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Westercon 74 Post-Con: Moving Out
Jul. 5th, 2022 08:53 pmToday, we moved out of the Tonopah Convention Center. We took a fair bit of the day doing so. All of us, particularly Lisa and me, were moving slowly after four days of Westercon. We started around 9 AM (allowing many of us sleep a few extra hours). Chris Marble made coffee. I took the Astro down to Rebel Oil Company (on the north end of town, off the main street) and refueled the minivan at the minimal station there, saving a bit off the cost of gas along the main highway. (It was $5.159 today.) I made the gas run because we would be putting the U-Haul back on the minivan today and it would be easier to refuel without towing. I left the Astro next to the trailer and went into the TCC, where Lisa was directing people, including Chris Carson, Scott Sanford, Bandit, and John Hertz, in the matter of packing things into boxes.
I got a cup of coffee and Lisa sent me back to the hotel room to have breakfast: some eggs bites we had bought at Raley's a few days ago. By the time I got back, she had re-docked the U-Haul and moved it to the back door of the TCC, where the volunteers brought the empty boxes and packaging we had stored in the trailer back inside to be packed.
Cameron Murrin from the TCC was the best convention center rep one could ever want. He normally doesn't work weekends, but left us with his contact details and came down a couple of times during the long holiday weekend to deal with some issues like a malfunctioning video feed and the like. The rest of the time, he left us to get on with it. This morning, he got out their tall ladder and took down the new Westercon Banner that we bought to start a new tradition, and he even packed it in the poster tube we'd gotten for it so that we could give it to Michelle Weisblatt-Dane, co-chair of Westercon 75, and thus not have to take it back to Fernley only to have to transport it to Anaheim next year.
Westercon 74 had booked the TCC all day today, theoretically all the way to 23:59 tonight, but we had no intention of using all of that time. (I discovered that the TCC team showed us having booked the hall tomorrow as well, but that was cleared up and we were not charged for that day.) And things did go pretty well. However, we did not rush. We methodically boxed up material we wanted to keep and discarded things we no longer needed. As other volunteers came though, we told them to take away whatever excess soda or snacks they could carry. We had budgeted our groceries for an estimated 200 members on site, so when only 158 picked up their badges, we had a fair bit of excess. Those people who would be driving all the way home (as opposed to driving to a gateway airport or train station) worked out how much of our surplus they could take.
Among the surplus was leftover ice cream cups and Klondike bars. There were around twenty or thirty servings left, despite us offing them to anyone who wanted one as they came through. We let the TCC know about them, and they said they'd give them to the children attending a free moving showing next Monday in the TCC, so they won't go to waste. We also ended up with around 50 cans of assorted sodas, which we told the TCC to give away as they saw fit.
We took a lunch break around 2 pm and some of us went to the A&W and brought back food for those who wanted it. We could easily spread out and not feel nervous about removing our N95 masks to eat.
Our goal was to be done before 5 pm so we could turn in our key to the TCC before the staff went home for the day. (There is a way to turn in the key without there being anyone there, but it's a hassle requiring locking yourself into the building, leaving the key in a specified place, and going out one of the "blind" exit doors.) We managed to get done by 4 pm.
The two-person TCC staff (including Cameron) were very nice, and we spent some time trading compliments with them as we checked in our key and checked out of the TCC. They were not displeased with the state in which we returned the convention center to them. Sure, they'll have to do some vacuuming, resetting of tables, restocking of supplies, and general cleaning, but they said they'd seen far, far worse and they had no problems with us. So it was time to go.
( First In, Last Out )
We returned to the hotel (laden down with as many surplus sodas as we could carry) and Lisa took advantage of our kitchen room to make chili over pasta. It was really nice to be able to relax and not have to rush around doing things. Because we are not heading home until Thursday, we can sleep in tomorrow. Lisa turned in early as the relaxation from the stress of Westercon started to unwind. Remember, even good stress, like being cheered and applauded by the members of Westercon 74 on the stage of the Closing Ceremony, is still stress, and when that stress lets off, one can sometimes fall over, as the stress was all that was keeping you upright.
