Ad Adstra ConSuite and Gopher Hole!

[jeffreyab]

So Ad Astra the Toronto science fiction convention is going dry and also asking other groups to run its consuite, which includes providing crash space for the gophers.

http://www.ad-astra.org/Announcements.php#consuite

Which also brings up the question, who is planning to go in 2008 and why?

Comments

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

Kind of odd and disorganized-seeming, but I know appearances can be deceptive. The Pirates have been considering attending Ad Astra -- what's it actually like, compared to, say, ConFusion?

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

Its different, way more local Toronto authors attend so the literary track is good and many of them congregate in the bar area when not doing panels, others however stick to the Green Room with the concom and you only see them at panels.

The consuite is usually the suck and things look worse this year.

The hotel has an indoor pool and hot tub which we have to share with the public since the con does not sell out the hotel.

The local anime/media fans come so the costumes and masquerade programming is very good. They also enliven the dance on Saturday. Fridays big event is a meet the pros and sometimes there is a book launch too.

There are usually port, beer and scotch tastings for an extra charge to cover matrials.

Saturday night there is the beefcake/cheesecake photo event for charity, you can get your picture taken with a scantily dressed person are get fed cheesecake or both for a local AIDS hospice.

The hotel is far from good restaurants so you have to drive a bit to get to some and its also isolated from good shopping the same way. Its in a oasis of office buildings surrounded by highways and bush.

The hotel is not pirate ship friendly being built on the side of a hill with five levels to the ground floor. Its like the Van Dyke but on uneven ground.

Finally its Toronto so you have to make sure that the hotel knows your car so you don't get towed from the lot or ticketed.