31 thoughts on “Filers on Worldcon 76 Program”

1. God Stalk Bonus

   *snort*

2. LOL @ “God Stalk Bonus”! 😀

3. You missed me, but I rather have to be all sorts of places during the convention, including daily feedback sessions, so my name will pop up in many items.

   I *am* doing a general-audience intro to Quantum Computing on Sunday afternoon that relates to my Daye Jobbe.

4. Sorry, Kevin! Meh, if I’m going to miss someone, it has to be the most visible. 😛

5. The Reading: Hugo Finalists – Best Novel is at 13:00 on Saturday, not 35:00. Unless that’s an inside joke I didn’t get.

6. Dave Wallace: It’s a typo I didn’t get.… Thanks for the correction. Appertain yourself your favorite beverage!

7. I recommend the Bonestell film Friday 2 PM–a wonder.
   Note that Haldeman has gained his 2 panels since yesterday.
   Still no Kress or Niven panels. Larry will sign with me if he gets no signing slot at all.

8. Looks very entertaining. I envy those who will attend!

9. Really pleased with the revised schedule, and thrilled to be on panels at a Worldcon. Between those and working Newsletter, I expect to be very busy!

   Any word on when/where the Filers gathering will be?

10. My own recommendation would be to have a two meetups.

    * One at the convention on thursday, just to see each others faces (so you can say hi when you bump into each other).

    * Pub meetup at friday evening.

    Thursday is retro-hugos. Saturday masquerade. Sunday Hugos. So if filers are interested in any of those, only friday is open for pubmeet if you want to have as few schedule conflicts as possible.

11. But Friday is Godstalk! Also, pubs are more likely to be crowded with office workers.

12. Alternative is of course to follow the retro-hugos on live blogging or something. I think Hodgell has added a reading too…

13. Plus we were awaiting pub recon from Rick Moen, and Chris Garcia.

    I was talking with some folks about whether streaming would be available for things like the retro Hugos and costume contest, and what all equipment I need to bring to make it play on my hotel TV. It just occurred to me this might be a good place to ask.

14. I am also very interested in streaming info since I am not able to be there this year.

15. Hi, Charon D.: I’d hoped to get down to downtown San José yesterday or today, for reconnoitring purposes, but things came up and I’m intending to do so tomorrow, instead. (Chez Moen is just over the county line in southernmost San Mateo County, a polity I cherish for its unique historical distinction of having been so disreputable and lawless that the City of San Francisco appealed to the state legislature in 1856 to saw off everything south of its city limits as a new county, so that city politics could be reformed without all of us southern riff-raff.)

    Chris Castro didn’t really offer more than the limited feedback I already posted, so unless someone else has bright ideas, I guess the in-person investigation is up to yr. humble correspondent. My notion of a good place: Large tables suitable for one or two Filer sub-factions of 20 or so, not too crowded in the early evening (I’m thinking Thursday the 16th, first day of con), preferably no live music / blaring televisions and in any event nothing that prevents good conversation, good selection of craft beer, quality pub comestibles, wheelchair accessible, no more than 1 km from McEnery Convention Center. (Note: The San Pedro Square area, chock-full of promising choices, is just about exactly 1 km north of McEnery, and less from several con hotels such as the Fairmont, not to mention the Hotel De Anza and AC Hotel, which are very close.)

    I consider the excellent venues in Kansas City and Helsinki to set high bars (pun accidental, but difficult to avoid) to aim for, but I’ll do my best.

    ETA: Chris Garcia did venture that he’d like to attend the Filer gathering, there being a bunch of us he’s been looking forward to meeting.

    ETA2: Weighing attentively the estimable Hampus’s suggestion. The problem, I think, is that Friday evening could be crowded at local pubs, which is why I thought of Thursday for that. (But Thursday and Friday could also work. More beer! Different beer!)

16. Dammit. Wrong Chris. Chris Garcia, of course. (Not Castro.)

17. I hadn’t really thought of places being more busy on fridays because I’m an idiot that only looks at slots. Agree that thursday might be the better idea.

    Not coming myself anyway, just can’t really stay away. 😛

18. Please consider the Amazing Stories booth a designated location for rendezvous and message leaving/receiving.

19. I know I can’t afford to go this year but oh how I wish I could be there. Especially given P.C. Hodgell will be!

20. I won’t be there on Thursday, coming in Friday. Will most people be there Thursday?

21. steve davidson, that’s a lovely idea! The Amazing Stories Filer’s Post Office and Bulletin Board! I know that sometimes I get all introverted and shy, and while I’d like to hang out with someone at cons, meeting someone new to hang out with can be fraught. Especially at a big convention like Worldcon. But hanging out with Filers, even though we might never have physically met before, is like hanging out with old friends. So it’s very kind of you to offer this service. (Now I’m really, really sorry I won’t be in California….)

22. We do have a local guide app that’s about to go public, but I hesitate to share it on file770 because we are still tweaking the interface. It does include information on venues that can handle large groups. All the venues have been reviewed by Worldcon staff, not just grabbed from a search engine.

