Congratulations

Congratulations to David for being chosen Guest of Honor at the 2019 NASFIC, held in Layton, Utah on 4th of July weekend, 2019.

Well deserved, and well past time for David to be honored at a national level convention.

fallsfromtrees wrote:Congratulations to David for being chosen Guest of Honor at the 2019 NASFIC, held in Layton, Utah on 4th of July weekend, 2019.

Well deserved, and well past time for David to be honored at a national level convention.

Thanks! Although that I'd say that even though DragonCon is "regional," it's right up there with the "national cons" for footprint.

runsforcelery wrote:Thanks! Although that I'd say that even though DragonCon is "regional," it's right up there with the "national cons" for footprint.

DragonCon is what, 80,000 people these days? How big was this years 'WorldCon'?

kzt wrote:

runsforcelery wrote:Thanks! Although that I'd say that even though DragonCon is "regional," it's right up there with the "national cons" for footprint.

DragonCon is what, 80,000 people these days? How big was this years 'WorldCon'?

DragonCon is a 4-day event that hits 90,000-100,000 people, easy, these days. (The official count, for several reasons, is usually understated. It's . . . complicated. ) The average attendance at WorldCon (which, remember, always piggybacks on top of a "host" con, which makes it difficult to break "world con" attendance out from the host con's) has never been above about 8-9,000 and usually averages between about 4,000 and 7,000. I think the highest claimed attendance for Worldcn was in 2015 or 2016 and was right around 10,000.

Now, there are those who look down their noses at DragonCon as a "media con" or a "for-profit" con, and my own relationship with it has been a tad fraught upon occasion, but that was a long time ago (in fact, it dates to before Ed Kramer's active role in con management ended). It's something of a madhouse when you get that many people in one place, and my own taste is for smaller cons where I can spend more time with the fans and the programming isn't usually quite so frenetic, but it is a wonderful convention, the people who run it do a bang-up job, it sends tens of thousands of dollars to charities every year, and it's heading into 31st year.

Sharon and I will be there this year and, despite our schedule, we are seriously contemplating attending next year's, as well.

But nobody tell Regina that yet!

runsforcelery wrote:

kzt wrote:runsforcelery:
Thanks! Although that I'd say that even though DragonCon is "regional," it's right up there with the "national cons" for footprint.
DragonCon is what, 80,000 people these days? How big was this years 'WorldCon'?

DragonCon is a 4-day event that hits 90,000-100,000 people, easy, these days. (The official count, for several reasons, is usually understated. It's . . . complicated. ) The average attendance at WorldCon (which, remember, always piggybacks on top of a "host" con, which makes it difficult to break "world con" attendance out from the host con's) has never been above about 8-9,000 and usually averages between about 4,000 and 7,000. I think the highest claimed attendance for Worldcon was in 2015 or 2016 and was right around 10,000.

This year's Worldcon membership:

Members as of Monday, 20-Aug-18 00:34:06 PDT

Total Adult Members: 6661 | Attending: 4816 Supporting: 1845

That includes one-day "members". And isn't a lot more than it it was when I looked Friday. Which is rather sad, since it sued to be that Worldcons got a good deal of one-day "foot traffic" on the weekends.

Oh, well.

I'm hoping you to go to DragonCon next year, because I'm hoping to make it there, too.

However, the fact that you're GoH as NASFIC (which has got to have a lot of people's panties twisted into a really tight wad) might actually get me to go there, too / instead.

Congratulations!

It seems just a few years ago you were at ConDFW, doing Q&A and having a raucus auction for Mission of Honor advance manuscripts (the first of which went for over $1000). Then I realized that was NINE years ago...

I know traveling is a major chore for you, but I do hope you can get back to Texas eventually. We'll roll out the red carpet!

NervousEnergy wrote:It seems just a few years ago you were at ConDFW, doing Q&A and having a raucus auction for Mission of Honor advance manuscripts (the first of which went for over $1000). Then I realized that was NINE years ago...

I know traveling is a major chore for you, but I do hope you can get back to Texas eventually. We'll roll out the red carpet!

We had a great time and we'd love to come. As you say, though, travel is a chore, especially as I find myself getting older. Back problems are getting a lot worse, too. The good news is I don't need surgery. The bad news is that surgery wouldn't help! The worst of it, as far as our preference for mid-sized and smaller cons is concerned, is that unless they're in driving range, we just about have to fly first class (because of my un-operated-upon back and Sharon's much-operated-upon back) if we're going to be in the air for more than 45 minutes or so (and if the flight's that short, we probably are in driving range ), which can be a genuine financial hardship for a small con. In fact, we did drive to ConDFW (which was a loooongdrive from SC), but no because the con couldn't spring for the airfare. Sharon's uncle lives in the area and we drove out with the entire family and her mom. Was the last time she and Gary saw each other before we lost her, too, and it was a great trip for everybody.

Thank you for reminding me of it!

runsforcelery wrote:The worst of it, as far as our preference for mid-sized and smaller cons is concerned, is that unless they're in driving range, we just about have to fly first class (because of my un-operated-upon back and Sharon's much-operated-upon back) if we're going to be in the air for more than 45 minutes or so (and if the flight's that short, we probably are in driving range ), which can be a genuine financial hardship for a small con.

If you've never had the opportunity to take a sleeper train, I highly recommend trying it once. (As long as one of you is able to handle getting into the top bunk, anyway...otherwise it might end up costing more than a first class flight.)

I just want to pass along my own heartfelt congratulations David.

Kufat wrote:

runsforcelery wrote:The worst of it, as far as our preference for mid-sized and smaller cons is concerned, is that unless they're in driving range, we just about have to fly first class (because of my un-operated-upon back and Sharon's much-operated-upon back) if we're going to be in the air for more than 45 minutes or so (and if the flight's that short, we probably are in driving range ), which can be a genuine financial hardship for a small con.

If you've never had the opportunity to take a sleeper train, I highly recommend trying it once. (As long as one of you is able to handle getting into the top bunk, anyway...otherwise it might end up costing more than a first class flight.)

We have.

I don't fit.

I'm 6'3" tall. Sleeper compartments are designed for hobbits.

We took the train from South Carolina to Boston for Boskone when the kids were still tiny. Megan thought it was wonderful; she fitted quite nicely into one of the baggage cubbies and had her private sleeping compartment. Me, not so much.