For some unknown reason, I kept thinking that Armadillocon was in Amarillo, TX. I don’t know how many times I went to their website and Austin, TX simply did not register. Anyway, Melissa and I drove down to Austin. We stopped in McKinney overnight, so we didn’t have to drive it all in one day. Along the way we saw the signs for Bio Willie. Willie Nelson’s biodiesel truck stop. I wish I’d gotten a picture.
Overall I enjoyed the convention. They had lower attendance this year due mainly to their hosting World Fantasy Convention in November. The hotel was really nice. There were only two room parties, Fen Con and Apollocon.
I’d say the highlight of the con was Violet Crown Radio Players‘ presentation of King Kong. They had a very nice set up. an industrial sized mixer, and lots of $300 microphones. The best part were the period costumes the voice actors wore. I closed my eyes a number of times to imagine I was listening to it on the radio. It worked. I’m a big fan of radio theatre. I fell in love with it when I heard my first episode (Fit the Third) of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy when it first aired on Public Radio in Tulsa way back in 1980, I think.
The two panels I enjoyed the most were on fantastic fiction of the 19th century and Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan. I was a little disappointed in the panel on online publishing. The got sidetracked onto epaper and other realsoonnow technologies. But basically, there is still no viable model yet for science fiction at least to make money in online publishing. The dealer’s room was pretty good. It had fewer dealers than Conestoga and was more spread out. It is way too crowded. They either need to give them more room or have fewer dealers. Their art show was smaller than ours, but good. I liked the way Conestoga’s is laid out better.
I’ll have more to say later. I think.