Congratulations to the con committee!

[madfilkentist]

This Arisia had something of a "nibbled to death by ducks" feeling, as far too many little things went wrong. The elevators were too fragile, an escalator died, the space was too small, there were thefts from the Art Show, etc., etc. But they somehow managed to keep these minor disasters from turning into major disasters, and the con went quite smoothly on the whole, an especially difficult task in a new hotel. I hope we do as well next month with Boskone (and have fewer problems to challenge us!).

Personally, I had a very good time. I loved doing keyboard for the silent movie, enjoyed the program items I went to (especially the Higgins Armory demos), and had a good time at the filk.

It was unfortunate that the choice of "Filk Guest" was someone who barely has an interest in filk (though he did put in appearances in the filkroom), but I knew that coming in, so it wasn't a disappointment at the con. Ellen put together an excellent filk program.

I'm looking forward to next year.

Comments

[fabricdragon.livejournal.com]

as a merchant i rarely get out anyway. but the elevator issue meant that i couldnt go visit my friends in the dealers room, because the wait for elevators used up all the time i had! i never did get into the art show.

several people pointed out that the load limit (7 people) was not really accurate.
thats 7 people units.. mundane people units.
so...... 6 fen, maybe....
NOT counting luggage.
4 fen with luggage.

also, i know next to nothing about the filk GOH. no interest in Filk?

[thespian.livejournal.com]

actually, not quite. technically, the elevators were rated for a lot more (was it 2000lbs? Something). It would have been about 8-10 people if they were 'normal' people. The 7 people was, indeed, 7 fen, compensating for many of us being a bit bigger. I had several arguments with geeks of the 'I have to be right' school who insisted, 'the 7 people is bull! It says it'll hold this much, and that's 10 people so I'm getting on the elevator with 7 people, some luggage and a toddler, whether or not they've repeatedly broken with 8!!'

[bobquasit.livejournal.com]

Maybe they should put scales in front of the elevators. :D

[kgola.livejournal.com]

the elevators could hold up to 3000lbs or approximately 11-15 people. HOWEVER, the problem as it was explained to me (I believe by someone working for the hotel or who had spoken with the hotel) was that since the elevators don't have back railings (due to the open glass side), the weight needs to be primarily on the front section, closer to the door - which is the physically smaller area. Thus, if you have found three hundred pound people in the front and six one-to-two hundred pound people in the back, you might be alright... but it's hard to get those numbers with the limited space available.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

He has a very strong interest in filk, but some people used to more ballad-oriented filk might have been thrown by his more modern style.

[superfinemind.livejournal.com]

Putting a person in the elevator to monitor it was a bizarre move, I thought-- that, ultimately, is what kept me out of the art show.

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

I was decidely not impressed with the filk guest.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Because...?

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

I watched him on TV during the masquerade, and I did not think he was very good.

I also heard a number of other negative reviews.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

What you couldn't know is that he was asked to perform at halftime earlier that evening, when they realized they didn't have enough trailers. He had maybe 1/2 an hour to burn music to a CD and run around gathering stuff (without knowing how long he'd have to perform). So if it looked like he was making it up as he went along, there was a reason for that. But he was tremendously flexible and agreeable about adapting to the needs of the masquerade on the fly. His "real" concert earlier in the day was much more cohesive.

[wildcard9.livejournal.com]

Luke *is* interested in filk, but has been kicked out of filk rooms in the past for the crime of using backing tracks instead of playing his own instrument. I saw a few disapproving faces in the filk room when Rob Balder used his backing tracks during some of the songs he did there. I heard the term "kareoke filk" used to describe this in a bad way.

Luke does both filkish and non-filkish comedy music, and was a good choice for musical guest of honor (there is more out there than the filk circles). Luke restricted his concert to his fandom based songs, which for Arisia was the right song selections. Was it the fact that Luke's music is closer to rap than to folk music that was disappointing? And I will be the first to admit that Luke's musical style is not for everyone, even though I like him.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

It is unfortunate that some people seem to feel you can't be a filker unless you play a guitar. Not everyone can play guitar... and some people just have a different style. Yes, not everyone likes Luke's stuff, but nobody can satisfy everyone. You have to allow for some diversity or the community will die.

[madfilkentist]

I find the claim that anyone has been kicked out of a filk room for using backing tracks highly implausible. What con was this at, and who did the kicking out?

I don't like karaoke filk either. But when I went to Rob Balder's concert -- I had time to hear only half a song because I was hauling stuff around in preparation for the MASSFILC meeting -- I was torn between disliking the method and liking the cleverness of the song (it was the Skullcrusher Mountain / Muppet song). There are worse things than karaoke done well.

The worst of the problems with The Great Luke Ski (to use his full stage name) is that he regards filkers as a means to an end. If it weren't for that, everything else would be endurable. If he was kicked out of a filk room (again, I await further information on that), it was probably for something personality-related.

As for the notion that filkers object to all instruments other than guitars, I'll simply point to my userpic and say I've never run into any objections on that count.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

To say that he regards filkers as a means to an end is an exaggeration. He goes to filk cons because he enjoys being part of the community. Just the other night he was raving about how wonderful the open filk at OVFF was, and how much he enjoyed hearing everyone perform. It is true that he tries very hard to sell CDs whenever possible, but that's because this is how he makes his living. He doesn't have another job. There may be a desperate edge to that sometimes if he's worried about making rent, but to say that it's his only purpose for coming to cons is unfair.

[madfilkentist]

He has a history of posting on rec.music.filk simply to promote himself and to attack people who object to his unwanted promotional email. That kind of behavior is what I mean by using filkers as a means to an end.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Not having seen the mail, I can't really comment. I can only go by my personal conversations.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Why do you say Luke "barely has an interest in filk"? He's been a strong presence at OVFF and other midwest cons for years, was highly recommended by several "big name" midwest filkers I spoke to beforehand, and (from having talked to him extensively over the past few months) loves the filk community. If you say that because he has a more modern style and has acquired a following outside of filkdom, so have Ookla the Mok and the Boogie Knights. If you say that because he started singing before he started coming to filk cons, so did lots of other people (Steve M. started out singing in bars). Not everyone has the same musical style. You have to give people a chance if you want filk to survive into the next generation.

[xthread.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, the escalator broke because a fan let their cloak get caught in it, so I'm inclined to give the hotel a bye on that one, since we did it to ourselves.

[madfilkentist]

The hotel also wasn't responsible for the art show thefts. I wasn't trying to blame anyone in particular for all of the problems.