I know nothing about any of the conventions on that liast, pretty much. I'd like to pick it up and make it to more next year-which do you think I'd enjoy?

Do you think I'd have a chance of picking up a last-minute membership (or two, actually, as I'd be doing it with dad) to this year's Novacon?

Bugger. Had completely forgot I was logged in on that account, sorry!

If you like talking to people about media SF, you might enjoy Redemption. There's loads of panels, and they tend to be of the everyone-joins-in variety.

If you like dressing up in nice clothes, you might enjoy Confounding Tales -- it's run by the same people who did Convivial a couple of years ago (which I didn't attend, but several people you'll see tonight did, and they can tell you what it was like).

If you like mucking around doing insane things with foolish people, and you like participating in the planning and running of a convention, then you might enjoy Year of the Teledu, which is being planned and run by the membership using an LJ community and a wiki. If you suggest a good idea for the convention, someone will ask you if you fancy putting the item together and running it.

The two Octocons I've been to have been different from each other, but each involved meeting people I only see rarely and a lot of sitting around with beer, talking.

But for sitting around with beer and talking, Novacon is hard to beat. It's very lightly programmed and very unstressful. The hotel has been a bit tatty in the past, but we're assured that it's been refurbished over the last year. If you're able to stay over the Sunday evening, there's a very good meal to be had, with a style of food chosen by the Guest of Honour. This year it'll be traditional Scottish food.

Novacon memberships are £36 by post until October 31st, at which point postal membership closes. You may already be too late to do that. It's £40 on the door, and they're very happy to take on-the-door memberships.

You're going to have a rather harder time getting a room, I suspect. You probably want to ring Steve Lawson (who is handling membership) to check up whether they're still available. There's a telephone number here.

Oh goody!!! new people at Novacon! yippee!

I susepct you might still get a room - though not a single.

I may be sleeping in the car...

There's also a web-email form type thingy for contacting various members of the committee here.

I keep getting tempted by Recombination. I often think about doing the February filkcon, but it's only a couple of weeks before Redemption and there's often Redemption-related work to be done. Recombination would give me filking and gaming and SF all under one roof and at a more convenient time of year.

Would you like to go to that one?

August is even fuller, proportionately, than 2007.

Mecon has an excellent list of guests, and I've never been to Belfast (I've been through it on my way to work, but not to it), so I'm quite tempted there.

But Recombination is tempting too.

I think I need to talk to people who've been to each, and then take a view -- it's probably not sensible to do both. I don't have to make my mind up straight away.

I'm in the same boat as you regards the Japanese Worldcon, but I do intend to go. Must do something about travel thingies soon. What's the nearest sensible airport?

http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/ (map).

Aliens Stole My Handbag is the only convention in the whole series of SFCoaMBH that I've missed, and I've been told repeatedly that it was very good.

Incon II was held in Long Eaton, or near it, to be more accurate, as it was in the arse-end of nowhere.

I worked out I'd been to over a hundred conventions a few years ago and gave up trying to keep track. Mind you, I went to my first con in 1983, so I had quite a head start on you. These days I barely seem to go to any.

Novacon will mark my 20th anniversary in con-going.