Quick Boskone Observation #1

The big Boskone recap probably won't get written until later this week, as it involves looking at my notes and summarizing a lot of panels, as well as finding time and energy to do so.

But I did note something interesting, especially while watching the girls at shadesong's reading (which went swimmingly, btw):

There seems to be a ratio of about six girls to every guy in the pre-teen to early teen (let's call it 10-15) range at Boskone.

There's a less skewed ratio at Arisia -- maybe three or four girls for every guy.

This is entirely anecdotal, of course, and there are dozens of potential explanations (including the fact that Boston is a demographic outlier or the fact that fen are genetically predisposed towards giving birth to girls). But it's an anecdote that I find fascinating.

It's also not in the least bit surprising (although my biases as a father of an almost-teen probably are a factor).

But there still seems to be an entire generation or two of product developers and advertisers (as well as any number of creators of awful sitcoms) assuming that the cons (and associated fandoms) are populated, if not by Comic Book Guy, at least by younger versions of the characters on The Big Bang Theory.

In related news, here's today's XKCD.

(Also, I really, really need a new userpic for Elayna-related posts; my little girl isn't a little girl anymore. Will see if we can get a nifty pic when we're in Arizona to show off the new haircut and some great desert scenery.)

Quick Boskone Observation #2

The Hyatt (the Arisia Hotel) could (and should) take lessons from the Westin (the Boskone hotel) on how to handle late check-out requests. The former required half an hour of wrangling and a call to the manager to get a half-hour bump to 12:30. The latter responded to the late check-out request with the unexpected comeback of, "No problem. When do you want to check out?"

The situation with both hotels was basically the same last year.

(For the record, the Hyatt staff in general are wonderful, as are the Westin folks; that said, I adore the Westin, as it's spacious, easy to navigate, has a pool that doesn't suck, and accommodates almost every request they get from guests. The Hyatt does have the better overpriced breakfast buffet, though.)