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

[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.