Picocon 2013

So I’m a guest of honour at Picocon 2013!

I don’t think I’ve been a guest of honour before.  I mean, I’ve been a guest at lots of places up to now, and waffled at a great many things on a great many themes, but the ‘of honour’ part is really bringing out the latent princess in me.  If a small marching band isn’t provided to welcome my arrival, then naturally, I shall imagine my own and that’ll probably do.

I’ve never been to Picocon before, but my excitement about this event is on the up for several reasons:

1.  Having failed to mention the Foyles event with more than 24 hours to go before it happened, operation get-in-there-early on Picocon is now go, go, go, and the simple fact that something is so go, go, go, rather excites me anyway.

2.  Picocon is in London.  Not merely in London, but on the Piccadilly Line, at Imperial Uni which is a place which seems to produce some of the brightest, most groovy people I’ve ever met, and has really cool laboratories.

3.  Peter Hamilton is a guest of honour.  And so’s Richard Morgan.  And I don’t know what they’re like as people, but their books are cool.

4.  The convention appears to be run by enthused, passionate, and really rather on-it students union, and while it’s easy to go ‘oh no, students!’ I seem to recall being a student two years ago, and not only did I light many shows and do it in an organised yet-student way, I also seem to remember having loads of fun with mates who realised that actually, it’s cool to be both passionate and young.  All of which leads me to point 5…

5.  The proposed schedule for Picocon 2013 includes ‘1230 Lunch, Destruction Of Dodgy Merchandise (with liquid nitrogen)’ and the website invites you to both contribute said dodgy merchandise, and a hammer.

Now.  There are two things I love about this.  Well, three, if you include my dislike of dodgy merchandise.  I am excited by the fact that liquid nitrogen crops up at all, but perhaps even more exciting is the way it’s just casually included, thrown into a set of brackets with an air of ‘yeah, we’re going to ritually attack kitsch… and hey, we’ll use liquid nitrogen to do it!’

Enthused?

Moi?

Just a little…