My Legs Are Broken
Oct. 5th, 2008 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeWe had another good Match Game SF show this afternoon.
The show was scheduled for a 2 PM start, with setup at 1 PM. I arrived at Noon, while the Charity Auction was happening. Fortunately, we were able to start unpacking our gear and doing physical setup during the auction. This is the Production Desk, located in front of the Tech Nest and facing the stage. The audience sat to the sides and behind the production desk. For a change, Show Producer Bob Hole had a good view of the stage and could see the panelists' answers. In this shot, Ken Patterson is setting up one of the three video cameras his team used to film today's show. The results may appear someday at a convention video program.
This is the stage set. With a small stage, no additional riser, and a room layout that would have ruined the view for half the audience if we'd put the second tier at ground level, we decided to put the two tiers side by side and skip the video opening. (It would have been on the screen behind the table, but it would have meant the panelists were in the projector's field for the entire show.)
I'd show more photos of the tech setup, including Elisa Sheets, who was my tech contact, but none of them were in sufficient focus. This was not![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yourbob's fault -- I wanted to shoot available light rather than flash, which leads to a lot of blurry photos.
After a short delay at the top of the hour to get a sufficient number of audience members signed up and to make sure the vintage Sony ECM-51a microphone actually worked, we were ready to go, the music started, and announcer Eric Larson intoned those magic words, "Get ready to match the stars!"
Kirsten Berry ... Kevin Roche ... Andy Trembley
Lynn Gold ... Chris Garcia ... and Leigh Ann Hildebrand ... as we play the prize-studded, fan-tastic Match Game SF!.
And now, here's your host, the star of the Match Game ... Kevin Standlee!
After a brief explanation of how the game was played, Eric Larson called up panelists.
"You can put lipstick on a Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, but that would only make it _____!"
Between rounds, Eric Larson read commercials for the various show sponsors who donated prizes. Both winners and losers of the main game got a choice of books donated by Night Shade Books. (Winners got trade paperbacks; losers mass-market PBs.) None of the contestants managed to win any of the Bonus Round Prizes, which included a membership to SiliCon 2009, a $20 gift certificate from Springtime Creations, a complete Hammer's Slammers collection from Night Shade Books, and a membership to next year's Westercon, FiestaCon, in Tempe, Arizona.
In Game 3, after a short break to give the video team time to change tapes and for everyone to use the restroom if necessary,jorhett and chriso played a game of futility -- a scoreless tie after the first two rounds, another scoreless tie after a tie-breaker round. That meant we went to the Sudden Death Tie Breaker, where the contestants wrote down their response and the first to match one of the panelists won.
I'm actually glad we went to this round, because I'd forgotten to do two sponsor announcements at the start of the show, so going to the Tie Breaker allowed me to point at the Canadian flag tie I was wearing and say, "This Tie Round is brought to you by Anticipation, the 2009 Worldcon in Montreal, Canada."
Later on, before the final bonus round, I inserted the final sponsor plug, where I opened my suit to reveal an SFSFC logo on my shirt, and promoted the SFSFC-run World Fantasy Con coming up next year and the San Jose in 2011 Westercon Bid.
Almost exactly as planned, game 4 ended between 3:50 and 4:00 PM, and I wound up the show, thanking all of the people who made it possible before signing off, "Until next time, this is Kevin Standlee for Match Game SF saying, 'Goodbye, everyone!'"
And then we were done, to the applause of dozens -- but given how few people attended SiliCon and that this was the last tranche of programming of the convention before the wrap-up panel, I think we had a significant percentage of the people still at the convention attending. The Tech Team started striking their gear, and the Match Game crew struck the game set.
The ECM-51a worked okay, except that if I stepped on the cable, which happened several times because I'm not used to working with a corded mic, we got bits of static, presumably from a loose connection somewhere in the cable. I was delighted to be able to use this microphone, which I think performed very well and seemed to work better now that I have a proper windscreen. (Even if it is the black screen rather than the prototypical silver-gray.) It was very convenient to be able to put the microphone in front of the panelist or contestant without having to lean over. However, the stage layout meant that I did have to turn my back on the audience (and cameras) quite a bit.
