Kelly A. Harmon

Once again, I spent more time discussing writing “stuff” with friends and fellow writers, rather than attending any of the panels. (Does anyone actually attend panels when they go to a con?)

This morning, I zoomed through the dealer’s room and bought a very cool (read: geeky) pair of earrings. Check out their awesomeness:

They only way these could be better is if I could rip them off my ears and roll them when I needed to.

(Tomorrow, I plan to zoom through again, and hope nothing else shiny catches my eye. I’m a sucker for shiny…especially if it’s shiny and geeky.)

Late this afternoon was my class on “Submitting Short Fiction for Publication.” I spent quite a few hours making sure all the html links in the PowerPoint were still active and opening them all on the screen so I’d be prepared to demonstrate.

I need a projector and screen so that I can show several market possibilities as well as demonstrate some online database searches for the attendees. I told the Balticon coordinators months ago when they accepted my proposal for the con that I required a projector. And this morning, I double-checked with Balticon staff to make certain everything was in order.

(You can see where this is going, can’t you?)

“Oh, yes…” the staffer said to me. “That’s why you were booked in the Belmont room. There’s a 32-inch TV in there.”

Not exactly what I wanted, but it would have done the job.

Needless to say, when I got there…there was no 32-inch TV. In fact, there was no TV at all. Just a lovely banquet table and chairs. One attendee suggested I race to the con operations staff and see if they could fix the situation. So, I high-tailed it over to the help desk, and was basically told, “Too bad.”

(What’s funny about this [not really] is that I presented this seminar in February at the Frederick County Library system, and they booked me in a room without a projector, too. It’s starting to feel like this talk is doomed.)

The silver lining is that people came, and they stayed…even though there were no visuals. In fact, every chair at the table was full…and at least one person camped on the floor to stay for the duration. They had questions, and I had answers…and several people stayed through to the bitter end…for two hours. So the answer to my question above is…yes, people do attend the panels.

And these folks tonight were terrific. I had a lovely time meeting people and chatting with those I’ve met before. (To everyone who attended my session: thank you for staying! If you think of any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. I promise to post the pdf soon!)

But enough about the con. Let’s talk about the hotel… Remember I’m in the handicapped room, right? I really don’t know how they justify this journey…

This is what you see when you get off the elevator. (I take no responsibility for the relentlessly horrible color scheme. This place really needs some updating.)

See the hallway on the left?” You have to walk though that wing to get to my room.

This is an up close and personal view of that hallway. It’s loooooong.

And before you get to my room, you have to take this little dog-leg turn. First turning right, and then as this picture shows, turning left…past the ice machine.

And then you have to travel down this hallway. (They’re all starting to look the same, eh? but note the air conditioning unit on the left in this photo. It is a different picture.) My room is the second from the last on the right.

All in all, it’s nearly 150 paces from the elevator to my door. (Yes, I had too much time on my hands this afternoon. My dinner partner bailed.)

But really…if you were handicapped, would you want to travel down this maze? I was told that I could have this room (after the mix up) because it was “close” to the elevators! In reality, you’re about as far away as you can be…