Icon - Day 3

Well, the con is done, and yours truly is truly tired.

The day started with my own lecture about John W. Campbell Jr., and the importance of editors. And I've learned a couple of lessons - when you call your lecture "sub-genres in SF and Fantasy" more people will come than if use the name of a guy most people haven't heard of. Also, putting a speaker who fills the smaller room in a MUCH bigger one results in an empty looking room. Memo to all future con program people - Ayelet Aloni gets the auditorium. I get the lecture room.

The lecture itself went well, I thought. Most of the people stayed to the end, and I got some nice questions. I spent most of my time talking about why editors are so damn important, and praising the work of the Bli Panika and Aspamia editors.

Then I was taken out to lunch by my parents, who attended the lecture. Turns out I was wrong (as was Heinlein), there IS such a thing as a free lunch. Tasty, too.

Then came the very antsy time of waiting for OSC to come back from Jerusalem. He was supposed to be back at around 15:00. He WAS back at around 16:20. This meant that there was a rather terrible lack of time, as there were more books to be signed, an interview we promised, a visit to the volunteers' event, and the Geffen award and Card's 1000 ideas an hour. And 3 hours to do them all. And after that, he was also supposed to meet and greet the senior staff, and sign stuff for them.

Every book and every poster WAS signed. There was NO interview, but the interviewer got to talk briefly with OSC, with a promise to finish the talk in Email. OSC's priorities were - fans first, media second. When he put the media first, it was strictly for the good of the con.

The Geffen award was a very impressive event this year, with a nice variety of presenters. Rani Graff (who's last name, I'm told, is spelled with two f's), did a great job. The winners were:

Best translated SF: Solaris
Best translated Fantasy: American Gods
Best original short story: I am TM by Guy Hasson
Best original book: Sometimes it's different by Vered Tuchterman

None of my Modan books won, but I did select American Gods while I was at Opus, and I did put the wheels in motion regarding the publication of Vered's book. So my dissapointed was mild. Also, Vered thanked me in very warm and gratifying words from the podium. And, frankly, after getting NO thanks at the con's opening ceremony for inviting OSC to the Con, and making so many of the arrangements, it was nice to be thanked for SOMETHING. My former employer at Opus Press, Gil Tagar, also gave thanks to "SF Editors, past and present" when picking up the award for American Gods.

Which brings me to my little rant. So many people during the con expressed how great it must be for me to be OSC's escort. And you know what, OSC was great. But most of my job wasn't hanging out with him. I barely got to converse with him. What I mostly did was try and filter the requests for his time, his signature, his photo, his... well, whatever. This is a man who was jetlagged, dead tired from the very first day, and almost none of the visitors of the con even SAW it, because he really is a VERY nice man, and because he had us, his escorts, to bail him out when talks got too long. Our job at the con was to protect him, and allow him the space to be able to be so nice and personable with everyone. And while I don't blame a single person for wanting Card's time, his signature, his photo, or whatever, you must realize than there were MANY of you. And this job, while gratifying, was HARD.

But enough of my whining.

OSC's 1000 Ideas an Hour interactive lecture was terrific, and extremely helpful to any wannabe writer. It was also very funny, The man is a terrific showman.

After signing some more books, and spending a little time with the con staff, Card was taken to his hotel. My job, for the time being, was done.

22:00 saw the annual meeting of the ISSFF. Much calmer meeting this year. And in this meeting, I was thanked by the Chairman of the society for my part in bringing OSC. You're welcome. The new board is: Erez, Rami, Rani, Doron, Hagit (who was the top vote getter), Or, and Assaf. Congrats.

Had a nice long talk about future society plans with some key players after the meeting, and then went to pick OSC up and take him to the airport.

We arrived about an hour and 15 minutes before OSC's flight, figuring he wouldn't have to wait very long in queue, as he's flying Business class. Well... that was ALMOST a terrible mistake. We were redirected to a LONGER security line, in order to have OSC's luggage x-rayed. If he were to wait in that line, he would miss his flight. A little effort on my part, and great cooperation by the people in charge of security, got him past the queue. Then, in a fortunate accident, it turned out that the security guy assigned to him had read Ender's Game! The luggage was not X-rayed, and our honored guest was questioned and sent on his way, safely on time. And so, tired and relived, Rani and myself set off home, after an emotional parting from this great writer and wonderful human being.

Icon - Day 2

Remember when I said the people LOVE OSC? Well, they really, really, really love him. I'll elaborate in a minute...

Arrived a little after noon, and jumped straight to the only event in Icon I actually got to attend this year that wasn't Card related - Dotan Dimet's lecture about The Invisibles, a brilliant comic series. It was an interesting lecture, but I had to leave it, because the day's biggest even was due to begin a little before two PM - the Card booksigning. And when I say big, I mean BIG. about 700 people got their books signed and their pictures taken in two separate signings over the coarse of 4 hours and 20 minutes. Dig it.

Before the signing, however, we watched a reenactment of the famous insult duel scene from Monkey Island, which was written by OSC. Card was thrilled, as he'd never seen it performed live before.

And now back to the topic of the signing, and I must pause to praise the peeps. The folks in line were polite, friendly, no pushing, no shoving, no unpleasantness. You people rock. The Brute Squad, volunteers who were OFF SHIFT and gave of their time to help the event run smoothly were terrifically efficient. Hagit, Nir, Vered (and all those whose name I didn't catch, or forgot), You guys ALSO rock. Thank you for making a really long and arduous event fun. And Rani, for holding the fort while Assaf and myself went to grab lunch and prepare for our panel with Card along with co-conspirator Noa Menhaim, thanks to you as well.

The panel took place between the two signing sessions, and I'm told it went well. OSC is really good at answering questions. Sadly, he does answer at length, so the audience didn't really get to ask too many questions. Sorry, folks. But you heard what the man said - if you want to ask him something, EMAIL him.

