Jim at RT Convention

[The Dread Pharaoh Roberts]

Cathy, let me introduce you to A-kon...15-20k people

And these are small potatoes compared to Dragon Con & Comic Con.

Fencon is amazingly tiny for the rep it has.

DFWCon is an comfortably sized writers con, probably a bit smaller than RT, definately less authors, decidedly more than Fencon.

Aggie-con, btw, is one of the longest running cons. Small, intimate, but guests like Terry Pratchett, Harlan Ellison, etc.

FenCon has that rep because we try to make sure EVERYone has a good time - guests, fans, vendors...  The only time I'm aware of a guest not enjoying FenCon...well, I'm not sure he'd have enjoyed anything at all.  Bit of a prima-donna.  But he was still pleasant to the fans.

I have a strange feeling we've probably met.  I have friends in ORAC, and am usually locked in the ops room all weekend when FenCon is on, putting out brush fires (or, occasionally, pushing a Dalek down the hallway to heckle the fans).  I don't know if we run in the same circles, but it sounds like those circles may intersect once in a while...

[Mickey Finn]

I used to be in charge of Meri's Minions (the position Robi Holman now holds, she used to be on my team), aka PsiCops, aka Bureau 13, aka Division Six.
Do you, by any chance, have long brown hair, glasses, and a sardonic look on your face much of the time? (I know the latter describes many people in conops.) Early to mid 20s, female? I see that person in conops alot.
Checks profile...nope, yer male. That's not you. Ok, how about tall, thin, light hair and glasses, early 20's?

I've only made one Fencon, the one Jim was at. I was one of the ones in the Resnick panel who got caught in the hurricane traffic in Houston and couldn't make it, the previous year.

Claudia Smith, my roommate, made the first one and praised you guys to high heaven.

[The Dread Pharaoh Roberts]

Nope, I'm a big guy, slowly losing the battle to resist becoming a "fat guy" (I may have, in fact, lost this battle...but I'm still fighting.), with short dark hair and a close-trimmed beard.  No glasses, but the sardonic look is likely.  I think the long-haired guy with the glasses may be my friend Jim, who's actually in charge of con ops for FenCon.  I'm the other ops guy. 

At last year's FenCon I had a bit of a Marine Corps-style buzz cut - the result of a communication problem with a hairdresser a few days before.  "You really want it that short?"  "Well, no, that's a bit shorter than I had planned..."   Still had the beard, though, trimmed to match.  Unfortunately, I only got to see about 30 minutes of the actual con last year, so I only really met the folks who came by the ops room.  If you saw the Dalek make its trip down the hallway, I was the one of the guys pushing it - the one with the microphone throwing wisecracks out through the Dalek's voicebox.

You should come back this year - we've got a new hotel (the hotel was the one recurring compalint last year...they really dropped the ball.  Again, and again, and again...) and it looks like we're gonna keep growing.

[Mickey Finn]

"with short dark hair and a close-trimmed beard."

So, not Woodchuck, then.

Claudia's definately going...she's a huge Connie Willis fan... I'm planning on it, it's not definate yet.

[Wolfhowls]

What?What are all these Con's I've never heard of? It's like a whole new world has opened up to me. So what are the list of Con that are in Texas and the Major Con everyone goes to?

Hey Mickey it was really cool meeting you and your roommates in person ....Hey here is a thought maybe all the Houston fas could do that again?

[Mickey Finn]

Dallas:
Fencon, as mentioned.
Project A-Kon, if you like anime or general insanity. www.a-kon.com
ConDFW, a writer's con and slowly becoming home to Bob Asprin, John Steakley, Stephen Zoltan Brust, and Bill Crider. www.condfw.org

College Station: Aggiecon, one of the older cons. It is staffed by the students, so quaility can vary from year to year, but one year they had Harlan Ellison AND Terry Pratchett, so they got clout.

