1 Goal, 2 Conventions, 3 Days. Sane people need not apply.
Drive to London Heathrow leaving at 1.30pm after a 2 hour business meeting, arriving Rennaisance Hotel for Inva2ion around 4pm, first up registration. Walked into lobby to be greeted by … a massive queue, hell what time should I have got here. Asking the guys at the back, it was the queue for pictures. Hmm, need pictures so I joined. 10 minutes later it turns out this queue was for the pictures that wold be taken during the photoshoots with the guests over the weekend. Doh! Wrong queue. Rapidly registered, loadsa Gold Passes, and headed to table vending guest photos. This could have been the first balls-up but wasn’t. Purchased 4 photos of Guild cast – I know, I know only 3 attending – got two of Felicia. So sue me!
Loitered in lobby for a while, iPad in hand, well on lap actually, looking for inspiration.
16.40 Collared that very nice man Sean Harry; caught milling around the lobby, humungous stogie in one hand and a hand held video camera in the other sneaking the vibe from the arriving hoardes. Confirmed arrangements for evening after previous email. Sort’d. Saves activating Plan B which is to – in a manly way of course – whip off my white T-shirt and get them to daub that!
5.10pm Aaron Douglas noticed in bar – not for the first time – sporting an Iron Maiden T-shirt and a beard; buying beers too, what a nice chap. Great the guests feel relaxed enough to mingle with rabid fans mano-e-mano. We are just so British. No sign of any “women of sci-fi”, not their cup of tea (or ale) really I guess. It’s a bit harder for famous girly-types to wander into a bar and strike up a conversation with a random fan-type, never know how that could end.
5.29pm realised where I’ve left my bottle of water … somewhere else … good job I have another 7 in the boot.
5.35. It’s a buzz just sitting here people watching, at any moment a guest could saunter by. Sorry as most of them are girlies, make that sashay (looked it up that is how you spell it) by! The queue for photos is really not getting any shorter so I head back to hotel to re-group and collect my camera for the Meet and Greet … now at Buzz factor 8 Scotty!
Somewhere in all this found time to sit chatting with Mike/Whizzy about all things con and the huge shopping list of Mr Kiplings products he’d brough along for the M-and-G. With the amount of choccy and sugar in that bag some of the guests will need to be led out by a string tied to their ankle 🙂