Nothing is perfect, but I had a great time, and the show seemed to me to flow pretty well. The audience seemed to have fun, as did the panelists. I have more photos, and I'll upload those that came out mostly usable on Flickr.
Once again, we could not have done this without the hard work of all the people involved, includingyourbob, whose work as Show Producer allows me to concentrate of hosting (and who took all of the photos seen here except that of the blank stage), ericlarson, our always-dependable Voice of Ghod, SiliCon's management who invited me to do the show and who put up with my endless anal-retentive e-mails, the Tech Team who delivered more than I asked -- including the board operator who managed to keep the music straight even though he'd never seen the real show -- and everyone who attended and kept us from just talking to ourselves.
I had a blast, as I always do, and, like just about every other time I do the show, when we were done, I was at least half-done. There hadn't been time for lunch before the show, although I did have a food bar ten minutes before we went "on the air," and I was wiped out. Bob helped me pack the gear out to the van, and I changed into more comfortable shoes and left my suit jacket in the van, then went back inside and talked withlisa_marli and Cindy Scott at the remnants of the SJ2011 bid table. I looked in on part of the Feedback Session. Shortly after that ended, bringing formal programming to a conclusion, I concluded that I'd better get food and go home.
SiliCon had arranged for reduced parking rates for SiliCon attendees, but the policy had apparently been unevenly applied depending on who was in the booth. As I'd not left during the con, I hit the jackpot on exit. Instead of $48, I was charged only $5 (not $5/day, but $5 total). Woo hoo!
I stopped at the Hawaiian BBQ, had a small loco moco rice plate and headed back to Fremont, stopping to get a few groceries on the way home. That rice plate was too much after having had too little, and my blood sugar spiked up to 199, which meant I need to go out for a walk to drive it back down again. If it had been near normal, I probably would have fallen into bed, but instead, after coming back from the walk, I decided to try and get the photos cleaned up and uploaded.
And now I think I'm done and need to get some rest.
The show was scheduled for a 2 PM start, with setup at 1 PM. I arrived at Noon, while the Charity Auction was happening. Fortunately, we were able to start unpacking our gear and doing physical setup during the auction. This is the Production Desk, located in front of the Tech Nest and facing the stage. The audience sat to the sides and behind the production desk. For a change, Show Producer Bob Hole had a good view of the stage and could see the panelists' answers. In this shot, Ken Patterson is setting up one of the three video cameras his team used to film today's show. The results may appear someday at a convention video program.
This is the stage set. With a small stage, no additional riser, and a room layout that would have ruined the view for half the audience if we'd put the second tier at ground level, we decided to put the two tiers side by side and skip the video opening. (It would have been on the screen behind the table, but it would have meant the panelists were in the projector's field for the entire show.)
I'd show more photos of the tech setup, including Elisa Sheets, who was my tech contact, but none of them were in sufficient focus. This was not
yourbob's fault -- I wanted to shoot available light rather than flash, which leads to a lot of blurry photos.After a short delay at the top of the hour to get a sufficient number of audience members signed up and to make sure the vintage Sony ECM-51a microphone actually worked, we were ready to go, the music started, and announcer Eric Larson intoned those magic words, "Get ready to match the stars!"
Kirsten Berry ... Kevin Roche ... Andy Trembley
Lynn Gold ... Chris Garcia ... and Leigh Ann Hildebrand ... as we play the prize-studded, fan-tastic Match Game SF!.
And now, here's your host, the star of the Match Game ... Kevin Standlee!
After a brief explanation of how the game was played, Eric Larson called up panelists.
"You can put lipstick on a Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, but that would only make it _____!"
Between rounds, Eric Larson read commercials for the various show sponsors who donated prizes. Both winners and losers of the main game got a choice of books donated by Night Shade Books. (Winners got trade paperbacks; losers mass-market PBs.) None of the contestants managed to win any of the Bonus Round Prizes, which included a membership to SiliCon 2009, a $20 gift certificate from Springtime Creations, a complete Hammer's Slammers collection from Night Shade Books, and a membership to next year's Westercon, FiestaCon, in Tempe, Arizona.
