Hey, Pierre!

That might be unnecessary. I recall that Carl already scanned in quite a
few (in theory). Or, at least, I think so.

Do you have that part of the Archives yet?

Cheers,

Betsy

Pierre & Sandy Pettinger wrote:

> At 08:41 PM 4/29/2006, you wrote:
>
> I have a complete set of folios. I’ve been planning to scan them in.
> I’ll try to do that this summer and send you the files. Then you can
> print extras if some disappear.
>
> Pierre
>
>>In a message dated 4/29/2006 8:34:00 PM Central Standard Time,
>>bruno@soulmasque.com writes:
>>
>>>Just make sure you keep an eye on them or chain them to a table. I don’t
>>>have any folios prior to CC23 because I used to take them to fan
>>
>>tables, and
>>
>>>they were all stolen.
>>>
>>>Michael
>>
>>I think I have extras from CC21. I will find out tomorrow. Let me know if you
>>would like one.
>>Henry
>
>
> “Those Who Fail To Learn History
> Are Doomed to Repeat It;
> Those Who Fail To Learn History Correctly —
> Why They Are Simply Doomed.
>
> Achemdro’hm
> “The Illusion of Historical Fact”
> — C.Y. 4971
>
> Andromeda
>
>
>
>
> View the Document: http://www.Costume-Con.org/procedure/runacc/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

—
—
Betsy Delaney
*************************************************************************
http://www.hawkeswood.com/ * http://www.OutOftheBlackBox.org/
http://www.BarkingMad.org/ * http://www.sickpups.org/
http://www.Costume-Con.org/ * http://www.SchoolWithoutWalls.org/
*************************************************************************

On Apr 29, 2006, at 6:33 PM, bruno wrote:

> Just make sure you keep an eye on them or chain them to a table. I
> don’t have any folios prior to CC23 because I used to take them to fan
> tables, and they were all stolen.

I’m thinking that taking them to Kinkos, having them drilled for a
binder, and sticking them in binders, while a bit bulky would
discourage theft. The comb-bound editions would be particularly easy to
deal with; drill ’em and pull the comb and they would lay flat in
binders nicely.

If there are any boxes of spare copies of old folios floating around,
it might be a good idea to bring to Des Moines; I know a few of us
would like extra copies for promotional purposes.

—
andy trembley, Bitchy Design Queen
http://www.irlm.org/ – mailto:webmaster@irlm.org
“Anybody who takes this seriously deserves to”
— Donna Barr

At 07:26 PM 4/30/2006, you wrote:

>Hey, Pierre!
>
>That might be unnecessary. I recall that Carl already scanned in quite a
>few (in theory). Or, at least, I think so.
>
>Do you have that part of the Archives yet?

Actually, I have very little of the archives yet. I believe Carl
plans to bring a lot of it to me at CC since they are driving and
we’re only 3 hours from there.

Pierre

>Cheers,
>
>Betsy
>

“Those Who Fail To Learn History
Are Doomed to Repeat It;
Those Who Fail To Learn History Correctly —
Why They Are Simply Doomed.

Achemdro’hm
“The Illusion of Historical Fact”
— C.Y. 4971

Andromeda

Thank you Henry and Trudy for the offers of Fashion Folios, although I never had those, I would like to get them. The ones I miss the most are the ones that I actually had designs published in.

If the offer still stands, I’d be happy to pick them up at CC and save on the postage.

Michael

> ——-Original Message——-
> From: osierhenry@cs.com

> Michael,
> I just located the extra FFF from CC21. I have plenty of extras. Send
> me your mailing address and I will get one out to you in the mail this week.
> As soon as I get a count on them, in a few days, I will make them
> available to archives, then anyone in this group.
> Henry

In a message dated 5/1/2006 11:19:42 PM Central Standard Time,
bruno@soulmasque.com writes:

> If the offer still stands, I’d be happy to pick them up at CC and save on
> the postage.

I’ll bring all the surplus ones I have for us in this group. Remember to use
our secret handshake when greeting each other!
Henry

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The four of us are road-tripping up, so I should be able to stick a box of
them in the van. You’re welcome to as many as you’d like and anyone else is
invited to take them as well.

