MediaWest*Con 32
Monday, June 4th, 2012 06:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizvogelSo, there was MediaWest*Con.
We kind of did it as a relaxacon, and this proved to be a good choice. I deliberately did not do my customary thing of trailing around after certain people and sacrificing my own preferences to their schedule, and as a result I had lot of interesting conversations with people I've seen far too little of in past years, and generally had a very good time. In fact, my avowed intention to spend Sunday in the room writing was entirely derailed by people being interesting and fun to talk to all day. I also pimped Cabin Pressure to several people, yay!
The panel selection wasn't really geared to my interests, but I did manage to get to a few:
Burn Notice: speculation on the new season - which was only intermittently on topic, but lively for its size. Much smaller than in previous years; not sure if that's due to waning interest in the show or merely that it was the second panel slot Friday afternoon and folks were still revving up.
Saturday's panel on 60s Spies was great fun; good panelists, and a nice mix of shows under discussion. I also came out of it with a new/old show to look for -- why did no one tell me Garrison's Gorillas was not merely WWII, but WWII covert ops?!? This I must at least sample.
The mixed panel on USA shows was enthusiastic; also rambly, but the panel topic was sensibly wide open for just that.
I skipped the Holy Mother Grammatica panel, on the grounds that the last time I attended one, it got bogged down in examples of un-proofread fanfic, and not particularly amusing ones at that. I feel I owe an apology to the panelist who overheard me blowing it off, but there was also the issue of dinner to be addressed.
I stuck my head into Sunday's SGA panel long enough to identify that they were busy griping about Stargate: Universe, and promptly left.
The Old Skool and New Blood panel was another good one; some of the same panelists as the 60s Spies one, and neither as "get off my lawn" nor as "get with the 21st Century" as it could have been. May have gotten a door decorating idea out of it for next year.
So, four panels actually attended, none of which I walked out of; one not actually sat down in. Very nearly par for the course for me, but the quality of the few I went to was pleasingly high.
The hotel's finally done with remodeling. The beds once again brought to mind being eaten by a giant marshmallow and her brood of baby giant marshmallows, and the hallway lights really should control hidden doors to secret passages. We managed to get hold of the last remaining OEM remote for the TV, rather than the bacteriologically-sealed ones issued by default, so we could fix the aspect ratio, which was nice as it made it possible for me to actually watch the one episode of Sherlock we found time for. The new manager got off on the wrong foot with a lot of congoers by distributing a dire warning about not moving the furniture; not surprisingly, this proved to be due to his previous run in with a certain dealer who shall remain nameless but anyone familiar with the venue can guess who she is. I can only hope the general pissed-off-ness was reflected in her sales rather than in grief to the concom, who had nothing to do with it.
Oh, and we really must remember to be out of the room by 15 minutes before check-out time next year. Once again, the hotel computer automatically deactivated our keys at noon... except that it was running about 10 minutes fast. Note to self, don't bother getting a new key issued when this happens, as it won't work either. Luckily we found a helpful staffer down the hall, so we could get the last of our stuff out. Stupid hotel computer.
Not quite sure how else I spent the weekend; bought a few things, ate some meals, and generally hung out. Oh, and saw The Avengers movie, which was a blast. Whatever I did, I hope I do it again next year.
We kind of did it as a relaxacon, and this proved to be a good choice. I deliberately did not do my customary thing of trailing around after certain people and sacrificing my own preferences to their schedule, and as a result I had lot of interesting conversations with people I've seen far too little of in past years, and generally had a very good time. In fact, my avowed intention to spend Sunday in the room writing was entirely derailed by people being interesting and fun to talk to all day. I also pimped Cabin Pressure to several people, yay!
The panel selection wasn't really geared to my interests, but I did manage to get to a few:
Burn Notice: speculation on the new season - which was only intermittently on topic, but lively for its size. Much smaller than in previous years; not sure if that's due to waning interest in the show or merely that it was the second panel slot Friday afternoon and folks were still revving up.
Saturday's panel on 60s Spies was great fun; good panelists, and a nice mix of shows under discussion. I also came out of it with a new/old show to look for -- why did no one tell me Garrison's Gorillas was not merely WWII, but WWII covert ops?!? This I must at least sample.
The mixed panel on USA shows was enthusiastic; also rambly, but the panel topic was sensibly wide open for just that.
I skipped the Holy Mother Grammatica panel, on the grounds that the last time I attended one, it got bogged down in examples of un-proofread fanfic, and not particularly amusing ones at that. I feel I owe an apology to the panelist who overheard me blowing it off, but there was also the issue of dinner to be addressed.
I stuck my head into Sunday's SGA panel long enough to identify that they were busy griping about Stargate: Universe, and promptly left.
The Old Skool and New Blood panel was another good one; some of the same panelists as the 60s Spies one, and neither as "get off my lawn" nor as "get with the 21st Century" as it could have been. May have gotten a door decorating idea out of it for next year.
So, four panels actually attended, none of which I walked out of; one not actually sat down in. Very nearly par for the course for me, but the quality of the few I went to was pleasingly high.
The hotel's finally done with remodeling. The beds once again brought to mind being eaten by a giant marshmallow and her brood of baby giant marshmallows, and the hallway lights really should control hidden doors to secret passages. We managed to get hold of the last remaining OEM remote for the TV, rather than the bacteriologically-sealed ones issued by default, so we could fix the aspect ratio, which was nice as it made it possible for me to actually watch the one episode of Sherlock we found time for. The new manager got off on the wrong foot with a lot of congoers by distributing a dire warning about not moving the furniture; not surprisingly, this proved to be due to his previous run in with a certain dealer who shall remain nameless but anyone familiar with the venue can guess who she is. I can only hope the general pissed-off-ness was reflected in her sales rather than in grief to the concom, who had nothing to do with it.
Oh, and we really must remember to be out of the room by 15 minutes before check-out time next year. Once again, the hotel computer automatically deactivated our keys at noon... except that it was running about 10 minutes fast. Note to self, don't bother getting a new key issued when this happens, as it won't work either. Luckily we found a helpful staffer down the hall, so we could get the last of our stuff out. Stupid hotel computer.
Not quite sure how else I spent the weekend; bought a few things, ate some meals, and generally hung out. Oh, and saw The Avengers movie, which was a blast. Whatever I did, I hope I do it again next year.
