weekend in Raleigh
Haven't been to a convention for so long that I went to a meeting.
Flew to Raleigh on Friday. Barely made the flight; traffic on the QEW added hours to the drive. We got there too late to check bags, so marahsk had to abandon her shampoo and conditioner. Fortunately gate 6 in Buffalo is right next to security, so we had minutes to spare. (By which I mean they were boarding first class when we got there, it was a few minutes before we boarded, and many people got on after us.) Connected in Philadelphia; found a cheesesteak. Arrived at RDU just before 11, and got to the Sheraton Raleigh around 11:30. Taxi ride was $40; the Super Shuttle might have saved us a few dollars.
Quick note about the site: The Sheraton is kitty-corner from the convention center and next-door to the Marriott. The Marriott is across the street from the convention center and connected by an underground tunnel. None of this walking six blocks to get places. The convention center is brand new. The ballroom is more than big enough and staging areas (including dressing rooms) are masquerade-friendly. There are five other large function rooms available (we're not using the whole convention centre), plus four in the Marriott, and some in the Sheraton as well, not counting miscellaneous boardroom and office-type spaces. This is more than enough for a NASFiC, i.e. comparable to Cascadia Con, which had about two more tracks than needed. The convention center is large but not huge, and the exhibit space is more than big enough for the number of artists, dealers, fan tables, and exhibits that a NASFiC is likely to need; if anything, making the place look not empty will be a challenge. We can expect aisles in the dealer's room and art show to be more than adequate for people in mobies to get around easily. I suggested a concession area like the Mended Drum. (Kaffeeklatsches will *not* be in the exhibit hall, yay.) Overall, if one were to use the convention center and all the function space in the two hotels (which the NASFiC is not), the ballroom is big enough for a Worldcon masquerade or Hugo ceremony (seating over 3000), the exhibit space is more than big enough, and using all the function rooms in the convention center and the two hotels would be enough for a Worldcon program.
We did get to a very authentic (70-year-old) barbecue place a short walk from the Sheraton. A row of new restaurants and shops behind the hotels is currently under construction and will be finished and occupied early next year. Raleigh is a university town, which is to say there are inexpensive but interesting food places (Sydnie K took us to a mediterranean place), and of course bars. The Sheraton hotel restaurant had a decent inexpensive buffet, with an omelet station. The gift shop closed in the afternoon, which I thought was odd and something to be addressed, but the gift shop had Cherry Coke Zero and Diet Sunkist, so I was happy when they were open.
In the committee room, about a third of the people were non-local, and the same proportion is true including people who were not present. (I'm helping Mike Willmoth in programming.) Warren and his friends are young, but there were also experienced locals in the room. I didn't see a lot of drama or ego in the room; I saw a little, but nothing that rose to the level of actual conflict. Warren is quieter than most convention chairs I've known, but the meeting never got out of control. He stuck to his agenda and made his points. The Stellarcon crowd know each other and seem to assume patterns of cooperation, which I've seen before with other committees. I offered a few helpful points (mentioning the Heinlein Society and other groups that might want to hold award ceremonies here). I'm a little amazed at how prepared Sydnie Krause was as treasurer; helps that she's getting advice from Tom Veal and that she herself has many years of being around experienced conrunners, but even so she so far seems better than most convention treasurers I've known.
Given how early this was I was impressed at how organized things are at this early stage. They've been working on planning the convention for a while; some tasks require more than 12-months preparation. They do in many ways remind me of the Seattle committee, and I have no problem recommending this group as a good committee for my other friends to come and get involved with.