Trudy

>From: “bruno” <bruno@soulmasque.com>
>Reply-To: runacc@yahoogroups.com
>To: runacc@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: Re: [runacc] Folio Publishing (Moving this over to RUNACC-was Re:
>[ICG-D] Rep…
>Date: Tue, 02 May 2006 04:18:53 +0000
>
>Thank you Henry and Trudy for the offers of Fashion Folios, although I
>never had those, I would like to get them. The ones I miss the most are
>the ones that I actually had designs published in.
>
>If the offer still stands, I’d be happy to pick them up at CC and save on
>the postage.
>
>
>Michael
>
>
> > ——-Original Message——-
> > From: osierhenry@cs.com
>
> > Michael,
> > I just located the extra FFF from CC21. I have plenty of extras.
>Send
> > me your mailing address and I will get one out to you in the mail this
>week.
> > As soon as I get a count on them, in a few days, I will make
>them
> > available to archives, then anyone in this group.
> > Henry

Greetings,

This is the final opportunity to get an ad in CC-24’s program book.
We need the ads ASAP as in no later than Friday 5/12. At this time
we only have one ad from the costume community and that is for the
Milwaukee CC-28 bid. Here are the particulars.

Page size 8.5″ X 5″
Cost
$100 full page
$50 half page

Payment options
PayPal email finance@epicmovies.org

Check
Costume-Con 24
PO Box 7572
Des Moines, IA 50323-7572

Sallie

Hello again,

I forgot to mention where to send the ad to. At this point we need
electronic format, either word, .pdf or a standard graphic format such
as, .jpg, etc. Send to gsabba@worldnet.att.net.

Thanks,
Sallie

What’s the deadline?

Bruce

—– Original Message —–
From: “srabba” <gsabba@att.net>
To: <runacc@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 10:01 AM
Subject: [runacc] Where to send ads

> Hello again,
>
> I forgot to mention where to send the ad to. At this point we need
> electronic format, either word, .pdf or a standard graphic format such
> as, .jpg, etc. Send to gsabba@worldnet.att.net.
>
> Thanks,
> Sallie
>
>
>
>
>
>
> View the Document: http://www.Costume-Con.org/procedure/runacc/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

And in what format/size?

Nora

—– Original Message —–
From: “srabba” <gsabba@att.net>
To: <runacc@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 10:01 AM
Subject: [runacc] Where to send ads

> Hello again,
>
> I forgot to mention where to send the ad to. At this point we need
> electronic format, either word, .pdf or a standard graphic format such
> as, .jpg, etc. Send to gsabba@worldnet.att.net.
>
> Thanks,
> Sallie
>
>
>
>
>
>
> View the Document: http://www.Costume-Con.org/procedure/runacc/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Hello all,

Bruce Mai asked for “lessons learned” from the CC-24 staff and I’d
like to share some of my observations. He also requested the cross
post to runacc and CC-25. There’s only 55 days before we return to
the Hotel Fort Des Moines for the start of DemiCon, so there isn’t as
much time to process and analyze, as I’d like, so this may be a bit
rambled and disjointed, but I better get to this before DemiCon
demands take over my brain.

Please feel free to ask questions or for clarification on any of my
comments or any other CC-24 related topics. Other staff may have
different thoughts and observations that I hope they find time to
share with you too. We did some things well and some things we could
have done better I’ll try and point out both.

First lesson is – it is never too early – After our bid was
officially accepted we did contact some people and businesses.
Understandably they were unable to make a firm commitment 3+ years
out so we decided to hold off on further contacts until a little
later. However, in some cases, things went from too early to
suddenly being too late. If I were to do it again I would make all
the contacts I could think of as early as possible and keep a
spreadsheet of when to check back. I’d also do regular email updates
with these contacts (or postcards for those without email) probably
once a quarter or so. Nothing fancy just something to keep Costume-
Con on their radar screen so they didn’t forget and book something
else between the personal contacts.

We needed a program co-director who was better known in costuming
circles. I’m glad we had a local person chairing the program because
we could take advantage of local resources, but we were at a
disadvantage when contacting the costume community. For costume
clubs hosting a Costume-Con this probably would end up being one and
the same person. However, since our club is not a costuming
organization that wasn’t an option for us. Things turned out okay,
but it was a struggle at times for our program director when
contacting those in the costuming community. The problem was two
fold. One, knowing who to contact for various topics and two, the
comfort level of those contacted with someone they really didn’t know.

