Where in the World Will John Scalzi Be?
Posted on January 2, 2007 Posted by John Scalzi 30 Comments
Because I know how much my stalkers hate having to guess where I’ll be, here are my current convention plans for the first part of 2007.
January 19-21: Moonbase ConFusion, in Troy, Michigan
February 16-18: Boskone, in Boston, Massachusetts
April 20-22: Penguicon, in Troy, Michigan (what did Troy do to deserve two SF conventions? Beats me)
May 25-28: Wiscon, in Madison, Wisconsin
July 6-8: The Heinlein Centennial, in Kansas City, Missouri
At Penguicon I’ll be a Nifty Guest, which is like a minor league guest of honor; at the Heinlein Centennial I’m a featured guest. At ConFusion and Boskone, I’ll be just a common schmoe.
I don’t have the second half of 2007 planned yet in terms of appearances. I haven’t decided yet about Worldcon; I’d like to go, but I’d need to figure out the logistics (and the cost). I do suspect I’ll want to go to other conventions in the second half of 2007 (I’ll have The Last Colony to flog, after all), and it might be a good thing to try some conventions that are new to me. If anyone has suggestions for good science fiction cons in the second half of the year, I’m open to suggestion.
Aside from conventions, I’ll also be doing bookstore and library appearances; in fact, I have a bookstore appearance in Cincinnati later this month (1/25, at the Joseph-Beth Bookstore — I’ll give this its own entry soon); I’ll let you all know when other such events and appearances occur.
That’s my 2007 appearance schedule so far. Let the stalking commence!
Stalk. Stalk. I’ll be at most of those as well :-)
Well, there are 2 I can think of (ok, one is the first half of the year and I’m involved in it, so I hope I won’t get flogged to bad about it :) )
MidSouthCon 25 – GoH Terry Prachett, Artist GoH is Don Maitz and Mark Waid is Comics GoH – held March 23-25 in Memphis, TN
However, I would highly recommend attending Archon in Collinsville, IL. this year, as it’s this year’s NASFiC, since Worldcon is in Yokohama this year.
Barbara Hambly is Writer GoH, Darrell K Sweet is Artist GoH and Mira Furlan is Media GoH.
It’s August 2-5, in Collinsville, IL – just across the river from St. Louis.
critter42:
“However, I would highly recommend attending Archon in Collinsville, IL. this year, as it’s this year’s NASFiC, since Worldcon is in Yokohama this year.”
Sadly, I have almost no interest in attending Archon this year, largely because it seems the trouble they’re having with the primary hotel are of the sort that make me very wary of trying to make a reservation there. I’m not going to travel hundreds of miles and spend hundreds of dollars just to feel like I’m not wanted.
Wow…I hadn’t been to their site in a while ( I’ve already got my reservations at one of the other hotels – I work in IT for one of the competitors :) ). I just looked – that is completely bizarre. Not to mention against Visa’s merchant agreement – they’re not allowed to keep ANY record of a cardholder’s CVV2 – electronic or otherwise.
In the con’s defense I have been going to it for a number of years and there hasn’t been this issue before and it’s been an absolute blast of a con (not to mention I’ve already paid my registration fees already :) )
Stalk – I mean see – you at Boskone!
I went to the Nasfic in Seattle the year Worldcon was in Glasgow, and while it was a good time and I met some very cool people — I don’t think I’d go to another one. The larger or more focused annual regional cons have more established programming, equally interesting attendance, and better-organized operations.
(That Nasfic also featured some interesting discussion of west-coast versus east-coast fannishness — interesting because as an east-coast fan I wasn’t even aware of the rivalry, apart from the bit written up in Camille Bacon-Smith’s book on SF fandom! So just let me take this opportunity to say that my opinion has nothing to do with the job west-coast fandom did on that NasFic, which was excellent, but rather with the organizational and social difficulties of organizing a one-off con that many fans and pros seem uninclined to attend. I suspect it’s a problem inherent with the Nasfic system, not the Seattle Nasfic in particular.)
From personal experience, I’m thinking Readercon and Boskone, which are excellent conventions, and I’m sure Wiscon falls into that category as well. The only disadvantage of attending regional cons is that you tend to only meet people in your area — but (a) people come from all over for Readercon and Boskone, and (b) it’s always possible to travel to a regional outside your area from time to time.
(Yeah, I live in Boston. And I’m spoiled rotten, having BOTH Boskone and Readercon in my backyard.)
Having attended a short notice funeral in Columbus last year I can attest that Denver is only a pleasant 20 hour drive away. You could do an afternoon’s book signing in as little as a week. Well, once everything melts any way…
I decided to go to NASFIC and stay in one of the other hotels, just because my novel comes out that same week and I wanted to be at a big con for the launch.
If you’re looking for something else in the late summer, I’d recommend Bubonicon in Albuquerque. New Mexico is turning into an SF writer’s colony, with George R.R. Martin, Melinda Snodgrass, Daniel Abraham, Stephen R. Donaldson, etc.
