P-Con Day 3

Okay, a week after due date, but better late than never...

I arrived on Sunday and took the reins of the registration desk for a couple of hours, there weren't too many new arrivals during that time, but plenty of people pre-booking for 2011 and buying raffle tickets. It was also a good time to talk with Peter, who seems mad enough to keep hold of the reins, about some changes to the website for next year.

Duty done, I popped in to the second half of The Eagle has Landed in Dublin, where John Vaughan, Laura Anne Gilman, Juliet McKenna and Cheryl Morgan were discussing their efforts to subjugate the Earth. Suddenly it all seems to make sense.

After that I felt I couldn't miss "Has the Internet become indispensable?". Maura McHugh, R.F. Long, Bob Neilson and Cheryl Morgan where pretty much agreed that it has from the outset, and discussed why this was so. In interesting perspective was offered by a member of the audience who pointed out that the various moves to restrict what is available on the internet, and that in many ways it is not as free as it was a few years ago.

After this I took a short break from panels and caught up with some old friends in the bar.

Next was the eBooks panel, which was a follow on from the one at last year's P-Con, and a lot has changed in just a year, and with a lot of new technology just around the corner, it's likely to change a lot more in the next year. An interesting point was that while "our generation" has sentimental value for paper books, the next generation probably won't, and books are likely to become a luxury item, with eBooks replacing the mass market paperbacks.

The day seemed to have flown by, for already it was time for the closing ceremony. The larger room was packed, with standing room only. People were thanked, prizes were awarded, and text year's guest of honour, Ian McDonald was announced.

P-Con was over for another year, but that meant it was time to head to the bar.

Edit: Check out the Guest of Honour interview with Nick Harkaway from Saturday on YouTube.

A Rough Guide to GUFF (2 of several)

Part 2: So it' a free holiday?

In part 1 I talked a bit about what GUFF is and where it came from, today I move on to the obvious response, "so you'd like me to vote for you so you can go on a free holiday?"

In one sense that is entirely accurate. But it doesn't tell the whole store, for a GUFF trip is not all beaches and lounging around. Oh no, a Guff delegate is expected to work for his for her living.

For starters, at the convention they visit, they will be given various duties. These may include speaking on panels, taking part in award ceremonies, and any number of other duties. This may include fund raising activities for the fan funds. Delegates will often also participate in other areas of the convention, depending on their own expertise and interests.

Around the main convention (or conventions) being attended, delegates will often visit fan groups in the area, playing a sort of ambassadorial role.

The general expectation is that travel and expenses directly relating to the GUFF trip may be claimed from the fund, but that any personal sightseeing would be out of their own pocket. However, most delegates will keep their costs modest to ensure they leave sufficient funds for their successor's trip. We'll get to that bit in a minute.

One very important part of the trip is writing a report afterwards. Apart from being a great way of telling their peers who voted for them what they did, it has important financial impacts for the fund. First, the sale of the report contributes to the fund, but there is also a US university who pay a bounty for each trip report. The value of this is not inconsiderable, but it decreases over time, so it really does pay to get it done quickly. These days many fans supplement this report by blogging as they go, which keeps fans at home in touch while making the trip report easier afterwards.

But even after the trip report is written, the GUFF delegate's responsibilities aren't over. In a sense they are only beginning. Their next responsibility is to administer the fund until the next delegate in the same direction is elected. This means that at any time there are two administrators, one in Europe and one in Australia. The administrator has to organise fund raising activities, mainly fan fund auctions, and run the next two elections (one in each direction) for fans on their side of the world.

Once a new delegate has been elected, they can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

So yes, it is a free holiday, but there are lots of strings attached.