Jo Walton ([info]papersky) wrote in [info]farthingparty,
@ 2007-09-11 13:56:00
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Looking forward
Well, I had a fabulous time. And I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did. Thank you for coming! If you write reports, please post here with links -- and I'd also appreciate restaurant reviews here, for updating and improving the restaurant guide.

I'm going to be knocking around some ideas I have for doing things differently next year, and would appreciate input.

1) Instead of all 1 hour panels, how about some half hour panels and some 90 minute panels?

2) Talking to Geri and some other people the other day, the idea came up that having the Renoir party space for Saturday night is better than hanging out at Gateries the way we did on Friday, but is it $400 better? Would that $400 be better spent on having a consuite that wasn't big enough for a party but was open for hanging out in smaller groups all the time? Do we want to do this? Would anyone be prepared to run and help run such a consuite?

3) There's a worldcon in Montreal in 2009. So no Farthing Party. But what about having a Farthing Party party in the worldcon...?

4) It's never too soon to consider asking: What's a good weekend in September in 2008?

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[info]kalmn
2007-09-11 06:18 pm UTC (link)
But what about having a Farthing Party party in the worldcon...?

yes yes yes yes yes i'll help if i can please check back with me post baby but if i can manage it i will!

ahem.

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[info]ckd
2007-09-11 06:42 pm UTC (link)
1) It'd depend on the topics, I think. Some panels felt like they were too short, though "leave 'em wanting more" is always a good way to go out. Maybe 30 minutes would be a good slot for Alter's archaeology presentation, moving it into the main track from Saturday evening's "science track"?

2) A consuite is certainly an interesting idea. Cally and I could move the "gaming track" there easily; I'm not sure it would work as well for the "science track" or "filk track", though. If there was one, I'd help out with it.

3) If (as I hope) I can make it to Anticipation, I say "yes, and I'll help out as best I can".

4) Based on my calendar right now, they're all good.

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[info]sethb
2007-09-11 06:52 pm UTC (link)
Varying the length is good, if you can predict which ones will stay interesting longer (and need the time).

That hotel apparently doesn't have any large suites; another hotel might, which could make for a good con suite.

Why not have Farthing Party a week after the Worldcon? That would give some of us a chance to hang around and visit Montreal for a week. (The week before isn't so good, people will be working on the Worldcon.) During the Worldcon, people will be busy.

Since the Worldcon is so early (second weekend in August), any weekend in September is fine. Labor Day weekend might be best, for people who want a longer stay.

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[info]mrissa
2007-09-11 07:51 pm UTC (link)
Also, Minneapolitans of all political stripes would probably be happy to have a reason to be away from Mpls for Labor Day of '08.

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[info]sethb
2007-10-01 04:13 am UTC (link)
Probably. Though I could see hanging out at Kieran's (across the street from a strip club) with a camera with telephoto lens.

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(Anonymous)
2007-09-17 06:57 pm UTC (link)
Can someone who stayed at the co-located hotel tell us if the rooms there might be big enough for a consuite? It seems to me there was some talk of suites, anyway, but I've no idea how large they might be.

It would be nice to have some sort of consuitish thing for hanging out in before and after programming; the place-I-can't-spell on Friday was big enough, but too noisy for me. Something with more sound-absorbancy, and/or more broken-up spaces would work better for me.

I'd certainly be happy to help out with the consuite, if it was decided to have one.

Oh, and I very much like the idea of the week after the Worldcon, if possible. Failing that, Labor Day is good.

--Cally

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[info]pnh
2007-09-11 07:37 pm UTC (link)
Labor Day weekend 2008, yes!

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[info]dd_b
2007-09-11 07:51 pm UTC (link)
I'm not sure there were a lot of candidates for half-hour panels. But at least one actually did finish on it's own quite early, so maybe. Some things probably could have used longer times, though I didn't find myself feeling panels were cut off while flourishing.

The lack of a con suite did seem to me to deprive the con of a "center". It probably lead to more conversations in, and around the door of, the programming room, too. But whether a con suite that worked well could be done within the resource constraints and local laws I'm not nearly so clear on.

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[info]redbird
2007-09-12 12:10 am UTC (link)
Wiscon panels are 75 minutes, and while that's great for not running out of time, it can be wearing for the panelists, depending on the topic. Ninety would, I think, be problematic for many people, especially if the topic were emotionally difficult or people started shouting at each other.

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[info]malkingrey
2007-09-12 03:02 am UTC (link)
The one program that I think could benefit from being 90 minutes instead of an hour would be the assorted-readings one.

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[info]grimmwire
2007-09-12 03:34 am UTC (link)
Jo, thanks so much for a wonderful weekend! I had a really great time.

1) I'm not keen on panels of more than an hour. And while we did run out of steam early during the "Made Out of Meat" panel, that was because it's a short-short and thus did not provide quite enough meat to chew on (as it were).

2) I feel that such a small event shouldn't be spread out among too many rooms. Then again, maybe next year the number of attendees will increase to make an consuite useful, without drawing energy away from the programming.

3) I think a Farthingparty at the '09 Worldcon makes sense. If it's later, some people may have to chose between attending one or the other.

4) In 2008 I hope to go to Burning Man again, and if so I'll be gone from 23 Aug thru 3 Sept.

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[info]brooksmoses
2007-10-01 06:40 am UTC (link)
On 4: There's an annual conference in Boston in September that I'll probably be going to. It would be very convenient for me to go from there to Montreal and back. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have posted when exactly it is going to be next year, but my rough guess is the 21st through 23rd. Given that, I think the best weekend for me would be the 18th and 19th, but the 25th and 26th is also good.

Not that I expect you to cater to my whims, of course, just adding a vote. I really do hope I can make it to one of these sometime soon!

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