Home from CONvergence - party report
Jul. 9th, 2006 07:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamsharkThe Minnstf/Minicon Party was hugely successful, almost too much so. Last year we only went through one tub of blog the whole weekend. This year we made somewhere between 4 and 6 batches! We kept running out of ingredients and having to send out for more. We mixed it up unleaded and allowed adults to spike it to taste with vodka, rum or Cherry Heering. Most of the blog was consumed in its non-alcoholic form, although we eventually ran out of alcohol too. There were just a huge number of people coming in, and many of them were actively looking for blog (or "glog" as a couple of partiers kept calling it). I'm not sure why we went through so much more party supplies this year than last. The con has been growing each year, but it certainly didn't double in attendance since last year. I have a theory that a lot of the blog fans thought they were drinking something alcoholic, which made it seem like a lot more fun than it really was.
Or maybe it's the success of our concept (a concept based primarily on inertia). CONvergence encourages theme parties, resulting in many incredibly clever party concepts with jaw-dropping room designs but a rather narrow range of activities and refreshments. By contrast, a traditional room party with a wide range of food and drink, a relaxed atmosphere, and comfy places to sit kind of stands out from the pack.
While I'm in awe of the amount of effort involved in turning a hotel room into a facsimile of a basement Civil Defense shelter, I can't really see any reason to spend more than 30 seconds in a room with that ambience. I think this may have been the same party that ran some kind of bingo game every hour, but nothing was ever going on when I was there. There were a lot of parties like that, offering 3 basic choices: participate in structured activities (games, tea parties, watch tv), buy refreshments from a bar type setup ("suggested donation" signs prominently located), or just wander through to admire the decor.
I generally took the 3rd option, which made for a fun 20-30 minute party tour every few hours. I was greatly amused by the display of "alien sex toys," in the Alien Sex Shop party, and by the pamphlet handed out by the Vampire Hunters Union ("Do you know what to do if you encounter a vampire?"). I had a nice conversation about Carnivale with the couple who were sitting alone in a room with episodes of the show running on the TV. The egg rolls and rice dispensed by the Asian-themed tea party was tasty ("suggested donation $2.00") and the room smelled lovely. But I really think the Minicon Room Party was a much better representation of the idea of A Party. Which might be why we had so many guests. Many just came in for food or drinks and then tromped out again, but a lot of them lingered, especially folks who hadn't been to many conventions before and were looking for friendly faces. And then there was the volunteer tour conductor on Friday night. About 3am, a jovially drunk middle-aged fannish looking guy led a group of young partiers into the room with a running commentary: "This room party is for a convention called Minicon. The group that puts it on is named something about Minnesota and Science Fiction. They have a drink called blog. Nobody knows what's in it..." I was sort of half-asleep on one of the piles of cushions and never quite figured out who he was or what he thought he was doing, but Richard was in amiable host mode and they all seemed to be happy.
Of course, I missed a lot of the parties, particularly the ones on the first level. Ever since the hotel erected that horrid spiked fence around the perimeter, I've had a hard time forcing myself to walk the length of even one side of the 1st floor cabanas during peak party time. I just can't deal with being surrounded like that, especially by people wearing weird costumes. So I really only saw the 1st-floor parties that were open at non-peak times. The belly-dancing party is new this year. They're friendly and enthusastic and fun to watch, although I sure wish they would lower the volume on those cowbell-like finger-cymbals! When they come clanging up behind you, it's pretty deafening. Nothing else from the 1st floor has stuck in my memory. Most of the parties are familiar from previous years, and most of the new ones were not clearly identified. I'm not sure why I think they need to be labeled, but since most CONvergence parties are, I didn't feel comfortable just walking into a roomful of strangers with no welcoming banner out front, so I still don't know who those people were.
MISFITS has a pleasant room at the corner with interesting, if somewhat cryptic, decor. About 3:00 am I drifted in for a taco (that hot food thing really works!), sat down on the couch to watch some incomprehensible 1950's short feature about a racist dog named Skippy (huh?), and actually struck up a conversation with a stranger that was one of the high points of the evening. We never did figure out what was going on with Skippy, but had a nice discussion of mitochondria and race and family dynamics.
