My third "oh, please, folks" observation about conventions in recent times (for parts one and two see previous blog post) is that some conventions, I feel, misuse their Guests of Honor. This, it would seem, is where I have to insist that this is my opinion which is mine. I'm not looking to argue about numbers, een if I disagree with some current conventions who overdo it. I'm not here for that. But this is about how you/we treat those we invite to be our honored guests, dammit.

Too many conventions overwork their guests of honor. Being a GoH (we'll use that from here on, 'kay? My typing...well, you know, thank you for even trying to read it!) means that you have, at least in the eyes of some fans, of those running the convention, their committee, the board that runs things - whomever - that you rate. Usually it's given to someone who has written a lot and/or drawn a lot and/or contributed a lot to the genre. Not always - I find some choices of GoH rather stunning, especially when I simply do not see "contributions to the field" as I believe should be the driving reason for naming someone's name here.

Some of my concern develops out of a couple of trends in recent years. One trend is to load up on GoHs at a convention. So where you might expect two to four, you get seven or nine. Some conventions, I believe, are simply too small for that. This tends to go along with the "fifteen tracks of program" trend. Very few conventions can or should carry that much program. Even if a convention is program-heavy, there are other things going on. Not everyone attends program. Even if they do, far too often they'll face schedule comflicts. There will, however always be folks in the Dealer's room, at lunch, in the bar, being tourists, napping. But io digress.

Guests of Honor are your invited guests. They should be treated as guests, not workhorses. Too many of them are over-worked. This is flat out wrong. It's rude. They're our guests in our convention; treat them well. And that doesn't just mean "comp" them stuff. Give them time to enjoy the weekend. In recent months, years even, I've talked with several GoHs during, or even after, the convention. While they all enjoy the event, several have been exhausted by the experience. They've been programmed to
So what's the problem? The problem is that no program participant, especially one who is an invited guest, feels as if he or she can say the magic word "no". Again, I have had conversations about this with a lot of people. You have been given this honor. How churlish would it be to decline. How rude. You'd get a reputation. This could e your only chance and you can't say "no" because the invitation might never be extended again. I've heard this from folks, I really have - no names of course, that is, I hope, why they trust me and say stuff like that to me. But at times, folks have wished they could do less. That they were not scheduled for back to back program items. That they were afforded some down time. Some folks know the drill and have been either GoHs at smaller cons or have attended cons enough to know what to expect. Others are overwhelmed and exhausted and cannot say so. They feel obligated to perform, if you will. To sing for their supper. I say no and I say to hell with it.

While it is true that often, GoHs are Big Deals and this convention is the only opportunity you might have to meet them, to get your book signed, these folks are at the convention To Be Honored. Not to go home exhausted because they never got to sit down and have dinner. They didn't sleep well. They wiped out. Guests of Honor should be, I think, presented with options. It's not enough to tell someone "tell us if you don't like it" because they will have a really hard time doing that. Come up with three different schedules. How's that? Offer each guest a rundown where one option will be "just a speech/interview/signing", another would be the speech/interview and a program item and the last? Five panels, three signings, an appearance at the local library, those media interviews, and eleven more appearances. Some folks thrive on it and you should not take that away from them. But some of your guests have flown in from other places. Did you give them a day ahead of the con to meet your volunteers, maybe go to dinner with the other guests, adjust to the time zone?

They're your guests. Our guests. Some guests, you clear off the couch, offer them a drink, feed them dinner. Others come into the kitchen and start dicing. Others bring dessert AND start dicing AND move furniture. All can be enjoyable evenings. We like both.

But for the sake of all the attendees (and that includes all of us who might run stuff but who also might want to hear that interview or panel) be nice. Put yourself in the shoes of our guests and understand. Know enough of the style and history of the convention to know that while we, in recent years, have had 12 guests of honor, the rules of the convention call for maybe three. And consider only asking three people. In some ways, maybe being one of three and not one of 12 feels more special. Don't make them compete for attention. Offer all guests a fun weekend. Make sure they know that saying "no thank you" is a valid response and that they won't be blacklisted as long as what they do, they do with heart and enthusiasm. Make sure the convention is a good memory for them too. Don't forget that they might be nervous (some GoHs are big deals by now. Others are not).

That's it for today. My next/final post on this will talk about something very important to me: convention program.