I got exhausted just reading about it on twitter, Facebook, etc. Well, maybe not quite. But I could tell I would've had difficulty enjoying it even if it were possible to be there.
I heard 5900+ registrations with 5600+ warm bodies or something like that. Too much for that hotel. I know the folks running the con and many attending love that space, especially the pool area party spaces, but were I them I'd be doing an extensive hotel search anyway. Or consider capping attendance. I dunno. Glad it's not my problem to deal with.
It's been fascinating to watch the con grow and I wish everyone there well. They improved on some aspects of the "big Minicon" but also lack some things that were nice about the old Minicon (and about the current Minicon). Some of the lacks have since been fixed (the first year or two there weren't music parties and far less music in general) but others remain or have worsened IMHO.
Reading the schedule and watching people post about stuff that happened there, it felt more like a general geek convention in some ways than a science fiction convention. Dunno if that's how it seemed on the ground.
Even if money were not an issue, it would've been extremely difficult if not impossible for me to attend CONvergence. Commuting is tough because of the parking situation-- one has to be willing to spend 30-60 minutes or more driving around hunting for a parking spot or willing to park far away. Getting a hotel room in the con hotel is difficult-- it sold out in less than an hour (and wasn't announced to everyone at that point anyway) and Sofitel sold out in the same amount of time. And so on.
I suspect had I been there I'd agree on hanging around outside being among the best bits. Or wouldn't have minded being there for the dead dog when there are far fewer people around.
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I heard 5900+ registrations with 5600+ warm bodies or something like that. Too much for that hotel. I know the folks running the con and many attending love that space, especially the pool area party spaces, but were I them I'd be doing an extensive hotel search anyway. Or consider capping attendance. I dunno. Glad it's not my problem to deal with.
It's been fascinating to watch the con grow and I wish everyone there well. They improved on some aspects of the "big Minicon" but also lack some things that were nice about the old Minicon (and about the current Minicon). Some of the lacks have since been fixed (the first year or two there weren't music parties and far less music in general) but others remain or have worsened IMHO.
Reading the schedule and watching people post about stuff that happened there, it felt more like a general geek convention in some ways than a science fiction convention. Dunno if that's how it seemed on the ground.
Even if money were not an issue, it would've been extremely difficult if not impossible for me to attend CONvergence. Commuting is tough because of the parking situation-- one has to be willing to spend 30-60 minutes or more driving around hunting for a parking spot or willing to park far away. Getting a hotel room in the con hotel is difficult-- it sold out in less than an hour (and wasn't announced to everyone at that point anyway) and Sofitel sold out in the same amount of time. And so on.
I suspect had I been there I'd agree on hanging around outside being among the best bits. Or wouldn't have minded being there for the dead dog when there are far fewer people around.