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cathyr19355 at 11:54pm on 21/03/2005
cathyr19355 at 11:54pm on 21/03/2005This past weekend, Eric and I went to Lunacon, the annual convention run by the Lunarians, a fan group in New York City.
I have gone to Lunacon for many, many years, and it had been growing (like Boskone!) sadder and duller. So it was with trepidation that I ventured there again this year, to the con's new hotel, the Sheraton Meadowlands, in Bruce Springsteen country.
Although there weren't a lot of room parties, the convention itself was pretty good. The dealers' room was large for a 1200-person convention, and the art show was quite good. There were lots of interesting things on the program. Many of them I missed, but the blind sculpture contest among the Art GOH and other available fannish sculptors was priceless. Here's Lunacon's recipe for a blind sculpture contest.
1) Get a bunch of fannish sculptors, a quantity of Sculpey, and blindfolds.
2) Blindfold your sculptors.
3) Specify (or, better still, get the fannish spectators to specify) an odd but interesting subject. Like....a cow playing baseball. Or a demon platypus. (Both of which were done.)
4) Watch, and listen to the sculptors in action. Variations include having one sculptor (blindfolded) work, based on the verbal description of an (non-blinded) partner, without telling the actual sculptor what the subject is supposed to be. Another variation is to have two sculptors work on the same piece, while both are blindfolded.
5) Bake the finished works, so you can sell them in the Art Show or at another fannish auction.
Fun for the whole family!
The film room had historic, ANCIENT science fiction serials, such as the original Flash Gordon (I actually got to see Ming the Merciless in action!) They wouldn't make a nickel nowadays--the acting is too wooden and the plots too silly by modern standards, but it was good to see some original 1930s SF to see how far we have come. There was an anime room, but I never got around to checking it out.
The con did have problems, however, most of which revolved around the hotel. Early in the convention, the hotel acquired the nickname "Jimmy Hoffa Memorial Sheraton", as opposed to the old locale, the Ryetown "Escher" Hilton. Unfortunately, the hotel began by living down to its new moniker.
The Sheraton is easy to reach by car, but almost impossible to reach by any other method, and all the area restaurants are cleverly hidden in a knot of twisty local highways, all alike. One wrong turn and you're in the Lincoln Tunnel, heading into that automotive black hole, Manhattan. To make matters worse, the only suites big enough to house a con suite were located above the 19th floor, and 1 of the 4 elevators broke down early on Saturday. Gaming was squashed into a room barely big enough to hold 3 tables. Dealers were faced with a choice of hauling their wares through the lobby to the second-floor dealers' area (and being told by the hotel at the last minute that this was actually forbidden) or hunting for the loading dock and hoping they had made it to the con early enough that the freight elevator would be open to them. Worst of all, the hotel, including the restaurant, was understaffed, and the food at best was of variable quality.
I went to the gripe session, and learned from the con comm's dialogue with various upset fans that most of these problems stemmed from the hotel's unwillingness to provide services and space that the con comm had specifically requested in advance. The hotel, it turns out, has never had a group make its room block in all 18 years of its operation, so it didn't believe the con comm when they said there would be 1,200 fans decending upon them, needing real food, as well as local transportation. Accordingly, the hotel made no effort to increase staffing or deal with the other issues until the magnitude of the problems became evident. On the bright side, hotel reps were beating their breasts to the hotel liaison even during the convention, and the poor performance should give the con comm an edge in negotiating better deals and better treatment for next year.
At the end of the con, Eric and I had to deal with a minor emergency.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nancylebov, (better known to many as "the Button Lady"), found out unexpectedly that the fan who'd brought her to the convention would not be available to bring her--and her button business--home to Philadelphia. Unfortunately, while we were more than willing to bring her home, there simply is not room in my Subaru Impreza for us, our luggage, Nancy, AND her business. So we ended up loading as much as we could take into my car and then helping Nancy a place to store the rest of her business until morning when she could get someone to pick it up. So we drove back to Philadelphia with Nancy, stopping in Chinatown at the Imperial Inn for a fine Chinese meal before dropping her off at her house. It made for a late Sunday, but it was good to spend a little more time with an old friend despite the circumstances.
