Filkcon

[avevale_intelligencer]

So we've been at 2emi6reve (pronounced Semibreve), the 26th British filk convention, held as in recent years at the Ramada Hotel in Grantham, and we've had a great time. We travelled up to Ely on the Wednesday and stayed two nights with valydiarosada and her husband David in their amazing new house, had a leisurely Cosmic Trifle rehearsal on the Thursday, and did the rest of the journey on Friday in similar leisurely fashion, arriving, despite a classic Nyrond navigational error, well in time to see the whole of Friday's programme and settle in, as opposed to our usual tactic of dragging in between ten o'clock and midnight feeling like death. It all worked really well.

And on Saturday night, after the circle broke up, we had a long chat with the night manager, who had heard a rumour that we weren't going to be coming back next year. He told us how much they enjoyed having us, how polite and well-behaved we were, how the staff looked forward to our regular visits. We assured him that to the best of our knowledge it was just a rumour.

So imagine our surprise when we heard that the next filkcon is going to be in Colchester.

Now, I know (because I've heard) all the good business-sense reasons why it's not a good idea to allow these hotels to get uppity and complacent and take our business for granted. And I know that all the dwellers in London are probably fed up with having to drive over a hundred miles to get to their convention--not to mention north of Watford, which as everyone knows is a wilderness peopled by hungry ghosts where they know not the ways of civilisation. (Actually, having looked on the map, Colchester is north of Watford too, but sssh, don't tell them.) And I know that the filkcon used to move around from place to place, and that there's no earthly reason why we can't go back to that.

I also know that we've just found the perfect way to get here. That it's Jan's home turf and she feels comfortable here. That far from being complacent, the hotel staff have always been eager to find ways of improving our stay, and that this is the first year they haven't run out of bitter lemon halfway through the weekend. There have been problems, but there are problems with every hotel, and the solution to my mind is not to start again with a different one every year, but to pick one, stick with it and get it right. And I know that filkers used to gather in stairwells and get trodden on, and there's no earthly reason why we can't go back to that. (Some look back on that lost era through a rosy glow of nostalgia. I can't understand it.)

None of that matters, of course. We are but two. And we've booked for next year, so I'll have to get us to Colchester somehow. But it's a shame.

And so it goes.

Comments

[katyhh.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I for one am being relieved that at least for one year I would not have to have quite as far a train trip. It's nice to just have to travel about two hours from the airport and not three and a half to four.
The long train trip was one reason I didn't feel I could make it, this year. (Even though, realistically, I was simply still too sick, no matter the length of the train ride.)

Noone says that another committee can't go back to that hotel.
I liked the big lobby with the comfy seating area. And by 2012, finally, the food prices were beginning to be reasonable.
But I did not have a stay in the last years that didn't include some sort of hotel glitch. And I have definitely had better breakfast in previous hotels. You are right, the staff was always helpful and friendly. But the hotel itself seems to be a little run down nevertheless.
That is, however, always a matter of taste, I am fully aware of that.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Not having been there, I'm assuming that the concom of the next convention (whatever it's called) had their reasons for Colchester -- I don't know what they were, of course, but ease of transit is always a consideration.

(The traditional fannish answer is, "If you don't like it, run your own," which isn't helpful, I know!)

[willibald.livejournal.com]

We haven't been to any of the Grantham cons. At first it was just awkward but now the journey is too long for Dawn to be able to be able to attempt even with her strongest meds. Colchester is a bit closer so it may be possible for us to attend once more.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

True, and good point (though the M25 is a problem). It would be wonderful if this means you can make it next year.

On the other hand, Colin Fine turned up this year for the first time since Fourplay. Will he make it to Colchester? We'll see.

[katyhh.livejournal.com]

Fourplay was my first UK filk con ... I could have sworn I have seen Colin at several more filk cons after that, because I am not sure I would have just remembered him from one convention ...

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm going on what he said. I thought I'd seen him at least once since, but my memory is unreliable these days.

[eoforyth.livejournal.com]

Finances could still be the biggest problem, as it is highly unlikely there will be a Family Room that takes five, and we will be two children and three adults, as Catherine will have turned 18 by then.

Doesn't time fly; I was pregnant with her (although I didn't know it at the time) at our first visit to a Nycon!

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed.

I hope that by this time next year finances are easier for all of us.

[aunty_marion]

Can't remember exactly how long Colin's been gafiated from filkdom (he did say, but I forget...), but he said he was re-hooked, so I fully expect to see him back next year!

[janewilliams20.livejournal.com]

Dawn's made it to our place before - would that still be possible? Colchester is about an hour and a half from us, Grantham slightly less.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

Lil and I have never been to the Grantham cons - not because we had anything against the hotel or the journey, but because our cat sitter went on holiday in February and we couldn't afford cattery costs for what were then 8 cats.

We missed this years because we also have a Glasgow Eastercon and a London worldcon.

Colchester is commutable for us (at least now - we may well have moved by next year!) So this is the first time for at least 15 years that we've been able to consider coming to a (much missed) filk con.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

Don't get me wrong--if this move makes it easier for anyone, then that's a good thing. Travel was horrendous for many this year because of extreme weather; for once, thanks to V and David, we had it easy. I don't wish anyone a longer or harder journey than is necessary.

