Redemption 13 - con report!
Feb. 28th, 2013 10:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayAs always, I had a terrific time at Redemption. It's a completely unique con even within the British fandom, which various people noted is a lot more chilled and relaxed than fandoms in other countries. Redemption is the kind of place where you can be yourself no matter what that self is. No gender expression, sexuality, mental health issue or disability is considered 'too out there' to be a part of the con and it's one of the things I genuinely love about Red each year.
This year I was probably subconsciously trying to make up for not being at my best for Red 11 so I threw myself into things with rather a lot of gusto. The cry of "I want to but I can't, I'm on a panel then!" became my motto. Seven panels and six hours on the registration desk, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
The registration desk is always fun because we're the first face many people see when they arrive. Being cheerful and friendly isn't difficult because everyone is already excited and I get to say hi and greet old friends as well as trying to make potential new friend feel welcome. As is becoming tradition, I left my first few hours on the desk with a pile of Wispas donated by a generous friend and I even managed not to eat *all* of them. Some will be going back to Canada with me :-)
There was one minor downside to our reg desk this year: it was fricking freezing! Definitely some changes needed next time around to prevent the reg team turning into icicles or getting hypothermia.
The other thing that I love about Redemption is the sheer variety of the panels and workshops. Over the course of the weekend I sat on panels about superhero movies and their comic book sources, Lois McMaster Bujold, favourite Doctor Who companions, and unlikely slash pairings (plus a few others). I also got to watch panels on various aspects of literary SF, what makes a good SF show and a fanfic turkeys reading that was possibly the funniest thing I've listened to for a long time (note: this list is not comprehensive, I haven't got space to list all the things I attended!).
I'm not going to complain about mid-sentence tense shifts for a long time (well, a week or two) now that I've witnessed mid-setence first-to-third-and-back POV changes. My writing can't possibly be as bad as some of the stuff in that panel :-) Thankfully everything that was read out was in the "so bad it's funny" vein rather than the just painful and the readers conveyed the sheer awfulness perfectly. To the brave men and women who dug through, found those and then read them out: THANK YOU. Your sacrifice was not in vain :-D
I've come home with lots of new thoughts to consider and a big list of things I need to watch and read, which is always brilliant. None of the panels I sat on ended up being an hour of silence although a couple did have a slight, er, pause at the beginning.
The favourite Doctor Who companions panel almost came to an abrupt halt when all four panelists picked Ace and Donna. No debate there. So we spent an hour discussing with the audience why all the different companions were great, why no one particularly loves Mel or Adric, why Turlough wasn't developed to his full capacity, and what we'd love to see in future companions. Terrific panel in the end.
The unlikely slash pairings panel also started slowly but turned into a fascinating discussion of why we enjoy the unlikely pairings and what is classed as an unlikely one. Is it just the character traits that make it unlikely? Their canon history? Their lack of canon history in the case of pairings from cross-overs or pairings that haven't met in canon despite sharing a canon (Darcy/Natasha!)? What about the characters who have only met for a short amount of time, say 47 seconds? (At this point we had a brief shout out for Clint/Coulson lovers and I really wanted to find the fellow C/C shipper after to have a good natter but time got away from me - if you're out there, please make yourself known!)
The fun part from there was the discussion of why we like the non-canon ships more than the canon ones, even when we're het shipping, and why preferring non-canon ships lead us all to slash. It was actually a completely fascinating hour and not at all what I'd expected when I started, which is half the fun.
One of the many reasons I love Redemption panels is that audience interaction is encouraged so much and many of the best panels I sat on or attended were made fantastic by the audience. Thank you, guys!
Finally, there is the Redemption bar and all the wonderful people I got to sit and talk with there. Closing out the Dead Dog Party with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kilbswhitecrow, gmul, Gryphon, Piers et al and nattering about everything under the sun was definitely a highlight. Particularly having an iPad with Girl Genius thrown at me (not quite literally but almost :-D) to persuade me to try it out. This is the way to make me read things! Throw them at me, let me see the pretty art, and I'll probably end up buying a ton of things and losing half my vacation to reading :-D
All in all, Red 13 was absolutely brilliant and I had a fantastic time. Can't wait to see lots of you (including all the people I didn't have to time talk to and the sadly missed folks who couldn't come due to illness) at Worldcon next year!