Thus, Linucon (er, I mean Lunacon). I think I'll probably be back next year.
I have gone to Lunacon for many, many years, and it had been growing (like Boskone!) sadder and duller. So it was with trepidation that I ventured there again this year, to the con's new hotel, the Sheraton Meadowlands, in Bruce Springsteen country.
Although there weren't a lot of room parties, the convention itself was pretty good. The dealers' room was large for a 1200-person convention, and the art show was quite good. There were lots of interesting things on the program. Many of them I missed, but the blind sculpture contest among the Art GOH and other available fannish sculptors was priceless. Here's Lunacon's recipe for a blind sculpture contest.
1) Get a bunch of fannish sculptors, a quantity of Sculpey, and blindfolds.
2) Blindfold your sculptors.
3) Specify (or, better still, get the fannish spectators to specify) an odd but interesting subject. Like....a cow playing baseball. Or a demon platypus. (Both of which were done.)
4) Watch, and listen to the sculptors in action. Variations include having one sculptor (blindfolded) work, based on the verbal description of an (non-blinded) partner, without telling the actual sculptor what the subject is supposed to be. Another variation is to have two sculptors work on the same piece, while both are blindfolded.
5) Bake the finished works, so you can sell them in the Art Show or at another fannish auction.
Fun for the whole family!
The film room had historic, ANCIENT science fiction serials, such as the original Flash Gordon (I actually got to see Ming the Merciless in action!) They wouldn't make a nickel nowadays--the acting is too wooden and the plots too silly by modern standards, but it was good to see some original 1930s SF to see how far we have come. There was an anime room, but I never got around to checking it out.
The con did have problems, however, most of which revolved around the hotel. Early in the convention, the hotel acquired the nickname "Jimmy Hoffa Memorial Sheraton", as opposed to the old locale, the Ryetown "Escher" Hilton. Unfortunately, the hotel began by living down to its new moniker.
The Sheraton is easy to reach by car, but almost impossible to reach by any other method, and all the area restaurants are cleverly hidden in a knot of twisty local highways, all alike. One wrong turn and you're in the Lincoln Tunnel, heading into that automotive black hole, Manhattan. To make matters worse, the only suites big enough to house a con suite were located above the 19th floor, and 1 of the 4 elevators broke down early on Saturday. Gaming was squashed into a room barely big enough to hold 3 tables. Dealers were faced with a choice of hauling their wares through the lobby to the second-floor dealers' area (and being told by the hotel at the last minute that this was actually forbidden) or hunting for the loading dock and hoping they had made it to the con early enough that the freight elevator would be open to them. Worst of all, the hotel, including the restaurant, was understaffed, and the food at best was of variable quality.
I went to the gripe session, and learned from the con comm's dialogue with various upset fans that most of these problems stemmed from the hotel's unwillingness to provide services and space that the con comm had specifically requested in advance. The hotel, it turns out, has never had a group make its room block in all 18 years of its operation, so it didn't believe the con comm when they said there would be 1,200 fans decending upon them, needing real food, as well as local transportation. Accordingly, the hotel made no effort to increase staffing or deal with the other issues until the magnitude of the problems became evident. On the bright side, hotel reps were beating their breasts to the hotel liaison even during the convention, and the poor performance should give the con comm an edge in negotiating better deals and better treatment for next year.
At the end of the con, Eric and I had to deal with a minor emergency.
nancylebov, (better known to many as "the Button Lady"), found out unexpectedly that the fan who'd brought her to the convention would not be available to bring her--and her button business--home to Philadelphia. Unfortunately, while we were more than willing to bring her home, there simply is not room in my Subaru Impreza for us, our luggage, Nancy, AND her business. So we ended up loading as much as we could take into my car and then helping Nancy a place to store the rest of her business until morning when she could get someone to pick it up. So we drove back to Philadelphia with Nancy, stopping in Chinatown at the Imperial Inn for a fine Chinese meal before dropping her off at her house. It made for a late Sunday, but it was good to spend a little more time with an old friend despite the circumstances.Thus, Linucon (er, I mean Lunacon). I think I'll probably be back next year.
thoughtful
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