In Game 3, after a short break to give the video team time to change tapes and for everyone to use the restroom if necessary,
jorhett and chriso played a game of futility -- a scoreless tie after the first two rounds, another scoreless tie after a tie-breaker round. That meant we went to the Sudden Death Tie Breaker, where the contestants wrote down their response and the first to match one of the panelists won.I'm actually glad we went to this round, because I'd forgotten to do two sponsor announcements at the start of the show, so going to the Tie Breaker allowed me to point at the Canadian flag tie I was wearing and say, "This Tie Round is brought to you by Anticipation, the 2009 Worldcon in Montreal, Canada."
Later on, before the final bonus round, I inserted the final sponsor plug, where I opened my suit to reveal an SFSFC logo on my shirt, and promoted the SFSFC-run World Fantasy Con coming up next year and the San Jose in 2011 Westercon Bid.
Almost exactly as planned, game 4 ended between 3:50 and 4:00 PM, and I wound up the show, thanking all of the people who made it possible before signing off, "Until next time, this is Kevin Standlee for Match Game SF saying, 'Goodbye, everyone!'"
And then we were done, to the applause of dozens -- but given how few people attended SiliCon and that this was the last tranche of programming of the convention before the wrap-up panel, I think we had a significant percentage of the people still at the convention attending. The Tech Team started striking their gear, and the Match Game crew struck the game set.
The ECM-51a worked okay, except that if I stepped on the cable, which happened several times because I'm not used to working with a corded mic, we got bits of static, presumably from a loose connection somewhere in the cable. I was delighted to be able to use this microphone, which I think performed very well and seemed to work better now that I have a proper windscreen. (Even if it is the black screen rather than the prototypical silver-gray.) It was very convenient to be able to put the microphone in front of the panelist or contestant without having to lean over. However, the stage layout meant that I did have to turn my back on the audience (and cameras) quite a bit.
Nothing is perfect, but I had a great time, and the show seemed to me to flow pretty well. The audience seemed to have fun, as did the panelists. I have more photos, and I'll upload those that came out mostly usable on Flickr.
Once again, we could not have done this without the hard work of all the people involved, including
yourbob, whose work as Show Producer allows me to concentrate of hosting (and who took all of the photos seen here except that of the blank stage), ericlarson, our always-dependable Voice of Ghod, SiliCon's management who invited me to do the show and who put up with my endless anal-retentive e-mails, the Tech Team who delivered more than I asked -- including the board operator who managed to keep the music straight even though he'd never seen the real show -- and everyone who attended and kept us from just talking to ourselves.I had a blast, as I always do, and, like just about every other time I do the show, when we were done, I was at least half-done. There hadn't been time for lunch before the show, although I did have a food bar ten minutes before we went "on the air," and I was wiped out. Bob helped me pack the gear out to the van, and I changed into more comfortable shoes and left my suit jacket in the van, then went back inside and talked with
lisa_marli and Cindy Scott at the remnants of the SJ2011 bid table. I looked in on part of the Feedback Session. Shortly after that ended, bringing formal programming to a conclusion, I concluded that I'd better get food and go home.SiliCon had arranged for reduced parking rates for SiliCon attendees, but the policy had apparently been unevenly applied depending on who was in the booth. As I'd not left during the con, I hit the jackpot on exit. Instead of $48, I was charged only $5 (not $5/day, but $5 total). Woo hoo!
I stopped at the Hawaiian BBQ, had a small loco moco rice plate and headed back to Fremont, stopping to get a few groceries on the way home. That rice plate was too much after having had too little, and my blood sugar spiked up to 199, which meant I need to go out for a walk to drive it back down again. If it had been near normal, I probably would have fallen into bed, but instead, after coming back from the walk, I decided to try and get the photos cleaned up and uploaded.
And now I think I'm done and need to get some rest.
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