Post by inflatabledalek on Aug 24, 2016 16:00:26 GMT
SUPER LONG POST ALERT.
This is my default sharing thoughts on TFN post, so it may contain things I've already mentioned here...
In many ways the new Birmingham TF Convention had a pretty tough challenge. Auto Assembly had been very well established and had a pretty loyal base of people who went every year. On the one hand capitalising on the rough connections (many of the same people involved, same venue and week of the year) between the two as as to encourage a smooth transition was sensible.
On the other, it was still a new event with all the potential teething troubles that come with that and if it got too firmly associated with the prior convention people might not be as forgiving of the learning curve as they might otherwise have been, plus anyone who had previously been put off by AA for whatever reason might not be so keen to give the new thing a chance. It was a balancing act, and one more than a few jokes were made about during the event itself (TFN Drinking game 1: Down something every time a guest or host says "This entirely new event" with a twinkle in their eyes).
Effectively though it was a balancing act they clearly got right in the lead up to the con as not only were most of the familiar faces there (and those that weren't were due to other circumstances), but so were many others. People who had never been to AA, or perhaps had drifted away from it. I don't think I've been to a con where so many people I know from Facebook, Twitter and various forums were there.
I was constantly making eye contact with people and thinking "I must go say hello!" but not getting the chance, or not realising I knew them until I was already five steps past them and wondering why they said "Hi Stuart" (this comically awkwardly happened with Nick Roche at one point as well. But it wouldn't be a TF convention if I wasn't mildly embarrassing around Nick Roche at some point). It wasn't as many people as last year's AA but it actually felt like a much bigger con as a result.
Also, any worries around people not giving the convention chance to get its shit together were groundless because it was an incredibly well oiled machine from the start. Those with prior experience of AA and the Hilton were able to use it well alongside the fresher blood's new ideas.
So events run on time, and when outside circumstances forced a change (such a Nick being ill on the Sunday. That's not ill in a Scott McNeil euphemistic sense by the by, it wouldn't be a Brum TF convention without one guest struck by something horrible) the reworking of the panel was done quickly enough for it to start on time and without fuss.
In fact--and I was joking by the end that I'd said this enough for it to become my catchphrase--it was the single most relaxed convention of any sort I've ever been to. Everyone was mellow, no one was fussed or tense or even over excited. Guests and attendees all seemed to be enjoying themselves in the most jazz (with a small J) way possible and it really made for a most pleasant experience.
Was it because it was a slightly smaller convention than last year's? Possibly, but even the smaller AA's (and we're talking when it was a couple of hundred people) didn't have that same atmosphere. Have I changed? Equally possibly, I know I'm in for the long haul with these things. My two biggest disappointments were not getting a Geoff Senior sketch or the new Nick Roche prints, but knowing there's a good chance I'll be seeing both men again (and possibly at events before the next TFN) meant I was fairly accepting of somehow never being at Geoff's desk when he was there or Nick's queue being capped on the Sunday.
But then, everyone else agreed with me about it being more relaxed so perhaps the con itself did something different? That's unhelpful really as it's vagaries But do it again next year!
Sadly on Saturday night I was upstairs doing the thing that isn't quite ready to be formally announced yet but which those of you who've seen my pics will be able to guess (and big thanks to Adam White for organising that), but the photos do show one advantage of a new con: New everything. I don't think I'd realised quite how tatty the AA props were after five/six/longer years of service, but all the signage and dressing being freshly created did make a big difference.
In terms of hosting, Chris McFeely and Andrew Turnbull both did great jobs on their panels. With the former being especially impressive on the MTMTE one considering he'd barely been able to speak during the day.
For the general hosting, David Paul Wallace and Petrina Witt both did a deceptively easy job. Dave might have the experience (and goodness me he knows how to milk a crowd), but he'd built up a rapport with a different partner and it might not have been so easy to make his style of presenting work with someone new, or worse still to completely overshadow them because of his prior experience of dealing with this bunch of loons. Instead, they worked well both solo and as a team and quickly set up an easy back and forth that looked effortless but probably took some effort.
The guests long stopped being the main focus of conventions for me, but there was a good selection here. Highlights included a nice chat with Simon Furman about his new project with Geoff Senior that led to talking about Dragon's Claws (a few people at the bar were surprised I didn't ask him about what I thought of the copy of my book I gave him last year, but whilst he fully deserved a free copy I'm pretty sure he just took it politely and put it in a drawer along with the many other "Oh...that's nice" things guests at conventions get given over the years). I also got him to sign one of the very last TFUK specials (thanks to Mr Turnbull), and as he was unfamiliar with it he was very pleased to see the colour Big Shutdown got another outing.
