Swancon Thursday night
Apr. 14th, 2009 03:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stephbgSwancon passed in a complete blur, but I'd really like to catch and record as many thoughts and impressions as I can. I'll work through the program in chronological order and see where my memory takes us.
Art Show setup and start of registrations
Some minor panic ("We're screwed!") when I discovered that we had received far fewer hanging chains than expected, and that the hanging mechanism was subtle, shall we say. Many thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chaosmanor for supervising the main delivery and layout. The zigzag was particularly good.
Plinths are good. I like plinths. Tables were shuffled into corners, art books were put on display. Signs--oh so many signs--were posted. Too many signs perhaps, but no-one got hurt.
Art arrived, was processed in more-or-less the intended manner, and artists were directed to the fun of the MacGuyver Box for hanging supplies. I loved the MacGuyver Box; from its contents one could build a helicopter with a working bathroom. The mystery chains inspired some head-scratching, but giant paperclips, string and old-fashioned ingenuity won the day.
Opening Ceremony
Happened. Nothing terribly elaborate this year; just the facts. Whenever the subject of an Opening Ceremony Video came up at committee meetings, it just got deferred. We were quite ruthless with our resource allocation.
So, we had facts, and possibly some inappropriate mime action from yours truely. When I'm stressed, I puppet. When it came to my turn to make the Art Show announcements I was tired, shall we say, and completely failed to censor my words to protect the delicate feelings of fandom. Oops. I believe some people laughed, so it can't have been that bad.
Having tried to accept that fans as a population were not inclined to follow instructions and prepared myself for the messy last-minute changes required by late arrivals, I dropped the ball and quite possibly threatened to kill anyone who turned up at the show with unregistered art in their hands. Or was it just dismemberment? Apparently our GoH found this particularly amusing and a theory was born that perhaps he had experience in the field of con-running.
In the end we only had one extra piece for the show, and that from an artist with other registered works, so I can't help but wonder if I actually put people off. Did cherished and lovingly-prepared artwork languish in cars or hotel rooms because of me? To be honest, I feel no guilt.
Guide to Swancon
It took a while to transition the room from full-sized rowdy gathering to a half-sized intimate group gathered around myself,callistra and dalekboy to learn about the mysteries of Swancon. I think there were 4 or 5 actual new people in the audience, and I hoped they picked up some useful information. Unlike previous versions of this event I think we managed to avoid the trap of meaningless anecdotes and alleged orgies. I had to leave before we were quite done to return to the Art Show for the second art registration session.
Queue for the art
There was a small crowd of people outside the art room when I got there, and I was about to ask them to clear a path for the artists when I realised they *were* the artists and waiting for me. I was honestly surprised to see so many, and I think we got about 2/3 of the stock in on Thursday night.
I don't recall how civil (or otherwise) I was at that early stage, but I do know that my WONDERFUL Husband increasingly took over communications and customer service to leave me to mutter, growl and/or swear at my database whist rifling through sundry piles of receipts and forms. From a purely procedural perspective this went reasonably well. I'm told that no-one looked visibly distressed at this point, although I was deeply concerned for the safety of Gilligan's tribbles. Many--and not exclusively children--found them irrisistable. More tribble stories to follow.
Panel: Digital Art
I got to watch a panel! Yay! Although I missed the opening volleys, it was interesting and I believed I learned a thing or two.
Panel: Lost
Slowing rapidly at this point, coming down from the high of the first battles. I am way behind on Lost, having given up when it became unacceptably wierd. Yes, I know that doesn't help to identify season and episode. Still, I was curious to find out where it went after that, and was seeking spoilery knowledge. Instead I found sleepy knowledge and retired shortly thereafter to bed.
Art Show setup and start of registrations
Some minor panic ("We're screwed!") when I discovered that we had received far fewer hanging chains than expected, and that the hanging mechanism was subtle, shall we say. Many thanks to
chaosmanor for supervising the main delivery and layout. The zigzag was particularly good.Plinths are good. I like plinths. Tables were shuffled into corners, art books were put on display. Signs--oh so many signs--were posted. Too many signs perhaps, but no-one got hurt.
Art arrived, was processed in more-or-less the intended manner, and artists were directed to the fun of the MacGuyver Box for hanging supplies. I loved the MacGuyver Box; from its contents one could build a helicopter with a working bathroom. The mystery chains inspired some head-scratching, but giant paperclips, string and old-fashioned ingenuity won the day.
Opening Ceremony
Happened. Nothing terribly elaborate this year; just the facts. Whenever the subject of an Opening Ceremony Video came up at committee meetings, it just got deferred. We were quite ruthless with our resource allocation.
So, we had facts, and possibly some inappropriate mime action from yours truely. When I'm stressed, I puppet. When it came to my turn to make the Art Show announcements I was tired, shall we say, and completely failed to censor my words to protect the delicate feelings of fandom. Oops. I believe some people laughed, so it can't have been that bad.
Having tried to accept that fans as a population were not inclined to follow instructions and prepared myself for the messy last-minute changes required by late arrivals, I dropped the ball and quite possibly threatened to kill anyone who turned up at the show with unregistered art in their hands. Or was it just dismemberment? Apparently our GoH found this particularly amusing and a theory was born that perhaps he had experience in the field of con-running.
In the end we only had one extra piece for the show, and that from an artist with other registered works, so I can't help but wonder if I actually put people off. Did cherished and lovingly-prepared artwork languish in cars or hotel rooms because of me? To be honest, I feel no guilt.
Guide to Swancon
It took a while to transition the room from full-sized rowdy gathering to a half-sized intimate group gathered around myself,
callistra and dalekboy to learn about the mysteries of Swancon. I think there were 4 or 5 actual new people in the audience, and I hoped they picked up some useful information. Unlike previous versions of this event I think we managed to avoid the trap of meaningless anecdotes and alleged orgies. I had to leave before we were quite done to return to the Art Show for the second art registration session.Queue for the art
There was a small crowd of people outside the art room when I got there, and I was about to ask them to clear a path for the artists when I realised they *were* the artists and waiting for me. I was honestly surprised to see so many, and I think we got about 2/3 of the stock in on Thursday night.
I don't recall how civil (or otherwise) I was at that early stage, but I do know that my WONDERFUL Husband increasingly took over communications and customer service to leave me to mutter, growl and/or swear at my database whist rifling through sundry piles of receipts and forms. From a purely procedural perspective this went reasonably well. I'm told that no-one looked visibly distressed at this point, although I was deeply concerned for the safety of Gilligan's tribbles. Many--and not exclusively children--found them irrisistable. More tribble stories to follow.
Panel: Digital Art
I got to watch a panel! Yay! Although I missed the opening volleys, it was interesting and I believed I learned a thing or two.
Panel: Lost
Slowing rapidly at this point, coming down from the high of the first battles. I am way behind on Lost, having given up when it became unacceptably wierd. Yes, I know that doesn't help to identify season and episode. Still, I was curious to find out where it went after that, and was seeking spoilery knowledge. Instead I found sleepy knowledge and retired shortly thereafter to bed.
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-13 11:40 pm (UTC)This is one of the panels I had wanted to sit in on, but minion duties prevented me. Do you know if this one as tagged for podcasting? I don't know where to look to find out.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-14 01:08 am (UTC)BTW: Your organisation was impeccable and I am so copying you for WorldCon.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-15 04:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-14 01:40 am (UTC):-)
You were clear and concise, and funny, and excellent.