Thanksgiving and Chambanacon

Another Thanksgiving weekend is done. Thursday I had Thanksgiving dinner at Holly's with her large fannish chosen family. Then, after stopping by there again for lunch (Peter's risotto is legendary), on to Chambanacon. Chambanacon is small, but it seemed like we'd found a good place for it, in Champaign where it should be. So it was distressing to learn that the hotel has been sold and the new owners are remodeling away all of the space we hold Chambanacon in. More distressing is that our stalwart concom have determined that, thanks to the amount of demand football creates for hotel space on Thanksgiving weekend, there are no available hotels in Champaign that can host the con. (One has the space, but has a policy, apparently not negotiable, that the function space closes at midnight, which is a non-starter.) So the con will be in another city next year. Having to leave Champaign was the main cause of the con's crumbling from an important regional convention into a party, and everyone that still cares is worried that leaving Champaign again will lead to further decline.

But enough worrying about next year. What happened this year? I played some board games, enjoyed conversation, got in a little filking, and had good company. The filking broke up disappointingly early both nights, but what there was was good. It was especially good to hear BJ Willinger again. It seemed much too short, and looking back it seems like I didn't take full advantage of the time I had, but I was happy while I was there, and that's what it's all about.