One thing that caught us by surprise was the issue of tag-a-longs.
By that I mean there were spouses, significant others, friends, etc.
that weren’t costumers, but wanted to “tag-a-long” at times during
the convention. These folks wanted some sort of special rate since
they wouldn’t technically be participating at the convention just
watching. We did not make special accommodations for tag-a-longs.
It was hard to turn away folks willing to give us money, but it
seemed unfair to those that had already purchased memberships to
create a new option so late in the process. Future CCs might want to
consider whether a tag-a-long rate is appropriate. We did not badge
the display lobby, and in fact we encouraged the curious to visit the
dealers and look at the display costumes. In some cases this
resulted in ticket sales.

While I’m talking about it here’s our rate structure for those that
might be curious.
$65 – 4/2003 – 12/2003
$75 – 1/2004 – 12/2004
$85 – 1/2005 – 12/2005
$95 Full weekend $40 for kids 5 – 12 (starting 1/1/2006)
$40 – one-day memberships for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. One-days
included the evening show or event. ($20 children 5 – 12)
$25 – Monday only membership. This was more a formality for
insurance purposes. I don’t believe we sold any.
$10 – Masquerade tickets $5 children 5 –12. Entry into show only did
not include access to ConSuite. We didn’t plan on selling tickets to
the FFS, but had requests and ended up selling 6 at $5 each.
$250 Family membership (2 adults, 2 or more children) this rate was
for immediate families only and not for extended, or faux families.
$125 Dealer package included one table and one membership.
$75 per additional dealer tables

We did not promote our family membership mostly to avoid any issues
these types of packages tend to invite. We had a local family with
three kids ask if there was a family rate. Our intention was that a
nuclear family (as in parents and children) would not have to pay
more than $250 to attend CC-24. Perhaps we should have been braver
and promoted this option more.

We did not have a policy for badge loaning. It was only briefly a
concern at CC-24 and goes along with the tag-a-long problem. Future
committees might want to think about what they want to do about the
issue.

I am glad we decided to sell show tickets for the masquerades. This
was a help with tag-a-longs and we also sold some to the general
public. I don’t have an exact count of the show tickets sold, but do
believe it was over $100. Worth the effort at least.

We should have used a presenter’s form for our panelists, one that
listed equipment needed, etc. A form would have standardized
requests and reminded panelist to let us know what they needed in a
timely matter. We managed to cover most everything, but a
presenter’s form might have saved us a minor bump or two.

There were a couple of double booking issues with the schedule.
Partly because of a last minute shuffle of panels and partly because
we didn’t complete some communication loops. Confirmation emails
were to go out to panelist, but not everyone confirmed their
schedules. We should have been more thorough in double-checking
after every shift in the schedule. Also, I don’t think we made note
of things like who the MC for the shows were and who the judges and
judges’ liaisons were. Not sure if that was a contributing factor in
double booking or not, but it was certainly something we needed to
know and keep track of better.

It worked out well for us to have 15 minutes between panels. This
gave panelists time to set up and tear down. It also gave
participants time to make a bathroom stop or visit the ConSuite. It
did mean we burned some potential programming time, but I think the
trade off was worth it. I’d be curious to hear other opinions.

Collecting announcements for the shows and events at registration
worked well. To my knowledge there were no requested announcements
or awards that were over looked. In most cases the MCs also provided
opportunity for announcements to come from the floor just in case
we’d forgotten or missed something also a good plan.

We stumbled into an opportunity to do a service project rather late
into things. We decided to go ahead and offer the project to the
attendees anyway. We were able to complete 46 trauma dolls used to
aid hospitals and EMS personnel when interacting with children.
Participants also cut, sewed and turned several more in preparation
for other organizations to work on. The trauma doll organizers were
thrilled. There were some attendees who took patterns and contact
information to start similar programs in their local area. It was
nice to have a chance to do for others and make a difference in the
community at large. I just wish we’d found out about the program
sooner so we could have included information in the program book and
on the schedule. This is also the sort of activity that generates
good publicity too.