Some of my feeling is probably attributable to the delayed onset of con crud. And some is because we were the ones who denied the bad news that turned out to be true. Nobody enjoys that.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

And don't get me wrong - I know the convenience of a fixed venue in a central location and a good relationship with the management (I regularly book the annual cat club meeting at the same venue in the Midlands), but that's always going to disenfranchise some people (I get regular complaints from our Scottish members) so an occasional change is much better for getting diversity and new members. Ideally you need two or three geographically diverse venues that you can rotate.

I sympathise with the post-con blues though.

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

For me, Grantham, and Colchester are almost *exactly* equidistant, about 65 miles, and between 1hr10 and 1hr20 minutes.
y
Given the route from valdiarosada's house to Grantham, I don't expect it would take much longer to get to Colchester than it did to get to Grantham ... you just come back down the A10, two exits along the A14 to the M11 and drive south as far as Stanstead/Bishops Stortford and turn left onto the A120 which takes you pretty much all the way to Colchester.

So if you can get to V's again, it shouldn't be much/any harder.

I thought the breakfast this year at Grantham was actually pretty good. The bacon was nice and properly cooked, there were reasonable fried eggs and scrambled eggs. Tomatoes and mushrooms each morning, and hash browns. And actually one of the better hotel black puddings that I can remember.

Toast could be a bit of a queue, but that's always true. And you had to get your own tea ... which at least meant that you didn't have to wait for it to be brought to you.

Having stayed at a lot of convention hotels, I'd rate the breakfast at a little above average. And the staff were willing to please, I saw someone order freshly cooked fried eggs, and there was porridge available too. Nat had asked for soya milk, and on the Saturday the hotel had failed to get any, but someone must have nipped out to Asda because on Sunday there was a nice big carton of unsweetened soya milk all for Nat!

And the dinner on Sunday evening ... roast beef, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, mixed vegetables and gravy ... followed by homemade apple crumble and custard, and as much black forest gateau and lemon tort as you could eat, and unlimited tea/coffee, for £10 ... that was excellent! I asked for an extra bit of beef, and he gave me a big thick slice.
Sure the yorkshire pudding was far too brittle, (must have been a very thin batter) but aside from that, a lovely meal and lovely dining companions :-)

[ci5rod.livejournal.com]

Actually looking at the maps, we're closer to Colchester than Grantham from here as the crows fly. Unfortunately we don't get to drive as the crows fly even a little bit, and Google primly informs me that it will take longer to get to Colchester than it did to Grantham -- just enough more that it has me teetering on the edge of whether to stay Sunday night or not.

I agree entirely about the food; for the price it was, I thought it was extremely good. I'm used to paying more money for less quality in a convention hotel I know up in Stockport, so to be honest I think they were undercharging us at the Ramada!

[little-cinnamon.livejournal.com]

Sadly, there is one major problem that they are not going to get right anytime soon (and we know this because we asked them) - and that is the unsuitability of the "disabled-friendly" rooms. (Had we known about this before bidding last year, and had we not put in such a last-minute bid, we would have probably looked elsewhere then for this reason). The situation last year where you and Jan arrived late and in need of an emergency shower and were unable to do that because a) there were no suitable facilities and b) (if I recall correctly) they couldn't open the leisure centre for you is, to me, a major concern, and the reason we ended up booking an extra room at the convention's expense for those unwilling to put up with that situation. We asked them to consider lowering the prices on those rooms (to my mind, if you don't have suitable bathing facilities in your room, you certainly shouldn't be paying the same as the people who do!) but they wouldn't. To me, the committee's decision to move shows that they are trying to take into account the well-being of their membership and ensure everyone is able to enjoy the convention without worrying about what should be basic aspects of their accommodation.

There have been other issues as well, and the hotel has been getting more run-down by the year (for example, I haven't spoken to a single person this weekend whose shower was working at a sensible temperature). While I have my own personal and sentimental connections to the Grantham hotel as an attendee, I cannot disagree with next year's committee's decision to try somewhere else for a change - and indeed we passed on our concerns from this year onto next year's committee in advance. A change is always a gamble, but that's a risk that needs to be taken sometimes - what if we'd stayed in one of the worse hotels we've had on occasion in order to wait for them to get it right? What if they hadn't?

[weebleflip.livejournal.com]

We can (probably) always head back to the Ramada the following year if the new one doesn't work out. I'll be interested to see the room prices, as Ramada's prices have meant that I've stayed in the Premier Inn the last couple of times (2 nights there cheaper than one night in the Ramada)...

Nearby alternative food options/shops would also be a good thing. Being able to easily pop out and buy cough sweets (not having a car) on Sunday would've been good!

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to trying a new hotel too ...
... though my shower worked fine :-) ... still it was (again) a long walk from reception to my room, and involved taking bags and instruments upstairs, and then not having a luggage trolley once up there ...

... and I won't miss the cold wind whistling down the central corridor from the front door, through the bar area ...