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

[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 ...