Worldcon Day 1

[ffutures]

 The con committee seems to have underestimated attending membership a bit - someone said by about a third, which is a half kiloton or so of fans. A lot of the rooms are too small for the numbers wanting to use them. They've also used one hour programme slots with no time for movement factored in, so panels end up at 45-50 minutes and begin and end with huge crowds around the entrances. They're also relying on people using on line resources to keep track of room changes, which is a bit of a pain if you're not in the habit of checking. Nevertheless I'm enjoying myself, and I've got to most of the items I wanted, or found fun alternatives. And they've got a lot of things right, e.g. Free bus and tram travel throughout the con.

Hopefully things will improve as the con continues, but I think it'll be a success provided nothing goes catastrophically wrong.

Comments

[vivdunstan]

They've now closed membership sales, barring 100 day passes each day, so hopefully that will help!

http://www.worldcon.fi/news/closure-membership-sales/

We struggled with the queues, and with my wheelchair it was a real problem getting around the crowded hallways. Fingers crossed things will ease though, as more parallel sessions open up today, and they put a stop (drastic action!) to the attendee numbers rising further.

[ffutures]

Still a bit crowded today - I had to go to my second choice for a couple of panels but always got into something.