Julie Barrett is a freelance writer and photographer based in Plano, TX.

SoonerCon Wrap-Up

Fresh when it gets here from Julie Barrett
Monday, June 27, 2016


SoonerCon celebrated their 25th convention this weekend, and boy, did they pull out the stops! Kudos to the entire committee for another excellent event!

SoonerCon is my con home away from home. FenCon is always my home con, but since I help run it I never get to see much of what's going on. I always come home from OKC doing my Sally Field impression. And this year...wow! So many wonderful people, so many hugs, so many nice things. So, what happened? 

Friday was an up and down day, but the down bits were absolutely no fault of the convention. First, my watch had failed to charge overnight. I was glad I remembered the charging stand, so I did have enough of a charge on it in time for my panel. We got on the road early, to the con early, got set up in the Art Show, and then I realized I was late for a panel. I left the Art Show stuff undone, ran to my room to get stuff for the panel...and realized the panel was an hour later. Kudos to the Art Show staff for being understanding. So the first panel (I was moderating. Eeep!) was "Stump a Whovian." It kind of wandered around a bit, but I think a good time was had by all. Sadly, I missed the Art Show reception as we decided we had better go get some food before it got to be too late. And that was where I didn't choose wisely. We ate off-site, and while the food was good, I was up most of the night. And we'll leave it at that. Then I went to plug in my tablet, and found it wouldn't charge. But of course it had material for a Saturday panel on it.

Saturday I went to the Kaffeeklatche, caught up with a few people, and then sat in a corner nursing half a cup of coffee and a muffin so I could be awake for the hat panel at 10. I coaxed enough power out of the tablet to be able to show the material. The panel was good. The audience had some excellent questions, too. That's one of the things that makes for a really good panel. Next up was "I'm an Oakie from Orion," which was kind of a celebration of fandom in flyover country. That was a topic with potential to go all over the place, and it did. Heard a lot of funny stories there. 

Saturday night was the costume contest and the radio show. This year's offering was "It Came from the North Canadian River," and it seemed to go over well. (Click the link to get to the show.) 

Then we had the FenCon party. Thanks to everyone who attended, and especially to Ellen, Mike, Karen, and Louann for all their work to put it on.

Sunday! Sunday! started out with a panel on Classic Doctor Who. That one kind of went all over the place, too, but it worked. Sometimes it's good when that happens. Then there was the "Story in an Hour" panel. I learned more than I contributed, I fear.

One thing I thought was very cool was that several employees of the hotel and conference center got into the spirit by wearing costumes. 

So a good time was had by all, and now I get to rest. Thanks again to the SoonerCon committee for inviting me and for putting on such a great show.

Filed under: Conventions   SoonerCon         

 

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