Dina and Sydnie were kind enough to drive us out to the airport. We stopped at the Best Buy in Cary. They got a printer; I got a multipoint Bluetooth headset to work with both of my smart phones. Dina's flight was an hour before ours, so we had plenty of time. Service in the restaurant we found was slow. We connected at Washington National airport on the way back, so we got the view. No problem getting back to Buffalo. We stopped at Wegman's for our various diet drinks and diet sodas and mvt's 0% organic yogurt, then grabbed a snack at the Mighty Taco just before midnight. Marah got me home before 2 AM, so I got to work okay on Monday
Flew to Raleigh on Friday. Barely made the flight; traffic on the QEW added hours to the drive. We got there too late to check bags, so marahsk had to abandon her shampoo and conditioner. Fortunately gate 6 in Buffalo is right next to security, so we had minutes to spare. (By which I mean they were boarding first class when we got there, it was a few minutes before we boarded, and many people got on after us.) Connected in Philadelphia; found a cheesesteak. Arrived at RDU just before 11, and got to the Sheraton Raleigh around 11:30. Taxi ride was $40; the Super Shuttle might have saved us a few dollars.
Quick note about the site: The Sheraton is kitty-corner from the convention center and next-door to the Marriott. The Marriott is across the street from the convention center and connected by an underground tunnel. None of this walking six blocks to get places. The convention center is brand new. The ballroom is more than big enough and staging areas (including dressing rooms) are masquerade-friendly. There are five other large function rooms available (we're not using the whole convention centre), plus four in the Marriott, and some in the Sheraton as well, not counting miscellaneous boardroom and office-type spaces. This is more than enough for a NASFiC, i.e. comparable to Cascadia Con, which had about two more tracks than needed. The convention center is large but not huge, and the exhibit space is more than big enough for the number of artists, dealers, fan tables, and exhibits that a NASFiC is likely to need; if anything, making the place look not empty will be a challenge. We can expect aisles in the dealer's room and art show to be more than adequate for people in mobies to get around easily. I suggested a concession area like the Mended Drum. (Kaffeeklatsches will *not* be in the exhibit hall, yay.) Overall, if one were to use the convention center and all the function space in the two hotels (which the NASFiC is not), the ballroom is big enough for a Worldcon masquerade or Hugo ceremony (seating over 3000), the exhibit space is more than big enough, and using all the function rooms in the convention center and the two hotels would be enough for a Worldcon program.
We did get to a very authentic (70-year-old) barbecue place a short walk from the Sheraton. A row of new restaurants and shops behind the hotels is currently under construction and will be finished and occupied early next year. Raleigh is a university town, which is to say there are inexpensive but interesting food places (Sydnie K took us to a mediterranean place), and of course bars. The Sheraton hotel restaurant had a decent inexpensive buffet, with an omelet station. The gift shop closed in the afternoon, which I thought was odd and something to be addressed, but the gift shop had Cherry Coke Zero and Diet Sunkist, so I was happy when they were open.
In the committee room, about a third of the people were non-local, and the same proportion is true including people who were not present. (I'm helping Mike Willmoth in programming.) Warren and his friends are young, but there were also experienced locals in the room. I didn't see a lot of drama or ego in the room; I saw a little, but nothing that rose to the level of actual conflict. Warren is quieter than most convention chairs I've known, but the meeting never got out of control. He stuck to his agenda and made his points. The Stellarcon crowd know each other and seem to assume patterns of cooperation, which I've seen before with other committees. I offered a few helpful points (mentioning the Heinlein Society and other groups that might want to hold award ceremonies here). I'm a little amazed at how prepared Sydnie Krause was as treasurer; helps that she's getting advice from Tom Veal and that she herself has many years of being around experienced conrunners, but even so she so far seems better than most convention treasurers I've known.
Given how early this was I was impressed at how organized things are at this early stage. They've been working on planning the convention for a while; some tasks require more than 12-months preparation. They do in many ways remind me of the Seattle committee, and I have no problem recommending this group as a good committee for my other friends to come and get involved with.
Dina and Sydnie were kind enough to drive us out to the airport. We stopped at the Best Buy in Cary. They got a printer; I got a multipoint Bluetooth headset to work with both of my smart phones. Dina's flight was an hour before ours, so we had plenty of time. Service in the restaurant we found was slow. We connected at Washington National airport on the way back, so we got the view. No problem getting back to Buffalo. We stopped at Wegman's for our various diet drinks and diet sodas and mvt's 0% organic yogurt, then grabbed a snack at the Mighty Taco just before midnight. Marah got me home before 2 AM, so I got to work okay on Monday