How Civilized

[kevin_standlee]

One of the restaurants in the food court does Breakfast All Day, which suits me just fine, thank you. As my panels don't start until 1 PM, I was in no hurry to get moving. I keep reminding myself that I'm the con's guest, I'm not working in the conventional sense (other than approaching my job as FGoH seriously), I'm not running a fan table, etc., so there's no reason to kill myself on my hours. Lisa and I went downstairs to Chicken & Eggs and had breakfast.

Along the way, we ran across Kim Williams, MARCON's hotel liaison and former chair of the Columbus Worldcon bid. We chatted for a few minutes, and we told her how we'd scoped out the convention facilities (including the convention center proper next door). As someone who has run the Events division of a Worldcon, I was particularly impressed by the facilities mix in the Hyatt, where they have a hall suitable for hosting the Hugos/Masquerade (somewhat like the arena in which ConJose's major events were held, but without the fixed stage) and also the 1000-seat ballroom in which Programming can put those huge program items without using the Events space. (It's common to assume that the Big Hall is always available during the day because "there's nothing going on in there" when in fact for a Worldcon, you're using that space all day long for rehearsal and setup.)

Anyway, after a simple breakfast, we ran back up to the room, where in a few minutes we will head back downstairs for the first of my two program items, "MySpace and the Evolution of the Virtual Community." I won't be able to address MySpace (I have an account there but don't use it), but can talk about LiveJournal fan space, I think. After that, there's a slot for "Doctor Who Fan Vids," which I learned when I got here was intended for me to show one of my two videos, but because I misunderstood the directions, I thought I was sharing with other people and therefore only brought the 15-minute "Making of" documentary. It would have been a near thing to show all of The Zombie Legions anyway in the 75-minute program slot.

And I'm also making use of having activated the T-Mobile account for today by downloading the Super 14 rugby semi-finals. I'll activate the downloads while connected, and then I can watch one of them on the plane ride home, assuming I can unfold the computer sufficiently to see the screen.

Comments

[purpleranger.livejournal.com]

So, does that mean you will encourage Columbus to stage another Worldcon bid?

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

No, because there are people-point issues involved. What I'm saying is that the facilities look very workable for a Worldcon. Having the right size-and-shape facility doesn't mean you can run a Worldcon.

[sethb.livejournal.com]

As long as you're there, can you find out if they're still planning on having a Smofcon? Maybe with more than three members, even?

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Kim Williams says that the web site should be online within a few weeks. I don't have anything more specific than that.

[tkunsman.livejournal.com]

I would also have to say that I was impressed with the facilities, and think it would make a great venue for a Worldcon, especially with the Food Court.

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

Except the food court isn't really 24hours. Like only the McD's stays open 24 hours. Also, last time I was there it seemed that half the restaurants in the food court were closed.

[tkunsman.livejournal.com]

Note sure why the food court would need to stay open 24 hours. There is no McD's in the convention center food court. Maybe some time ago there was, but it is no longer there.

Also, last time I was there it seemed that half the restaurants in the food court were closed.

Guess it depends on when you went to the food court. Since they are a business, if they feel they are not getting enough customers, they will close down for the night.

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

When they were bidding for a worldcon they were talking up their 24 hour food court.

[tkunsman.livejournal.com]

I did not know that Columbus was talking up a 24 hour food court. Not sure how they could offer this, unless they were to guarantee a certain amount of buisness each day.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

It's certainly moot now, but I expect that if there was a Worldcon in there -- roughly 3x the size of MARCon and probably with fewer "commuters" proportionate to the total attendance -- there would be sufficiently commerical incentive for the restaurants to keep longer hours. It looks to me like the vendors there have flexibility in their hours and as long as they were making money, they'd stay open.