Well Phoenix Con has
come and gone. (I must update my Navigation links on the left) It was a
most enjoyable affair and I had a great time. Pádraig O'Méaloid roped
me in for a few panels which I enjoyed thoroughly. First off, and
indeed the first item of the con, was Just a Minute based on the Radio
4 game of the same name. Eugene Byrne, Nicholas Whyte, Juliet McKenna
and Aisling McSweeney who had to talk for 60 seconds without
hesitation, repetition or deviation on topics ranging from fridge
magnets to Enid Blyton. Deirdre Walsh kept score and the time.
Aside: I've just noticed from the list of topics that Deirdre prepared I managed to avoid giving anyone an SF-related one.
My Interaction presentation was sparsely attended but gave me a chance to show off Keynote on my new PowerBook.
On Sunday we had one of the most interesting panels, Ken McLeod, Dinae Duane, Danielle Ackley-McPhail and Charlie Stross - under my moderation - discussed the impact of blogs and Websites on authors and the writing process. The idea was sparked by William Gibson's comment to Karlin Lillington that we wanted to start a new novel and, for him, blogging and writing didn't mix.
The discussion was quite lively. The consensus was that while time can
be a factor, the Web is generallya good thing for authors. Charles
Stross talked about how he was able to collaborate with Cory Doctorow,
who, he says, uses BoingBoing blog as a receptacle for interesting pieces of information.
LAter that day Diane Duane moderated a discussion with myself and James Shields on e-books. While not on the panel per se
Charlie Stross made some interesting points which, while made in the
context of books, might be relevant to the ongoing music file swapping
business. He pointed out that 95 percent of a mass market paperback's
sales take place in the first year after publication but when the text
is released as an e-book there is a measureable boost in the sales of
the paper product.
1:41:54 PM  Google It!
|
|
