Arisia notes to self

[juldea]

The following are emails I need to write (and/or points to bring up on various email lists):

filking: I really wanted to get into this, but there is a high bar due to the huge body of knowledge that already exists, the existing filkers who want to cling to that body of knowledge and not accept more, and the existing filkers who disregard you if you don't appreciate their body of knowledge. londo suggests emailing Ellen C.

XKCD panel: Way too full for the room it was in. Suggest larger room if done again.

Con Suite: I like real food. Also DO NOT have panels in Con Suite!

Art Show: Have express elevator workers announce not only, "Express to 14 and 16!" but "Express to FAST TRACK and ART SHOW! Come see some pretty art in your spare 20 minutes!" Also have signage for those elevators explain what they are express to. Also sad - I don't really like art.

Elevators and Stairs: I really should've tried to climb Mt Arisia on crutches. Really. As it was, mostly I got around ok, but chairs near the elevators on every floor would be AWESOME.

Movie Year in Review: Good panel. Do again. Be on time.

Masquerade: if not in my own costume by next year, help out with Kamakaze Kids and Kids' Masquerade entrants again. AWESOME!

Fast Track: Volunteer for more. Kids are great. Kids + crafts = fun.

Responsible Monogamy: GREAT panel. Love the psych-related panels. Suggest the 'finding/relating to a mundane psychologist' panel.

Bellydancing: Find out how to find out about it pre-con. Even if I were mobile this year, I wouldn't have known how to get in on the show.

Buffy sing-along: Very cool, suggest again.

Goblin Ball: advertise more next year, didn't even know it was there

Eye of Argon reading: continues to be done wrong. >:| Offer to run it RIGHT, as a full reading, next year late night? Ho boy... (londo suggests: 5 hours at 11pm. I suggest: blurb that indicates event may be dropped into at any time, participation open to any and all, the more punch-drunk the better [though not actually drunk - Sunday?])

Dealers: Dealer's row is just fine, but rough for mobility-issues people. I avoided rooms often because they were too busy and I couldn't crutch around in them.

Blood drive: Am I the only one turned OFF from the blood drive because the 'naughty nurses' seem to be its main attraction? Perhaps I'm being really petty - and yeah, I don't normally give blood anywhere anyway - but I don't react well to that particular application of 'sex sells'.

Comments

[outlander.livejournal.com]

Join the Mass FILC mailing list --http://www.massfilc.org/--that way you can get a heads up of what is happening in the area. I have met quite a few nice people via that list.

Plus, I would get to see more of you. WHich would also be nice.

re: bellydancing

[etherial.livejournal.com]

I know the troupe.

Re: bellydancing

[juldea.livejournal.com]

There were multiple shows. I'm not talking about that troupe's show.

Re: bellydancing

[etherial.livejournal.com]

Ah. Color me ignorant.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

there's been some discussion of the fact that Dealer's Row is not terribly accessible; you could, at least, get into much of it, but people in scooters who didn't have a little mobility were completely unable to see any dealers, ones that did often exhausted themselves trying to see one or two rooms, and that's Not Acceptable.

Some suggestions (I spent about half an hour discussing it at the dead dog) have been things like a one hour or 90 minute block in the afternoon Saturday where security or Handicap Access concentrates on the dealer's row for an hour to assist people, move things out of the way, etc., and able-bodied people are encouraged to go somewhere else so that the hallways are clear and people can get in and out of rooms without begging people to move.

You have a good list of commentia, and if you can make it to the debrief, you'd add a lot to it, but if you can't, I'll bring up the relevant (con-ops) parts of it for you.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

...if you can't, I'll bring up the relevant (con-ops) parts of it for you.

Not sure if I'll be there for it or not, but londo certainly will, and knows my issues too. So you can help him remember. :)

[juldea.livejournal.com]

It was tons of fun! It was run like a Rocky Horror show, with a cast lip-synching and miming on stage while the real thing played on a screen right next to them. The cast had some bumpy parts, but overall it was very fun. And there was yelling!

[evan712.livejournal.com]

I'm really surprised at your bad filk experience. I've run into snarkiness at filking sessions before, but never at Arisia. In my experience it's been one of the more open and welcoming filk groups. The only issue I ever had at Arisia, was when everyone was fawning over Tom Smith and other people got ignored.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Huh. I didn't hear a bit of Tom Smith there (unless I failed to recognize it, which I guess is possible, as I only know a few songs of his.) Also, I might not have clarified, but it was only a few people being snarky, and many others were AWESOME and welcoming and told me what stuff was about. So it was a mixed bag, but having some of the 'leaders' being the snarky ones was off-putting.

[evan712.livejournal.com]

It was a few years ago when I saw Tom Smith there. I'm glad to hear it was only a few people, though a few bad ones can ruin the experience. Shaughn and I were disgusted with the filing at Worlcon due to just a few people.

[corwyn-ap.livejournal.com]

most excellent hair.

Belatedly ...

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

Con Suite: I like real food. Also DO NOT have panels in Con Suite!

Explain further? People keep saying in my presence that food was problematic, but haven't specified how it was, or how it could be done differently. I didn't end up eating much of the provided food because I was too busy eating out with friends (or in the restaurant), and didn't have time to be in staff den during normal meal hours. So I don't really know how food services went from personal experience, except that my meal in the green room was excellent.

Re: Belatedly ...

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Most of the time I was in Con Suite, the food available was: chips and pretzels in bowls on tables, a bunch of carrot sticks or baby carrots on a table, some chocolate-covered $NUTS, and cheese squares. Meatballs were rumored, but I never saw them. Oh, I did see bagel slices at some point, too. None of this I consider to be 'real food', and therefore I was disappointed - my main Con Suite experience was in '06, when Phi jacked up the budget and there was a lot of 'real food' available. I have a (possibly erroneous) belief that Con Suite should be able to mostly feed me for the Con.

Clarified: I don't expect pre-made meals like the soups, curries, and casseroles that I assume staff den* and Green Room get. But a bunch of pasta and jarred sauce could go a long way, or bread and PB/J/cold cuts, or a big bowl of salad. Those are things that can feed the con, not just satisfy salt/sugar cravings.

Re: Belatedly ...

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

Did you or londo say as much to someone in the food devision, like tamidon or someone? I wasn't there, so I don't want to be the one to do it, but this is the sort of thing that should be looked into so next year will be better.

Re: Belatedly ...

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Yes, this was expressed at Debrief.

Re: Belatedly ...

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

Ah, I must not have caught it. Sorry.