Then it was off to the "press conference", which was really a group interview with the various media outlets of the sf/roleplaying/trek/gaming community of Israel. Again, OSC was patient and friendly, and even signed a bunch of stuff for the assembled media/fans. But we had dinner reservations, and the man was tired and hungry, so we had to drag him away.

Dinner, with Aspamia publisher Ron Yaniv and editor Vered Tuchterman, was excellent. OSC and Ron argued for a while on the subject of who will pay, but finally found a compromise. Card paid for dinner, Yaniv paid for the wine. You know, they say there's no such thing as a free lunch, but as I learned this week, there sure is such a thing as a free dinner.

Tomorrow is my own big day - I've got my lecture at 12:00, and the Geffen award at 17:30. I hope one of "my" books will win. I will be ecstatic if I two do.

Icon - Day 1

Well, this we know - the people LOVE OSC.

From the moment I got to the con, around noon, people tried to get some hold of Card - where is he (Kineret), when can I interview him (later), can he look at my computer game/story/picture. This report will be shorter than yesterday, as most of the day was a blur.

Card himself arrived a short time before the Con's opening ceremony, and spoke very movingly about his longtime love and affection for Israel. And then, after several speeches, and the gorgeous RoTK trailer (OSC is looking forward to that film as much as we are), there was a brief time until OSC's lecture about leadership. In this time, he was mugged by the crowds. People, as I said, love the man. They wanted to talk to him, shake his hand, get an autograph. Despite repeated requests NOT to ask for autographs, as he'll be doing an autograph session tomorrow, lots and lots and lots of people asked for one. We (the OSC escorts) shielded him from a lot of that, but not all.

Then came his speech, a terrific speech about good leaders and bad, and leadership in everyday life. It wasn't exactly what most were expecting, but it was a great speech. Then some Q&A, and off out to the press of the masses. We DID get to introduce OSC to Ron Yaniv, publisher of Halomot Be'Aspamia, and Card went on to plug the magazine heavily for channel 3 cameras. What a mench. More of the people/press rush followed. All of which was handled by our guest with great patience and charm.

Then it was off to another dinner, with members of the icon staff and other dignitaries. Much food was had by all, over an extended period of time.

As I figure to get more than my share of "Card Time", I sat on the farthest corner from him, and spent the meal with Uri Aviv and Rani at my sides, and Volunteer supreme Hagit, as well as mistresses of all volunteers, Nomi and Tamar. An amusing time was had by all.

Then it was off to the Hotel to drop OSC off, and home, to write this entry and go to SLEEP. Tomorrow - Card panel with yours truly. Check-check-check it out.

Icon - Day 0

Icon had a great start for me, the day before it even started.

Met my fellow "official OSC escorts", Asaf Asheri and Rani Graf, in Tel Aviv, and went to pick Card up at the airport. Got held up by traffic, which whittled our safety margin to almost nothing. We got there only about 10 minutes before the man himself emerged.

Card turned out to be an extremely nice man. Refused help with luggage ("It's too heavy for me to let anyone else carry it), and only grudgingly allowed a trolley.

Went to Card's hotel, the Carlton (and a big thanks goes to City Hall for paying it, and for the indomitable Dubi for setting it all up). Check in was quick and easy, and the shift manager came out to welcome the honored guest. Nice.

Asaf and I helped OSC get his luggage to his room, untill he noticed and chided us. We aren't his porters, says the guest, and takes the luggage away. Nice room. Terrific view of the beach.

After OSC freshened up a bit (while we smoked and had coffee in the hotel lobby), set out to Jerusalem for OSC's tv interview (Check it out tonight at 23:30, on Channel 1). On the way to the car, OSC informed us that he's taking us out to dinner after the interview. Protests that it is we who should be taking him out to dinner fell on deaf ears.

We were supposed to be there at 18:30. We were there about 50 minutes later, thanks to horrific traffic. OSC remained incredibly gracious throughout the traffic ordeal. Oren Nahari, the interviewer, and SF's best friend in the big leagues of Israeli's news media, waited patiently, and conducted what he called a great interview. As I said, check it out on TV. On out way out, OSC made the security guard at Romema take our picture. Expect to see it in his website :)

Then it was off to Cavalier, one of Jerusalem's finest restaurants. Where the non-drinking mormon all but forced us to have a bottle of wine with dinner. So we did. Dinner was great, and the conversation was even better. Oh, and have I mentioned that this all took place after OSC has been traveling for about 24 hours? The man was dead tired, and he took us to dinner!

After dinner, we dropped Asaf at his Jerusalem home, and a dead-on-his-feet-tired OSC at his hotel. And then we headed off to the Cinemateque, to drop off some stuff. It was nearly midnight.

Of course, about a dozen of the con management crew were still at the Cinemateque, including the afore mentioned Dubi, as well as Hadas. Those con managers of ours don't make anyone else work harder than they do, and they make everyone work hard!

Tomorrow, OSC should arrive at Icon fairly late, as he's going to see the Kineret. But I'll be there at around 1PM. Hope to see everyone there, and come back late at night for another con update.

Three weeks ago, I was sitting in a TV studio, talking about the Columbia launch, which had just taken place. Ilan Ramon was the first Israeli in space, and I was excited and happy. I said Ramon was living a dream which I and so many others have dreamed. It was exciting to be a small part of the TV coverage of that dream come true.

And for the past week, I've been somewhat in a state of shock. And over on over, two filk songs kept coming back to me, both sung by Leslie Fish, one was Fly Columbia, written by Diana Gallagher, which celebrated Columbia's very first launch, and may be the single most optimistic song Fish ever sang. The other is Nightmare Launch, Fish's song about Challenger, which may be her saddest.