Anyway, our party was open for 21 hours, ran through $300-400 in consumable party supplies, drew in several Minicon registrations and a few new friends of Minicon, and was a lot of fun. Thanks to the folks who helped host and who helped carry stuff to and from the van. We actually got packed up and vacated the room in less than 2 hours, which is a record! That left me time to see most of the panel of "New Life Forms." Then I discovered I'd lost my badge while hauling stuff out of the room, which meant I couldn't get in to see the other panel I was interested in, so I just went home. It's just as well; I need a little quiet recovery time. It's nice out. Think I'll go for a bike ride.
Or maybe it's the success of our concept (a concept based primarily on inertia). CONvergence encourages theme parties, resulting in many incredibly clever party concepts with jaw-dropping room designs but a rather narrow range of activities and refreshments. By contrast, a traditional room party with a wide range of food and drink, a relaxed atmosphere, and comfy places to sit kind of stands out from the pack.
While I'm in awe of the amount of effort involved in turning a hotel room into a facsimile of a basement Civil Defense shelter, I can't really see any reason to spend more than 30 seconds in a room with that ambience. I think this may have been the same party that ran some kind of bingo game every hour, but nothing was ever going on when I was there. There were a lot of parties like that, offering 3 basic choices: participate in structured activities (games, tea parties, watch tv), buy refreshments from a bar type setup ("suggested donation" signs prominently located), or just wander through to admire the decor.
I generally took the 3rd option, which made for a fun 20-30 minute party tour every few hours. I was greatly amused by the display of "alien sex toys," in the Alien Sex Shop party, and by the pamphlet handed out by the Vampire Hunters Union ("Do you know what to do if you encounter a vampire?"). I had a nice conversation about Carnivale with the couple who were sitting alone in a room with episodes of the show running on the TV. The egg rolls and rice dispensed by the Asian-themed tea party was tasty ("suggested donation $2.00") and the room smelled lovely. But I really think the Minicon Room Party was a much better representation of the idea of A Party. Which might be why we had so many guests. Many just came in for food or drinks and then tromped out again, but a lot of them lingered, especially folks who hadn't been to many conventions before and were looking for friendly faces. And then there was the volunteer tour conductor on Friday night. About 3am, a jovially drunk middle-aged fannish looking guy led a group of young partiers into the room with a running commentary: "This room party is for a convention called Minicon. The group that puts it on is named something about Minnesota and Science Fiction. They have a drink called blog. Nobody knows what's in it..." I was sort of half-asleep on one of the piles of cushions and never quite figured out who he was or what he thought he was doing, but Richard was in amiable host mode and they all seemed to be happy.
Of course, I missed a lot of the parties, particularly the ones on the first level. Ever since the hotel erected that horrid spiked fence around the perimeter, I've had a hard time forcing myself to walk the length of even one side of the 1st floor cabanas during peak party time. I just can't deal with being surrounded like that, especially by people wearing weird costumes. So I really only saw the 1st-floor parties that were open at non-peak times. The belly-dancing party is new this year. They're friendly and enthusastic and fun to watch, although I sure wish they would lower the volume on those cowbell-like finger-cymbals! When they come clanging up behind you, it's pretty deafening. Nothing else from the 1st floor has stuck in my memory. Most of the parties are familiar from previous years, and most of the new ones were not clearly identified. I'm not sure why I think they need to be labeled, but since most CONvergence parties are, I didn't feel comfortable just walking into a roomful of strangers with no welcoming banner out front, so I still don't know who those people were.
MISFITS has a pleasant room at the corner with interesting, if somewhat cryptic, decor. About 3:00 am I drifted in for a taco (that hot food thing really works!), sat down on the couch to watch some incomprehensible 1950's short feature about a racist dog named Skippy (huh?), and actually struck up a conversation with a stranger that was one of the high points of the evening. We never did figure out what was going on with Skippy, but had a nice discussion of mitochondria and race and family dynamics.
Anyway, our party was open for 21 hours, ran through $300-400 in consumable party supplies, drew in several Minicon registrations and a few new friends of Minicon, and was a lot of fun. Thanks to the folks who helped host and who helped carry stuff to and from the van. We actually got packed up and vacated the room in less than 2 hours, which is a record! That left me time to see most of the panel of "New Life Forms." Then I discovered I'd lost my badge while hauling stuff out of the room, which meant I couldn't get in to see the other panel I was interested in, so I just went home. It's just as well; I need a little quiet recovery time. It's nice out. Think I'll go for a bike ride.
