What I learned at CapClave
I spent last weekend in Gaithersburg, MD for CapClave — a reader's con put on by the Washington Science Fiction Association. Overall I had a good time meeting a few new people and connecting with the old friends that I usually only get to see at cons. But in addition to all of the usual, I learned something new about myself — I don't like the down time.
See, when you're a guest panelist at a con, there's two basic modes you're in. Either you are on a panel (talking, debating, etc) or you aren't (the down time). In both modes you are "on" (the only time you aren't "on" is when you reach the sanctuary that is your hotel room) and it can get pretty exhausting, but I discovered that I prefer to be on panels.
Now usually, a con will put you on about five panels spread over the weekend. For whatever reason, I was only given two panels ::sniffs armpits, seems okay::, both on Friday, and a reading on Saturday. The reading got nixed when Terry Pratchett made a surprise appearance for an hour from noon to 1:00. My reading was at 12:30. Unsurprisingly, nobody showed up (including me, though I did peek in just to make sure). The end result was that I had a lot of down time when I wasn't on a panel. I went to see a few of my peers on their panels and browsed the dealer room and chatted up a few folks, but it just didn't work for me. I do fine with it in smaller doses but doing it all day made me feel a bit like a used car salesman. If I have to do one or the other all day, I'd rather get exhausted on panels.
I now know that I make far better connections and have a lot more fun when I'm on a panel. I get to meet new authors and debate the topic with them — in fact, several of my closest writer friends came out of being on panels together. I get to meet new readers, too — they come to see Author A but they also hear the rest of us, and usually by the end of a weekend, one or two or more have taken an interest in my work.
On top of all that, I think I feel a little Jewish guilt if I'm not on enough panels. After all, that's why I was invited to the con in the first place.
I'll get to put my new perspective to the test this weekend at RoundCon inSouth Carolina. This is a media con that's trying to build its literary track. It's much smaller, just a handful of authors, but it should give me a good balance of panels versus down time to observe how I feel.
How do you all feel at cons? As fans, do you prefer to meet an author through a panel or schmoozing in the halls? For those of you who've been panelists, what's your view?
