randomness
I am 41 years old, and I do not understand the purpose or function of pillow shams. Can you use it as a pillow? Should you remove the sham cover? Should you just throw it on the floor? Why do people put pillows on the bed if you can't use them?
This weekend was WindyCon, a convention of long standing in the Chicago area. It was dull, as only something that you have done over and over again, exactly the same way each time, is dull. So, for fun this morning, a friend and I brainstormed about throwing our own con.
Friend 1 is a travel agent. She could coordinate hotel arrangements and travel for paid guests. This would also put her in line to be Party Liaison, as this position works with parties and the hotel.
Friend 2 is a massage therapist, but has also volunteered to work for other cons. She could do two panel talks, one on full body massage and one on massage as a pick-up technique, something that is very popular at conventions. She would also oversee the consuite, as she has a lot of experience doing this. She might also be able to single-handedly provide enough movies for an entire weekend's showings out of her personal collection.
Friend 3 works occasionally as a wedding planner. She would be the entertainment director and theme coordinator. She is also highly competitive, so making our con the very best con ever would be her number one goal.
I have some event planning experience from my work. I could coordinate the panel presenters, the movie showings, and space for the big events like the dance, art and dealers' rooms, etc.
Friend 4 has a laptop full of MP3 and a killer, mobile sound system. He's the DJ for the dance.
Friend 5 probably has the most con experience of us all. She offered today to distribute flyers at the forty or so cons she gets to each year. We also pegged her for coordinating the dealers room, since she already knows everyone.
We'd need someone to run and staff security, someone to run the film room, and staff for the con suite. Someone to set up and monitor a website, and someone to print and mail flyers. And I'm sure a million things I don't know anything about.
The irony here is that I have never, and I mean never, been motivated to volunteer for any position at a con. One of my best friends does it on a regular basis, so do several people I know and like, but don't hang with much. Maybe because they are always too busy planning cons. I go to cons to have fun, not to stay up all night filling trays with potato chips, or stopping vandals. I also do not dig all the politics and personal garbage that comes along with planning an event with twenty people of unknown intentions and honor. The back biting and gossiping are unreal. Part of the appeal of my fantasy con is doing it with people I know, and know can be trusted, both to do their part and to not steal the money.
My conclusion is that I am missing being in school. Once classes start again, I won't have time to entertain elaborate, two-year schemes. Isn't that what my PhD is anyway?
This weekend was WindyCon, a convention of long standing in the Chicago area. It was dull, as only something that you have done over and over again, exactly the same way each time, is dull. So, for fun this morning, a friend and I brainstormed about throwing our own con.
Friend 1 is a travel agent. She could coordinate hotel arrangements and travel for paid guests. This would also put her in line to be Party Liaison, as this position works with parties and the hotel.
Friend 2 is a massage therapist, but has also volunteered to work for other cons. She could do two panel talks, one on full body massage and one on massage as a pick-up technique, something that is very popular at conventions. She would also oversee the consuite, as she has a lot of experience doing this. She might also be able to single-handedly provide enough movies for an entire weekend's showings out of her personal collection.
Friend 3 works occasionally as a wedding planner. She would be the entertainment director and theme coordinator. She is also highly competitive, so making our con the very best con ever would be her number one goal.
I have some event planning experience from my work. I could coordinate the panel presenters, the movie showings, and space for the big events like the dance, art and dealers' rooms, etc.
Friend 4 has a laptop full of MP3 and a killer, mobile sound system. He's the DJ for the dance.
Friend 5 probably has the most con experience of us all. She offered today to distribute flyers at the forty or so cons she gets to each year. We also pegged her for coordinating the dealers room, since she already knows everyone.
We'd need someone to run and staff security, someone to run the film room, and staff for the con suite. Someone to set up and monitor a website, and someone to print and mail flyers. And I'm sure a million things I don't know anything about.
The irony here is that I have never, and I mean never, been motivated to volunteer for any position at a con. One of my best friends does it on a regular basis, so do several people I know and like, but don't hang with much. Maybe because they are always too busy planning cons. I go to cons to have fun, not to stay up all night filling trays with potato chips, or stopping vandals. I also do not dig all the politics and personal garbage that comes along with planning an event with twenty people of unknown intentions and honor. The back biting and gossiping are unreal. Part of the appeal of my fantasy con is doing it with people I know, and know can be trusted, both to do their part and to not steal the money.
My conclusion is that I am missing being in school. Once classes start again, I won't have time to entertain elaborate, two-year schemes. Isn't that what my PhD is anyway?