Pemmi-Con Day 1: Out of the Gate
Pemmi-Con is now officially open, and today's first day was personally the busiest of the four days I will face. On the bright side, because most things did not start until Noon, I could sleep in a little bit. We made breakfast in the hotel room (having accumulated all of this stuff over the duration of the trip helps). Lisa went over to the Exhibit Hall, where she's one of the staff, to help with final setup. I went looking for my membership badge, which I lost yesterday evening. It was in none of the places where I tried, so I went to Registration and paid the $25 fee to replace it. No excuses; it is my own fault.
I met up with the Site Selection Team. I had brought most of our gear: ballot box, cash box, blank ballots, receipts, and the like. Other material we picked up from the Convention Office. We walked to the Exhibit Hall, where everyone still working on setup had been booted out for a safety hold while an important part of WSFS conventions was being hung from the ceiling.
The World Science Fiction Society banner hangs over the exhibits.
I helped the Site Selection set up the area, but I had to leave and head back to the hotel room, as Lisa had cut her hand while setting up exhibits and had gone back to the room to dress the wound. I was a few minutes behind her. She couldn't find her kit, but I also had bandages, so she was able to clean and bandage the cut. She says the cut was rather ragged, which is making it knit better already.
I swapped into my WSFS uniform, but annoyingly, I forgot to get a picture. Dressed for the part, I oversaw the Future WSFS Conventions (NASFiCs, Worldcons, and bids for same). After that, I took the gavel over to the Delta, where it was needed as part of the Opening Ceremony.
I apologize for the poor quality of this photo of Pemmi-Con co-chairs Linda Ross-Mansfield and Robbie Bourget officially convening the 15th North American Science Fiction Convention.
Unlike previous NASFiCs and any US Worldcons, Cheryl Morgan was able to attend Pemmi-Con, and she caught up with during the Opening Ceremony. After I retrieved the gavel (I need it for the Business Meeting), Cheryl and I went over and worked on our schedules. Due to me not taking my computer to China with me (assuming they let me go), Cheryl needs to be the Voice of the Hugo Awards on our official channels, and as we're both in the same place, it will be much easier to set it up if we can get together and work on it together here at Pemmi-Con. We should be able to find a block of time when neither of us in scheduled for something we must attend.
I had been working on getting a group dinner together for Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse. I ate here clear back in 1994 during ConAdian, and hoped to be able to go again. We identified a group of seven fans (including Lisa and me), and I needed to get down to the restaurant (which is located on the lower level between the Delta Hotel and the RBC Convention Center) to make a reservation. It turned out that the only time they still had availability was 8:30 PM, so I had to send texts to the people involved to make sure eating dinner that late was okay (it was).
After getting the reservation squared away, I went to my second panel of the day, labeled as the History of NASFiC, but what in the end turned into "Kevin Tells Stories About NASFiCs He's Attended." But the members attending seemed to enjoy it.
Returning to the room, I changed out of my WSFS uniform (which does seem to fit better than it did a year ago) and after tending to some other business on the computer, Lisa and I went back to the second floor, where I had about 30 minutes available until dinner: Pinball!
Local conventions in Winnipeg apparently have a pinball room, and Pemmi-Con wanted one as well. To help fund the cost of the machines, they approached SFSFC to partially sponsor the room. SFSFC, representing Worldcon 76 and Westercon 74, agreed to sponsor a majority of the cost of the pinball room. I played the machines and enjoyed it.
Around 8 PM, the members of our dinner party met in the Delta Lobby, and shortly thereafter, we headed over to Ichiban. It's a short trip, and we were early, but they were able to seat up. It was a great meal, and a great show, as such places usually are. I had not eaten a lot during the day (lunch was a smoked sausage from a street vendor), and I got the biggest dinner they had, and was very happy with it. Also, this is the biggest group dinner I've attended since before the pandemic. All of us are convention members, which means we're all vaccinated and have been masking while in the convention. Our cook was also masked, which was reassuring. It was a great deal of fun.
Lisa left a little early (as dessert was arriving) because she was worn out. I did not go seek out room parties, although I did hear that the hotel was shutting them down. I went back to the room and got ready for bed.
