The beauty of science fiction conventions are friends, new and old, participating in the geekiness we generally get sideways glances for from the rest of the population. Case in point: chatting with some costumed people in the hotel lobby Friday night, we saw several groups in town for the Drake Relays staring at us. We can tell them by their matching track outfits, several with school logos emblazoned on them.

I suppose they can tell us by our nontraditional attire. You don’t see belly dancers, Klingons, steampunk, and other costumes mingling together on normal days, I suppose. Too bad!

My daughter went with me for a couple hours. She charmed everyone with her antics, but naptime came fast. Which was good for me, because I was getting tired of chasing her around.

I got to spend time with some authors, I’m sure I didn’t remember all of them running around the Con, but here’s a short list: Lettie Prell, Tom Ashwell, Sarah Prineas, Glen Cook, Karen Bovenmyer, and Mary Eagan. I know I’m missing a few, but I’m sure they’ll forgive me.

Part of the programming was “Speed Dating for Authors” – and I got outed as an author just in time to participate. A lot of fun, but I think it needs a little better description. I think everyone who participated would do it again. Thought it makes me wonder what’s the best way to give them something to remember me by – is it a flyer, a card, a bookmark, or something else I haven’t considered? Space considerations also factor in. You can certainly put quite a bit of information on an 8×11 sheet of paper, but what’s to stop someone from folding it and sticking it somewhere she won’t find it again? A business card has the advantage of being easy to put in a pocket and not getting left somewhere accidentally. And a lot of Con-goers have nice badge holders that allow for the tucking in of business cards.

Such a nice weekend, but all good things must end. It’s good to be reminded to come back to the blog. I got a lot of ideas at the Con and a few afterward, too. Can’t say they’re good yet, but at least something’s percolating in there.

When was the last time you attended a Con? What did you take away from it?