    If one of you drops me a line at chair@ I will send you a preview link and you can use it for scouting — as long as you understand it’s a work in progress.

23. Forager is a huuuuuuge room. They’ve got beer, cider, and usually home-made sodas. Food menu is small, but good.

    https://www.sjforager.com/faq/

24. Hooray, it’s happening!

    I did check with Da Kine Island Grill to see if they had any events or live music on Thursday, they said nope and they’d be happy to host a gathering. Felt like I should follow up since I was the one that mentioned them.

    In my experience, lots of blaring-TV bars will be happy to turn down the volume if a party arrives (live musicians can be much harder to squelch).

    Good luck with the exploration! Looking forward to the report.

25. I think we have a presumptive winner. I not only would trust to Andy Tremblay’s local knowledge and good taste, but also I’ve just been looking at Forager’s online menu. Yum. (S. 1st Street turns into an absolute madhouse on Friday & Saturday evenings, that area being clubbing-central for the South Bay.) I’m still on for doing my reconnoitring this afternoon, and compiling a list of places to check.

    FYI, Forager closes 8pm (Su-Th, albeit 11pm Fr & Sa). I notice Opening Ceremonies end at (or before) 6:30pm Thursday, so I am tentatively suggesting a 6:30pm start time if we run with choosing Forager, which is literally just over a block away.

26. Filer Gathering Announcement.

    Forager Tasting Room & Eatery it is. Target time, 6:30 pm, Thursday, August 16th, immediately after Opening Ceremonies.

    Tasting Room & Eatery
    420 S 1st Street, s. of W. San Salvador Street
    San Jose
    http://sjforager.com/
    +1 408-831-2433

    I’ll be walking there from Opening Ceremonies (just over a block east and slightly south), if anyone wants to convoy over. I’ll be the reddish-blond, 1.8 metre guy wearing a Panama hat.

    As Andy Tremblay says, the place is cavernous. They appear to at any time have at least eight or more local beers and ciders, plus a small but wonderful food menu. The tables are about 4 metres long, seating about 10 each, it looks like there’s no problem making a long table from two of those, and it’s quiet enough for civilised conversation. The place is wheelchair-accessible and also uncrowded, even on Saturday night. The only hitch is that it’ll close Thursday night at 8pm, so I’ll bring a list of places we can reconvene to, nearby.

    FYI, my real contact information (note iCBM address, for when you want to send your very best) is always at http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/ (including my mobile number, +1 650-283-7902).

    As a point of information, I also checked nearby Cafe Stritch, whose upstairs balcony area in back Chris Garcia had suggested. At least on Saturday night, it appears to be quite crowded, and none of their tables appear to be bigger than ones for a party of four.

    One tip about dining in the area generally, and a possible idea for a Filer dinner: For dinner or lunch, I absolutely love a place called Back A Yard Caribbean Grill, 80 N Market Street, north of W. Santa Clara Street, which serves Jamaican food including jerk-chicken and jerk-pork that is poetry-worthy. (The phrase ‘back a yard’ is a colloquial Caribbean expression meaning ‘back home’.) Location cited is about 600 metres north of McEnery Convention Center. Decor is quite plain, but the food’s very much the thing. It might serve for a Filer dinner on Friday or Saturday (when it’s open until 9pm).

    For context, there’s also a tinier Back A Yard location (mostly takeaway service, but with a few tables) in my little town of Menlo Park, in the next county north on the way to San Francisco. It’s regularly rated the best restaurant in town, over far more pretentious and expensive places including the expense-account places located near, and serving, the vulture-capital firms.

27. {sigh} Above, name of venue is cited correctly the first time, but missing leading word ‘Forager’ the second time.

28. Thank you to Rick and other contributors who have been working on venues and times for meet-ups. I very much appreciate people stepping forward and being decisive.

    I think it would be great to have a designated meet-up time/place for Friday as well, for those who are interested or who are newly arrived.

29. Thanks, Rick. Your hard work is much appreciated.

    (Also, now I’m not only several hundred years in the future and anonymous until I type, I have to type out my full email address, etc., instead of just choosing one option for repopulating.)

30. God Stalk Bonus 2: Saturday, 16:00:
    PC Hodgell: In For the Long Haul: The Ups and Downs of Writing a Long Series

31. I’m anticipating that some or all Flers on Thursday evening will want to reconvene for dinner, either when Forager Tasting Room & Eatery closes at 8pm or earlier. I call attention to Bo Town Restaurant, just partway around the block at 409 S. 2nd Street @ E. San Salvador Street. It’s mostly Chinese with some Vietnamese dishes, and open another two hours on Thursdays, to 10 pm.

    The Chinese dishes seem mostly Cantonese, atypical for the Bay Area but something warming my heart as a kid from Hong Kong. Looks like they have the typical round tables each seating 8-10. Reviews say it’s OK, but this wouldn’t be the meal of your life.

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