I'm never sure how to put together my after-con blog entry…do I try to do an exhaustive, chronological dump; a highlight reel; a Twitter-style timeline? Do I only talk about the attendee-facing stuff, or should I do behind the scenes; both maybe? This, then, will be some terrible amalgam of the above made even more unreadable by my intellect-squashing exhaustion. I will certainly forget names, important points, and interesting events. If you and I shared a truly meaningful moment that I didn't share here, know that I definitely didn't forget, I was just respecting your privacy! Yes…privacy respect.

For me, con started on Thursday morning bright and early with meetings to update rooming lists then to be introduced to the hotel management team to discuss expectations and methods. Right out of the gate, I had a great feeling about the show…the staff was responsive, interested, asked questions to explore what we do…everyone in the room's attitude was very positive. With that done, I had a quick lunch and reviewed the GDR one final time before launch.

Load-in started at noon, and the team that was doing that was on FIRE. Dan and Lithie had things moving alarmingly fast despite our fridge and LN2 deliveries showing up in the middle of the load. Things I really like: bigger truck, loading dock, multiple storage areas in which to stage things, great volunteers to do the moving, and great staff to help direct that movement. Once things were unloaded, it was time for me to do what I do…laps around the hotel like a shark making sure things come together. One walkthrough to compile a list of things that haven't yet been done, then subsequent walkthroughs to verify the state of things as they near completion. The hotel was amazing throughout the process, so no complaints there.

The GoH dinner at the Mongolian BBQ was something of a clusterfuck…it seems that when BDs makes a reservation, they don't...you know...reserve tables or anything, so 15 minutes after our reservation time, they had tables for about 10 of our 40 people. By thirty minutes after, they could accommodate about 30ish of us. Nearly an hour into the meal, all of us were finally seated. That said, the confusing seating arrangements meant that the GoHs, ConCom, and Staff were distributed all around the place, so people got to actually sit and converse (as much as one can in a Mongolian BBQ) with people they'd have been unlikely to meet otherwise. I call it a success!

Take a hint, Amanda!!!!

After making sure that all Thursday setup was done, Dawn, Greg, John, Ger, and I adjourned to my room to relax and chat a bit. After a brief bit of catching up (and some much needed laughter), we heard a polite knock on the door. Hotel security mentioned to me that there was a noise complaint. Now, mind you, I had told the consuite, in no uncertain terms, that we had to keep things quiet…it was only Thursday, so it was certain that there would be a considerable number of non-convention guests nearby. I explained this as I prepared to go deal with the situation when the security team—not without a certain degree of embarassment on my behalf—pointed out that the consuite was fine...it was my party of five that was the problem.

First noise complaint of the convention goes to the hotel liaison chatting with friends in a guest room. Of course, if you've ever heard Greg or me “chat quietly” then I'm sure you are unsurprised.

We continued the rest of the evening at the pool terrace before all of us decided that it would be best to crash for the night.

More to come right here (the link should work once I actually write it up…)