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I’m heading for my first Philcon this year. I figure it’s close plus the SFWA regional meeting is there and I’d like to attend.
Here’s my preliminary schedule.
Friday
10:00PM Websites for Writers – Event #16
Saturday
12:00PM Sherlock Holmes and Science Fiction
2:00PM Science Fiction and Romance
3:00-5:00PM Crafting: Hand Puppets (Yep, I’m going to teach on the kids’ track.)
8:00PM Beyond Philip Pullman- Is Atheism the Last Taboo?
Sunday
10:00AM Towards a Theory of Science Fiction
11:00AM Reading (I’ll bring a couple of options and let the audience pick)
12:00PM Presenting your art: tips for approaching art directors, publishers, and galleries
1:00PM The News from Mars
Will I see any of you there?
I have not gone to Philcon for the last few years, but I used to like it. I would be interested in hearing your evaluation of their new site in Cherry Hill and also how the con is run.
The hotel seemed to have a good layout for the con.The bar was ridiculously noisy, even when nearly empty, but other than that it had good flow. It also appeared to be well run, at least from my end.
@Mary
I’m pleased you enjoyed the con. Not much we could do about the noisy bar: there were a couple of other functions also in the hotel, like a high school reunion, that were far noisier than we were. We’ll be back there next year, and the year following, as contracts are already signed.
The space is a good fit (though we would like even more), and the hotel was a pleasure to deal with. I think they’re enthusiastic about having us back next time. There were some of the usual challenges in putting a con into a new venue, but once we got the engineering details worked out, things went fairly well.
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Dennis
I did have a good time. I think the noise in the bar was a function of all the stone bouncing things around. Was the high school reunion the group in cowboy hats?
Hallelujah! The new avatar worked! Thanks again.
I always used to joke that I went to PhilCon for the dim sum, but now that it’s no longer right next to Chinatown, and isn’t even in Philly, I realize I must not have been entirely joking. So I won’t be there. Actually, I think that since it’s no longer in the same state, they should change the name. As Karen wrote, please report back, because at the moment I have Philcon crossed off my con list.
I thought it was a nice con. There’s a good sushi restaurant across the street — not dim sum, true, but still tasty.
Sorry about the move to NJ, but there wasn’t any choice. Philcon needs a hotel with the function space to accommodate it that has the space available at an affordable price in mid-November. There simply isn’t any hotel in Philadelphia proper that has the space available in the required time frame. This has been an issue for Philcon as long as it has existed. (And at least six hotels that used to host Philcon no longer exist – the Sylvania, the Bellevue Stratford, the center city Sheraton, the City Line Avenue Marriot, the Benjamin Franklin, and the Adam’s Mark. There is an internal pool in the con committee on whether the Philcon Curse will strike the Center City Marriot and the Wyndham nee Sheraton where Philcon was in the most recent years. :-P)
The alternative to the Cherry Hill facility was a property in Valley Forge, and I think Philcon chose the better option. Perhaps you’ll reconsider next year.
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Dennis
I will keep you both posted.
I really enjoyed the reading. I hope Good Housekeeping finds a publisher.
Thank you, Cathy! I really appreciated having you in the audience.