Decisions, decisions...

[feuervogel]

(I know, weird, 3 posts in one day. I'm apparently moving out of my slug/just wanna play video games phase.)

Something skogkatt said to me in discussions after I was rejected from Viable Paradise this year got me thinking. For the tuition, hotel, food, and travel expense to Martha's Vineyard, I could go to a con and meet a lot of people. Maybe even two cons. I could to go World Con, even.

So I looked into next year's, and it's in Chicago. Cool, I've never really been to Chicago. Oh, problem: it's Labor Day weekend. I've kind of set that aside for Dragon*Con. 2013 is going to be in San Antonio (eh)...also Labor Day weekend. Bother. Honestly, I'd rather go to Chi-town than San Antonio in late August/early September.

And Ben likes going to D*C, too. If we buy next year's badges at the con, they're half price. Which is pretty awesome! But if we'll be in Chicago instead, not exactly useful.

But World Con would be a better con to go to as far as my career is concerned. D*C is huge and awesome, but not exactly the kind of place you network. (Unless you're a program participant/guest and can hang in the green room, which...yeah, not so useful for me, right?) I'm fairly well connected to the local scene, and being literary chair at the new con is going to add to that, but I don't know a whole lot of people outside the southeast. (A few Bostonites, a couple people in New York, some Californians...that's about it that I can think of.) There have also been writer's workshops at them, but there's nothing on the website about it yet.

WorldCon 2012 badges are currently $175, and the rate goes up after 9/30 (to what, it doesn't say). The D*C hotel land grab starts 10/1. I'm somewhat tired of the land grab, tbqh. We'll need to decide by then. I lean toward Chicago (4 hotel nights (would be great if we could get an additional roomie or two), 2 plane tickets, $350 for badges) over D*C (4 hotel nights (shared), $60 in gas (shared), $150 for badges), but Ben isn't convinced.

2014's going to be in London, most likely (it's the only bid), but we can't afford London, either getting there or room costs or eating (when a dinner costs 10 pounds, and it's 2 pounds to the dollar, that's a $20 dinner!), not unless a miracle happens in Ben's job and he gets a raise, or I get a lot of shifts. But 2014 is a year I don't want to get too far from home, because Crankypants will be 17 and still diabetic, and I would hate myself forever if she died while I was gallivanting.

I don't know. I guess we'll have to make a decision by the end of September. Do any of you plan to attend (or could be persuaded)?

Comments

[steuard.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, WorlCon in Chicago sounds cool: we love Chicago and it's an easy drive. (No idea how Phoebe would do there at that point, of course.) But our fall classes start the day after Labor Day every year, so that's pretty hard to manage. Hmm.

[feuervogel]

There may be day passes available at the door (or weekend ones), but I have no idea. Then again, Phoebe will be, what, 14 or 15 months? It's hard to say how she'd do this far in advance. But if there are day passes (there were in Reno, I gather), you could decide later.

[anacoluthon.livejournal.com]

Chicago is pretty fantastic! I know Enne has mentioned trying to get to WisCon some year, although that's only a vague idea at this point. Looking at the Reno program events from this year, I think there would be plenty of interesting things at WorldCon, but I don't know that I can commit to anything.
It's very difficult for me to feel like I can plan at all in the future since things are so up in the air for me job-wise. I'm used to working where I have difficulty taking time off but now that I'll leave soon I don't feel any more secure in making plans.

[a-nightengale.livejournal.com]

I'll be going to one or the other in 2012; work likes to have a presence at both. It just remains to be seen who's going to end up where. I suspect that Toni and Jim M. will be heading to Chicago, leaving me, as low person on the totem pole, to do Dragon*Con

[feuervogel]

WorldCon is also MUUUUUUCH smaller than D*C. Like 5,000 people instead of 40,000. Which can be nice. I can definitely understand uncertainty about something happening just over a year from now. But if things work out for you, and we haven't filled our room, you're welcome to join us.

[feuervogel]

I wondered how you were going to manage that, and I guess that's the most logical.

I rolled my eyes when I saw who the "Speaker to Dragon*Con" at ChiCon is. I wonder if his "old people need to GTFO fandom and let the new generation take over" position is known to the committee, or if he's hiding it so he can become a SMOF.

[a-nightengale.livejournal.com]

Oh *gag* (double-checks to make sure your post is flocked).

He likes to think of himself as a SMOF already, and he's been FGOH at one con. He's on the smofs-l listserv (I was on it several years ago back when I was still active with Trinoc).

He's good at one thing, and one thing only --schmoozing. You want to throw a party to promote your event? He's your guy. And that's all I'll say here, even in flocked space.

[feuervogel]

This journal defaults to locked :)

How the hell is that wanker worthy of being FGOH? Eye. Roll. Though they seem to have lost the eye-searing website design... (and why is there no list of con staff on it? I couldn't find that information any damn where.)

[chalgaryn.livejournal.com]

Worst case, we could come over for a day or two, skip the con, and just meet y'all for dinner :-) We have other friends in Chicago we could visit with during the day while you're at the con.

[feuervogel]

That could be cool, too :)