Earlier today, Lisa told me that we have to go back to the mechanic on Friday. I asked way, and she said, "Because the tripod for the camera we need for recording the Business Meeting is still in the back of the Astro." We haven't heard back from them anyway, so it's just as well that we'll go there on Friday morning.
I met up with the Site Selection Team. I had brought most of our gear: ballot box, cash box, blank ballots, receipts, and the like. Other material we picked up from the Convention Office. We walked to the Exhibit Hall, where everyone still working on setup had been booted out for a safety hold while an important part of WSFS conventions was being hung from the ceiling.
The World Science Fiction Society banner hangs over the exhibits.
I helped the Site Selection set up the area, but I had to leave and head back to the hotel room, as Lisa had cut her hand while setting up exhibits and had gone back to the room to dress the wound. I was a few minutes behind her. She couldn't find her kit, but I also had bandages, so she was able to clean and bandage the cut. She says the cut was rather ragged, which is making it knit better already.
I swapped into my WSFS uniform, but annoyingly, I forgot to get a picture. Dressed for the part, I oversaw the Future WSFS Conventions (NASFiCs, Worldcons, and bids for same). After that, I took the gavel over to the Delta, where it was needed as part of the Opening Ceremony.
I apologize for the poor quality of this photo of Pemmi-Con co-chairs Linda Ross-Mansfield and Robbie Bourget officially convening the 15th North American Science Fiction Convention.
Unlike previous NASFiCs and any US Worldcons, Cheryl Morgan was able to attend Pemmi-Con, and she caught up with during the Opening Ceremony. After I retrieved the gavel (I need it for the Business Meeting), Cheryl and I went over and worked on our schedules. Due to me not taking my computer to China with me (assuming they let me go), Cheryl needs to be the Voice of the Hugo Awards on our official channels, and as we're both in the same place, it will be much easier to set it up if we can get together and work on it together here at Pemmi-Con. We should be able to find a block of time when neither of us in scheduled for something we must attend.
I had been working on getting a group dinner together for Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse. I ate here clear back in 1994 during ConAdian, and hoped to be able to go again. We identified a group of seven fans (including Lisa and me), and I needed to get down to the restaurant (which is located on the lower level between the Delta Hotel and the RBC Convention Center) to make a reservation. It turned out that the only time they still had availability was 8:30 PM, so I had to send texts to the people involved to make sure eating dinner that late was okay (it was).
After getting the reservation squared away, I went to my second panel of the day, labeled as the History of NASFiC, but what in the end turned into "Kevin Tells Stories About NASFiCs He's Attended." But the members attending seemed to enjoy it.
Returning to the room, I changed out of my WSFS uniform (which does seem to fit better than it did a year ago) and after tending to some other business on the computer, Lisa and I went back to the second floor, where I had about 30 minutes available until dinner: Pinball!
Local conventions in Winnipeg apparently have a pinball room, and Pemmi-Con wanted one as well. To help fund the cost of the machines, they approached SFSFC to partially sponsor the room. SFSFC, representing Worldcon 76 and Westercon 74, agreed to sponsor a majority of the cost of the pinball room. I played the machines and enjoyed it.
Around 8 PM, the members of our dinner party met in the Delta Lobby, and shortly thereafter, we headed over to Ichiban. It's a short trip, and we were early, but they were able to seat up. It was a great meal, and a great show, as such places usually are. I had not eaten a lot during the day (lunch was a smoked sausage from a street vendor), and I got the biggest dinner they had, and was very happy with it. Also, this is the biggest group dinner I've attended since before the pandemic. All of us are convention members, which means we're all vaccinated and have been masking while in the convention. Our cook was also masked, which was reassuring. It was a great deal of fun.
Lisa left a little early (as dessert was arriving) because she was worn out. I did not go seek out room parties, although I did hear that the hotel was shutting them down. I went back to the room and got ready for bed.
Earlier today, Lisa told me that we have to go back to the mechanic on Friday. I asked way, and she said, "Because the tripod for the camera we need for recording the Business Meeting is still in the back of the Astro." We haven't heard back from them anyway, so it's just as well that we'll go there on Friday morning.