Alex Milne did me a great Spinister cover sketch and I got all the latest James Roberts scripts (as well as getting introduced to the joys of whisky by him and Marian Hilditch), and all the other guests were lovely, though my own inability to talk sensibly caused the language barrier to limit me to "Hello" and "Thanks" to those who weren't experts in English. The highlight though was getting an early copy of Sins of the Wreckers. Not so much for the book which after all has been formally released for less money under a week later, but for the queue. I have never been in such a tense line as everyone involved was eyeing each other up and thinking "Who's going to be the last one?" with an evil glare.
Yes, Nick Roche is such a talent he can make even a line of people a tense experience.
Getting Paul Eiding (and later after Andy introduced us, the artist Herzspalter) to sign the article I'd written for the program was exciting as well. "I haven't had chance to read it yet", oh Paul, it's OK, you don't have to. Him interrupting my lunch on the Friday when I was reading out the program to the others at my table ("You don't want to see that Paul Eiding panel... he's a wanker") was a joy as well.
Actually, nothing made me happier than standing behind people in the various queues who had the program out to get signed. Because no one is going to use something they think is complete crap for autographs so everyone involved must have done something right.
People of course are the main thing for me, and I mainly hung out with my now usual crowd of Marian, Ryan Frost, Philip Blake and Stuart Denyer, with special guest star Jamie Crowther on the Sunday. All were a delight as always, highlights include being mocked for my drinking of coke by a certain someone who was very ill on the Sunday ("Have an ice cube from my nice refreshing soft drink to cool you down"); discovering you can't match beers with Ryan and Stuart doing the exact same "It's the unsigned ones that are actually worth something" joke to each person who picked up a copy of The Book. I think I especially loved a discussion of Crap Tie In Cuckoo Clocks (seriously, Trek and Who both have them!) which quickly saw me and Marian spontaneously decide a Lost Light one with Swerve's ring tone as the chime was needed.
All the other good people passed in a blur, and I feel especially bad for taking money off Karl Thurgood and basically running away without having a proper chat. But there was a strange moment when various TMUK Eugenesis owners (and as mine, Marian's and the sold copy were all in the building does that make it the largest collection of copies since the con they were first sold at?) all happened to be together in the main hall in a state of shock over the £400 sale of one. I think we all began to eye up how much we really loved ours (when James signed mine he cheerfully said "I'm going to put such a specific dedication you'll never be able to sell it", so that temptation is removed for me...).
There were lots of lovely little chats throughout the weekend, especially with poor old Llama God who only said hi when passing but got sucked into a conversation about how terrible Star Trek V is with good grace. I'd have loved to have talked more with everyone, but there never seemed to be the time!
With all the pros there, what about the cons? What's interesting is that every single person I spoke to involved with the direct running of the con on the Sunday (Adam, Andy and Billy himself), were all incredibly down. All they could focus on was what they thought went wrong and all said pretty much identical things about doing it better next year. They were clearly being too hard on themselves, but as they asked for constructive criticism, my relatively minor niggles:
The first one should probably be the wrist bands that were used instead of lanyard passes this year. Pretty much the first thing I said to Andy was "I bet these won't work", amazingly he didn't punch me in the face for starting by pointing out something that not so hot.
Yet despite being initially smug about getting mine on a string around the neck, I think I was pretty much the only person to have come round to them by the end of the con. I was actually impressed everyone's seemed to have survived showers and drunken stumbling without being destroyed. The one advantage I had was I get to keep mine as a memento, though I suspect something different will be done next year regardless.
I suppose the main area that will need work next year as it didn't feel it quite worked is the Forge. Or at least worked as a separate section, especially as the room was slightly out of sight. All weekend I kept thinking "I must go look in the Forge!", but never quite got round to it, and based on what I heard from people who did this seems to have been a common thing as it was constantly described as being empty.
I'd say the problem is that, whilst people would go out of their way to see an Alex Milne or Geoff Senior the fan creators (however good) aren't automatically a draw in themselves and need that passing trade to sell their wares.
My suggested solutions for next year would be either have a section in the main hall (if it gets upgraded to the bigger room, IIRC that's what AA did with its Artists Alley last year), or put something in with the Forge that will draw people in casually and let them see what's on sale at the same time. Some of the toy displays maybe? Or even the registration desk? That's armchair quarterbacking of course.
I suppose my only other suggestion is it would have been nice for the convention to end with the more formal announcement of the next one, dates and maybe even a few guests. That always added to the buzz at the end of AA and is really helpful in starting the struggle for me to get the time off work! But I get they probably need to be sure how well this one went before finalising the details of the next so this would probably have been impracticable.
Overall though, a blooming good convention, I think the only other things that annoyed me (two instances of managers at the hotel belittling their staff in front of customers for example) were nothing to do with the convention itself. You achieved something!
