Collecting the accumulated mail from my PO Box, I found four convention membership/expense reimbursement checks. representing membership and expense reimbursements from both L.A.con IV and Conzilla, including paying for my airfare to attend a Worldcon pre-con planning meeting. I never banked on getting any of this, but it's always nice when the conventions are able to issue such reimbursements.

Thank you to both conventions for the reimbursements. They aren't "make or break" for me the way they appear to be for some other folks, but I'm certainly happy to have the money, particularly at this time of the year.

When I got to the office this morning, I was relieved to find the bag of Match Game questions and supplies (envelopes, contestant cards, etc.) sitting on my desk. I say relieved because I was starting to worry that I'd accidentally thrown them out during the apartment clean-up the previous weekend, and there is stuff in that bag that I did not want to lose. For example, all of the tie-breakers are in there, as well as a store of questions we might use in another game sometime. Thanks again to Sharon Sbarsky for (a) helping me quickly compose sudden-death tie-breaker questions just before the show when I realized they were missing and (b) hastily cutting a bunch of the 5 x 8 cards down to half that size for use as contestant entries when I realized that the printed 4 x 6 cards weren't in our supply box.

For the next time we do the show, I may change the Bonus Round to require that the contestant do a Celebrity Match (simple questions such as "Captain _____") to win the prize. Not that I don't want to give away the prizes, but I'd also like to put some spark into the round.

As it happens, just as I turned on the TV when I got home yesterday, I caught the last five minutes of a 1970s Match Game episodes that shows that anything could happen. One player scored five matches on a round 1 question (that almost never happens) and the other did not "get" the question at all, and for that matter, neither did the panel: "Sitting Bull said, 'Me not worried that there be no rooms at Holiday Inn, because me got _______.'" I thought that one was way too easy for round 1, not to mention foolish because you should never write a question that telegraphs only one sensible answer. I forget what the contestant answered, but only one of the panelists -- Richard Dawson, natch -- had the answer that I (and Gene, and the audience) were thinking: "reservation." Maybe it's just the BASFA pun experience that sensitizes me to those sort of answers.

While I would have been happier if we'd had a bigger audience for Match Game, the show itself went very well, and we had a good set, and great panelists and crew who made it all work. I think we had between 20 and 30 in the audience overall, but far few put their names in as potential contestants, so that we were able to draw almost every person who wanted to be a panelist. I guess a lot of people are too shy.

( Photos of the show )

Unfortunately, not all of the contestant photos were usable, nor were those of announcer David Gallaher and Crack Technical/Sound Operator Lisa Hayes. (Light conditions were low, and we were not using flash because it washes things out.)

I had a great time, and hope I get to do it again under such great stage conditions and with such a good team. Thanks to everyone who participated and watched the show!

Lisa was exhausted last night and went to bed early, and the extra sleep seems to have done her good. I was up earlier this morning than other days, and when I finish typing this we will head off for breakfast. After that, I'll change into my suit -- no sense risking getting something on it while eating breakfast, given that we have enough time -- and we'll move the gear down to the Pavilion and get to work on set up.

I hope we'll have photos of the show, although Lisa will be too busy running the sound to take them.

Most of the panelists for "Great Convention Mistakes" had to cancel except for Val Ontell and me, but we seem to have kept the audience amused for 50 minutes as we told various stories about conventions not going well. I don't do these stories just to vent (although sometimes it helps), but to try and make sure that the worst mistakes don't get repeated.

After that, Lisa and I walked over to the shopping center and had lunch; however, I ate too much burrito and had too little exercise, and once again my blood sugar is elevated. Conventions are not good times for staying on the diet and exercise program.

We had intended to come back and possibly wear our WSFS uniforms a bit this afternoon, but Lisa is feeling very out of sorts right now and I don't know how the rest of the day will go. I'm thinking of taking a nap, although I really should be repacking the Match Game supplies for use tomorrow morning.

Today is my lightest schedule of the four days. The (generally pro forma) site selection business meeting is at Noon, and I have a panel at at 3 PM that I'm moderating on "Great Convention Mistakes!" Also, there is a gathering of those of us working on Nippon2007 from 2 to 4, which of course conflicts with the panel, but I can go to the first hour of the meeting, then to my panel. After that, I'm clear for the rest of the day, and there are no plans for us to go off site and sightsee like yesterday.

We do have to repack the Match Game material from the box in which it sits into my rolling luggage, because otherwise it would be too heavy and unwieldy to move down to the Pavilion tomorrow morning. However, this should not take long or be too difficult.

