before bed.
Aug 9 - I tried to put in some time at the business meeting before my reg shift, but they were having technical issues with the captioning system so after an hour and a half the meeting was just getting started when I had to leave. Reg was steady work but never overwhelming. After that I went to see if there was any space left at Kari Sperring's table talk (there was) and got to hear her do a capsule lecture on the history of Arthurian literature. We made tentative plans to get together with Catherine Lundoff at some point later which I was in charge of coordinating. After that, off to the bar at the Radisson (lots of hiking between the scattered hotels for non-programming activities) for the SFWA casual meet-up and chatting a bit with Brenda Clough (whom I've mostly hung out with at FOGCon previously) and (oh dear, I can't quite read my notes -- another lovely human being). Another dinner involving sitting in the open dining area and snagging someone who wandered by, in this case someone I think I knew through SCA heraldry once upon a time? Maybe? Took in the first half of the symphony concert but didn't want to stay up late enough for the second half. Which was a mistake because when I got to the rail station, it turns out I'd hit the regular Mystery Gap in the usually-every-ten-minutes schedule and it was an hour until the next train. So I walked. No biggie, but a long day.
Aug 10 - Worked reg in the morning, though not much traffic. Then met Catherine and Jennie Goloboy for tea at a cute little tea shop near the SEC. Another turn through the dealers' room mostly checking out books, then had another meet-up, this time with Catherine and Sara Uckelman for sitting and chatting. Sara and I went off to the Writing Historic Fantasy panel, then to dinner at the SEC cafe again but at this point I'm not quite sure with whom. After dinner, went to the podcasting meet-up and had a lovely chat with Gretchen McCullough. (The meet-up space was, alas, too loud to talk to more than one person at a time.)
[Have a dinner reservation soon, so breaking off the summary here.]
