Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

As of the Friday evening of the week when construction started on the new dollar store, it appears to be finished on the outside. We didn't have a chance to take a photo yesterday because we went to Reno, but this evening we were walking to the Black Bear Diner to partake in their all-you-can-eat fish dinner and got a shot of how it looks today.

( Not a lot different from Wednesday )

When we got to the Black Bear, we were doubly disappointed. First, the place was packed with a long wait. Second, the all-you-can-eat fish was off due to lack of fish. We went into the adjacent casino and played for a while, coming out $0.90 ahead, which doesn't sound so great until you realize that at one point we were $10 down, so when a big win put Lisa back over her initial stake, she quit while she was ahead. The queue at the Bear having grown no shorter, we walked back downtown and got take-out burritos from Jehova es Mi Pastor instead. Despite having called ahead, we had to wait, because Fernley's best (in our opinion) Mexican restaurant (and there are four of them here, all within three blocks of each other) was backed up with orders. But the burritos were worth the wait.

After a nice brunch and a short presentation from a representative from the San Jose Convention and Visitors' Bureau this morning (not a painful one, either; it's not like they were selling timeshares), the final portion of ConStruction was a general wrap-up session where we talked about what areas people would have liked to see more of and other things of that nature.

( More about ConStruction and the SFSFC Board of Directors Meeting )

I didn't stick around for post-meeting dinner outings and socializing, as much as I normally enjoy such things, but instead headed home to get something to eat. I'm a bit worn out. I had some idea of maybe getting to work on the minutes -- I'm going to be too busy with my real job this week to spend any time writing corporate minutes -- but I find myself way too tired to concentrate. Instead, I think I shall unpack my bags and go to bed early. I'm glad I'm working from home tomorrow, but not so glad that I will need to be up early for the convenience of the folks on the East Coast.

One of the program items here this afternoon at ConStruction was "What Is This Thing Called Worldcon?" on which I was scheduled along with the other two SFSFC Worldcon chairs (Tom Whitmore and David W. Clark). However, when 4 PM rolled around, the only people in the room with us were people who already what I would call "usual suspects." Most of the attendees were clearly more interested in "Talent! Your Event Is As Good As your Totally Awesome Staff!" We therefore decided that holding the panel as such was pointless. Some of the attendees (and one of the panelists) went next door to the other event. The rest of us sat around plotting fannish mayhem smoffing about various topics, including convention guests of honor, fan funds, fanzines, and sundry other fannish topics.

We got down to the hotel without incident (carpool lanes good) and moved into the hotel. The internet is free, but it's wired only. Theoretically there is wireless in the lobby, but I couldn't get my machine to connect to it. This means Cheryl and I have to take turns using the internet connection. If we'd known about this, we could have brought the little hub with us and split the connection. Actually, we managed to forget several small things, and are contemplating making a quick trip back up to Fremont late tonight when it can be done quickly on account of there being no traffic.

Having moved in and checked our respective e-mail, blogs, etc., we popped across the street to Chipotle for dinner, then walked a mile or so to help burn a little bit of the burritos before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the pre-con reception. In a few minutes, we'll head on down for dessert and socializing.

( Press Release Header )

Advance registration for the Bay Area ConStruction 2007 convention-running conference closes on October 31. Membership in the conference will increase from $25 to $35 at that time.

( Lots of details, including online registration information )

I expect to post more -- and probably a formal announcement once I can get a press release written and approved -- relatively soon, but FYI I finally got some pieces of information on which I was waiting and we've been able to update the web site for Bay Area ConStruction, the locally-focused conrunning convention SFSFC is running over the weekend of November 9-11.

Note that membership rates go up from $25 pre-con to $35 at the door after October 31, and that you can register online through PayPal. Also, SFSFC is once again sponsoring a get-acquainted social on the Friday evening of the event, for which convention membership is not required, although an interested in Bay Area conrunning would be a good idea lest you get really bored.

