Rapid Fire CONvergence Highlights
I wish I remembered more of the clever/interesting things that were said this past weekend but I'll break down highlights to bullet points for easy consumption.
There were challenges, yes. Some issues were my fault. Some issues were the fault of others. All issues were the result of running a very complex machine with something less than the optimal number of people.
So in chronological order (more or less), here is the breakdown of the stuff I remembered from the weekend:
-Being the fortunate individual who was contacted by John Kovalic Wednesday night as he searched for a way to make a last minute trip to the convention.
-Having a great new sub-head take charge in Programming Ops over much of the weekend.
-An interesting conversation with Phillip Low about kids' comedy two days before our panel of the same name.
-Watching the response to our opening ceremony video
-Dr. Jim producing his Emmy on the Smackdown panel. Joseph Scrimshaw's homoerotic description of the new Doctors. Brian Keene's tendency to relate everything back to port. The realization that Kelvin actually looks a lot like Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. Melissa on the god mic. "I said 'sex toy,' I didn't say 'dildo!'" So many other very funny moments from one of the best smackdowns ever.
-Windy and Chad opening "The Best Panel EVER" with an interpretive dance to accordion music.
-Making the observation that when Mr. Keene marries his fiance, he will have been married the same number of times as the rest of the panel members.
-Joking that Mary was not going to be married to Brian long enough for her to return with him the next time he comes to the con.
-Keeping my word and giving Mr. Scrimshaw a piggyback ride (my definition) to the bathroom after "The Best Panel EVER."
-Getting a great reaction to the Kurgan song from "Highlander: The Musical" when Chad and I performed it for the opening of the 24 hour songwriting challenge.
-A really enjoyable, serious panel about Disney Futurism. Oh yeah, we got sidetracked. A lot. I enjoy indulging my inner Disneyphile for a while.
-The slides for Power Point Karaoke were so funny, I think the presenters could have stood there in stunned silence and the panel would still have been a hit. I thought Sharon, Joseph and Cargill were all amazing as presenters. I don't typically get star struck but I can't deny that it was a nice ego boost to have Kevin and Bill tell me that they thought I was funny.
-I saw about the first thirty minutes of Joe's Main Stage show. I especially enjoyed the "Star Wars Tweets" segment.
-The Vilification Tennis show was particularly entertaining. Something about the vibe of that room that makes it hard to go wrong. We had people lining up over an hour ahead of time. What the fuck, people?
-I think the song we wrote for the 24 hour songwriting challenge was a good song. When people are singing along before you've finished it, you know you have a pretty good hook.
-Our Comedy for kids panel was lightly attended but I was happy with how we addressed the topic. I would have loved for there to be more kids in attendance - perhaps we didn't package it well....
-Had a really engaging talk about convention growth issues with David Walbridge on Saturday afternoon.
-Trying to find the copy of the Dr. Who episode that was to be the subject of a live Dr. Who commentary. Eventually, Lynne just asked the audience and we learned that was what we should have done in the first place.
-I had four hours of unstructured time on Saturday afternoon/evening. I even skipped out on masquerade just because I didn't want to give up the hour.
-During that time, I spent a long time in the Skepchick party room talking with Jeremy Messersmith and his wife Vanessa. Also got to meet and talk to Rebecca and Maria, with whom I've spent many hours coordinating panels for the Science track. I enjoy the opportunity to meet those folks face to face. I need to spend more time doing that with attending pros.
-The Dregs Harmonic CONvergence was, I think, the single best Dregs show we've ever done. We raised the roof.
-We were also presented with skull shaped cupcakes with brain icing. Score!
-Located a large group of people including Keene, Kovalic, Jerry B, Melissa, Joseph, Sara, Eryn, Amanda and the Cargills by the hearse and was part of a mass exodus to the Karaoke room.
-Sang Papa don't preach with Joseph acting out the Danny Aiello role while I butchered the high notes and, in fairness, most of the low ones.
-Ending said song by carrying Joseph off the stage. For those keeping score, that made two occasions that I ended up carrying him around this year.
-The Climate Change panel was great but too short. The insights that were presented were very interesting but there simply wasn't enough time to really dig deeply.
-I really enjoyed my turn as a beat poet on Iron Artist. A highlight was watching Keene completely lose it when I described the various dead Brian Keene poems I'd made all over the piece of paper. If I'd been thinking, I would have included a picture of Brian having his eyes pecked out by a dead pigeon. Dammit.
-I love watching Kelvin when he gets on a roll. About 3/4 of the way through the panel, he started on a mini rant that was truly grand.
-I totally remembered all the words to the closing ceremony sketch! Almost. I got the gist of them anyway...
-I sold my soul to Storm for $1. Then I got him to sign the dollar and donated it to the Silent Auction. It has become my goal to get a dollar from a Guest of Honor every year for donation. I feel that I can't push the thing, though. It needs to happen naturally.
-We had an epic Just a Minute battle at the dead dog. Just epic.
-In reference to a woman who, apparently, had tape over her nipples and very little else, asking if it was hotel approved masking tape.
I'm positive I'm forgetting a great deal. It was a great weekend. A lot of people ask the standard "how is your con going" question and from me they typically got the response of "busy." It was a good busy, though. I'm already psyched for next year.