Deliciously underproductive weekend
I'm not sure what it was this weekend -- a reaction to lots of stress, most likely -- but what I managed to do this weekend, primarily, was to get a LOT of sleep, play a bit of LEGO BATMAN, read Neil Gaiman's new kids' book THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, and spend some quality time with friends.
In other words, I mostly goofed off and had more sleep in two days than I typically get in four. When I wasn't asleep, I was half-zoned on the couch or in bed, being a TV zombie. Saw a bunch of MYTHBUSTERS and THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN -- which is a wonderful show that I never really watched when it was on TV, but have enjoyed immensely in syndication -- and finally caught last week's wonderful episode of CHUCK. Damn, John Laroquette is awesome, and the show is kinda firing on all cylinders.
In the meantime, I managed to rebuild the Otakon Guest/Industry/Press budget to something closer to 2007's model. I'm going to have to cut back on the number of guests, but I knew that going in. The real difference will come in marketing and outreach costs, and I'm going to make the case that we MUST to more there -- I am convinced that those TV ads helped boost our visibility a fair bit and helped create our big boost in at-door numbers. However, that would be an increase over 2007's numbers (2008 was a special year and thus we had an inflated budget) and it will need to be argued out. And inconveniently, the budget meeting looks like it will fall at the same time as a friend's Halloween party.
In other words, I mostly goofed off and had more sleep in two days than I typically get in four. When I wasn't asleep, I was half-zoned on the couch or in bed, being a TV zombie. Saw a bunch of MYTHBUSTERS and THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN -- which is a wonderful show that I never really watched when it was on TV, but have enjoyed immensely in syndication -- and finally caught last week's wonderful episode of CHUCK. Damn, John Laroquette is awesome, and the show is kinda firing on all cylinders.
In the meantime, I managed to rebuild the Otakon Guest/Industry/Press budget to something closer to 2007's model. I'm going to have to cut back on the number of guests, but I knew that going in. The real difference will come in marketing and outreach costs, and I'm going to make the case that we MUST to more there -- I am convinced that those TV ads helped boost our visibility a fair bit and helped create our big boost in at-door numbers. However, that would be an increase over 2007's numbers (2008 was a special year and thus we had an inflated budget) and it will need to be argued out. And inconveniently, the budget meeting looks like it will fall at the same time as a friend's Halloween party.