Diane and I had to leave BOUCHERCON a day early because Diane’s mother celebrated her 93rd Birthday this weekend. Katie flew in from Boston to join the celebration. We had a marvelous time at the Cleveland BOUCHERCON. Here’s my brief critique of our brief stay:
THE GOOD:
1. Art Scott, Steve Stilwell, Tina Karlson, Maggie Mason, Beth & Joe, Jeff & Ann Smith, the Teds, and all our mystery friends in attendance. Great seeing and talking with you guys!
2. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! Loved the giant guitars!
3. The dinner at LOLA! Yummy!
4. Winning a $50 Gift Certificate for the Dealers’ Room.
5. Free books!
THE BAD:
1. No Abbotts, Criders, Lachmans, Meyersons, Moores, the Robinsons, or Todd Mason. Hope to see you all in Albany in 2013!
2. A pathetic Dealers’ Room. Maybe six booksellers showed up. And one woman selling jewelry. The room was half empty. Sad.
THE UGLY:
1. When I called the Front Desk about Internet access from my room, I was told it would cost $12.95 a day. I passed. When I went down to The Business Center, the charges were $6.95 for 15 MINUTES! Again, I passed. Then, outside the Hospitality Room there was a sign saying BOUCHERCON attendees could access the Internet for free using the password “bouchercon” on the hotel logon screen. I finally gained access to the Internet, but the WI-FI was sloooooooooooow!
That empty book sellers room is scary. My first Boucheron in Chicago (2006?) the room was packed. I guess they were not selling enough books to make the trip worth it. Did attendance seem down too?
Attendance was up, Patti. The whole business model of the Dealers’ Room (as well as brick-and-mortar bookstores) is crushed by Internet buying.
Love that photo!
Diane hasn’t dumped all the photos she took in Cleveland onto the computer yet, Bill. I had to resort to a photo from St. Louis’ BOUCHERCON.
I was wondering if Stilwell and Otto were among your “good, bad and ugly” trio but glad to hear it was the con. That dealers room story is pretty pathetic.
Patti, Chicago was 2005. We were there when Katrina hit New Orleans.
Another highlight of the trip to Cleveland was Art Scott’s 2-hour driving tour of his childhood neighborhoods in Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights, Jeff. Beth, Joe, and I were enthralled by Art’s commentary on growing up in the Cleveland suburbs! I wish I had recorded it!
Really too bad about the dealers’ room. I wonder to what extent they even promoted it to booksellers? About that bad list, you failed to mention the old Robinson guy was also absent. That’s okay everyone else does it too. Looking forward to those pictures! I still can’t get over no con T-shirt. Pathetic.
Glad you had a great time, congrats on winning that certificate, so glad your mo-in-law had a good celebration.
I’m adding you to the No Show list, Rick. T-shirt vendors used to be a fixture at BOUCHERCONs. No longer.
That was about when we quit going to the more (ahem) female-oriented Malice Domestic, when my table in the dealers room was surrounded by jewelry and shawl sellers.
They were there at San Francisco just a few years ago (three? two?). There, the T-shirt seller was in the large registration area, not the book room. Not sure why that comment shows as from RkR, maybe because I sent it from the MacBook.
Goodness…thanks for namechecking me among folks who are actually good company! I wonder if the costs of huckstering this one were steep, as well, given the amenities tags you mention on connectivity, along with whatever hassle it is getting one’s goods into the site…glad you had a very good time otherwise!
We would have had an even better time if you and the Meyersons, the Abbotts, the Criders, and the Robinsons had showed up, Todd. Start planning for Albany NOW!
Had a great time – as usual. Didn’t spend as much as I usually do in the dealers room but made up for it with all the great meals I enjoyed. Good to see all my Bouchercon friends and sorry to miss the AWOL ones but life intervenes. I’ll be looking forward to everyone in Albany.
The Renaissance added a one-time charge to the bill for Joe’s wi-fi login – $13.75. Then it kept going out on him.
I was told when I went to book space in February 2012 that the dealer room was sold out and no table space was available. The wait list was the best I could hope for. And that was eight months before the event.
Thus my lack of attending and setting up the Black Dog Books wares.
(Book sales at Boucheron 2011 in St. Louis were very flat as well and expenses were not covered.)
Tom Roberts
Black Dog Books
There was plenty of space in the Cleveland DEALERS’ ROOM, Tom. What mailing address should I use to order your Black Dog Books? I want to help you recover from the flood (and buy some great books!) Any specials?