Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts
By Alyce Wilson
November 21, 2006 - Cutting Edge Panels
On my way there, I ran into a police car blocking traffic, and I ended up redirected into a huge traffic jam. Despite the frustration, I was only about 15 minutes late. We met up with The Dormouse to get some dinner.
We took a cab to a sushi place in Chinatown that The Gryphon knows about. The sushi was a great, guilt-free way to get fueled up for the rest of the evening. We even had a light dessert of some miniature ice cream treats.
We had a nice time talking and enjoying our meal. We debated walking back for the exercise, but The Gryphon was on a panel, so we took a taxi so we could make it back in time.
His first panel at the convention was called "Gaming 101: It's Not the Devil". The Court Wizard was in the audience, so I took a seat next to him and surreptitiously went through my pocket guide schedule to look for what I wanted to do the rest of the convention.
This panel was an introduction to gaming: what the appeals are, what the basics are. They had a decent audience of about eight people, but it was early on a Friday night, which is one of the worst times for a panel. That and late on Sunday, when many people have already left to go home.
Afterwards, I went to a couple panels on my own. I attended "Cutting Edge Science Fiction", along with The Court Wizard and the Cheshire Cat. That was a panel that featured the key-note speaker, author Charles Stross, along with Sheila Williams, editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine; Gardner Dozois, editor of the annual anthology series The Year's Best Science Fiction; Charles J. Divine, an SF artist; and Geoffrey A. Landis, NASA scientist and science fiction writer.
The panel discussed how new technology has influenced SF today, and what the future of that technology might be, as well as its future impacts on SF. I was particularly impressed with some of the comments Charles Stross made, because he demonstrated not just a knowledge of science and technology but also of the history of SF.
For example, he said, he doesn't think you can write cutting edge SF for people who don't know where SF came from. He also spoke about developments such as AI, bioelectronics, and personal electronic devices, such as cell phones with GPS systems.
That
room was packed; standing room only. I wondered why it was scheduled in
one of the smaller rooms, but I heard through the grapevine that Charles
Stross was a last minute addition to the panel. They might not have expected
the turnout.
After the panel, we hung out in the hallway a little while, trying to figure out what we were all doing. Philadelphia SF author Tom Purdom came by, and I said hi to him and introduced him to my two friends. Unfortunately, I misspoke the name of their webcomic, "Miracle of Science", accidentally calling it "Mystery of Science." This is what a lack of sleep does for you.
Then the guys headed to a different panel, while I decided to check out a panel called "Joss Whedon: King of All Media!" I knew it would probably be a fan-based panel but hoped to find out some interesting things about Joss Whedon's career, perhaps some little gems I could search out. I have, of course, seen the entire Buffy and Angel series, as well as Firefly.
As it turns out, the panel failed to catch my interest. When one woman took the mic and proceeded to give the history of, not just her interest in Joss Whedon but her television habits as a whole, starting back in the 1950s, I couldn't take any more. I snuck out of the room, so I could find a quiet place to read.
Me on Friday night
This, however, put me in a good position to catch up with Charles Stross in between panels and ask for an interview for Wild Violet. I was going to approach him after the previous panel, but a fan had glommed onto him, and I heard the fan say, "I'll just follow you down to the next panel." So I knew I wouldn't have gotten a word in.
Fortunately, those attending the "Computer/Internet Security" panel, which included The Gryphon, seemed to be mostly IT professionals and therefore much more sedate about approaching him afterwards. One person said hi, who had obviously met him previously.
Another guy just wanted to get a stack of books signed. They were all in perfect condition, so the imp in me made me ask him if he was a vendor. He claimed he wasn't; just a collector.
When I got the opportunity, I introduced myself and told Stross about Wild Violet and asked if he'd like to do an interview that weekend. He said sure, and we exchanged contact info. We agreed that if we didn't settle anything beforehand, I'd meet up with him after his key note address, and we'd work something out.
So then I had the opportunity to attend a panel The Court Wizard was on, "Beyond Traditional Media: Webcomics and More". The panel consisted of primarily web comic artists.
One of the panelists, Phil Kahn, sort of took over, acting as the moderator even though he hadn't been designated as such. He spoke a lot, so there were times when I asked a question, as an audience member, just to get the other panelists talking.
One of the panelists was highly entertaining. He does a web comic, called Rockets. Another panelist does a zombie web comic, Dead of Summer. The Court Wizard, of course, is the artist for Miracle of Science, which he does with The Cheshire Cat.
From there, I went to "The Economics of Online Publishing", along with The Court Wizard. We had a little trouble finding it, even though there was a sign posted outside the door. "If only we could read," I joked.
The Cheshire Cat was joined by two other panelists, one of whom was much more negative about the prospects of making money through online publishing. The other, like The Cheshire Cat, was more positive, and therefore, the panel was interesting to me.
Thanks to The Cheshire Cat, I actually got some good ideas from the panel for things that I can do with my own work, building off of the net fame I've garnered to springboard to something bigger.
Later, I gave The Cheshire Cat kudos for his role in the panel. He has a knack for bridging the differences between the other panelists and keeping things on track.
That was
the end of the programming I attended that evening. So I sought out The
Gryphon, who was deep in conversation with some of his friends from PAGE
(Philadelphia Area Gaming Enthusiasts).
I chilled out with him for a while and with our other friends until they had to go home. The Court Wizard, like me, was working on a sleep deficit. He gets very little sleep whenever he visits, he told me. I was also working on only a few hours of sleep, because of having stayed up late and gotten up early the night before.
We didn't stay much past 11, because this was the only night we didn't have any pet care arranged. Our dog, Una, was sitting at home, waiting patiently. We were pleased to discover she'd been a very good girl and hadn't even pulled down the covers on the bed.
More Musings from Philcon 2006:
November 28, 2006 - Literary Sunday
Philcon 2005:
December 13, 2005 - Light Side, Dark Side
Philcon
2004:
December 14, 2004 - Friendly Philcon Morning
Philcon 2003:
December 15, 2005 - Convention from Another Planet
Moral:
Sleep deficits lead to reading difficulties.
Copyright
2006 by Alyce Wilson
What
do you think? Share your thoughts
at Alyce's message board (left button):