Budget concerns directed some of our choices. For instance we
elected to print the schedule and hotel map in the program book
rather than as a separate publication. Also along the same line we
chose not to publish bios of the panelists thus saving several pages
in the program book. Money was only part of the decision for just
listing names of panelists. There was also the logistics of
collecting all the necessary information. It became apparent that we
weren’t going to be able to gather information on all the
participants in time for publication; another point for it is never
too early.

We also didn’t print a food guide. Fortunately we have a local paper
that publishes a free dining/activity guide including a map.

We were very conservative on the number of program books we ordered.
We did print a one-page schedule that we used for one-day memberships
on Saturday especially so we wouldn’t run out of the books too soon.
We did get more at-the-door memberships than we had expected.

One of our best assets was the Hotel Fort Des Moines; we are
fortunate to have an established and an on going relationship with a
very classy facility. We also had the luxury of space to burn. This
allowed us to offer a workroom, discussion room and a video room
without compromising program potential. We were also able to provide
a rehearsal space that matched the stage size for participants to
practice their presentations. Not every Costume-Con will have these
options because of space limitations in available (and affordable)
facilities. However, I’m glad we were able to offer them and I know
they were all used at various times during the weekend.

Video room – Because we had the extra space we decided to set up a
video room for the weekend. We had a number of epic movies to show
and the plan was to view the masquerade videos after the shows here
too. Unfortunately there was some miscommunication and we were only
able to run the SF show once on Saturday and didn’t get a chance to
run the Historical or FFS. The video room could also be an option
for tag-a-longs and possibly children’s programming too. Again not
every facility will have the extra space to provide an on going video
room, but if the space is available I think it can be a useful
service.

Judges Chambers – The hotel layout allowed us to provide a room for
judges for the weekend. Judges for all the shows were able to use the
room for deliberation, storage and pre-judging for the Historical
Masquerade. We set up a computer and printer to generate
certificates on demand. This arrangement worked very well especially
after we oriented our judges’ tech so he knew what content to include
on the certificates.

Having computers and printers on site was extremely useful. We
printed the programs for the masquerades as needed and we were able
to provide entry forms and release forms on demand. Once all the
participant data was entered into our database we could generate
specific forms for the MC, judges, tech crew, green room and any
other reports necessary. This saved us the expense and time of
running out for copies. It also allowed us to make corrections and
additions right up to the last minute. We did have a last minute
addition to the Historical masquerade and I’m glad we were able to
accommodate the entry and include the entry information on the
program.

I’d just like to thank the MDs for being flexible and understanding
with first time Costumers who were unfamiliar with the usual
procedures.

We used a digital camera and photo printer to take judges’ photos in
the green room. Finding film for a Polaroid camera is increasingly
difficult not to mention expensive. The digital camera arrangement
seemed to work well. The photos are larger and clearer too as a
bonus.

On line masquerade registration – Les developed a system that allowed
attendees to enter the masquerades on line. All the forms and
releases were there as well as space to request lighting and other
technical assistance. They could return and edit their entries and
even up load their music. Masquerade Directors could view all the
entries in their show, but participants could only view their own
information. We did have some entries use the system and it seemed
to work fine. I think there is a lot of potential for this system
especially if we could get more people to use it. It would certainly
make planning for necessary tech time easier if we knew in advance
how many potential entries to expect.

I personally really enjoyed the runway layout for the FFS and I also
appreciated showing the sketches of the designs in the show as well
as some of the winning designs that weren’t represented in the show.
I thought these arrangements really allowed the audience to get a
good look at the designs and to get an appreciation for the folio
process in general. The layout provided nearly three times the front
row space as the masquerade stage layout. However, this is just the
perspective of someone who was watching the show and I’ve no idea how
this layout worked for the participants of the show. I do know that
there wasn’t sufficient time for the participants to get a full
rehearsal on the stage. I don’t know why that was, but even so
things seemed to go just wonderfully.

Because of the gambling laws in Iowa we couldn’t hold a raffle as
some Costume-Cons in the past have had. We put together a creative
fundraiser selling stars for the Walk-of-Fame. I don’t have final
figures yet, but we did sell one Studio Mogul package and 4 or 5
other stars as well as several “star tails” which came with
individual tickets. Most people declined to take their star tail and
just took the tickets.

