Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Yeah, it's about time I got around to this.
I was honored to be the Chair for FenCon again this year. I'd like to thank the Executive Committee, the staff, the guests, the participants, and the fen for making it all such an amazing weekend.
It's been a crazy few months, but the weekend really started last Wednesday, on move-in night. No time to celebrate my birthday, save for a little square of cake at the Chinese buffet at lunch. I went home, finished laundry, packed and got a bit of sleep before I moved myself in on Thursday morning. Thursday was a day of putting out fires.
Friday was Day One of the convention. Some of the committee took our Guests of Honor out to lunch, then it was back to putting out fires until 6:00, when I moderated Artist Guest of Honor Vincent Di Fate's presentation. Due to a scheduling conflict he was unable to attend. When we discovered his computer wouldn't run Skype, we held a cell phone up to a microphone and allowed him to narrate his slide show. The man does some amazing art. Then it was Opening Ceremonies, overseen by Toastmaster Bradley Denton and backed up by David Lee Anderson and Starcruisers. Brad did a talk show format, and it was fun. Paul and Chris oversaw our World Peace Through Chocolate party.
Saturday I did the kick-off Steampunk panel, then joined Gail Carriger, Carole Nelson Douglas, P.N. Elrod, and Teresa Patterson for the vintage clothes panel. That was loads of fun. Later in the afternoon I ran microphone for Gail Carriger's Guest of Honor hour. She was interviewed by P.N. Elrod. I took Gail and Pat out to dinner. Gail is a lot of fun. If you've never read her books, you should. Then the Cabaret. Then parties!
Sunday was a little more relaxed for me. Then the Dead Dog!
Yeah, that's a bit of a sparse report, isn't it? The thing is, I didn't get to see a lot of the convention. I did get to spend a bit of time with Music Guest of Honor Joe Bethancourt. He's an amazing guy, and multi-talented. There were a lot of people I knew were there, but I didn't get to see because I was busy working behind the scenes.
Do I regret it? Not at all. But this was my last year as chair. I'll still be with FenCon, but in another capacity. We have term limits, which is a good thing. Tim Morgan will be taking over, and I know he's going to do an excellent job. FenCon will be in good hands.
Sat