lostcarpark: (Lego Spiderman)
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.

P-Con 7: The Eagle has LandedDuty 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.

P-Con 7: Has the Internet become indispensable?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.

P-Con 7: EBooks PanelNext 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.

P-Con 7: Closing CeremonyThe 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.

P-Con day 2

Mar. 7th, 2010 10:56 am
lostcarpark: (Lego Draco on Buckbeak)
I was a liittle late on Saturday, so things were in full swing when I arrived. I chatted with people around the reg desk for a while, then went to a documentary about Brams Stoker, which was very interesting. And lead into an interesting discussion about how much (or little) Dublin influenced him.

I then moved on to "Genre Fiction as a means of discussing the unmentionable," which covered a lot of interesting topics were raised regarding politics, race and sexuality, but someone had to bring up the most unmentionable of all: philophosy.

Following this was the Guest of Honour interview. I have to admit I knew practically nothing of Nick harkaway prior to this weekend, but he's been a fantastic guest. It was one of the easiest interviews I've ever seen, with Peter just needing to give Nick gentle prompts in a particular direction. The final quarter was a reading from Nick's book. He chose several short but entralling passages, and left the audience longing for more. I now have a wonderful image of exploding sheep firmly implanted in my brain.

The next panel I attended, Social Websites: Bane or boon? was another fascinating discussion. I think those arguing that social networks are a boon won by a nose, I think, providing you have the discipline to use them sensibly.

Next, I foolishly decided to look in on the auction. As usual, there things that I couldn't let go for so little, especially when it,s for a good cause, so I now have a some nice books and a set of Diskworld miniatures.

I was tempted to go to Pictionary, but I was reminded I had an hour to get an entry into the Frank Darcy award. This is a novel short stort competion with entries being 100 words or less. To prevent entries being prepared in advance, two specific words had to be included. I got my entry in with a whole 3 minutes to spare.

Following this I found some friends to go for a very nice Chinese meal with, then after a little while chatting at the bar, I headed for the train home.

I'm very much looking forward to the final day of the convention.

P-Con day 1

Mar. 6th, 2010 11:29 am
lostcarpark: (Lego Daleks)
Friday night has marked the start of P-Con for the last few years, and last night was no exception. I arrived in the late afternoon th find a few early arrivals holding court in the Library bar. I settled into a comfey chair, and gradually our numbers swelled. It's always good to catch up with old friends, though the phrase "What happened to you?" was oft repeated, accompanied by pointing at an arm. It must be a P-Con tradition I guess.

The opening ceremony was a simple affair, introducing the guests (at least the ones who had arrived), and relaying apologies from those who missed flights, but would be arriving later.

It was good to keep it brief, to make way for the P-Con Players, who put on an amusing horror story, Mildew Manor by Kim Newman. It started a little slow, but built to a gripping story, taking the micky out of all the Victorian horror stereotypes in the process.

After that it was time to retire to the bar, though in my case only briefly as the train home beckoned.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend, which promises some excellent programme items.
lostcarpark: (Lego Draco on Buckbeak)
I've been at P-Con all day and it's been very good. There were lots of interesting panel items. I'm sure it's not right to go to a convention actually attend panels, but they've been very interesting, and it's been good fun chatting to people in between.

Panel items I've attended include Boondongles (ideas in sci-fi that seemed a good idea at the time, but weren't), World Domination (for management consultants), Astronomy (with Inge Hayer, a very interesting individual who works at an observatory in Hawaii), the guest of honour interview, and the tech savvy criminal. All were enthralling.

I also went to the auction and spent rather too much money. I seem to have acquired a Wii. Why did I do that?

Between Eastercon last weekend, and the Brickish Association AGM next weekend, I'm trying to avoid drinking too much at this one. I think it will be nice to have a weekend off after that!

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