Tech Crew Seal of Approval Award came about as recognition for the
entry that makes the most of their time with the tech crew. Our tech
crew has done tech at several venues. We’ve also competed in various
masquerades. One thing we’ve come to realize is there is some times
an incorrect perception that some participants have of the purpose of
Tech Rehearsal. This is actually a rehearsal for the tech crew not
for the entry. Entries should show up with their music ready to go,
with a stage movement presentation, and with any props and/or large
or awkward costume pieces such as masks, hats, shoes etc. It is also
very helpful for the lighting crew if some part of the costume is
present so the optimum lighting can be determined. We thought a tech
award would help raise awareness of the need for participants to be
prepared and make the most of their tech time. As it happened this
year nearly every entry was mostly prepared. I still think the award
is a good way to raise awareness about what makes for a good tech
check and consequently a good presentation.

Suggestions for future shows, please schedule tech checks to end by
5:00 pm or 5:30 pm at the latest. This is important for several
reasons. First and foremost it gives everyone time for dinner, the
tech crew, contestants, MDs, etc. It also allows time to fix any
glitches that might become evident during the checks. If for some
reason tech checks have to run past 5:30 then plan to have food
brought into you tech, stage and masquerade crew.

Masquerade directors please, please, please do the math. We’ve had
the unenviable task of starting tech checks over 2 hours behind
schedule because there were 30 plus entries each promised a ten-
minute slot between 1 and 4. That’s nearly twice the number of
entries for the time allotted. You want to talk about stress. Yikes!

The scheduling of tech checks also illustrates how important it is
for entries to pre-register rather than waiting until at the Con to
do so. It is much easier to collapse extra time than it is to try
and find extra time.

If at all possible arrange rehearsal space for entries to practice
their presentations. Sometimes there isn’t an opportunity for an
entry to practice their presentation prior to arriving at the
convention. This is particularly true for a Costume-Con where
members of an entry may be from all over the country. However, it
still isn’t fair to the other entries in a show to allow one or two
to monopolize the tech crew’s time for their own rehearsal. CC-24
made sure to have space set aside for participants to practice their
presentations. This helps the tech checks proceed efficiently and to
stay on time.

There were lots of other things we would have liked to do, but budget
constraints dictated otherwise. I won’t go into all the money
optional things since this has already been a much longer discourse
than I’d imagined when I started. I hope future committees are able
to glean a few useful things. I know we certainly took advantage of
these forums to minimize the number of wheels we had to reinvent.

Running CC-24 was a privilege and a pleasure. I’m looking forward to
CC-25 and beyond.

Sallie

Good info on the Sallie’s e-mail. Some of it answers questions we had. But otherwise, here’s what we made a note of on the way home – the “wart’s and all” version. We will post this in several other places, albeit in altered form. You guys the unfiltered version. 🙂

Hotel

a.. We liked it, except for their inconsistent AC issues, particularly in the function space area -usually freezing.
b.. Elevators were relatively fast, despite one apparently not in service – at least they had a freight elevator for our attendees needing wheelchair access
c.. The Staff was very friendly, attentive and quick with towel requests for our room
d.. Interestingly, every room in the hotel seemed to have a different layout. The extra closets in the suite we had was a very nice surprise.
e.. While a nice hotel, we’ve never been in favor of downtown hotels because many retail businesses are not open – especially over a Memorial Day weekend.
f.. Very nice facilities, including treadmills, a lap pool, hot tub and a sauna(!)

Registration

a.. This appeared to be well-organized and quick. We appreciated the fact that they had pre-reg packets ready to pick up on Thursday evening.

Doll Show competition

a.. According to those who entered this event, it was very disorganized.
b.. There were no signs identifying what the dolls entries were
c.. The judges were trying to do their job right there in the dealers’ room while the public was walking by, which was distracting.
d.. There was no way for the entrants to give any explanation to the judges about what they did

Costume Exhibits

a.. While costumes from the local area were represented, there did not appear to be any attempts made to recruit from any other region. This is not necessarily bad, but the fact that there were so few pieces, we found Exhibits lacking.

Dealers Room

a.. This was the biggest disappointment – the number of dealers were very few and lacked depth – if you were not interested in jewelry or hats, you were out of luck.

