HeroesCon 2015

[absurdhero]

We were in Charlotte this weekend for HeroesCon. It's the second time I've been to this Con, but the other time was 2005, and I was only there for a day, so it was a completely different experience. We went to a few interesting panels and got to hang out with some of our favorite comics people, so that was pretty cool, but I had a few specific takeaways from the weekend.

• I'm never paying for a room at a Westin again. It's not that it's a bad hotel, it's just that they nickel and dime the everloving shit out of you. The lovely bottle of Dasani that goes on your bill for twice normal cost if you drink it is a trend that I'd love to see all hotels abandon, but $20/day parking and $13/day internet access? Yeah, that can fuck right off.


• It pays to find a place that sells groceries. A loaf of bread, a bag of chips, and a package of sliced cheese makes for a great substitute for overpriced breakfasts and other random times where you're not hungry enough for a sit-down meal experience. We saved well over $200 between the three of us


• No more long trips for "going as a fan" cons. The balance between producer and consumer is something that I've been thinking about a lot lately. The panels I went to at Heroes were mostly geared toward would-be producers, but they served mainly as a reminder of the need to focus on my own shit. I don't need to stand in lines to get autographs from people whose work I appreciate. I need to be creating the kind of work that I will appreciate.

There are plenty of cons around the local area that I can go to for the con experience. Traveling out of state for a con where none of your friends are going to be is a bummer, no matter how many cool guests are there. ChattaCon and DragonCon (and Kami-Con as long as they continue to invite us) have become my only must-go cons, and I'm pretty happy with that. The other local ones I can take or leave depending on who I know that will be showing up.

Also, Jackfruit tacos are pretty good.

Comments

[wantedonvoyage.livejournal.com]

We noticed that there is an inverse proportion to what you pay for a hotel room and what comes with it. I'm aligned with IHG (the parent of Holiday Inn and an assortment of other brands) via credit card and loyalty scheme, and when we pay for ourselves we normally stay in their "Express" brand, which is right around $100 in most markets. That includes Internet, breakfast, and in many cases a gym and pool. We got a free night in their flagship Intercontinental hotel in NYC as a perk recently, and that $325-a-night room was like you described: Internet was extra, there was nowhere to get coffee other than outrageously expensive room service, and I'm sure the gym, if there was one, would have had a fee as well.

[absurdhero.livejournal.com]

This definitely gels with my findings on the subject. Good to know Holiday Inn Express is generally reliable. I've been frequenting the Fairfield Inn on most of my visits home lately, and they're another $100/night hotel that has yet to let me down.