jeriendhal | Balticon Report

Went to Balticon, my first con (not counting last year's Otakon) in about ten years. Unlike Otakon it's fairly small, no more than a few hundred people, so it wasn't so desperately crowded and I didn't feel like I was going to suffocate. That and the demographic is more spread out, so I didn't feel like everyone othere was 20 years younger than I was.

Friday: Met with Elizabeth and Cat, not to mention Robert Parks, Jerrie Atkins, Stoutfellow, Nicholas Rosen, Celticdragonfly and several others at Elizabeth and Cat's room party. Missed seeing Lois by a few minutes when I went home, which was a bummer. On the plus side I did get to sleep in my own bed.

Saturday: In the morning I watched Thomas while Tracy went in for a check on how the fertility treaments were going (answer hazy, come back Wendsday). In the afternoon I listened to Lois at a panel on designing believeable villians. Didn't ask any questions, but the discussion was enjoyable, and Lois used my copy of PoS as a prop, since all the other writers on the panel had a copy of their latest works in front of them. In the evening I headed back to E & C's room, where Lois was supposed to show up, but ended up cutting out at 7:30 due to fatigue. I'm just not up to walking around at cons for 10 hours at a time anymore. :( Apparently Lois came by around 9:30 and stayed for two hours. Meh.

Sunday: Stayed most of the day. Missed my big chance to exchange words with Lois whe she signed my books at the autographc session. My mouth just kinda froze up and nothing came out. :( Frustrating as hell, but I had no one to blame but myself. I did pipe up at her GoH session, answering a question about when GURPS Vorkosigan was coming out, at least. Ended up going home around 6 pm or so, having nothing left to do at the con. Monday I stayed home.

Overall it was a good experience, though I wish I'd been able to finagle more face-time with Lois, but at least I saw her in person, and was able to chat with the other listees that were there, which was fun. Swag-wise I picked up a couple of filking CD's (Tom Smith Plugged, and an Echo's Children album), along with a "Vorkosigan/Naismith in 2004" t-shirt, and a card game which came in handy while hanging about in Elizabeth's room.

I may go to next year's Balticon, even if just for the day. I'd forgotten how much fun fandom could be, given the chance to meet other fans in person.