( Thoughts on the Site Selection Business Meeting )

After the Business Meeting and my 3 PM panel about Convention Traditions We Don't Need Anymore, Lisa and I and David Gallaher got together for half an hour to go over the Match Game titles and promotional pieces, and the two of them got used to working with each other on the announcements. As we expected, this wasn't a difficult thing, and I had the rest of the day free.

Lisa wanted to see some of San Diego, so we walked to the light rail station and too the trolley back downtown to the Santa Fe Depot, so we could look at a fine example of train station architecture. Then we walked to the waterfront and after having lunch at the Elephant & Castle franchise pub there, we bought an admission to the San Diego Maritime Museum displays of the historic ships there, including the sailing ship Star of India, Southern Pacific passenger ferry Berkeley, and former Soviet submarine B-39. Turns out Lisa and I had been on board the B-39 once before, when it spent a short spell in Vancouver during a time we spent a weekend there.

The ships were very interesting, and I'm glad I went and saw them, but I was developing a blister on my toe and was getting very tired, so we walked back to the light rail station and caught a trolley back to the hotel.

I had a spirited panel on Alternative Electoral Systems at 10 this morning. I explained the Instant Run-Off system we use for WSFS and Westercon elections, and others talked about some of the other ways to run elections there are. The audience had some of their own pet peeves, some of which I don't think are easily addressed. Ranting about "the wrong candidate" winning because of court interference or fraud is a little outside the scope of discussing ways of voting and counting votes, because I tend to assume that whatever system you have has to be administered in an open and fair manner. If that assumption is compromised, it really doesn't matter what your balloting system is.

While I was in that panel, I realized that the Fannish Inquisition immediately followed the panel, and that the Business Meeting immediately followed that, in the same room. I wanted to be at both, but I'd brought none of my stuff with me for the first panel, so I had to run upstairs, grab the stuff, dash off this entry, and head back downstairs. Fortunately, I am not involved officially in the Inquisition, so I'm not letting anyone down.

There were a good selection of parties here on the first night of Westercon. Across the hall from my room was the Hollister in 2008/Casa de Worldcon bid. Down the hall was the Loscon party and the launch party for Kevin J. Anderson's new book. From there, we planned on going one floor down -- the stairs do work between floors -- to the other party floor, but a con staff member offered to show us how to use the stairs to get to ground level without using the elevators. She led us through hotel back corridors and we found ourselves outside the dealers' room. However, the door we'd come through read "Staff Only," and we decided we'd eventually incur the hotel's wrath if we used it again, so we cycled back to the elevators and up to the third floor.

Once up on three, we made the rounds of the parties there. Stopping at the Burning Fan/Las Vegas in '08 Westercon party, we were treated to an impressive display of photographs of the inside of the proposed facility. The rooms are not cheap, but they are very nice looking.

Then it was Gnomeward Bound/Westercon 60, next year's Westercon. Their web site has not been updated, but they were announcing here that they've changed hotels (to the San Mateo Marriott) and dates (to the weekend before Independence Day instead of after as originally announced.

Next we sampled the Arizona in '08 Westercon bid, and I was asked to tell the story of the I-95 in '95 NASFiC bid as part of a discussion of how site selection rules work. I always enjoy telling this story, so that held us up for a while.

By then we were wearing out, and even though it was before midnight, we decided to turn in, because we need to be up early tomorrow, since my first panel is at 10, followed by the Business Meeting at noon and another panel at 2. We did briefly stop and say "hi" to the Columbus Worldcon Bid, but then it up the stairs and home.

I'm pretty sure I've left off several parties from this list, but I wasn't taking notes, and apologize for anyone I've neglected. No offense is intended. I made no relative grading of parties here. Most of the rooms here are a little small, so those groups who could took a connecting pair, or in the case of Westercon 60, rented the one available large suite, and that helped. Much of what parties serve I shouldn't be eating, so it's mostly a few small munchies and a Diet Coke for me, but I'm not complaining. I know how much work these parties are to organize, and my hat's off to everyone for the work they did.

And my apologies to the Hollister party for not being available when you needed boon work.

Update, 5 July: Fixed dates in bids.

After sleeping in, we were a bit rushed for time, and too late for breakfast, but just in time for lunch. After that we headed off to the Opening Ceremonies.

( Convention natter )

With lunch past and the Match Game fliers posted, I was much more relaxed, and we headed back to the room to rest a bit before the evening festivities.

Update, Sunday July 2, 08:00: Fixed Craige Howlett's name.