Friday Night Social

a.. Everybody seemed to have a good time, and almost everyone made an attempt to wear a theme-appropriate costume.
b.. Some didn’t like the announced entrance through the curtains, but if you were clueless, you could avoid it by going through a different set of doors.
c.. If the intention was for the music background to add to the Film theme, it didn’t succeed very well. As far as we know most of the selections were not from soundtracks. Also, the selections didn’t build momentum in the party, going from one danceable, then grinding to a halt with some orchestral piece immediately after.
d.. The social featured a pretty nice spread for hors d’ oeuvres, but we would have liked to see some sort of protein beyond the fruits, vegetables and sweets (which were pretty tasty, nonetheless). We understand that there’s the implication of providing a meal that the con staff might want to avoid, but some thinly sliced meats would have been nice, along with something for those who like salty snacks – crackers and pretzels would have been enough.
e.. We were surprised by the presence of the cash bar. This was not a negative, but we did hear complaints of the price of the drinks.

Programming

a.. Possibly due to anticipated low attendance, panel programming seemed limited in scope because of panelist availability.
b.. At least for our part, there were issues with overscheduling of panelists. We realize that the staff were trying to accommodate our schedule, but there were conflicts where our appearances overlapped.
c.. Maybe other attendees liked the format, but we were not fans of the 1 ¼ hour panels.
d.. We were not fans of the lunch break on Saturday, either, but the panelists themselves definitely needed breaks to eat.
e.. That being said, the panels we observed were mostly well attended. There was only one cancellation and one where there was no audience for the panelist.
f.. The roundtable discussions continued to show that they work as a different format from the usual “talking head” panels. We had some great discussions with people we didn’t know and by the end, we knew them better. Good personal stories.
g.. Informative panels included Turkish Ottoman, the Makeup and Hair panel, and Asian-themed clothing.
h.. On a separate note, having the annual meeting of the ICG on Friday morning, before most of the programming began, was a good idea – it allowed more people the opportunity to attend and enjoy the rest of the con.
i.. One thing that irked a few people was a panel that appeared to just be an opportunity for the panelist to promote the products they sold through their business. This probably would have not been an issue if the description of the panel had been up front about it.
j.. Having blown up versions of the con schedule posted on the walls of thehotel was a good thing. We thought having it published in the back of the program book was inconvenient if you didn’t want to carry the program book around.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

SF & F Masquerade

a.. This show had an unusually large number of entries in proportion to the number of convention attendees (more than CC16, among others, which had more people on site). And yet, the number of participants did not outnumber the audience.
b.. There were no unusually long pauses in the show, which was good.
c.. The MC, Pierre Pettinger, had a great inside gag costume, making his entrance as Moses carrying “tablets” with the 32 costuming commandments (do we know what those are?)
d.. We noted that there were one or two cases where a participant should maybe have been encouraged to “compete up” a level to have made it more fair to the rest of the entrants.
e.. As far as flow was concerned, though, there seemed to be too many presentations that ran way over the recommended 60 second time limit. Lip-synching was popular for this year, for some reason. And these were not just Novices doing this.
f.. While there’s no reason they can’t present an award, did anyone else notice the irony of a free membership to the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild – which is no longer a chapter of the ICG?
g.. Speaking of awards, while we didn’t award a Slattern this time, we would have been otherwise guilty of this one – there’s starting to get to be too many silly awards from Guild chapters. Rather than waiting until just before the actual masquerade awards are announced, these need to be done sooner during the judging break.
h.. The biggest transgression – no fan photo run! This is ordinarily a very good way to keep the audience occupied while waiting for the judges to return.
i.. Making things worse, the entrants were encouraged to stay in the Green Room during the judging break. Fortunately, because the break was so long, they eventually trickled out and most were photographed.
j.. We also heard that not enough tech rehearsal time was set aside for the entrants, which caused scheduling problems.
k.. It was nice to have a program of the entries, even if the titles were not on it.

Future Fashion Show

a.. The FFS appeared to be disorganized, with not enough time set aside on Sunday morning to properly rehearse and be judged for the two awards given out.
b.. We liked the fashion runway.
c.. The largish number of entries on stage proved the belief that having a Single Pattern contest does have a subtracting effect on the Fashion Show.
d.. We’re thinking some sort of “tipsheet” or brief orientation before the show would be useful for the models, telling them how and where to walk, stop for photos, and so on.
e.. As has been learned elsewhere, having pre-printed plaques for the statue-style awards does not allow any flexibility for titles in case a winner doesn’t fit a category.
f.. People liked the printed certificates (having them generated pretty quickly after each show didn’t hurt, either).
g.. With a little prodding, there was a photo run for this show.

