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Thursday, April 20, 2000
One year ago: Video
Two years ago: Pioneer Square
I was very pleased to find out yesterday that I could take tomorrow off (because the stock market is closed for Good Friday). This will make Norwescon much easier!
I bolted from the office a bit before four o'clock, and drove down to the hotel near the airport. My only difficulty was an attack of intestinal distress that meant I had to pull off into a McDonalds to use the bathroom. Creeping along in rush-hour traffic, hoping to get to an exit, made for a mauvais quatre d'heure, let me tell you!
I was early enough that I could get a parking space in the hotel parking lot. I was also earlier than Jack! He'd talked about trying to get away from work early, but that trick never works. Oh, well, I could go ahead and get registered. Oops! the brand new computer system froze just as it was my turn. I waited patiently, looking through the glossy program book after it was handed to me. Lots of stuff, even on this first evening of the convention.
* * * * * * * *
After wandering around for a while, I looked for Jack in the volunteer lounge and the stage management office, since this is where he'll sign up for volunteering. No sign of him yet! I left Jack a message on the "voodoo" message board. This is a clever setup -- a list of convention members, with pushpins (that's why it's called "voodoo"). You write a note for the person you want to contact, put it in a file box, then put a pin by their name so they can see they have messages.
I walked across the street and ate at Taco Bell. This is not my favorite fast food, at all! but the nachos weren't bad. I finally met up with Jack; he was standing at the registration desk, all peeved because his pre-registration from last year was lost. (Did he really register last year? I don't remember.) He finally had to pay for another membership, which he'd been willing to do several minutes before, but the registrar had insisted on checking and re-checking master lists and backups before accepting his money.
Our next stop: the volunteer lounge. Jack is an old hand at Norwescon, and the women who are the volunteer coordinators greeted him as a long-time friend. He got his volunteer ribbon attached to his badge, then enquired about any pressing needs for this evening. They'd need people to guard the door at the dance.
From there, we went down the hall, through a glass bridge/hall, through the lobby, and up several flights of stairs, to find the stage management center next to the green room. The green room is where the panels are coordinated -- a central place for panelists to meet. The stage management office has big paper grids with the programming printed on them. Jack studied the schedule and signed up for the panels that he wanted to coordinate. (See last year for my description of what duties this entails.)
We wandered along to the dance. The DJing was handled by Ken Valentine's World of Music Dance Party. The room wasn't crowded, but there were a few people on the dance floor. The most noticeable of the dancers was a man Jack's seen in Olympia before. He's of medium height, long scraggle hair, and was wearing only a tutu made of clear balloons, some gray briefs, and little dance sandals. He danced non-stop, wafting around the floor. We found out later that he's been studying Erotic Dance at Evergreen State College.
Jack had gin and lime juice, and we danced together for a little while. Then it was Jack's turn to sit at the door and make sure folks had their badges on. Only convention members were allowed in. Lots of people in black, along with the regular crew of fannish types.
We ended up staying until midnight, because there was a lack of volunteers. I was really getting tired, but it still seemed better that I should drive home. (Even though I'd gotten up early, Jack had been up earlier, and with less sleep.)
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