Arisia '11: Geeks on Ice

As my regular reader knows, I attended (for the 21st year in a row) the Arisia convention in Boston last weekend.  Despite occasional claims to the contrary, this was not my ride:

That being said, quite a lot did happen, so let's dive into it, shall we?


First things first.  Yes, the lobby and Dealer's Room were quite cold the first day or so, but it's not the con's fault.  They were informed that the hotel kept things warmer than average, and contracted to have the heat set to 60º F.  This would have been fine... if the outside temperature had not plummeted to 18ºF.  But after the crowds built, it was passable.


As you can tell by the picture above, I went dressy this year.  Unfortunately, without the sweater, I found myself mistaken for a hotel employee, more than once.  Not precisely the look I was going for. :)



Panels were the focus of this trip, and, on average, went pretty well, with the exception of my "Igor, Throw The Switch!" panel (one of two I moderated) which was somewhat marred by the fact that I wasn't as alert as I could have been.  In my defense, it was 11PM at night, and I'd already been on 4 panels that day.  On the balance, however, I had fun, particularly since 3 separate panels turned into singalongs of Tom Lehrer's "Werner Von Braun" :D

I only attended one panel that I wasn't a panelist for, on Metropolis, but between my knowledge of "memetic archaelogy" and mad Google skillz, the moderator said I should have been.  Maybe next time?

I'm pretty sure I'm going to stay away from late-night panels next year, anyway.  I missed a couple of late movies I wanted to see (including the silent film Der Golem) due to scheduling collision.  I did see one film on Sunday, though... a fabulous French import called Les aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec:



Loads of fun... it's based on a French comic, but gives you everything you need to enjoy it.

Some cool costumes this year, as seen on my feed.  My second favorite poster is also on that page.

However, this was my favorite, and guarantees that I will be there again next year:

Pardon me while I happydance.

All in all, a great con (and Arisia's largest, with around 3000 attendees).  I had a blast, and can hardly wait until next year's.