Matthew's Journal

Worldcon was excellent; thanks to uitlander's intelligence, I got a room for £40/night (for 2 people), in a hotel that was basic (and a bit noisy, even with the window closed), but clean and comfortable, and only a short walk from the convention centre.

There was a lot of programme, and the bits I went to were very good. The art exhibition was cool, the dealer had lots of good stuff, and the other exhibits were interesting (turns out I exhale a little methane shortly after eating a burger, but not when not just after food).

A few niggles that I noticed (don't know if it's worth trying to feed these back to anyone):

• Registration were too friendly(!) I think if they'd been more "here's your badge, here's the programme book, ask information if you have questions" the queue might have been less vast
  
• Literary beer needed stewarding, sadly - people were turning up even though they weren't on the sign-up list, which meant that the group sizes were larger than they should have been, and I know at least one person who turned up to find 15 people already there and all the chairs taken; they're not the assertive sort, so they went away and were very sad to have missed something they'd made a real effort to sign up for
  
• The second stage area was a funny space, and the acoustics & tech didn't quite work (worse in the Anubis Gates, where people at the front couldn't hear action from the aisles, and people further back couldn't hear action from the stage)
  
• The venue for the welcome party was too small - I attempted to go, but it was packed and heaving, and so I gave up, which was a shame, as it was my first Worldcon. Maybe a brief "guide for new Worldconners" also?
  
• The people who did the beer did a great job, and there was always good real ale on offer. Their food offering, though, wasn't up to scratch; if cons hire them in future, just go with the beer ;-)
  

Who knows, maybe I'll make it to another Worldcon if it's in Europe again...