thanks and suggestions

[wotw]

First and very much foremost, a gigantic thank you to JB,
Kimberly, Tamad, Donna, Judy, the entire concom, and the
volunteers. (I want to single out Chameleon, who seemed
to be making herself helpful every time I looked.) This
was as close to perfect as a weekend gets.

The food was superb. I wouldn't change anything about it.

I do have two (I hope) constructive suggestions:

1) At least one, and probably two, of the ice cream tables
really really need to be a little farther from the
Port-a-Potties.

2) I expect I'm in a minority here, but I really could
have done without the band. No matter how good they
were, they a) made it hard to converse and b) completely
shut down the spontaneous jam sessions that were a big
part of the atmosphere all weekend.

Finally: A word of personal thanks to all of the above
named, plus Phil, Hobbit, Mark and the others we imposed
on for help when we had a small unexpected crisis just
as you were really really ready to be rid of everyone.
Your kindness and your graciousness will be long
appreciated.

Comments

[larksdream]

1. I did notice that also. Of course, if someone brings Durian Delight next year maybe it won't matter so much. ;-)

2. Yeah, my voice gave out trying to talk over them from quite a distance away, so I had to go hide in the tent area.

I second the thank-yous too. It's hard to believe that something this big could come off as smoothly as it did. :)

[penk.livejournal.com]

I'll be a voice of dissent here - I loved the band. Baitcon has somewhat of a tradition of bringing indy bands in to play for Saturday night, and I really really enjoyed the set. For a basically 48 hour social gathering, taking 2 hours to hear a band, particularly one as good as Platypus Rex (http://www.platypusrex.org/) (who, incidentally, includes many baitcon current and former attendees), is well within the realm of acceptable.

But yeah, further away from the portajons for the ice cream is fine by me :)

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Same here. I just wished I was more aware of who could've been roped into dancing with me! (Most of that time I was running about in the kitchen anyway)

[thespian.livejournal.com]

wouldn't they all be current attendees, since, well, they were there? :-)

I feel the same about Darkover, these days, which has pretty much become a Clam Chowder concert with a little convention around it, but then, I really don't like Clam Chowder, and I do like P-Rex, which might make a difference. But it sounds to me, from the setup, that just turning down the volume might have been enough.

[mneme]

Clam Chowder is a primary reason for me to go to Darkoever, when I go. But clearly ymdv.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that they're ok in their place, but I resent that they've basically replaced EVERYTHING on Saturday night. What was, 15 years ago when I first went, a balanced sort of con, with some parties, a good con suite, modest amount of dedicated dealers and really interesting and unique things, like the midnight chorus around the pool, has become a wasteland for the time that Clam Chowder is on stage (last time I was there i was 3 and a half hours). I know, from the numbers of attendees, that a good reason why the con is almost half the size it was 10 years ago, is because people just don't care to bother with what has become, according to wayward_va (who likes them), "a Clam Chowder concert with a little bit of a con around it."

[mneme]

I think this is a self-fulfilling prophesy -- if Darkover -is- becoming a Clam Chowder concert with some con wrapped around it (despite the choral sing continuing in full swing, frex), it's because people who don't want to go to the concert stay away from the con entirely.

A far larger change is the lack of actual, well, Darkover, Sime Gen, or to a large degree, Pagan programming; that's a far larger change to the con's character than a single very popular concert.

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

One of the jam sessions was with the band, which I quite enjoyed.

Having been part of one of the past year's bands and knowing that bands really only play at baitcon if the majority of the band is going to be there anyway, I'm really glad for the outlet for small bands like this. Over hearing the band they had been playing about as many gigs as Mazer Rackham had when we played, which is to say almost none.

But you're opinion is welcome, just understand they weren't hired or anything.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

1. guess I'm just desensitized to the port-a-potties. They were actually not bad at all this year, thanks to reasonable temperatures. Sometimes, when the weather is hot all day friday and Saturday, they are just horrible by Sunday morning.

2. I'm sort of with you about the band thing. I'm there to socialize and talk to people and although it is a good thing to support ones friends in a band, I would much rather go to a specific venue to see a performance. I much prefer the spontaneous jam sessions that crop up randomly. I think that social events are not the place for structured (for lack of a better term)performances. Jam sessions where anyone who feels the urge to join in regardless of their musical talent are more fun.

[coraline]

i'm of divided opinion WRT the band -- on the one hand, i agree with you that i would rather have continued jamming with folks, and didn't get anything out of this particular band performance. on the other hand, as onetwolittleb says above, i've been in the band that got to play saturday night and it was wonderful to have a venue of friends to play for, especially for a band that doesn't play out much.

i guess maybe i'd prefer a shorter set that began later? or something.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

Tamar.

Tammad is, sadly, no longer able to attend Baitcon, though he always enjoyed it when he did. :(

[wotw]

Yes, it was a typo. I remember Tammad fondly,
but never once confused him with Tamar.

[winged-faerie.livejournal.com]

For me, the band was the best part of the weekend. I absolutely love live music performances (jamming just isn't quite the same) and never have enough time for them, so combining it with another activity was great. Perhaps, if we get a new location, there will be a place for both conversation and live music?

[tikvah.livejournal.com]

Loved the band. Agree with the sentiment that the tables need to be farther from the Port-a-Potties.