Westercon 69 Day 1, Continued: The Show Goes On

We underestimated just how long it would take to get the Match Game SF gear moved from our room to the function room where we would be doing the show. We should have started at least two hours in advance rather than 90 minutes. It would have made the set-up less frantic for us. However, Lisa got the show assembled, and jcbemis, lindadee, and scott_sanford helped me and Lisa get everything in place for our 9 PM show. We had a good turnout, there were no serious glitches, we gave away lots of prizes, and everyone seemed to have a good time. I was very pleased. But also very sore. Three hours on my feet and my back and right ankle pained me considerably. This became very obvious to me when Lisa and I walked over to Safeway to get some food to bring back to our hotel room after the show.

I don't have any photos of our Friday night show, but Lisa shot some video that I may post late where I get a chance.

We'll be back for a second show on Sunday night. Our big commitment on Saturday is the Westercon Business Meeting, which should be short; however, it is also a technical rehearsal for Worldcon as Lisa exercises the recording gear.

Westercon 69 Day 2: Business Meeting Report

The Westercon 69 Business Meeting this morning ran from 11:10 to 11:16 AM. The proposal to reduce the quorum from 15 to 10 members passed on from last year's meeting was ratified and first affects next year's meeting. There was no other business introduced this year.

Should Site Selection results be conclusive, the results will be published in the convention newsletter and there will be no Site Selection Business Meeting. Should it be necessary to hold a Site Selection Business Meeting, it will be sometime on Sunday at at time and place to be announced in the convention newsletter and elsewhere around the convention. (Personally, I don't expect this to be necessary.

Westercon 69 Day 2: Business Meeting Video

Here is the low-resolution video of the Westercon 69 Business Meeting. This is what's generated by the video camera's "proxy card" for immediate use, as opposed to the high-resolution native MXF files that require substantial post processing to make into a form I can upload to YouTube.

( Technical Issues with the MXF Format )

As we did last year, we intend to upload the low-resolution files (like this one) of the Worldcon Business Meeting as each segment is complete. If we ever have time (and it takes a lot of time), we will generate higher-resolution files later.

The audio quality is the same in all versions of the file. Only the video quality is lower in these proxy files. Lisa went to a lot of effort to bring the whole tech kit down to the Ross Island Room (which had no sound gear of its own) so that we would have a microphone in the room. You can hear the difference between what talking into the microphone versus not is in this video. All of the other sound you hear other than people talking into microphones is what the camera's inboard mic was able to pick up.

Denver to Host 2018 Westercon

Westercon 71 will be in Westminster, Colorado (Denver Area) at the Westin Westminster on July 4-8, 2018. Their unopposed bid received all but four of the votes cast in the election at Westercon 69 in Portland this weekend.

Because the results of site selection balloting were conclusive, there is no need for a Site Selection Business Meeting. I will therefore not exercise the "call" authorized by this morning's Business Meeting, and the Meeting can be considered to have adjourned sine die.

Westercon 69 Day 2: Colonel Chinstrap and the Headcannon

After getting the Business Meeting out of the way this morning, we mostly had the afternoon off. So we thought it was time for Colonel Chinstrap to put in an appearance with his aide (Lt. Hayes) and orderly (Pvt. Bear).

( The Colonel's Staff )

We went to a late lunch in the bar, which is expensive, but because the hotel refuses to serve any meals other than breakfast in the restaurant (despite ample evidence that they could make a lot of money by doing so), it was the only on-site choice available to us. We admired the many good costumes here at the convention.

( A Few That I Was Able to Snap )

Earlier in the day, I ran across autopope and asked Charlie when his autograph session was. He said Sunday at Noon, but that he'd sign stuff now if I liked. I said, "I haven't paid for the books yet!" and headed over to the Dealer's Room to collect my purchases from Cargo Cult Books.

( Kuma Bear Makes New Friends )

This evening, the three of us (Lisa, Kuma, and I) made the rounds of the parties, although I got separated from Lisa early on as smoffing broke out around me. Thanks very much to Pablo Vazquez (chair of the San Juan in 2017 NASFiC bid) for providing me the joke that I milked throughout the evening.

Me [in Colonel Chinstrap voice]: "I just came from the San Jose in 2018 Worldcon bid party. They said they were doing a 'sixties' theme tonight. I didn't realize they meant nineteen sixties!" [looks disappointed]

I later found Lisa who had retreated downstairs where it was cooler, and we decided that 11 PM was our limit and we turned in for the night, grateful again that we laid in some groceries in the portable ice chest.

This afternoon, the Westercon newsletter reported that there were over 1400 members of Westercon so far, which makes it the biggest Westercon in years.