Historical

a.. Pre-judging ran on time. A very good thing.
b.. While there were only 11 show entries, there wasn’t a bad one in the bunch.
c.. We’re not fans of halftime entertainment. That’s all we’ll say.
d.. Again, no photo run.

Green Room notes

a.. Very nice and spacious
b.. Dedicated bathrooms were appreciated
c.. If the repair table was supposed to be manned, it did not appear to be so during the SF & F masq, and there were many technical-intensive costumes that might have needed assistance.
d.. The standing wire frame cages for hanging costumes on was a great idea and a space saver
e.. Good idea to move the judge’s mnemonic photos to digital
f.. The official photo area was well done, with clear instructions from the photographer and a nice, wide backdrop.
g.. Whether good or bad, there were few snacks in the Green Room to satisfy nervous stomachs.

Con Suite

a.. Kudos to the person in charge of this – it was always well-stocked with snacks and a wide variety of drinks.
b.. We really appreciated the various breakfast items, including the farm-fresh scrambled eggs and pancakes on Sunday morning. The rest of the time, though, the choices of salty items and lack of protein (other than cheese sometimes) was disappointing.
c.. Even if we proved our point about having more meat at the parties, the SLCG has to take the hit for not providing enough St. Louis Toasted Raviolis during the CC25/CC27 shared party. Those disappeared so quickly that many people didn’t’ get a chance to try them. We’ll be sure to double or triple the amount for the CC25 con suite.
d.. Seating in the Con Suite could have been better. People seemed to congregate more in the central section that was right in front of the elevators. We realize they had to work with what they had, though.
e.. We want to single out the runner for the Con Suite supplies was especially good.
f.. Interestingly, running the masquerade videos in a different room did not detract from the parties. In fact, it proved our contention that having the TV in the con suite sucks the conversation right out of the room. As a result, we had some lively discussions with many people all evening. Very refreshing.
g.. Not sure whether it was good or bad, but all sorts of different foods appeared in the con suite at different times of the day all weekend, which either made it annoying that you missed something or was pleasantly surprised.

Final comments

The committee is to be commended for putting on a good CC, overall. The con did not appear to be understaffed. They were efficient, friendly, and very attentive. If there was a problem, they jumped on it and resolved it quickly. Not surprisingly, the tech crew for the 3 shows reflected this.

We had a pretty good time. This bodes well for next year.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Additional notes:

Official photo for the SF&F did not begin until about 7:00pm for the SF&F, due to the photographer having to go find some additional equipment.

Sadly, the popcorn machine in the Con Suite when unused for much of the weekend. With the movie theme of the con, I had expected to see more popcorn.

Michael

I have comments re: the fashion show, but will post them tomorrow
(today) or this weekend – too late to type it all up now.

Sandy

“Those Who Fail To Learn History
Are Doomed to Repeat It;
Those Who Fail To Learn History Correctly —
Why They Are Simply Doomed.

Achemdro’hm
“The Illusion of Historical Fact”
— C.Y. 4971

Andromeda

My comments as FFS director:

First, I apologize for the timing issues. I under-estimated the time
it would take for all entries to walk thru the runway
routine. Fortunately, most of the participants had done this before,
and pretty much knew what to do.

Second, I have learned my lesson – if I’m running a big show (we had
17 designs make it on stage), I can’t be one of them. Especially
wearing shoes I can’t walk in, and an unwieldy hat. The one time
before I ran the FFS, Pierre was more fully available to help, and I
did not participate (mainly because the outfit wasn’t done). This
will not happen if I get the chance to run one again.

Third, disorganization – again tied to being in the show – I was
trying to think so much about getting dressed and such, that I didn’t
fully plot out the steps in the process, and try to anticipate hangups.

Therefore: things I would do differently:
1. Try to have a walk-thru earlier in the weekend, even if it’s in
the rehearsal space (if there is one). If a rehearsal space isn’t
available, then try to walk thru as soon as the stage is
available. Tech is not needed at this point, so possibly the crew
could still be setting lights and sound while we walk thru with just
the MC. I really couldn’t ask people to be present any earlier
Sunday, and if we have the show later, it starts to cause problems
with Historical judging. Better communication beforehand could have
foresaw some of these problems, but again I was scrambling to finish sewing.

