| Penguicon, The AAR |
[Apr. 21st, 2008|08:28 pm] |
There is a purely ludicrous amount to cover here, because Penguicon 6.0 was an absolutely overwhelming success. In my opinion, it, just like last year's, can be summarized in three simple words: Best. Penguicon. Ever.
I'm going to throw in a play-by-play as best I can below the cut, but before I delve into the dirty, dirty world of details and such, I want to point out the absolutely amazing efforts of your ConCom, Staff, and Penguins. These guys performed a job that would be astonishing if delivered by payed employees of a huge organization; and it was done as a labor of love absolutely free of charge. What a troop! We fought, we squabbled, and we struggled.. and just as we always have, we pulled together to birth something that is orders of magnitude greater than the sum of its individual parts; we birthed an event--and such a one that would be the envy of many an event management firm. More on that later...
Thursday (Day -1)
Thursday afternoon, ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ellalthea and I hit a hotel already in the process of adapting to Penguicon Proper1 around 2PM. The Consuite-to-be was forming under the experience hand of hospitality master Steve (who appears to have no web presence, a decided minority amongst Penguiconners) and his staff. I coordinated with the staff of the hotel and went over some last-minute procedural items with the front desk before discussing the intricate (and ever increasingly more complicated) specifics of Friday's conversion from Diversity Conference to Penguicon 6.0.
Ger went to drgnfly's place to start prepping for Friday's Invader Zim party while I caught a ride with twoofdtm and wndstruck to the GoH dinner. Much fun was had. A group of us were seated outside, since the weather had turned nice, so I found myself dining at a table of concom friends and in the presence of Tamora Pierce and her husband(?), both of whom as it turns out are outrageously funny folks.Funny Story:So the our waitress asks what our group was, and was the recipient of several amusing but obviously untrue responses (the midwest's largest nudist convention, the society for the promotion of electron recycling, and such) when Tim (Tamora Pierce's significant other) turned and delivered with an utterly straight face "We're a group of Scientologists attending a meeting." This revelation was met with stunned silence before zifferent chuckled and delivered the truth in so unconvincing a manner that the waitress didn't believe even that. "Seriously *heh heh*," he said, "we are an open source computing and science fiction convention *heh heh*."
As it turns out later, the waitress was telling the rest of the staff that we were a Scientology convention.
I wonder if we get to meet Tom Cruise? Dawn and Greg, two of our nifties and just all-around hilarious folks finally showed (despite a call from "Toledo" about an hour before the dinner was to start by way of a fishbowl cleverly disguised as Greg's bluetooth adapter) and joined us for dinner shortly before time to adjourn back to the hotel. After ensuring everyone got checked into the hotel and all was squared away for our GoHs, several of us adjourned to the formative Consuite to relax and prepare for the onslaught that was to come. Co-worker Dan and his friend Jeff arrived near midnight, and somewhere near 3 or 4 am I finally turned in with a wake-up call for 8am.
Friday (Day 1)
Of course, as I'm prone to do, I woke up about a half hour before my wake-up call and got immediately to work. I kept myself pretty insanely busy as I ran around ensuring that everything was being set up according to plan (which it largely was), dealing with check-in problems (what? Someone assured you that you would be able to get a room at the hotel if you showed up bright and early on Friday? Sure, if 12 people un-register ahead of you), and ensuring that anything we could do before we owned the hotel for the weekend got done. Lora (from the hotel) was phenomenal, running around, giving me constant updates as to what parts of the hotel we could begin work on, answering questions, and--most amazing of all--enlisting all of the managers and staff to haul tables and chairs during the big flip (changeover). When I walked into the ballroom, I interrupted her transporting 60" round tables across the floor to a cart for removal. That is an insane degree of customer service! I have worked with events for something on the order of 8 years or so, most in the multi-million dollar arena, and I have NEVER been treated with such care and attention to detail. I have no idea what they are paying her, but it's too little by half.
