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Denvention!
Aug. 12th, 2008 10:48 amHad fun, but it felt more like a NASFiC than a WorldCon. Saw many people I kne.w, and met some new ones, but strangely had little opportunity to just sit and talk. Only went to two panels. (Would have gone to more, but the first day there were three I wanted to see in the same slot. How do they _know_?!)
The room I had at the Crowne Plaza was okay. Bed was firm and had an assortment of pillows, and a couple were pretty good for me. Space was a bit cramped, due to layout being determined by corner of building. Bathroom was large enough, but bad sink counter design wasted much of it and toilet was just _too small_! Ethernet connection died second day, came back third, then died fourth and stayed dead. Both Ethernet and desk phone plugged into same box on wall, and both were out. Box was actually warm to touch. Reported problem to concierge who promised to have it fixed. Not only was it still out the day I left, but I had to learn on my own that the hotel also had wireless. That worked fine from when I discovered it (Saturday) to when I left (Monday). Still, wasn't in room enough to seriously miss Internet.
Facilities were a bit spread out, but not as bad as at some WorldCons I've attended. I didn't have much problem with the altitude, in spite of fighting a sinus infection. The weather was nice except for one evening of prolonged rain and another with an impressive storm. The employees were competent and mannerly, even pleasant, with one exception. Returning from lunch a small group of us discovered that the doors we had left the convention center through were no-return, even though they were not marked as such. There was an intercom, but the guard refused to buzz us through, even though one guy had a pacemaker and another was using a cane. We had to walk about half a klick to find doors which would actually open from the outside, back around at the front of the building. We passed several doors which had automatic-open buttons for the disabled, but though the mechanism was on and made a noise, the door was locked. I think that's a violation of several access laws.
The facilities were much bigger than we needed. I've heard the suggestion that WorldCons need to move away from major cities and focus on mid-sized ones. They would still have facilities plenty big enough for us and would probably be cheaper, both for the con and the attendees.
The room I had at the Crowne Plaza was okay. Bed was firm and had an assortment of pillows, and a couple were pretty good for me. Space was a bit cramped, due to layout being determined by corner of building. Bathroom was large enough, but bad sink counter design wasted much of it and toilet was just _too small_! Ethernet connection died second day, came back third, then died fourth and stayed dead. Both Ethernet and desk phone plugged into same box on wall, and both were out. Box was actually warm to touch. Reported problem to concierge who promised to have it fixed. Not only was it still out the day I left, but I had to learn on my own that the hotel also had wireless. That worked fine from when I discovered it (Saturday) to when I left (Monday). Still, wasn't in room enough to seriously miss Internet.
Facilities were a bit spread out, but not as bad as at some WorldCons I've attended. I didn't have much problem with the altitude, in spite of fighting a sinus infection. The weather was nice except for one evening of prolonged rain and another with an impressive storm. The employees were competent and mannerly, even pleasant, with one exception. Returning from lunch a small group of us discovered that the doors we had left the convention center through were no-return, even though they were not marked as such. There was an intercom, but the guard refused to buzz us through, even though one guy had a pacemaker and another was using a cane. We had to walk about half a klick to find doors which would actually open from the outside, back around at the front of the building. We passed several doors which had automatic-open buttons for the disabled, but though the mechanism was on and made a noise, the door was locked. I think that's a violation of several access laws.
The facilities were much bigger than we needed. I've heard the suggestion that WorldCons need to move away from major cities and focus on mid-sized ones. They would still have facilities plenty big enough for us and would probably be cheaper, both for the con and the attendees.
