Dynamic Subspace » sfra2009

SFRA 2009, Conference completed but not yet on record

Jason W Ellis — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:00:07 +0000

Yufang and I are sitting outside a Starbucks enjoying the warm weather–reading magazines and checking email. We left the Hotel Midtown around noon, saying goodbye to our friends, and we made our way to Norcross to begin our vacation.

During the conference, I was busy making sure the program executed itself with as few memory errors and illegal operations as possible. It may not have been necessary to do this, because everyone really came through in many different ways to make the conference come off as well as it did, and for that I am thankful to everyone at SFRA 2009.

I didn’t have much time to sit in on full panels, so I don’t have much to report on DynamicSubspace.net. However, I will report on the major events and those that I was involved in when I can sporatically connect to the Internet over the coming week. Also, I’m looking forward to reading what other SFRA bloggers have to say about their experiences in Atlanta. As I find these, I will link to them from here.

Talk to y’all soon about our southern-fried science fiction studies conference!

Posted in Conference, Science Fiction Tagged: Conference, SFRA, sfra2009

SFRA 2009, Essay Conclusion and Sushi

Jason W Ellis — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:57:25 +0000

While my pants were washing in my awesome Frigidaire combo washer and dryer, I rewrote the concluding section of my World of Warcraft essay that I am presenting on Friday morning. Now, I just need to type it up, but I’m out and about right now, so that will have to wait until later this afternoon when I am back home.

With the conclusion finished (but not yet joined to a shorter length overall essay), I drove back to the Starbucks area in Tucker, and got lunch at the delicious Kochi Sushi and Hibachi. For only $10, I got a Coke (it’s required in Atlanta) and a bento box full of sushi, tempura, teriyaki chicken, and fried rice along with soup and salad. There was so much food, I couldn’t eat it all, but I sure did try. Kochi’s lunch is yummy and highly recommended for the taste and the price!

One more thing–I never complained about my unibody MacBook’s glossy screen, until now. It is nearly impossible to use this thing outside where I”m sitting on Starbuck’s patio. My blue IAFA shirt is perfectly reflected on the screen where I am typing this blog post. Chock one up for matte finish laptop screens.

Posted in Conference, Science Fiction, SFRA Tagged: hibachi, sfra2009, sushi, tucker

SFRA 2009, In Atlanta, At Starbucks

Jason W Ellis — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:00:31 +0000

I didn’t sleep nearly as long as I would have liked to last night, but I do feel more rested than I did yesterday during the twelve hour drive. Now, I’m sitting in the Tucker, Georgia Starbucks working on shortening my essay for SFRA. I think I’m going to return home, because there are eight advertising robots arguing and shouting over what surfing is like with analogies taken from the movie Blue Crush for some new campaign. I could say some nasty things about how their hive mind works, but I think it suffices to say that Thomas Nagel’s “What Is It Like to Be a Bat” comes to mind.

Posted in Conference, Science Fiction, SFRA Tagged: advertising, essay, sfra2009, starbucks

SFRA 2009, Loading Up and Heading Out

Jason W Ellis — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:08:30 +0000

Yufang and I are finishing our packing now, but loading the car will have to wait until tomorrow. I have put some things in the car, such as the three rotisserie cookers for my folks and Aunt Lettie-Anne and Uncle Doc. After loading up, I’ll have an approximately 11 hour drive ahead of me to reach Norcross.

I can confidently say that packing and preparing for a long drive is a lot worse than any other aspect of conferencing (including programming). That’s saying a lot, because I still have to whittle my 31 page monster from the deep essay on how World of Warcraft creates cosmopolitan subjects to 8 pages. I feel good about the impending revision, but I’m afraid that it will take most of Tuesday with me sitting some place comfy with a steady supply of coffee.

I called the Midtown Hotel tonight, and they said that they only offer wired Internet access (at almost $10/day). I know there are some places nearby that may have Internet access, but I don’t know what my connection will be like (if at all). I did want to blog from the conference, but my updates to DynamicSubspace.net may come in fits and spurts. If I cannot get a reliable connection, I will save my posts and run them all at once the following week.

To Atlanta!

Posted in Conference, Personal, SFRA Tagged: packing, SFRA, sfra2009, writing

SFRA 2009 Conference Program

Jason W Ellis — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:47:27 +0000

The first draft of the SFRA 2009 Conference Program was completed weeks ago, but I’ve learned that putting together conference scheduling and producing a relatively error free printable program is an arduous task! Lisa Yaszek and Doug Davis, along with folks attending the conference, provided a lot of feedback and offered corrections to turn it into a finished product. Here is the full program for your viewing pleasure. See you in Atlanta in a few days!

Posted in Conference, Science Fiction Tagged: Conference, program, SFRA, sfra2009

Four Weeks Until SFRA 2009 in Atlanta

Jason W Ellis — Sun, 17 May 2009 06:32:14 +0000

It’s only four more weeks until SFRA 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia! I’m hammering out the finalized program now, and it should be available very soon. I can tell everyone that there is an exciting lineup of panels, an author reading track, and special dedicated time slot events. Stay tuned!

Posted in Science Fiction, SFRA Tagged: SFRA, sfra2009

SFRA 2009, Author Open Mike Night Announcement

Jason W Ellis — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:56:38 +0000

I sent the following announcement about a new author “open mike night” slated for the SFRA 2009 Conference in Atlanta, GA to the SFRA Discussion List earlier this evening. If you’re an author, want to share your work, and will be in Atlanta mid-June, please read on for details on how to add your name to the hat:

SFRA welcomes authors to a special event at the 2009 SFRA Conference on “Engineering the Future” and “Southern-Fried Science Fiction” in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday, June 12 from 6:00pm-9:00pm. The Author Open Mike Night hosted by the SFRA-SFWA liaison Edward Carmien is a new opportunity for authors to read from their work and offer books for sale to conference attendees. Also, in the spirit of open mikes, we welcome authors to bring guests and invite their fans to attend the event. If you are interested in joining us at the Hotel Midtown in Atlanta, send your name, contact information, and brief bio to the conference organizers Lisa Yaszek and Doug Davis at by May 15. We will schedule readings in the Open Mike Night lineup on a first-come, first-served basis. Reply now to get in line!

We would also like to invite authors to participate in the full conference and guest author events. If you are interested in attending panels, presenting a paper, organizing a panel discussion about writing, or joining in guest author events, you may send your proposal to , and then mail your registration form available at the official website along with the conference fee to the address on the form.

If you have any questions regarding the Author Open Mike Night or participating in the full SFRA Conference, please don’t hesitate to contact us by email at . See you in Atlanta!

Posted in Conference, Science Fiction, SFRA Tagged: authors, openmike, sfra2009

Last Call: SFRA 2009 Abstracts Due In a Week

Jason W Ellis — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:02:04 +0000

Don’t forget that your SFRA 2009 presentation and panel abstracts are due by April 15 to sfra2009@gmail.com. The lineup is looking great so far, but we really want to add your work to the mix. Go to http://www.sfra2009.com/ for more information on submissions, registration, and hotel information. I’m looking forward to seeing y’all in Atlanta!

Posted in Conference, Science Fiction, SFRA Tagged: sfra2009