World Fantasy 2009 hospitality recap...

[bovil]

I don't think I've ever seen so little of a convention, particularly one we were there extra days for. Then again, we were running consuite.

Wednesday we moved in the stuff at our house. 4 car-loads, I believe.

Thursday we decorated and opened. Yvette and I did the "perishables" run. Costco came through with our business delivery, barely on-time. Spike and one of her friends did our first ice run. We provided support and space for the Vandermeers' most excellent party.

Friday we opened again. Well, Rich, Spike and Yvette opened (this was the pattern). There was a slight miscommunication on when lunch should come out and when breakfast should end, but that was solved for the next day. I did a giant Costco restock run; it's a miracle the car survived.

Saturday we opened again. I did the BevMo run for Amontillado, and Edgar's birthday cake was delivered.

Sunday we opened again. Coffee was a bit late because we ran out and had to get more at Safeway. We didn't close at 1:00, but started taking down and packing decorations. K picked up the Rug Doctor to do the carpets, and we did our second room. Around 5:00pm we brought out all the left-overs and dead dog party started.

Monday morning (after way too little sleep) we cleared out the suite and did the rest of the carpets. Moved out all of hospitality, only 2 car-loads going out.

Big thanks to:

• Cindy, for keeping track of our dollars; come Friday morning I knew I had to trust the receipts and not my personal spreadsheet
• Aaron, for getting the logistics runs that we really needed done done.
• Ann and Jeff Vandermeer and their crew (Victoria and Neil particularly), for keeping the ideas flowing and inspiring us to take the theme places we never expected
• Rich, for sound advice, even when in some cases we knew already because it helped us adjust our priorities, and for getting up every morning to open things
• LaMont, for always being there, and taking the job he was worried he wasn't experienced enough for
• Radar and Lisa H, for all the help moving in, and all the help keeping things going
• Spike, for repeatedly coming up with process improvements that made things run better (and for offering her help at the last minute when we hadn't even really thought of asking)
• Johno and Chriso, for getting the food processes organized enough we could just carry through on them
• España, for being her cheery self and pouring a lot of drinks
• Jo and Krys for always keeping up with the restock demands
• Henry and Letha for finding the time in their busy schedules and Letha's help with move-out
• Mark & Yvette for decor, haulage, and a lot of work
• Mo, for the most amazing Poe portrait and those wacky tikis (and a lot of work)

Seriously, we had the best crew and a great committee. I'm not sure I'm interested in working on another WFC (but ask again in a decade when someone out here feels like doing it again), but it was a great time working with everybody.

Comments

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for your hard work that made for such a great hospitality suite. Sorry we didn't do a better job of promoting its existence -- I get the impression that there were a fair number of members who never realized it was there! And also I'm sorry we didn't do something to inform people that there would be a Dead Dog Party at all.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

Isn't it in San Diego on '011? You're used to road shows.... Giggle.

[iamradar.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to have been able to help out. That was the most fun hospitality suite I've ever worked!

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

Don't forget yourself and kproche for making it a hospitality suite, not just a con suite. This one takes the cake. And the cake was amazing too.

[bovil.livejournal.com]

A lot of that goes back to Geri Sullivan and Sandra Childress, and what they did at ConJosé.

[sengokudaimyo.livejournal.com]

I wish I could have been there.

It sounds like it was a blast.

You guys were great.

[maurinestarkey.livejournal.com]

I actually got a kick out of making chocolate cake smears and bird of paradise stains disappear!

The key is having loads of people to help. Everyone was on top of everything!

Thanks for letting me be a part of it.

[redneckotaku.livejournal.com]

It sounds like it went very well. I wish Anime cons did more of those sort of things, but we aren't able to get corkage waivers.

[bovil.livejournal.com]

Is it "can't" or "don't?"

It's a matter of priorities and understanding how to negotiate. Anime Los Angeles always gets a corkage waiver. Has since year one.

[redneckotaku.livejournal.com]

I think most anime cons don't want to put the effort towards it. Some are in Convention Centers and Hotels that won't allow it or charge an arm and a leg. It sometimes comes to money and sometimes comes down to whether it is a good use of resources.

[cmdrsuzdal.livejournal.com]

I expected it to be work, but it was pure fun!

Thanks for that.