Me, I'll be very glad to not have to be over at the TCC to take over from the overnight shift at 7 am. I'm extremely happy with how well the convention ran, but I'm also glad that it is over. I'll even be happier once we have the U-Haul trailer unloaded and returned.
I got a cup of coffee and Lisa sent me back to the hotel room to have breakfast: some eggs bites we had bought at Raley's a few days ago. By the time I got back, she had re-docked the U-Haul and moved it to the back door of the TCC, where the volunteers brought the empty boxes and packaging we had stored in the trailer back inside to be packed.
Cameron Murrin from the TCC was the best convention center rep one could ever want. He normally doesn't work weekends, but left us with his contact details and came down a couple of times during the long holiday weekend to deal with some issues like a malfunctioning video feed and the like. The rest of the time, he left us to get on with it. This morning, he got out their tall ladder and took down the new Westercon Banner that we bought to start a new tradition, and he even packed it in the poster tube we'd gotten for it so that we could give it to Michelle Weisblatt-Dane, co-chair of Westercon 75, and thus not have to take it back to Fernley only to have to transport it to Anaheim next year.
Westercon 74 had booked the TCC all day today, theoretically all the way to 23:59 tonight, but we had no intention of using all of that time. (I discovered that the TCC team showed us having booked the hall tomorrow as well, but that was cleared up and we were not charged for that day.) And things did go pretty well. However, we did not rush. We methodically boxed up material we wanted to keep and discarded things we no longer needed. As other volunteers came though, we told them to take away whatever excess soda or snacks they could carry. We had budgeted our groceries for an estimated 200 members on site, so when only 158 picked up their badges, we had a fair bit of excess. Those people who would be driving all the way home (as opposed to driving to a gateway airport or train station) worked out how much of our surplus they could take.
Among the surplus was leftover ice cream cups and Klondike bars. There were around twenty or thirty servings left, despite us offing them to anyone who wanted one as they came through. We let the TCC know about them, and they said they'd give them to the children attending a free moving showing next Monday in the TCC, so they won't go to waste. We also ended up with around 50 cans of assorted sodas, which we told the TCC to give away as they saw fit.
We took a lunch break around 2 pm and some of us went to the A&W and brought back food for those who wanted it. We could easily spread out and not feel nervous about removing our N95 masks to eat.
Our goal was to be done before 5 pm so we could turn in our key to the TCC before the staff went home for the day. (There is a way to turn in the key without there being anyone there, but it's a hassle requiring locking yourself into the building, leaving the key in a specified place, and going out one of the "blind" exit doors.) We managed to get done by 4 pm.
The two-person TCC staff (including Cameron) were very nice, and we spent some time trading compliments with them as we checked in our key and checked out of the TCC. They were not displeased with the state in which we returned the convention center to them. Sure, they'll have to do some vacuuming, resetting of tables, restocking of supplies, and general cleaning, but they said they'd seen far, far worse and they had no problems with us. So it was time to go.
( First In, Last Out )
We returned to the hotel (laden down with as many surplus sodas as we could carry) and Lisa took advantage of our kitchen room to make chili over pasta. It was really nice to be able to relax and not have to rush around doing things. Because we are not heading home until Thursday, we can sleep in tomorrow. Lisa turned in early as the relaxation from the stress of Westercon started to unwind. Remember, even good stress, like being cheered and applauded by the members of Westercon 74 on the stage of the Closing Ceremony, is still stress, and when that stress lets off, one can sometimes fall over, as the stress was all that was keeping you upright.
Me, I'll be very glad to not have to be over at the TCC to take over from the overnight shift at 7 am. I'm extremely happy with how well the convention ran, but I'm also glad that it is over. I'll even be happier once we have the U-Haul trailer unloaded and returned.
