Boskone 46

[ckd]

Back from Boskone, which I enjoyed despite the effects of the Viral Colonization Bureau's expedition to planet ckd over the past few days. (It's down to coughs and a bit of scratchy throat at this point.)

With that, my impressions:

Space

This year, the con was in completely new space (last year at con time, that wing was still being built out). The upper level had panels, registration, and bid tables; the middle level was for lobby access and also had the (now legally required in Boston) Chain Irish Pub Location; and the lower level had the Galleria area which had the hucksters' room, gaming, con suite, art show, and pretty much everything else that wasn't either "audience looking at a speaker/panel/dramatic presentation" or filking.

I really like how this use of space worked. The Galleria setup reminded me of the ConCourse from Noreascons 3 and 4 in a good way. (There weren't anywhere near as many couches, alas, but still.) There were the usual handful of issues with the first live run of what was effectively a new facility (in terms of space layout) that were brought up at the gripe session; I'm sure they'll be fewer in number next year. (If we're really lucky, the hotel will figure out how to make the escalators go in usefully coordinated directions.)

Program

As always at Boskone, a strong program; as always at Boskone, I went to fewer program items than I wanted to because I was doing something else (which includes "attending another program item"[1]) at the time. Particularly enjoyable items included the Alternate Alternate History panel and the dramatic reading of Shakespeare's play (known of only on Barrayar) Tam Lin.

Program suffered a bit from the Viral Colonization Bureau's other expeditions; a few other folks were also coming in under the weather, and so had to drop off some program items to conserve energy.

Misc

Dominion was this year's winner of the Race for the Galaxy award for the game being played the most. I think it's a good game; I'm still not convinced it's as good as most people think it is. I'd still rather play RFTG with the expansion (which also goes to 5 players, unlike Dominion).

Commuting is still annoying, but every year I do it anyway because I forget how annoying it is until I go to the con again. (It was easier when the con was still at the Sheraton, since I could just walk home if the T had stopped running.)

There's never enough time for me to see all the people who are there that I want to see, but that doesn't stop me from wishing a bunch of other people could have been there as well. Too much is never enough.

The Chain Irish Pub wasn't bad. I still didn't get out to Legal Test Kitchen; in fact, despite the weather being better than last year's, I didn't get outside of the hotel for a single meal. Next year I want to try ordering delivery from someplace and eating in the con suite.

[1] If I go to a con where I never have a "hey, I want to go to both of these" moment, there are two likely causes: the programming is not packed densely enough with topics that engage my interests (in which case I may be treating the con primarily as a gaming venue), or it's a single-track convention. Neither apply here.

Comments

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I saw you very briefly on Sunday (the only day mabfan and I were there), but you were busy. I'm glad you had a good con.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*hugs you again* I'm glad I ran into you right after getting to the con, and not just for the layout tips. :D

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Was my ad in the program book reasonably legible?

[slobbit.livejournal.com]

I think the spaces were nice, except the Galleria lent a sort of flea market air to the hucksters' area, what with all the black-painted utilities and all overhead.

Agreed: the escalators were annoying. Also, not enough coat rackage.

Still, programming was awesome as usual, and that's what I'm there for. ^_^

[ron_newman]

Escalators were confusing. Somehow they failed to match my model of how multi-floor sets of escalators normally operate in places like department stores and malls.

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

Oddly, someone mentioned that they DO work that way in department stores, but that's because they want you to have to walk around so, you see more merchandise...

However, they WEREN'T the way you'd expect if they were trying to be efficient...

[sethb.livejournal.com]

They were efficient from the viewpoint of someone coming from the lobby and wanting to go up or down, not so much for people going between lower level and mezzanine.

[julesjones]

What *is* it with this year's crud? I seem to know a lot of people who are widely separated in meatspace who've come down with very similar symptoms.

[yagathai.livejournal.com]

The pub was quite dangerous, because it actually provided food that one could eat at a value that was still exhorbitant, but much more reasonable-seeming than that travesty Sauciety. So I ended up eating there often, and spending waaaay too much.

[undeadruler.livejournal.com]

I'm just happy I was honestly able to tempt you into playing in the tournament instead of hitting some of the other events.
And I had the cold going into the con and didn't get rid of it until early last week. Starts in your throat and moves around from there.
I was also completely surprised by Dominion being so popular. It's a great game but it wasn't the only new game I brought in.
Glad you had fun and I promise I'll put together an better game room next year.

[aedifica]

Has your opinion of Dominion changed over time, or do you just play it a lot because it's easy to find players for? (And if the latter, why did you teach me Dominion instead of something else? I am not complaining, mind you.)