One of the ways to predict the quality of a convention is by how far in advance they send out preliminary schedules to their participants. Chicon 7 sent me mine today, four full weeks before the start of the convention.
I have no doubt there’ll be some changes. Some of my co-panelists will slip away and others will show up in their stead, rooms may change, and times surely will, but all in all, having a glimpse of what I can expect this far in advance is a clear sign that this worldcon is going to be awesome!
Wednesday, August 29th:
noon – 11:00 Klingon Language for Newbies
Thursday, August 30th:
9:00 – 10:00 Strolling with the Stars
3:00 – 4:30 Kaffeeklatsche
4:30 – 6:00 Autographing
Friday, August 31st
noon – 1:30 Iron Chef: Flash Fiction (M)
3:00 – 3:30 Writer Under Glass #23
4:00 – 4:30 Reading
Saturday, September 1st
09:00 – 10:30 Codex Breakfast
10:30 – noon Another View on Character Building
1:30 – 3:00 How to Speak Klingon
Sunday, September 2nd
9:00 – 10:00 Strolling with the Stars
noon – 1:30 Introduction to Linguistics
8:00 – 11:00 Hugo Awards
Monday, September 3rd
10:00 – noon Writers’ Workshop -Section U
4:01 – next several days Recovery Time – Enjoying the City of my Birth!
The actual schedule for Strolling with the Stars hasn’t gone out yet, but I’ve included my best guess above. Likewise, the day and time of the SFWA Meeting has yet to be announced, but if I had to guess I’d say it will happen just after lunch on Sunday. Stay tuned to see if I’m right, because if I am I’ll either have to miss it, or the Linguistics panel will end up moved to a different time.
As always, you can expect to see my faithful plush promotional device, Barry, riding on my shoulder during the convention. But this year, Barry is not alone. I’ll give one away to some lucky Buffalito Wrangler who comes to my reading, another at my Kaffeeklatsch, and at least one more to someone who comes to my Autographing session with three or more books for me to sign (yes, I know, I’m shameless, but you also know you want a plush buffalo dog of your very own, complete with a tiny blue tongue!). Also be sure to ask for a photo with Barry at any time during the convention. He has his own Facebook and Google+ pages, and he needs images to post.
