Preliminary LonCon notes

A few quick preliminary ‪‎LonCon3‬ notes:

  • The line for registration is huge. It may be the longest I've ever seen. I felt bad about jumping the queue, but I was on a panel in five minutes and the program-participant people told me I should get my badge before the panel, so they told me to go to the head of the line. Apologies to those who were waiting patiently.
  • The free fast WiFi is great. (The WiFi at my hotel is quite slow.)
  • I usually expect Thursday morning at WorldCon to be kind of slow/small. This time, not so much. In addition to the amazingly long registration line, my panel (“Reimagining Families”) had a standing-room-only audience. I think the panel went fairly well, though there was a lot that we didn't manage to discuss due to lack of time. In case anyone's interested, here's the polyamory-in-sf booklist I mentioned; note that it's a work in progress, without any descriptions for works listed as yet.
  • I gather that there is no con suite, and that the green room doesn't provide food. I had an overpriced but tasty bagel at the bagel place.
  • The double-sided badges are great! Sadly, the reminder-of-my-program-items sticker covers up my name on one side, so I'll be removing that.
  • On my way to my panel this morning, I saw a car getting a ticket, and the car's owner came running out of a nearby store and argued with the person giving the ticket. Twenty feet further on, I started to cross the street, belatedly looked right, and saw the car coming toward me; the driver had apparently leapt in and immediately started moving. Fortunately they weren't going very fast, and I got out of the way. But another good reminder to me to look in the unexpected-to-me direction before crossing the street. (I pretty much always look both ways, but even so.)
  • Speaking of deeply ingrained but minor cultural differences, I'm still getting re-used to the ground floor not being the same thing as the first floor.
  • Saw plenty of Our People on the streets around the convention center: traditional Fannish clothing, badges, etc. I don't at all mean this to be exclusionary toward people who dress in different ways; there are plenty such people here as well, and that's great too. But I grew up around fandom, and there's still a certain sense of connection when I see people who are obviously part of it.
  • As is often true when I'm in a new place, I keep seeing people who I think are specific other people but then realize they aren't. In particular, I thought I saw Jay Lake earlier.
  • You can get the iOS and Android schedule apps from the LonCon website.
  • I'm writing this in my hotel room, with my feet up; very nice not to be standing. Outside, it has started pouring down rain, with huge rolling cannonades of thunder; I guess I'll be taking my umbrella when I head back to the con.

(I guess I'm gonna leave California timestamps on my entries here. I'm not actually posting this at 6 a.m.; it's 2 p.m. here in London.)

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