Once the previous group had left the building (Bill Aprill can die in a fire for creating THAT fiasco by the way), the staff was scurrying around like ants trying to get everything done as quickly as possible. I asked whether or not some additional hands would help and, when answered affirmatively, I went to the lobby and was able to snatch up some 15 or 20 people willing to drag around tables and chairs.
All told, flipping one huge ballroom set up as a banquet with a center stage over into three small ballrooms--two set up theater style with over 200 seats each and the third laid out like a high-school cafeteria for MPCon--took around 45 minutes. Madness.
I tried to step into a few panels, but duty called all too often. I can honestly say (and a quick glance at my online phone records confirms) that my phone didn't go more than 15 minutes without ringing (and only rarely broke 10 minutes) from noon on Friday until nearly 1 am. I managed to attend a VERY funny Opening Ceremonies (something I hope we expand upon next year) and a very sparsely attended Dawn & Greg (Naked) Comedy Show (the program book's schedule was less than worthless. Frankly, all schedules combined were less than worthless. Most of them didn't have anything approaching the same information as other sources), and laughed my ass off. Very, very funny stuff.Funny Story:Several months ago, Dawn, Greg, and I had discussed me writing some material for their show. As it turns out, I'm only accidentally funny, so writing for them was right out. I did agree that they were welcome to use anything I have written in their sketches.
On Thursday, Greg followed up with me on this by inquiring, again, "So, you're still cool with us using the stuff you've written up on your blog, right?" I agreed. "Absolutely anything, right?" he further inquired. Now I'm scared. As it turns out, the bit in question was called "A Dramatic Reading from the Blog of Jer", to be performed with me sitting on stage next to the reader. Their choices of readings? Messy the Pooh, an account of a bathroom misadventure, and Surprise, a description of the travails of accidental buttsecks. At the end of the show, I realized I hadn't eaten, so I adjourned to the local Red Robin for a late-ish dinner with dek9, daddy_guido, chivenger, pheltzer, and Gooch. Dinner was a riot involving much attempted water aspiration.
Near midnight, Ger and Amanda shut down their Invader Zim party and came to watch the folks at Dreamland Theater, matt_arnold, dober_woman, and I in our puppet adaptation of A Shoggoth on the Roof. The play went swimmingly, the crowd seemed to get a kick out of it (and there was a considerable crowd considering the time), and it was a BLAST to perform. Afterward, we retired to the Consuite for some LN2 Ice Cream (thank you, etain), delightfully squirmy hugs from Anna, Karen, and Nicole (I have the hottest friends), some whipped cream eaten directly from a lovely pair of twoofdtm breasts, and some water to soothe my dehydration. I finally retired around 4:30am with a 7 am wake-up call.
Saturday (Day 2)
Today, I had to officiate a wedding, but first I had to get my job squared away. I ran downstairs, got my counts, and did some shuffling to ensure that everyone got the rooms they need. A little bit of follow up was needed to ensure that some of the flips that were supposed to happen did. When I got upstairs to change into my get-up for the wedding ceremony, I found that the tunic I was being loaned did not fit. Fortunately, Joe was willing to lend me a considerable amount of costume so that I was appropriately adorned as a pirate captain for the pirate themed wedding.
Having finished wedding caffeinatedelf to beau Troy, I changed clothes and hustled off to the Penguicon 101 panel. Before I ever made the door, I had three back-to-back hotel "emergencies" to deal with, so I was wrapped up for a while. I made it into the Flirting for Geeks panel for a sum total of maybe 5 minutes; just long enough to make an apparent splash. Funny Story:I walked into the panel just as someone was describing how much more physically affectionate con-goers tend to be than the rest of the population. They went on to talk about how women and men hug and kiss as a greeting very routinely, and women are even affectionate with other women. Men, it was pointed out, are not affectionate in the same way. As this was being introduced, I stepped up behind brendand, wrapped my arms around his waist, and rested my chin on his shoulder. When the speaker got to the part about kissing, I looked up and Brendan was looking at me... so I gave him a peck on the lips.