I’ll be at Boskone (a subway con for me) and Readercon, and probably Balticon and a few more in the fall. I’m spending what’s left of my advance on con travel. It should be fun and it might pay off in jump starting RADIO FREEFALL sales.
You’re doing Joseph-Beth, eh? I guess that means I have to show up. It’s like a rule or something now. Someone I know does JB, I’m expected to be there.
Which is fine, since I just shoplif- Er, um, spent my Borders Gift Card on TAD.
Depending on whether or not my case goes to trial or my child goes to a hockey tournament, I’m currently planning to TRY for ConFusion. And depending on whether or not I’m supposed to be in DC that weekend for the cabal of antitrust lawyers at the ABA, I’m going to TRY for Penguicon too. I mean, it’s like minutes, hour or so tops in rush hour traffic. So I should really try to go.
As a member of the local conrunning teams, I can tell you that what Troy did to earn two conventions was get more than one good (dare I say “wonderful”?) hotel of the appropriate size with management who aren’t hostile to conventions.
How about Orycon? My favorite larger convention, and I live in Seattle. Dates are November 16-18, 2007.
Not to be too regional, but you could come to Mile Hi Con in October. GoH include Robert J. Sawyer, amongst others.
It’s being held in that ever so attractive suburb of Denver you saw the last time you were here (The Denver Tech Center), but we could arrange for you to see more of the sprawl that is Denver this time.
There is MileHiCon in Denver at the end of Oct. David Weber is GoH.
I might make it to Moonbase of the ice melts in time, otherwise my attendance will be purely virtual.
Well shit.
I liked that hotel in Livonia they used last year for Penguicon.
Maybe they didn’t like us running through the hallways with toy guns? What a bummer.
If you’re driving to Denver, stop by in Omaha… I know you have fans here.
David Klecha:
“I liked that hotel in Livonia they used last year for Penguicon.”
I didn’t. I thought it was kind of a pit. No offense to Penguicon, which was still loads of fun anyway.
I just want to put in a good word for MidSouthCon. It was the first con I ever went to, and I had a lovely time. I haven’t been able to go the past couple of years, but not because I didn’t want to.
I’m also peeved about the Archon hotel situation. I’m right across the river, so I don’t really need a room (though it would be much more convenient than driving every day), but the fact that a number of cool people aren’t coming because of it–and I can’t blame them–displeases me intensely.
How about one of the Texas cons! I think ArmadilloCon (Austin), Appollcon (Houston) or Fencon (Dallas) would all be great….we’d love to see you down here.
Sort of hard for me to stalk unless you get a little closer, lol
Stalk, stalk, stalk… I might be at some of those, but I’m really stalking Tobias!
Later in July is a nice con in Pittsburgh, Confluence. Was only there last year, but it was a fun time.
John, having programmed you and programmed with you I do nothink that the words common schmoe can be used to refer to you.
Swiss Army panelist comes to mind.
John Scalzi:
“I didn’t. I thought it was kind of a pit. No offense to Penguicon, which was still loads of fun anyway.”
Well, they were certainly dicks about the warfare panel, anyway. I guess I’m just enamored with the sprawling, open style of hotel such as that was, rather than having everything confined to standard-width corridors. I think I prefer it to the high-rise, crammed-elevators sort of set up. But I’m big on wide-open spaces like that.
Troy got lucky. Not too many hotels in the SE Michigan area are well suited for SF conventions. I’m trying to remember if the Troy Hilton is what we used to call the “starship enterprise” hotel. Some years ago Conclave (or was it Confusion? or ConTraption?) was briefly held in a Troy hotel that had a long curving hallway shaped in a half circle. The curvature was sharp enough that once into the hallway you couldn’t see the ends. It was somewhat uncomfortable perspective to be walking along an “endless” curvature with identical doors running along the length.
Hey, that sounds like it would be a great idea for a kids’ show on PBS.
Cue Rockapella: “Where In The World Will John Scalzi Be?”
ConFusion: And if you’re lucky, Chuck won’t tell complete strangers to lick you again this year! Or unlucky, depending on your POV.
Looking forward to seeing you at ‘Fusion, which is held at the most awesome hotel ever. The first year, everyone was all “Behave! We want to be able to come back!”
When I checked into the Troy Marriott for ConFusion last year, the woman at the desk asked if I’d stayed with them before and I said Yes, I’d been to ConFusion the year before during the blizzard and that I was glad they were having us again. She smiled and she said the hotel really liked the ConFusion people. Pirate ships wandering through the lobby and all. (grin)
Sounds like enough Whatever lurkers are going to be at ConFusion (in TWO WEEKS!) that we should have some sort of a rump session in meatspace — maybe we should even invite Scalzi to join us. (double-grin) Speaking of meat, and you knew that was going to happen, the Don Shula’s restaurant at the hotel was the scene last year of Teh Best Steak Evah. (m-mmm… steak)
Steak, stalk — same diff.
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