Report from an Escapade Newbie
Mar. 2nd, 2011 02:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
itsjustgwenI was down in California last weekend for Escapade, the slash slumber party. It’s the longest running slash con in the U.S. and, this year, celebrated its 21st year. Some of the attendees had been in attendance every one of those years. It was my first time there, and I enjoyed it, not only for the con itself, which was fun, but for the beautiful locale.
Ventura is kind of a hassle to get to from LA, but, once you are there, it is a very pleasant location for a con. The hotel is beachfront and all the rooms have a beach view. Ventura is great for walkers. There’s a long paved beach trail (I walked about two miles to one end, but not sure how far it goes the other way.), a trail along the Ventura River, and the streets all have pedestrian-friendly sidewalks. I enjoyed a nice walk each day I was there.
Highlights of the con for me were the video shows (Friday night’s was a retrospective of old vids from past Escapades and Saturday’s was new vids); the art auction, which was fun and lively; and the dealers room, where JenKat had a lot of neat stuff to feed my fannish addictions. I bought mugs, notepads, keychains, magnets, and more.
The panels I attended were entertaining and sometimes informative. On Friday, I went to “Are the Powers that Be Messing with Us?” a discussion about whether producers and writers are catering to slash fans. There was no true consensus among attendees. Some thought they definitely are, but others said no.
The Hawaii Five-0 panel involved a lot of comparison between the old show and the new. The Saturday panel on “Fannish Bullying” was really interesting because some of the attendees had real-life experiences to relate.
“Are We Getting Older” was a panel that referred not only to the age of the con, but the age of the attendees. There were some in the 20-30 range, but I’d say the average age at the con was 50. I enjoyed the panel just for the moment when some of us were comparing ages and I got some shocked looks at mine. I like it when I look younger than I am!
The Stargate panel on Sunday afternoon started as a discussion of ideas for a new series and degenerated into “Stargate Waterfall” a show about six hot male team members who wear Speedos and thigh holsters and dive through Stargates on water planets every week. Fun, but kind of ridiculous.
I definitely plan to go to Escapade again. It was a lot of fun.
Ventura is kind of a hassle to get to from LA, but, once you are there, it is a very pleasant location for a con. The hotel is beachfront and all the rooms have a beach view. Ventura is great for walkers. There’s a long paved beach trail (I walked about two miles to one end, but not sure how far it goes the other way.), a trail along the Ventura River, and the streets all have pedestrian-friendly sidewalks. I enjoyed a nice walk each day I was there.
Highlights of the con for me were the video shows (Friday night’s was a retrospective of old vids from past Escapades and Saturday’s was new vids); the art auction, which was fun and lively; and the dealers room, where JenKat had a lot of neat stuff to feed my fannish addictions. I bought mugs, notepads, keychains, magnets, and more.
The panels I attended were entertaining and sometimes informative. On Friday, I went to “Are the Powers that Be Messing with Us?” a discussion about whether producers and writers are catering to slash fans. There was no true consensus among attendees. Some thought they definitely are, but others said no.
The Hawaii Five-0 panel involved a lot of comparison between the old show and the new. The Saturday panel on “Fannish Bullying” was really interesting because some of the attendees had real-life experiences to relate.
“Are We Getting Older” was a panel that referred not only to the age of the con, but the age of the attendees. There were some in the 20-30 range, but I’d say the average age at the con was 50. I enjoyed the panel just for the moment when some of us were comparing ages and I got some shocked looks at mine. I like it when I look younger than I am!
The Stargate panel on Sunday afternoon started as a discussion of ideas for a new series and degenerated into “Stargate Waterfall” a show about six hot male team members who wear Speedos and thigh holsters and dive through Stargates on water planets every week. Fun, but kind of ridiculous.
I definitely plan to go to Escapade again. It was a lot of fun.
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-02 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-03 08:08 pm (UTC)Are you and Vorabiza going to the HP con in Seattle in June? I'd love to meet you guys.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-03 04:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-03 08:19 pm (UTC)One of the moderators was on the Concom for another con that same year. She had been involved with writing a policy that came under violent attack. There was some discussion about that and it was decided that on that one, people were just looking for an excuse to vent about past hurts, rather than attacking one person in particular.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-03 06:07 am (UTC)It's in my area.... but the high cost of membership has always put me off when I don't know the con or anyone else who goes.
but this year I can't make Mediawest *sob*, which is a con in this style. So, maybe I'll plan for Escapade next year, especially if someone I know is going!!
no subject
Date: 2011-03-03 08:24 pm (UTC)It was a little "click ish' in that most of the people had been going for years and already had their groups, but most were friendly.
I have a friend who goes to Mediawest, but I'd say this is a nicer location and a fun con. Let's plan to meet up next year!