The crowd, as they say, went wild. Nifty Jennie Breeden whipped out her camera and seemed dejected that she failed to get a picture, so I looked back at Brendan, he nodded, and we kissed. Apparently, as far as couples go, Brendan and I are now a hit.. so I temporarily un-engaged Ger and got engaged to him.
I made it to the Under the Hood: How Penguicon Works panel with Matt (Aaron totally bailed on us!) This was a fantastic panel during which Matt was able to describe his unique vision of the communication structure of Penguicon. We both touched on areas we felt were important, and the 20 or so people in the room seemed really into it. I spoke to a few people afterward and I feel like we have some really fantastic options for programming and staffing help as we move forward.
Due to yet another time that the schedule bore absolutely no resemblance to reality, I was unable to see John Scalzi, Dawn, and Greg's roast of I Robot, since it was at 9 rather than 6 (I know, the numbers look similar, but they're really different). Ger snatched me up a sandwich an beverage as I hadn't eaten since breakfast and after scarfing it down, it was time to be a judge at the masquerade along side A.J., Catherine Raymond, a young lady whose name I missed entirely, Benjamin Mako Hill, and Jono Bacon. This was really my first time to interact with Jono and Ben, and they are an absolute riot. They made fantastic guests because in addition to being mind-bogglingly bright, they are engaging, funny as hell, enthusiastic, and just generally fun to be around. I am extraordinarily grateful to have had a chance to interact with them for a while. The Pinata Riders did an outrageously awesome job. The show was fantastic... redkendrad did a fantastic job!
After messing with some hotel issues for a bit, I made my way upstairs to shower, change into my pajamas for the lingerie party, and made my way back down to the Party Like It's 11111011111 while Ger, Amanda, and Rennie continued to do an amazing job setting up the room. It, like the ladies, was gorgeous. They did incredibly. We did the panel and...well... that's when the drama jumped off.
Funny Story (and long):About an hour earlier (around 9:30 or 9:45) I had been notified by Ops that there was a noise complaint called down by someone on the third floor in the 350s somewhere. Because I didn't have a room number, I told ops to get that if the person called back, and I moved on. I mean, the third floor has been listed as the party floor for months. In the midst of the Party Like... panel, the front desk called to relate a noise complaint to me from room 352. Since I was in front of a panel, I decided that we'd call the panel over early, take a field trip up to the party floor, and on the way, deal with the noise complaint.
We snaked our way to the offending room, gaining people all the way, until I knocked on the door. The attendee in question, who I will call "Mike", explained that it was very loud, that he was told he would be on the quiet floor, and that he needs the room parties all shut down for him (Nevermind the fact that he was in the same room the night before when there were parties there, too). I offered to Mike to swap his room for one of the Penguin Pits on the first floor, but was told that this solution was unacceptable. He had, already, unpacked. I told him there was nothing that could be done for him then, and he explained that he was going to call the police. I wandered down to the front desk, by which time he had already called threatening to call the police. The staff was unimpressed, but to smooth things over, I offered on behalf of Penguicon to comp his room or swap him for a first floor room.
We went back upstairs again to make a new series of offers. When Mike answered the door, the security person offered three options- A room comp + breakfast
- Swapping him down to a first floor room
- Comping his room and moving him to another hotel
Mike didn't approve of any of those options, and expressed so in distinctly unpleasant terms. The hotel decided that if he wasn't willing to accept any help, he would need to leave the hotel.
It is at this time that Mike must have called the police and found out that they simply won't go to a hotel on a noise complaint unless the hotel calls. This clearly irritated him, because he then made up a story in which I threatened him and his wife.
