Words are inadequate

I have to admit, I take a bit of umbrage to the idea that the con is just to expose students to scifi, and for VTSFFC alumni to meet. As neither, hearing that makes me feel like I matter less as a part of the Tcon community, but more than that, it makes me feel like Tcon is being seen as less than it is. I've always seen Tcon as another con that happens to be run by students, and as such is student- and alumni-friendly, but it's job was to be a con and do all the things cons do. The fact that it exposed the student community to scifi and let the VTSFFC alumni meet was part of it, but not the reason for its existence.

If the con staff *does* look at TCon as just a way to expose students to scifi and for the VTSFFC to meet, then it's going to wind up Inivisifest very soon. I don't think they do, though, which makes it all the more surprising that there was a hotel option that was discarded.

As far as the best of a bad situation, I guess it's how you look at the bad situation. Which is worse--dealing with the Ramada, or having attendance kneecapped? Attendance means money, money means Tcon 26. Location makes people happy or upset, and happy or upset determines reputation. Reputation helps determine attendance. And so on.

Maybe the Ramada really was the worst of the two; I wasn't there, so I don't know. I just know that the only reason I've heard for all the regulars not attending this year was the lack of a hotel site.

As for making it more convenient for students to go, that's a matter of who gets convenienced and who gets inconvenienced. Someone's going to get the fuzzy end of the lollipop. Either the students have to rent rooms or work out transportation, or the visitors have to commute and hope they can get a parking space within a quarter-mile of the con.