disappointed
vakkotaur and I have spent about 7 hours at CONvergence. I'm sure there's fun to be had here, but so far we haven't found it.We arrived about 3:30. Checking in to the hotel was no problem, and getting our con badges was trivial. We went to the tail end of David Gerrold's panel, and he was a good guy to listen to. That's where the easy part stopped.
We next went to a panel on LiveJournal and its effects on social dynamics. Things weren't too bad - until one attendee mentioned a friend of hers that thought mocking was an appropriate way to communicate. Needless to say, I took strong exception to that, and Paul and I were both surprised and saddened that the panelists, as well as most of the audience, seemed to think that anyone who puts anything up on the net can and should expect to get mocked for it, with only "don't let them get to you" as their answer to it.
We left for dinner at a Burger King across the parking lot. When we came back, I had some time, so I washed the unitard - well, half-assedly, since it turned out the sink stopper wouldn't hold water, and the soak in Woolite was only marginally effective at best. Grumble.
When I finally gave up on that, we went to the opening ceremonies, which were in progress...or, rather, we tried. There were people standing in the doorway, and it looked like the place was full. We couldn't get within 20 feet.
By this time, we were both feeling disappointed in the whole affair. We went to the art show, and looked at some good stuff, though none of it was interesting enough to buy. By the time we were done with that, it was time for the panel on "How the Masquerade Works". Unfortunately, it turned out to be more like "How the judging works, with a 45-minute video from a masquerade in 1994". I left only partially satisfied, and that only after talking to one of the helpers and telling her what I hadn't learned yet.
One guy who'd been at the LJ panel did spend some time talking to us while we were waiting in the interminable line for the elevators. He had some suggestions, and some comments on the event. He said it would get more interesting tomorrow. I sure hope so.
