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dreamsharkMinicon 56 was surprisingly great! After 2 years cancelled and last year's much attenuated return, our membership essentially rebounded to post-COVID levels (about 500 memberships, warm bodies somewhere in the high 400s). There was a palpable energy, probably due to a fair number of new people and folks returning from the distant past. Yes, there was some friction and stress within the concom, but I don't think that most people who weren't in the middle of the tsurris even noticed it (and sometimes that's the best you can hope for). It was just hard to cover all the department head positions this year so everybody was tired, but in the end the con ran smoothly and nobody died (not even me).
Personally I had a great time. I made it to the airport on time (almost) to pick up the former GoH returning after 20 years and had a lovely conversation with him through 45 minutes of traffic jam back to the hotel. My 2 Programming items turned out fine (as did Programming in general). I survived another assassination attempt. And in between I drifted into one deep and delightful conversation after another, more than any Minicon within recent memory. Sunday night concluded in a marvelous 2-hour group dinner with PFRC/GT alumni at Punch Bowl social, followed by a small but magical impromptu music circle in that nameless corner of the hotel around the corner from Registration. So I guess that was my Dead Dog party, often the best part of Minicon.
And it was all capped off with an even better Dead Dodo Party at our house that doubled as Richard's 80th birthday celebration, catered by White Castle. I retroactively declared it the first Minnstf Meeting of the year (which is apparently something that I can do as President. Because you want your own meetings to be a success and it was already a success so why not claim it?) 30 people signed in! Some new people showed up - not new to Minicon but new to Minnstf and to our house, and it was fun watching them be blown away by Richard's unique decorating style. There was even a little music at the end. So I stayed up way too late for the 5th night in a row and have been in dazed recovery mode ever since.
Personally I had a great time. I made it to the airport on time (almost) to pick up the former GoH returning after 20 years and had a lovely conversation with him through 45 minutes of traffic jam back to the hotel. My 2 Programming items turned out fine (as did Programming in general). I survived another assassination attempt. And in between I drifted into one deep and delightful conversation after another, more than any Minicon within recent memory. Sunday night concluded in a marvelous 2-hour group dinner with PFRC/GT alumni at Punch Bowl social, followed by a small but magical impromptu music circle in that nameless corner of the hotel around the corner from Registration. So I guess that was my Dead Dog party, often the best part of Minicon.
And it was all capped off with an even better Dead Dodo Party at our house that doubled as Richard's 80th birthday celebration, catered by White Castle. I retroactively declared it the first Minnstf Meeting of the year (which is apparently something that I can do as President. Because you want your own meetings to be a success and it was already a success so why not claim it?) 30 people signed in! Some new people showed up - not new to Minicon but new to Minnstf and to our house, and it was fun watching them be blown away by Richard's unique decorating style. There was even a little music at the end. So I stayed up way too late for the 5th night in a row and have been in dazed recovery mode ever since.
