Readercon 21 - Day Two
Jul. 8th, 2010 09:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julieandrewsThis schedule is insane! I'm so glad I'm not actually on programming. Some people are on a ton of program items and I don't know how they cope.
From 11am onwards there's been panel, panel, panel, panel. With 5 minutes (if you're lucky) between panels. Around 1, sitting in a panel, I thought I'd better get one of those high-priced sandwiches the hotel sells before going to the next panel. But, of course, they'd sold out by the time I got there. Not just packed up and left. Not just sold out of vegetarian sandwiches. Sold out of sandwiches. So they were selling like cookies and chips or something.
Consuite is crap (no offense to the people who put in the work to staff it and whatever, but it's crap). Okay, maybe that's unfair. As I have at least had 2 half peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from there today. And if not for that, I would've been stuck with only what I brought from home. Then again, I could've brought my own peanut butter, jelly, and bread.
No lunch break. No dinner break. And to escape the hotel to get real food, you have to find someone with a car whose schedule isn't packed full. And even then, you're likely to miss 2 programming slots doing it.
At 5pm, I decided I really needed a break. I had a headache. So I went back to the room, lay down, and fell asleep. I had set the alarm and meant to go to N. K. Jemisin's program on immersive world-building, but when it went off, I woke up, and lacked any motivation to go anywhere.
Between the Tylenol and the nap, the headache's pretty much gone. And I'm glad for the nap.
I went to 2 more hours of panels. And now I'm fantasizing about substantial food of some sort. Carrots from the consuite, trail mix I brought with me, and the hope of something good at the Meet the Pros(e) Party in 45 minutes.
I seriously must've forgotten, blacked out, how horrible the food situation is at Readercon. I mean, I knew it, I brought some food. I won't starve. But.. jeesh, man.
Will I regret not ordering a pizza at 9pm? Or going to the bar for potato skins? I might!
Programming starts at 10am tomorrow. Really, they could've so easily started programming an hour early and scheduled just _one_ break.. _one_ break with food.
Of course my ultimate wish is that they'd change hotels!! But no hope of that for next year at the very least.
Do they not realize how horrible it is? How much money would we all save if we didn't have to pay for hotel food and internet? Enough to make up the cost of a higher room rate closer to Boston!
Oh, thoughts on panels? Well, Cat Valente seems to be mentioned in at least half of them! And I haven't even gone to any programs with her on them!
From 11am onwards there's been panel, panel, panel, panel. With 5 minutes (if you're lucky) between panels. Around 1, sitting in a panel, I thought I'd better get one of those high-priced sandwiches the hotel sells before going to the next panel. But, of course, they'd sold out by the time I got there. Not just packed up and left. Not just sold out of vegetarian sandwiches. Sold out of sandwiches. So they were selling like cookies and chips or something.
Consuite is crap (no offense to the people who put in the work to staff it and whatever, but it's crap). Okay, maybe that's unfair. As I have at least had 2 half peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from there today. And if not for that, I would've been stuck with only what I brought from home. Then again, I could've brought my own peanut butter, jelly, and bread.
No lunch break. No dinner break. And to escape the hotel to get real food, you have to find someone with a car whose schedule isn't packed full. And even then, you're likely to miss 2 programming slots doing it.
At 5pm, I decided I really needed a break. I had a headache. So I went back to the room, lay down, and fell asleep. I had set the alarm and meant to go to N. K. Jemisin's program on immersive world-building, but when it went off, I woke up, and lacked any motivation to go anywhere.
Between the Tylenol and the nap, the headache's pretty much gone. And I'm glad for the nap.
I went to 2 more hours of panels. And now I'm fantasizing about substantial food of some sort. Carrots from the consuite, trail mix I brought with me, and the hope of something good at the Meet the Pros(e) Party in 45 minutes.
I seriously must've forgotten, blacked out, how horrible the food situation is at Readercon. I mean, I knew it, I brought some food. I won't starve. But.. jeesh, man.
Will I regret not ordering a pizza at 9pm? Or going to the bar for potato skins? I might!
Programming starts at 10am tomorrow. Really, they could've so easily started programming an hour early and scheduled just _one_ break.. _one_ break with food.
Of course my ultimate wish is that they'd change hotels!! But no hope of that for next year at the very least.
Do they not realize how horrible it is? How much money would we all save if we didn't have to pay for hotel food and internet? Enough to make up the cost of a higher room rate closer to Boston!
Oh, thoughts on panels? Well, Cat Valente seems to be mentioned in at least half of them! And I haven't even gone to any programs with her on them!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-25 06:02 pm (UTC)I'm sorry about your bad food experience, and I'd like to come up with a way to make things better. However, we have to work within the constraints of what the hotel will allow, and they will not permit us to have really substantial food in the con suite. You can buy a sandwich from the hotel's stand and then take it into a panel if you're low on time. If you have an hour free, the hotel has a free shuttle to the Burlington Mall and nearby restaurants; if you didn't know about that, I apologize for our not getting the word out properly.
We don't usually have food breaks because 1) people are used to eating at different times, and 2) we want to get as much programming in as possible while we have everyone in one place. There are always tradeoffs.
Are you interested in helping with the convention? We can always use more people and new ideas. You can send me an LJ message or mail to readsalot@livejournal.com.