I just got back from Portus today. This was my fourth HP con (fifth if you count Wrockstock, which... I don't), and it was a very different experience from the other three.
This was mostly because I took my baby with me: In the past, going to cons has been an experience of completely immersing myself in fandom for several days, but I couldn't do that this time. Having BG with me meant that I was a mom first and a fandomer second, and that changed the experience for me in an interesting way. I was always watching the clock or waiting for Mr. Grant to call me to say BG was hungry again. I had to be ready to leave a panel or an event at a moment's notice, and many things I could only attend half of. (And wouldn't you know this would be the weekend that BG would decide he didn't want a bottle? If it wasn't The Boobie, he was Not Interested. And alas, Mr. Grant does not possess said Boobie.)
( So I experienced the con in bits and pieces. )
This was mostly because I took my baby with me: In the past, going to cons has been an experience of completely immersing myself in fandom for several days, but I couldn't do that this time. Having BG with me meant that I was a mom first and a fandomer second, and that changed the experience for me in an interesting way. I was always watching the clock or waiting for Mr. Grant to call me to say BG was hungry again. I had to be ready to leave a panel or an event at a moment's notice, and many things I could only attend half of. (And wouldn't you know this would be the weekend that BG would decide he didn't want a bottle? If it wasn't The Boobie, he was Not Interested. And alas, Mr. Grant does not possess said Boobie.)
( So I experienced the con in bits and pieces. )