This is my default sharing thoughts on TFN post, so it may contain things I've already mentioned here...
In many ways the new Birmingham TF Convention had a pretty tough challenge. Auto Assembly had been very well established and had a pretty loyal base of people who went every year. On the one hand capitalising on the rough connections (many of the same people involved, same venue and week of the year) between the two as as to encourage a smooth transition was sensible.
On the other, it was still a new event with all the potential teething troubles that come with that and if it got too firmly associated with the prior convention people might not be as forgiving of the learning curve as they might otherwise have been, plus anyone who had previously been put off by AA for whatever reason might not be so keen to give the new thing a chance. It was a balancing act, and one more than a few jokes were made about during the event itself (TFN Drinking game 1: Down something every time a guest or host says "This entirely new event" with a twinkle in their eyes).
Effectively though it was a balancing act they clearly got right in the lead up to the con as not only were most of the familiar faces there (and those that weren't were due to other circumstances), but so were many others. People who had never been to AA, or perhaps had drifted away from it. I don't think I've been to a con where so many people I know from Facebook, Twitter and various forums were there.
I was constantly making eye contact with people and thinking "I must go say hello!" but not getting the chance, or not realising I knew them until I was already five steps past them and wondering why they said "Hi Stuart" (this comically awkwardly happened with Nick Roche at one point as well. But it wouldn't be a TF convention if I wasn't mildly embarrassing around Nick Roche at some point). It wasn't as many people as last year's AA but it actually felt like a much bigger con as a result.
Also, any worries around people not giving the convention chance to get its shit together were groundless because it was an incredibly well oiled machine from the start. Those with prior experience of AA and the Hilton were able to use it well alongside the fresher blood's new ideas.
So events run on time, and when outside circumstances forced a change (such a Nick being ill on the Sunday. That's not ill in a Scott McNeil euphemistic sense by the by, it wouldn't be a Brum TF convention without one guest struck by something horrible) the reworking of the panel was done quickly enough for it to start on time and without fuss.
In fact--and I was joking by the end that I'd said this enough for it to become my catchphrase--it was the single most relaxed convention of any sort I've ever been to. Everyone was mellow, no one was fussed or tense or even over excited. Guests and attendees all seemed to be enjoying themselves in the most jazz (with a small J) way possible and it really made for a most pleasant experience.
Was it because it was a slightly smaller convention than last year's? Possibly, but even the smaller AA's (and we're talking when it was a couple of hundred people) didn't have that same atmosphere. Have I changed? Equally possibly, I know I'm in for the long haul with these things. My two biggest disappointments were not getting a Geoff Senior sketch or the new Nick Roche prints, but knowing there's a good chance I'll be seeing both men again (and possibly at events before the next TFN) meant I was fairly accepting of somehow never being at Geoff's desk when he was there or Nick's queue being capped on the Sunday.
But then, everyone else agreed with me about it being more relaxed so perhaps the con itself did something different? That's unhelpful really as it's vagaries But do it again next year!
Sadly on Saturday night I was upstairs doing the thing that isn't quite ready to be formally announced yet but which those of you who've seen my pics will be able to guess (and big thanks to Adam White for organising that), but the photos do show one advantage of a new con: New everything. I don't think I'd realised quite how tatty the AA props were after five/six/longer years of service, but all the signage and dressing being freshly created did make a big difference.
In terms of hosting, Chris McFeely and Andrew Turnbull both did great jobs on their panels. With the former being especially impressive on the MTMTE one considering he'd barely been able to speak during the day.
For the general hosting, David Paul Wallace and Petrina Witt both did a deceptively easy job. Dave might have the experience (and goodness me he knows how to milk a crowd), but he'd built up a rapport with a different partner and it might not have been so easy to make his style of presenting work with someone new, or worse still to completely overshadow them because of his prior experience of dealing with this bunch of loons. Instead, they worked well both solo and as a team and quickly set up an easy back and forth that looked effortless but probably took some effort.
The guests long stopped being the main focus of conventions for me, but there was a good selection here. Highlights included a nice chat with Simon Furman about his new project with Geoff Senior that led to talking about Dragon's Claws (a few people at the bar were surprised I didn't ask him about what I thought of the copy of my book I gave him last year, but whilst he fully deserved a free copy I'm pretty sure he just took it politely and put it in a drawer along with the many other "Oh...that's nice" things guests at conventions get given over the years). I also got him to sign one of the very last TFUK specials (thanks to Mr Turnbull), and as he was unfamiliar with it he was very pleased to see the colour Big Shutdown got another outing.