The police ultimately showed up, had him leave the hotel, and asked me if I threatened him. I described the events and the police moved on. I made my way back to a packed lingerie party and hung out before closing down to relax with a few friends before bed. Ladies, you were gorgeous, and I love you. theferrett, justbeast, rbradakis, and fourth individual who I was introduced to numerous times but I can't remember the name of... you guys were also gorgeous in your lingerie in your own ways. You folks are utterly awesome. Off to bed my 5ish with a 10am wake-up call.
Sunday (Day 3)
I woke up at 7:15 am bolt upright in shock. I never set up the late checkouts at ALL. I spent a few minutes at the front desk fixing my screw-up before taking a few moments to wander the convention and enjoy myself. Soon, though, I was back to ensuring things were going smoothly in breakdown. At 4:30 we had a fantastic Closing Ceremonies and Feedback Session where the Acme Ox delivered two presents for me... A "Self Lube" hat from matt_arnold and an "F-Bomb" from the con (our conchair eoghnved specifically).2 We had a series of very actionable complaints and a lot of accolades. In fact, aside from the complaints of the "Noise Complaint" dude and an utterly insane rant by some woman who wanted us to time travel back to a year ago and to go to a different hotel, all complaints were awesome and something we could look at.
Sunday night we broke down as much as possible, ordered in some Chinese food for dinner, and relaxed in the Consuite--now transformed into the Dead Dog Party. It was nice to hang out with shadowspar a bit, since I hadn't been able to up until then. Relaxation happened, the kiss with Brendan was re-enacted, and much SMOFing was done... especially once GoHs Jono and Benjamin showed up and talked shop. Both seem really genuinely interested in coming back and I, for one (and the rest of the con, for several more) hope he does. I crashed around 4am and was up at 8:30 am to get ready for the close-out meeting with the hotel.
In general, I consider the con an utter success. It was a lot of work, but it was totally worth it. It looks like our reg numbers were 1050 or so. which is a pretty awesome number. More important, to me, was how awesome Ger was all weekend. I certainly wasn't as attentive as I'm sure she'd have liked... but she was absolutely phenomenal! She was keeping track of my food and drink schedules and forcing me to eat when I'd go too long. Further she ran around for me, picked up baskets for me to give to the hotel staff, rubbed my ludicrously sore feet during my rare breaks, and generally was just the most essential part of my accomplishing anything. I love you profoundly, Ger, and it's because you make such a wonderful partner in my life. Thank you for being there.
Random notes:- Brazilian Beef=Heaven. Thank you everyone that got burnt silly making such delicious food.
- We get the best GoH's ever; bar none. Kudos to Jono Bacon for following up the "this con was too noisy and there was nowhere to talk to people"3 complaint with a response that began with "She is crazy, this place..."
- Audrey rocked the house on signs. If you could find things this weekend, you owe it to her. If you couldn't find things, you should try to use the signs next time, they were everywhere.
- One of my favorite quotes, in response to the above mentioned "it's too loud here" lady: "I don't know if you noticed, there was a con going on here this weekend."
- Keith Baker is frigging HILARIOUS.
On a final note, Sunday, after the Closing Ceremonies, a bunch of the members of the ConCom got together and got me a card thanking me for the effort that I'd put in. I pride myself on not being someone motivated by outside validation... but I'd be an absolute liar if I didn't admit that this card is now a prized possession and among my favorite parts of the entire weekend. I love you, my friends and extended family, and I appreciate you letting me serve.
I'm sure I'll remember more later, and I'm sure there are millions of you that I forgot to mention or what have you. Let me know below.
1 Penguicon Proper - The state of the hotel when it is most conducive to good con activity. Rarely the same as a regularly configured hotel.
2 Pictures to follow.
3 "There is no quiet place to sit down and talk to a panelist or author that allows smoking because you closed down the bar"... "Well, next year, we have a bar that allows smoking that will totally be perfect for all of that!"..."Fine, if you don't want to hear me, you don't want me here" |
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sleepy