[Board] Fwd: Re: Would you like to be a Guest of Honor at Penguicon 5?

[Anne KG Murphy]

Hi guys.  Matt asked if I'd be interested in joining the board list
after I expressed some frustration because as head of guest wrangling
I often got cc:ed on GoH invitation or consideration discussions, but
then my comments would bounce from the board list because
non-subscribers can't send mail here. So here I am. (It was my
understanding that the board was consulted before I was added to the
list or otherwise ought to have been told I was on the list. I'm sorry
if it's a surprise, but I never intended it to be - I only wanted to
be on this list if that was all right by the Board).

I have, as Tracy said, indicated that I will not run screaming if it
turns out you need/ask me to chair. I like Penguicon, I have been
involved as a GoH liaison (head of Goh Liaisons, last year and this
year, actually) and program participant, and as someone whose career
spans both technical/programming and fannish areas I feel I can
particularly related to the focus of the con, as well as to the
diverse sorts of people we gather to make a concom. I have not felt
like I'm being groomed, nor have I felt I have been given any actualy
authority to influence GoHs, either this year or any future year.  I
have, however, occassionally expressed an opinion.


> Wasn't this the person who was Neil Gaiman's handler, a guy who made his name
> writing comic books, but she doesn't want a "youth author".  Because somebody
> like J.K. Rowling would shame our con by her very presence.  (And Pratchett
> was on a book tour for "Wee Free Men", which has a nine year old protagonist
> fighting elves with the help of pictsies, and followed that up with "The
> Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" which was officially positioned as
> a children's book.)


Neil and Terry are both Adult literature authors who also write youth
and children's books; your reference to comic books is a bit odd since
the comics Neil is known for are all popular among adults and filled
with references aimed at adults, with the possible exception of a few
participations in pre-existing superhero pantheons (which are still
very popular with adults).  He is quite popular with a certain teenage
crowd, but his audience is predominantly adult at this point in time,
and his and Terry's material is primarily marketed to adults.

I don't think Tamora Pierce would shame the con in any which-way.
She's a fine author and has made quite a name for herself in the young
adult market in a relatively short time.  I spoke to John Scalzi, who
has met her, and he said she was very nice and had very interesting
things to say about writing, mostly about writing for teenagers. He
has attended Penguicon for two years and, without any prompting from
me, expressed the opinion that she wasn't a very good fit for the con
(I had asked him to help me brainstorm for people to suggest for
guests, and I brought her up to see if he knew her).

Historically, Penguicon has not welcomed children, and has not
directed any of its programming at youth.  I personally am neither
fond of, nor wedded to that stance, but given that that is how we have
shaped the con, I found it incongruous that we would invite a young
adult author (this is how she describes herself on her website, this
is where she is shelved at Borders, this is how she is described at
cons she goes to) to be a Guest.  Also, though I'm sure Terry was a
great guest, I am not sure how a strictly fantasy author who doesn't
have any programming experience or even a blog (though Pierce does
have an EFF banner on her website) provides us with opportunities to
play with the crossover idea (sf/open source programming), but I'm
sure our programming gurus could think of something.

(I know, last year's author GoHs were also strictly fantasy authors.
That didn't make sense to me either, and though they were very nice
people, I didn't feel they were much of a draw - especially since most
people on the concom didn't know their work and had nothing to say
about them if asked at room parties or during the convention).

I have for years held the opinion, which I guess from her comments
Tracy agrees with, that it would be to Penguicon's benefit to choose,
invite, and confirm guests earlier.  Among other things, starting
substantially earlier gives you time to go through a couple cycles of
having invitations turned down without getting so close to the con
that your next invitee can guess just from the timing that they are a
last minute last-choice, and your publicity suffers from insufficient
advance notice.

I don't know if that should go hand-in-hand with setting a conchair
earlier, or what.  The Penguicon GoH selection process has always been
a bit murky to me.  Do you, the board, take a vote amongst you on
prospective guests?  do you consult with the prospective conchair? Do
you instead authorise the conchair to make decisions in consultation
with you? do you ask the concom for suggestions so you can find out
who that group is really excited about?

I was not at the meeting but I understand that at a recent concom
meeting there was some deliberation of whom to invite after Tamora.
Was that to actually give the concom a vote/choice, or just to get
their input?

Recently I've been told there was a decision to invite Elizabeth Bear
to be a GoH.  I don't know who made that decision, and it is unclear
to me whether she's being invited in the slot we'd hoped Tamora would
fill, or if she's being invited instead of Robert Charles Wilson.
Should we still invite Robert?  (Matt was going to ask John, but I
haven't heard back yet).

I'm quite excited about the idea of inviting Bear, since her books
include technical strains that overlap well with both our tech GoHs'
subjects - nanotech and network security.  But (though I note with
delight her Locus award for best first novel and her John W. Campbell
award in 2005 for best new writer, and I personally love her books and
stories) it does seem early in her career to have her as our primary
GoH, so I hope we are also still inviting Wilson.

I have not been party to any details about Penguicon's financial
status, other than being told that we can't afford to invite Charles
Stross, an author I and others have suggested is a natural fit for
Penguicon.  I don't know how many Guests we want to aim for, but I
feel it would be to the con's benefit to start being somewhat
consistent on number of guests from year to year, if for nothing else
so that the incoming conchair can base their budget numbers more
closely on the previous year.  But then, I also understand we've been
lucky enough to receive private sponsorship of travel expenses for
some guests, so maybe that's a moot point.

So there are some of my opinions. Do with them what you will.

Best,

--Anne