2011 Norma K Hemming Award

The 2011 Norma K Hemming Award for excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, sexuality, class and disability in Australian speculative fiction was won by A.A. Bell for *Diamond Eyes*.

I've reserved it at my local library!

Con report for Sunday and Monday....

Program

There were a lot of things that I wanted to go to, but very few that I did get to. I got to one of the conversations with artists, which I really enjoyed.

If anyone has program notes on That Space Ship has Girl Cooties, the romance stream or SF, Social Network and Blogging, I’d love to know. I felt like Tantalus this year, looking at all the good things on the program and being unable to get to them.

Accessibility

I have considered the accessibility issue. In future, perhaps concommittees need to ask a different question of the hotel. Not 'can people in wheel chairs get in?' but 'describe the steps people in wheel chairs must take to get in'.

In the case of the Hyatt the real answer is 'you can get dropped off at the top of the ramp and then with great difficulty get around inside the building'. Or 'you can park on the street and go up a vehicle only ramp, hoping like heck you survive the experience'. Or 'you can park in the visitor's bay, pay insanely massive amounts for the privilege, fail to find the unsigned lift, and get wedged in a escalator, oh and on the last day the escalator will break down too'.

I certainly plan to complain to the Disability Services Commission and request that WASFF try to get some better hotel choosing processes in place to help future committees.

The Best of the Con

Each con does different things really well. The dealers room was particularly good this year.

There was obviously a great relationship with the publishers.

The children’s program was incredibly well put together, though in a very small space.

The awards ceremony was really stylish and incredibly organised - actually ran to time! I got to co-present the A Bertram Chandler with my ASFF hat on.

Plus my experience of the auction check in was great.

The Worst of the Con

Well, the hotel obviously.

Trying to stop Pearl from running amok, with mixed success.

I had mixed feelings about the art show. I liked the professional entries but I did not like the way the amateur art was segregated and set up a bit like an afterthought.

There was also some issue with sending out notifications about who was on which panels. I didn’t get any emails to let me know - I realised I was on two panels on the Thursday when I was reading over the program. ‘I’d like to attend that... Oh, I am *on* that.’

Then I searched for my name and found that I was on something else as well, the fanfund panel, which I simply could not attend as it was in the middle of the girls’ naptime. If I had had any advance notice I could have sorted something out, prepared, etc.

I know I was not the only one to have this problem and I think that might be why there were such a lot of moved panels.

I have a suggestion for next year's concom. Perhaps after the emails are sent out, a notice could be put on the livejournal to say that people have been alerted. Many folks who are regular participants would thereby bed to alerted.



Note to self: suggestion for 2012, will talk about art journalling and my DUFF trip art journal.

Note to self: craft suggested as a theme for Gynaecon 2012. Must prepare!