MY BOGGY BLOG: find your way through the murk

It Was Out of This World!

First of all, you have to know that I'm not really into sci-fi and fantasy. I can take some of it-- I've watched Star Wars, my family recently got me hooked on Dr. Who, I've watched a little Star Trek here and there, and I was definitely into Harry Potter which straddles a few genres. But I never visit the sci-fi sections of a bookstore, my family teases me about not understanding Black Holes (we've had dinner conversations about Black Holes and I get a Blank Look on my face because I just don't get it). So, last winter when DH was registering to go to CONvergence, the super-duper sci-fi/fantasy convention in July, I didn't think much of it. He got tickets for himself and the kids, got a hotel room for the 4-days of the con, and when I balked because it was over the 4th of July and all of them would rather be at the con than do anything like picnic or fireworks, he looked all apologetic but said he had some panels he wanted to sign up for that would interfere with anything 4th-of-July-ish.

It took a few months but I relented, and when he ended up with a free ticket because he'd volunteered to be on several panel discussions, I decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." I drove seperate so I could go off whenever I wanted and take a break. And durn it all if I didn't have a good time after all!

This convention is HUGE. There were at least 2800 people in attendance, and they have a very elaborate programming guide that they give you when you check in. At any time, there are dozens of activities going on for you to choose from, and this con was going on from Thursday through Sunday. There are panel discussions on numerous topics, from Pirate Talk, to How to Get Published in SF, to Subervting Tropes, and my favorite, The Pun-el (a panel which involved lots of audience participation in making lots of puns). There was a room set up as an anime lounge, with Japanese animation playing 24 hours a day, and a SF movie lounge filled with old couches showing other movies as well. There were party suites open at night with free food and themed activities, like a Xena-versity where my husband won a button doing Xena trivia, or the Tardis Tea Room, decorated to look like the Dr. Who Tardis (British telephone booth) and serving tea and biscuits. There was the House of Toast which served toast with dozens of topping choices, and a Space Lounge serving smoothies, lite by dark-lite and offering glow-wands.

There was a lot of entertainment offered too, a masquerade show (lots of people walked around in bizarre SF-related constumes all weekend), DJs playing dance music, comedy acts, an art display area where artists could show and possibly sell their work (DD showed some of hers). There was a dealer room selling SF-related wares. My mind is spinning just thinking of all there was to do there. Some of it didn't interest me or went right over my head, but there was certainly enough for me to do. And to have some down-time, too, like reading flopped on our hotel bed, or going off to finally see Sex and the City at the nearby mall. And the people watching was great!

And it was fun to be with my family and see them all so happy and excited to be there. I ended up not even missing doing the 4th-of-July things. We could have seen fireworks from the great view from our hotel window, but I was too busy listening to and groaning at a bunch of puns at the time. It was an amazing convention that took a lot of work to put together and run... it boggles my mind to think how they even manage something this big. But one thing is true-- those SF&F folks sure know how to have fun!

Posted by sapphire at July 7, 2008 10:48 PM