emma_in_dream

Hooray, this year's con is accessible. The parking is expensive but - and this is apparently what separates a four star hotel from a five star hotel - it is possible to get into the hotel with a pram or wheelchair without endangering your life by walking up the car ramp marked 'DANGER: PEDESTRIANS DO NOT USE'.

We came in for a few hours in the afternoon. Kudos to the beautiful art show and the well laid out kid's room. This is all we saw but hopefully more tomorrow.

I thought it would be best to know what is happening at Murdoch library, so, rather than rely on rumour I called the Library Collections Manager, Ms Del Shiers.

I didn’t ask about the details of Grant Stone’s employment, as I felt this was a private thing. For all I know, Grant is happy to retire.

I did ask about the library’s future plans for acquiring in the area of SF, as I think this is an area of general, public concern. Ms Shiers said that no decision has yet been made, but the library is operating with a very tight budget and it is difficult to justify collecting in areas that are not of direct relevance to Murdoch’s teaching and research priorities. She suggested that the collecting might not continue to the same extent, and reiterated that no decision has yet been made.

I found her really helpful and direct, and I could see that she was in a difficult position.

I told her that I was on ASFF and would forward this information to ASFF and WASFF.



This is the situation as I currently understand it. I urge no particular action on anyone, but I will personally write to her and to the Dean of Social Sciences and Humanities encouraging them to continue to collect in this area. In the end, it come down to cold hard cash, but I think that at the least they should be aware of the value of the Murdoch SF collection to WA as a whole.

This page is just for Swancon love! Criticism and debate elsewhere! Here - it's all the love!

Things I loved about Swancon:

* catching up with my friends. This is always my favourite part of Swancon.
* the children's room. Such a nice place to take the little one.
* the Robert Heinlein panel I was on. It was great to go to a panel just focussed on one SF author. I am thinking maybe of volunteering for a John Christopher panel.
* the kindness of people who helped me with putting things in the auction and who amused Pearl at various times.
* the money made for the National Australian Fan Fund (NAFF) and the Down Under Fan Fund (DUFF) in the auction.
* getting to part of an X Files panel. This was the only one I got to and I enjoyed it til I had to take Pearl out.
* Pearl behaved really well and, I think, was not terribly a nuisance (except that one time she unscrewed part of someone's wheelchair).
* all the positive energy.
* the Gynaecon tenth anniversary panel. Yay for Gynaecon being around that long! And for having it so mainstream that this item made it into the program.

So hooray for Swancon!

Dalekboy's post on the history of natcons in Australia made me think about what I am doing with the art show at Aussiecon 4. Specifically, how can I make the art show accessible to all kinds of fans, media and lit inclusive?

And what would people like to see in the art-related panels on the program?

So, comments please people.