Alex Milne did me a great Spinister cover sketch and I got all the latest James Roberts scripts (as well as getting introduced to the joys of whisky by him and Marian Hilditch), and all the other guests were lovely, though my own inability to talk sensibly caused the language barrier to limit me to "Hello" and "Thanks" to those who weren't experts in English. The highlight though was getting an early copy of Sins of the Wreckers. Not so much for the book which after all has been formally released for less money under a week later, but for the queue. I have never been in such a tense line as everyone involved was eyeing each other up and thinking "Who's going to be the last one?" with an evil glare.
Yes, Nick Roche is such a talent he can make even a line of people a tense experience.
Getting Paul Eiding (and later after Andy introduced us, the artist Herzspalter) to sign the article I'd written for the program was exciting as well. "I haven't had chance to read it yet", oh Paul, it's OK, you don't have to. Him interrupting my lunch on the Friday when I was reading out the program to the others at my table ("You don't want to see that Paul Eiding panel... he's a wanker") was a joy as well.
Actually, nothing made me happier than standing behind people in the various queues who had the program out to get signed. Because no one is going to use something they think is complete crap for autographs so everyone involved must have done something right.
People of course are the main thing for me, and I mainly hung out with my now usual crowd of Marian, Ryan Frost, Philip Blake and Stuart Denyer, with special guest star Jamie Crowther on the Sunday. All were a delight as always, highlights include being mocked for my drinking of coke by a certain someone who was very ill on the Sunday ("Have an ice cube from my nice refreshing soft drink to cool you down"); discovering you can't match beers with Ryan and Stuart doing the exact same "It's the unsigned ones that are actually worth something" joke to each person who picked up a copy of The Book. I think I especially loved a discussion of Crap Tie In Cuckoo Clocks (seriously, Trek and Who both have them!) which quickly saw me and Marian spontaneously decide a Lost Light one with Swerve's ring tone as the chime was needed.
All the other good people passed in a blur, and I feel especially bad for taking money off Karl Thurgood and basically running away without having a proper chat. But there was a strange moment when various TMUK Eugenesis owners (and as mine, Marian's and the sold copy were all in the building does that make it the largest collection of copies since the con they were first sold at?) all happened to be together in the main hall in a state of shock over the £400 sale of one. I think we all began to eye up how much we really loved ours (when James signed mine he cheerfully said "I'm going to put such a specific dedication you'll never be able to sell it", so that temptation is removed for me...).
There were lots of lovely little chats throughout the weekend, especially with poor old Llama God who only said hi when passing but got sucked into a conversation about how terrible Star Trek V is with good grace. I'd have loved to have talked more with everyone, but there never seemed to be the time!
With all the pros there, what about the cons? What's interesting is that every single person I spoke to involved with the direct running of the con on the Sunday (Adam, Andy and Billy himself), were all incredibly down. All they could focus on was what they thought went wrong and all said pretty much identical things about doing it better next year. They were clearly being too hard on themselves, but as they asked for constructive criticism, my relatively minor niggles:
The first one should probably be the wrist bands that were used instead of lanyard passes this year. Pretty much the first thing I said to Andy was "I bet these won't work", amazingly he didn't punch me in the face for starting by pointing out something that not so hot.
Yet despite being initially smug about getting mine on a string around the neck, I think I was pretty much the only person to have come round to them by the end of the con. I was actually impressed everyone's seemed to have survived showers and drunken stumbling without being destroyed. The one advantage I had was I get to keep mine as a memento, though I suspect something different will be done next year regardless.
I suppose the main area that will need work next year as it didn't feel it quite worked is the Forge. Or at least worked as a separate section, especially as the room was slightly out of sight. All weekend I kept thinking "I must go look in the Forge!", but never quite got round to it, and based on what I heard from people who did this seems to have been a common thing as it was constantly described as being empty.
I'd say the problem is that, whilst people would go out of their way to see an Alex Milne or Geoff Senior the fan creators (however good) aren't automatically a draw in themselves and need that passing trade to sell their wares.
My suggested solutions for next year would be either have a section in the main hall (if it gets upgraded to the bigger room, IIRC that's what AA did with its Artists Alley last year), or put something in with the Forge that will draw people in casually and let them see what's on sale at the same time. Some of the toy displays maybe? Or even the registration desk? That's armchair quarterbacking of course.
I suppose my only other suggestion is it would have been nice for the convention to end with the more formal announcement of the next one, dates and maybe even a few guests. That always added to the buzz at the end of AA and is really helpful in starting the struggle for me to get the time off work! But I get they probably need to be sure how well this one went before finalising the details of the next so this would probably have been impracticable.
Overall though, a blooming good convention, I think the only other things that annoyed me (two instances of managers at the hotel belittling their staff in front of customers for example) were nothing to do with the convention itself. You achieved something!
