RCFM: Friday
I was hoping to sleep in some, and perhaps considering my starting time of the last few days I did, but it was still a fairly early start. We decided to take advantage of the hotel breakfast and there was some confusion. I'm still not sure whose confusion it was. I remember being told that breakfast was included this year when I booked the room months ago. It was listed on the e-mail confirmation. I was told this again up check-in. And then we got charged $5 a person for it. Whatever happened, it certainly felt like a bait & switch. It wasn't a bad deal, but it after being told one thing multiple times and experiencing another, it comes across very poorly indeed.
Thursday evening I had heard someone say that Registration ought to have a sign that read "NO, NOT YET" for the door for everyone asking "Is registration open yet?" So Friday morning I made up a sign "Regs open? NO, not yet" and stuck it on the Registration/Operations door. It amused me to see it still there after registration had opened. The door was open in such a way that the sign wasn't then visible from the hallway so it hardly mattered. It was eventually taken down.
We walked over to Rosie's Cantina for lunch, the place we had tried to go last year but it was closed on Monday. I can see why folks would go there, and not just the proximity though that made getting there easy enough. Jay had another less than great experience as he waited in line for registration to start as he have to wait somewhere anyway. However, though he was near the door he was not near the start of the line. Boosters (and Supersponsors?) were first, so he spent more time in the hot hallway. I took the opposite approach and waited elsewhere, where I could sit down someplace cooler. I'd be waiting anyway, so I might as well wait in comfort.
Orvan did have a couple deliveries before Opening Ceremonies. One was the usual Ops Survival Kit. It seemed a good idea to get that taken care of as early as possible, so it happened not long after the initial rush of registration was over. The first couple deliveries went quick, so after that Orvan did the candy give-away shtick again.
Orvan had a delivery to make during Opening Ceremonies and I needed to know the cue. Good thing I asked about this, as the effect of the delivery had been worked out, but whoever had scripted the bit had forgotten how the item got there. Evidently it magically appeared. This amuses me a bit as the bit seemed to be the product of someone's delivery suggestion. So the thing took off, and the thing initiating it had been almost forgotten. Not a big deal. The delivered line was not the cue I was told, but it was close enough to be recognized. The bit seemed to work judging by the sound of the crowd reaction. I didn't get much else as once that part was over or nearly so, I bolted. Opening Ceremonies has started late due to technical difficulties so I'd been waiting a considerable time in suit, in the hot hallway, listening to folks not in suit complain about the heat.
I did make it back in time to see Sabrina (finally) win the title of "Mystery Guest of Honor." This was a drawing of the registered (non-staff) attendees and if they were present they got a Booster level attendance and the various goodies that went with it - if they so desired. I think there were a few attempts and some folks weren't around, but I don't recall anyone turning it down. That was an option if someone didn't care for the attention.
Someone later suggested a Closing Ceremonies delivery and after last year (and for a couple other reasons) I put my foot down on that one. Doing things at Opening or Closing Ceremonies is a tempting thing and, if worked in properly, seems a Good Idea... but it requires things start on time. Just waiting around in suit is one of the most taxing and annoying things to do. I explained it later that at MFF, there are folks concerned with time and things pretty much happen on schedule. At Penguicon the same is true. But Huntsville has rocket scientists. That might seem like they'd have timing really precise, but they don't. They have launch windows.
I do wonder happened to that... prop. Much as I wonder if the "Regs Open?" sign was saved or trashed. Not a big deal either way, it's just something I am bit curious about. There was another sign, for Firr (whoever that is) I made up later. During a slow moment (probably Saturday night) I walked through all the open hallways and saw a crudely scrawled sign for Firr that included a bit [kickass door sign here]. I wouldn't say that the stencilled thing I did met that definition, but it looked a bit better than a quick scrawl. This is another item that I just put up and left, and haven't heard anything of since. I hoped it was appreciated or at least found slightly amusing.
I wound up staying up fairly late, somewhat to my surprise. I had expected to stay up till maybe midnight or 1 AM, but when I checked the time it was suddenly 2:30 AM. I'd had a good time just chatting with various people, including Chaka Wolf. I later realized that while Orvan had attempted a delivery to the dealer's area, I hadn't gone there myself. Nor had I had made it to any panels. Or rather, I hadn't stuck around for any of the panels I checked in on. I suspect that was partly having heard the subjects before and not feeling like much new was being added (that's not a complaint, everyone has to start somewhere) and the air conditioning in one meeting room being almost non-existent.