This year I was probably subconsciously trying to make up for not being at my best for Red 11 so I threw myself into things with rather a lot of gusto. The cry of "I want to but I can't, I'm on a panel then!" became my motto. Seven panels and six hours on the registration desk, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
The registration desk is always fun because we're the first face many people see when they arrive. Being cheerful and friendly isn't difficult because everyone is already excited and I get to say hi and greet old friends as well as trying to make potential new friend feel welcome. As is becoming tradition, I left my first few hours on the desk with a pile of Wispas donated by a generous friend and I even managed not to eat *all* of them. Some will be going back to Canada with me :-)
There was one minor downside to our reg desk this year: it was fricking freezing! Definitely some changes needed next time around to prevent the reg team turning into icicles or getting hypothermia.
The other thing that I love about Redemption is the sheer variety of the panels and workshops. Over the course of the weekend I sat on panels about superhero movies and their comic book sources, Lois McMaster Bujold, favourite Doctor Who companions, and unlikely slash pairings (plus a few others). I also got to watch panels on various aspects of literary SF, what makes a good SF show and a fanfic turkeys reading that was possibly the funniest thing I've listened to for a long time (note: this list is not comprehensive, I haven't got space to list all the things I attended!).
I'm not going to complain about mid-sentence tense shifts for a long time (well, a week or two) now that I've witnessed mid-setence first-to-third-and-back POV changes. My writing can't possibly be as bad as some of the stuff in that panel :-) Thankfully everything that was read out was in the "so bad it's funny" vein rather than the just painful and the readers conveyed the sheer awfulness perfectly. To the brave men and women who dug through, found those and then read them out: THANK YOU. Your sacrifice was not in vain :-D
I've come home with lots of new thoughts to consider and a big list of things I need to watch and read, which is always brilliant. None of the panels I sat on ended up being an hour of silence although a couple did have a slight, er, pause at the beginning.
The favourite Doctor Who companions panel almost came to an abrupt halt when all four panelists picked Ace and Donna. No debate there. So we spent an hour discussing with the audience why all the different companions were great, why no one particularly loves Mel or Adric, why Turlough wasn't developed to his full capacity, and what we'd love to see in future companions. Terrific panel in the end.
The unlikely slash pairings panel also started slowly but turned into a fascinating discussion of why we enjoy the unlikely pairings and what is classed as an unlikely one. Is it just the character traits that make it unlikely? Their canon history? Their lack of canon history in the case of pairings from cross-overs or pairings that haven't met in canon despite sharing a canon (Darcy/Natasha!)? What about the characters who have only met for a short amount of time, say 47 seconds? (At this point we had a brief shout out for Clint/Coulson lovers and I really wanted to find the fellow C/C shipper after to have a good natter but time got away from me - if you're out there, please make yourself known!)
The fun part from there was the discussion of why we like the non-canon ships more than the canon ones, even when we're het shipping, and why preferring non-canon ships lead us all to slash. It was actually a completely fascinating hour and not at all what I'd expected when I started, which is half the fun.
One of the many reasons I love Redemption panels is that audience interaction is encouraged so much and many of the best panels I sat on or attended were made fantastic by the audience. Thank you, guys!
Finally, there is the Redemption bar and all the wonderful people I got to sit and talk with there. Closing out the Dead Dog Party with
kilbswhitecrow, gmul, Gryphon, Piers et al and nattering about everything under the sun was definitely a highlight. Particularly having an iPad with Girl Genius thrown at me (not quite literally but almost :-D) to persuade me to try it out. This is the way to make me read things! Throw them at me, let me see the pretty art, and I'll probably end up buying a ton of things and losing half my vacation to reading :-DAll in all, Red 13 was absolutely brilliant and I had a fantastic time. Can't wait to see lots of you (including all the people I didn't have to time talk to and the sadly missed folks who couldn't come due to illness) at Worldcon next year!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-02-28 07:28 pm (UTC)yay, I shall be worldconning also.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-01 09:26 am (UTC)I think we need plenty of bar and room party time at Worldcon. It's going to be fun.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-01 09:27 pm (UTC)Marvellous to see you again. I'm glad that it won't be another two years.
Yes, good panels. Thoughtful panels. Hmmm. *strokes chin*