Press Release 2007-1
[Cross-posted to several communities]

CONSTRUCTION 2007 POSTPONED UNTIL NOVEMBER

SAN FRANCISCO SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTIONS, INC.
A California Non-Profit Corporation
PO Box 61363, Sunnyvale CA 94088-1363 USA

info@sfsfc.org; http://www.sfsfc.org/

For immediate release: July 10, 2007

ConStruction 2007 Postponed Until November

Due to numerous scheduling conflicts, the Bay Area ConStruction convention-running conference has been postponed to November 10-11, 2007.

( More about ConStruction )

( The Fine Print )

Today's program consisted of Sunday "Networking" Brunch, followed by panels and workshops on networking and strategic planning, then a wrap-up session. I was again the Portable Registration Desk, and -- knowing that we were going to have a few Sunday-only attendees -- asked co-chair Craige Howlett what a Sunday-only membership was. He looked at me like I'd suddenly sprouted a second head. I said, "It'll be twenty dollars unless you say differently, because there's only about one-third the programming today that there was yesterday. He said that was okay, so I dealt with people like bovil accordingly.

In the feedback session, people generally said they found the panels and workshops valuable, although they wondered why the workshops (which usually immediately followed a panel on the same subject) were always in a different room than the panel. This turned out to be deliberate, and would have been more obvious if the hotel had set the "workshop" room the way originally requested, with several round tables instead of lecture-style-with-head-table. I once again encouraged people to apply for the SMOFCon scholarships, there was a final round of thank-yous, and then we were done. Many people stuck around to go hang out in the bar or go to dinner, but I had to go home. It's been a long weekend.

I'd write more and point people to photos; however, the photos are only on my camera, I'm out of room on my own LJ account and want to post the photos to the SFSFC ConStruction web site first, and I'm very, very tired and need to get a few things done for work before falling into bed and getting up early tomorrow for yet another early-morning conference call. Photos of ConStruction will have to wait.

After the afternoon session, it was time for the dinner break, but for those of us who are SFSFC directors it was a working dinner, as we went to the hotel's restaurant, where we'd reserved the private dining room, and had the regular SFSFC Board of Directors meeting over dinner. We did however take a recess when the food arrived. Having a medium-hard deadline of 8 PM, when the evening programming started, did help to keep us a bit more focused than usual, and we ground our way through the agenda.

We continue to persue a bid for the Harry Potter Symposium sanctioned by Harry Potter Educational Fanon. This year's event in Las Vegas is called Lumos 2006.

We also continue to express our interest in a future World Fantasy Convention somewhere in the Bay Area. That committee continues its work.

We set up several more committees to look into other conventions (no, we are not bidding for a Worldcon, darnit!) or other activities that SFSFC might want to get involved with organizing. These plans are sufficiently diffuse that it's not worth a lot to talk about them until the committees have had a chance to study the situation and report back to us.

We did also agree to a minor administration change to the SMOFCon Scholarships. The $500 scholarships will be issued as $450 up front and $50 when we get the after-con report on the scholar's experience. The Board wants to see those reports, even if they're negative (one has been), because it's the only significant feedback we get about what we're doing, so we put some incentive into it.

Breakfast was a bit rushed because of dealing with work stuff. Fortunately, there is nothing needs delivering today, so I can actually sit in programming rather than stay in my hotel room. There is wireless in the public areas, and just barely enough in the function room, so I can get a weak web connection, not a solid VPN connection to my company.

ConStruction is low-key. Because con registrar Cindy Scott's office moved this weekend, she handed registration (one small box of stuff) to me, and I am the Floating Registration Desk. There are expected to be between 20 and 30 total attendees.

I took some pictures, but they don't look very interesting to me. Really, we're mostly sitting around a couple of function rooms discussing nuts and bolts convention planning issues.

When we took lunch, I heard that a bunch of people were going off to an Indian restaurant near the Fairmont. After putting my stuff in my hotel room, I hot-footed it over there, only to learn (via a phone call from David Gallaher) that they'd gone to Peggy Sue's (where I had eaten breakfast) instead. Oh, well, I need more exercise.