Bouchercon flip-flop

I keep trying to make up my mind about Bouchercon and failing to.

Reasons to go: it's a mystery con within a day's driving distance in which books will be handed out right and left. I won't have another viable chance to attend until Raleigh 2015.

Reasons not to go: I was pretty meh about the one in Baltimore. (I know, I know, different concom every time.) It's a lot of money and time off to drop two weeks after I get back from a long weekend in Stratford, ONT. There is no con hotel.

I'm going to repeat that last, because to be honest, it's the biggest sticking point. There. Is. No. Con. Hotel. The concom has picked a convention center and worked out a deal with hotels in a 3-to-10 block area with convention rates.

The concom, to be blunt, expects every single attendee to be given and/or buy their body weight in books and then haul them by hand for 3 to 10 city blocks.

The mind boggles, it truly does. I mean, I know I'm a rarity, commuting to Malice, and it's awkward sometimes to not have that hotel room to run back to to drop the load, pick up that thing you forgot, even rest for a while. But that's just me. The runners of the Worldcon of the mystery world are expecting their entire attendance to do that!

It's so close. But it's going to be so mind-bogglingly annoying!

This is not how to do it, people

If you want to run a tumblr-attendee-only con, you have every right to. But if you're not, you need to play fair with ALL the attendees. More than slightly annoyed to discover that an entire amenity attached to a convention I'm attending was planned, advertised, and sold out without ever having been announced at the convention site. Even some of the most basic convention information on the website has the prelude "this is taken from tumblr." Other basic convention information is NOT on the website... but turns out a Google search finds it. On Tumblr.

*sigh* I get it. Tumblr's were it's "at" these days. But that still doesn't mean that it's fair -- or professional! -- to use it in lieu of formats that cover your entire membership. And I'd been SO excited for this one. Now I'm wondering what other ways I'm going to be informed that I'm paying money down to be told I'm not in the in crowd that weekend.

ETA: Oh. For. Fuck's. Sake. I've found the convention tumblr and am only NOW finding out about all sorts of events that weren't on the convention site proper. Like the book drive. You think maybe I could help with a book drive IF I BLEEDING KNEW ABOUT IT?