Houston: OniCon is an anime con I haven't managed to get to, but has a good rep.
Owlcon: Gaming con I've never been to.

[fairyfreak]

Hey was FairyFreak the woman with blonde hair with that guy that didn't talk because I was too busy asking Mr. Butcher too many damn questions?

Oh, hey!  I forgot to introduce myself to you!  You came in after me, and I was already squished into place.    I was on your side of the room against the wall.  Don't remember if you were there when we were talking about when we lived in alaska, but that was us if you were.  Mickey's description is pretty good, short hair, glasses.    It was great meeting everyone!! 

[Kimber L Rose]

Yes, it was wonderful meeting everyone.  I also found out that Hockeymom does in fact have the outdoor group picture but we're going to have to wait until she gets home and downloads it to her computer before she can even send it to me.

[Wolfhowls]

 Have you ever have a day to were you feel like the biggest dolt in the world. Well, today was that day for me. I work right across the street from the where the RT Con is being held, as a security guard at the Allen Centers. I remember Mr.Butcher was to have a panel today between the hours of 5 and 6. So what do I do, I get 20 bucks and run across the street , yes in my stupid uniform. Now knowing nothing at all about Cons or asking anything about them I run into the Hyatt asking just about everyone person, which happened to be 90% women, if they knew who Jim Butcher was , when and where he was doing the book signning. With the help of four ,one of them being someone I saw at the dinner, that the book signning won't be until Satuday. I also got a crash course in how cons work from two women, one had a nickname of Chaoscat and the other lady worked at Lanes Library. Now, feeling like the biggest jasckass known to man I go back to work. See, I should have known better I should have checked the infromation and I should known times can change. I am sure you are wondering why I feel like the biggest dumbass...You run thru a hotel ,in stupid ass white security guard uniform ,FULL of women asking for Mr.Butcher and see how you feel. So, now that I know how cons work I'll be sure to check the information. If you were at the cons between the hours of 5 and 6 and saw some moron running around in a white sercuirty guard uniform ...that was me....go me yea

[Mickey Finn]

Not being into the romance scene (bookwise, anyways), I can only speak for the scifi/fantasy crowd...but a newbiew trying to find stuff out is not looked down upon.

Also, schedule changes are not usually posted on con websites if they occur during the con itself. They usually just post it in the hotel.

[Wolfhowls]

Yeah ..I mainly put this on the site because I wanted to make people laugh because boy did I need it. But, now that I know that the book signning is today (Saturday) I'm gunna ty to be there. So, I hope to see everyone again.

[Johnny_alpha]

Sardines!*
It was a wee bit crowded, but fun.

Met Fairyfreak, Wolfhowls, Big Mama, Libby...and....um....crap. I don't know if some of those people on the other side of the room were board members or not.

Hee. I don't count as 'meeting', though. But I was stealthy and quiet and stuff, as usual...

[Mickey Finn]

That would be because I already KNOW you. I met with you, but I MET you *mumblemumblecough* years ago.

[BigMama]

Had a wonderful time at the dinner with Jim and Shannon. I didn't get to meet everyone, but I did accost most of the folks and find out who they were. Jim is terrific, but Shannon is the greatest! It was interesting being squished in a small room together. It was total chaos--Wolfhowls and I were sitting near the door so we at least had some semblence of space and we looked at one another and spent part of the time laughing at the mania all around us (he had a few beers, which may have played into that also!) Anyway, a most enjoyable evening and the food was even good! Thanks again to Mickey for the arranging--it was really fun.

P.S. It was GREAT to have Bob join us. Thanks to Libby for escorting him. Pictures will follow if I can figure out how to make them work.

[Mickey Finn]

Pictures are currently messed up on the boards. I think I know why, but it requires Iago to come back from his belated honeymoon to fix.

Shannon is indeed a fantastic person.
And I expierenced something I've never seen this morning...Jim semi-hyper, not in a semi-zombie state from a con!