Worldcon Day 3: Party Excerpts

Today we had relatively few commitments after the Business Meeting. This evening, we did not go to the masquerade in favor of going first to the Interaction Thank You and Final Party (hooray!). Of course we were in our WSFS uniforms. Hanging over the mantelpiece was the kilt from Vince Dochterty's formalwear -- he's literally "hung up his kilt." This led to someone suggesting that he would dash back into action "When the Sporran-Phone rings...." We took lots of pictures, most of which did not turn out other than a couple of me that Lisa took.

( Kevin without glasses, yet )

Then we went off for what we intended to be a brief visit to other parties; however, we ended up hung up at the Daicon (Japanese National SF Convention) party, where Lisa spent quite a while practicing her Japanese on the fans there, who were very indulgent with her.

Then we headed down to the Montreal in 2009 Worldcon bid, where I took some more photos.

( Photos of Anticipation Party )

Many parties were too crowded to do more than pass through or sometimes pass by because there was no space to enter the room. I'm really surprised that more people aren't heading out onto the Lanai decks -- that's the open patio areas outside the rooms. There's plenty of room and the weather is pleasant and mild, and certainly less stuffy than inside the rooms.

We returned to the Interaction party, which was no exception to the crowding rule. Lisa and I were both tired and returned to the room, planning to get to bed fairly soon, but in dealing with our respective issues -- me trying to deal with e-mail, uploading photos, and Lisa not feeling well -- it took much longer to wind down than we wanted. As soon as I get this posted, I have to get to bed, because I still have to be up at 7 AM if I want to be ready for the Business Meeting at 10.

Denver Wins; Pundits Mystified

There's a interesting insider take on the Worldcon Site Selection results (Denver won by a nose) in Tom Veal's Stromata Blog.

Worldcon Day 4: Another Day, Another Meeting

Today is the fourth day of Worldcon -- traditionally Sunday, but here on Worldcon Daylight Time it is Saturday -- which means it's time for the Site Selection Business Meeting. At the beginning of the meeting we will receive the official report of the Site Selection committee that counted the votes last night and formally welcome the winner of the 2008 Worldcon. The winners will then make their first official presentation as the 66th World Science Fiction Convention.

After that we have some other business classed under the same heading, including Question Time for seated Worldcons and for bidders for 2009.

Following Site Selection business, we then deal with any other business not finally dealt with at previous meetings. The only such business is the Pluto Resolution, which has been hanging fire (with a pending point of order on which I've not yet had an opportunity to rule because points of order yield to the privileged motion to Adjourn) since the Preliminary Business Meeting. I see several possibilities with this resolution. The one I think is most amusing would be for the meeting to adjourn sine die ("without date") before getting to that point in the agenda. That would end the legislative session, and thus any remaining business "falls to the floor" (dies). Since a significant number of members seem to want to debate the silly thing, however, it will then be my duty to rule on the point of order asserting that the resolution is ultra vires (outside the scope of the Society's purposes). I was initially going to rule it so (and probably get appealed); however, having been given two days to think about it, I've decided that I'm not sure, and therefore I'm going to duck the question entirely by referring the point of order to the assembly. That's a debatable motion in this context, I think, and should keep those who stick around for it entertained for a while.

After the Business Meeting, the Mark Protection Committee will meet, greet (I hope) the appointee of the 2008 Worldcon, and elect officers for the coming year. The MPC will need to deal with creating the HASH Committee as instructed by the Business Meeting.

Meanwhile, on the home front, Lisa has come up with a slight fever, dizziness, and sore throat. She's beating herself up for not being able to help me set up the Business Meeting. I've told her that the best thing she can do is stay in bed this morning, get some rest, and drink lots of water, as dehydration is almost certainly a contributing cause of her feeling so sick.