This was actually the first convention I've been to in years when I wasn't mostly attending panels. I was on two panels a day, which took up three hours, and I attended one other panel during the convention. That's it. I'm honestly not sure where the rest of the time went, but I sure felt like I was busy throughout. Lots of sitting around and just talking to people. I got to know several of the SH authors better, like Ben Rosenbaum and Jay Lake. That was great -- I have to say, I think SH authors are, on average, more intelligent, articulate, and attractive than the average person I meet. :-) I would've happily just talked to them (and our staff) all convention.
I did have to talk to other people, of course. There was lots of good-luck-wishing with other Hugo nominees, many of whose work I really enjoy. This was also the first convention where I had a publisher meeting -- I spent an hour talking to an editor from Penguin Putnam / Roc, mostly about erotica (I'm supposed to send her a proposal for an erotic cookbook anthology -- umm...I'm not sure how to explain that one, but I'll let y'all know if they buy it, of course). She wanted to pick my brain about the field in general; we decided that an area that was really lacking was literary erotic novels, especially with a bondage / kink edge to them. Penguin Putnam is looking to expand their erotica line, so perhaps they'll head in that direction -- we'll see. She also said that if SH does an anthology with a small press now, it won't hurt our chances of selling a bigger anthology to a NY publisher in a few years, when we have a broader reputation. Good to know. In the next few weeks, I plan to make a decision on which press to use for the SH POD anthology, and get that actually moving.
I also very briefly met the editor at Warner who'll be deciding about that Asian sf anthology -- maybe now I can drop her a note without seeming invasive and impatient. Though I am impatient. :-)
Stories! Books! Conventions can be very productive sometimes...