2. Do not do my own entry for the show. It takes too much prep time
away from what I need to be doing.

3. There was always planned to be a second run down the stage. I
had not thought to make it a photo run until it had already
started. I should have had the second run go with the first person
going out, then when they moved down the runway, have the second
person come out. That way the photo run would go faster, while still
giving everyone a chance to get photos.

4. I loved the runway setup. I was mistaken however, in thinking
that the entries would walk down the runway and off the end, exiting
thru the audience. I should have looked at that further, and made
sure of the traffic pattern before starting.

5. I needed to better edit the script. What looks like a short bit
of description on paper takes a lot longer to read out loud. The
ones that were slides only, should have just been the title,
designer, and award. I did do a lot of cutting backstage just before
the show, but some of it was still too long.

6. I was really happy the slides worked. We used to do slides for
the FFS, but they were film slides, and became a real PITA to do and
show. I knew this crew could handle a PowerPoint projection, so I
planned for it. This lets everyone see how the 2-D design translated
to the 3-D garment. I hope future shows can continue this.

7. MUCHO MUCHO thanks to the tech crew and especially to Les, who
patiently uploaded all the music for the show from the CD’s I
brought. I had tried to copy just the bits I wanted and burn my own
CD’s, but none of my music software was wanting to work for me just
before we left.

Despite the various difficulties, I still think we had a killer
show. The garments that were made up were fabulous, and I thank
everyone who participated, and bore with me thru the confusion.

Sandy Pettinger
FFS Director

At 02:28 PM 6/1/2006, you wrote:

>I personally really enjoyed the runway layout for the FFS and I also
>appreciated showing the sketches of the designs in the show as well
>as some of the winning designs that weren’t represented in the show.
>I thought these arrangements really allowed the audience to get a
>good look at the designs and to get an appreciation for the folio
>process in general. The layout provided nearly three times the front
>row space as the masquerade stage layout. However, this is just the
>perspective of someone who was watching the show and I’ve no idea how
>this layout worked for the participants of the show. I do know that
>there wasn’t sufficient time for the participants to get a full
>rehearsal on the stage. I don’t know why that was, but even so
>things seemed to go just wonderfully.
>
>Running CC-24 was a privilege and a pleasure. I’m looking forward to
>CC-25 and beyond.
>
>Sallie

“Those Who Fail To Learn History
Are Doomed to Repeat It;
Those Who Fail To Learn History Correctly —
Why They Are Simply Doomed.

Achemdro’hm
“The Illusion of Historical Fact”
— C.Y. 4971

Andromeda

Pierre & Sandy Pettinger wrote:

> 3. There was always planned to be a second run down the stage. I
> had not thought to make it a photo run until it had already
> started. I should have had the second run go with the first person
> going out, then when they moved down the runway, have the second
> person come out. That way the photo run would go faster, while still
> giving everyone a chance to get photos.
>

A wider runway allowing models to pass each other more easily would have
facilitated this. It’s common to have 3-4 models doing the return-pass
sequence simultaneously; since there were 3 good stopping points you
could easily have had 3 models on the runway at a time during the
reprise if the runway allowed.

A good pace is to have the model hit a stopping point (top, mid, or end
of runway), do a 4-count facing one side, turn to face the other side
for a 4 count, and then step off to the next point.

> 4. I loved the runway setup. I was mistaken however, in thinking
> that the entries would walk down the runway and off the end, exiting
> thru the audience. I should have looked at that further, and made
> sure of the traffic pattern before starting.
>

In a classic fashion show, the model always goes to the end of the
runway and then back. I will note to our show director to watch Elsa
Klench videos over and over again in the weeks leading up to the con.
There are few fashion show commentators as solid as she is.

> 5. I needed to better edit the script. What looks like a short bit
> of description on paper takes a lot longer to read out loud. The
> ones that were slides only, should have just been the title,
> designer, and award. I did do a lot of cutting backstage just before
> the show, but some of it was still too long.
>

The full descriptions should be in a program booklet; read narrative is
often “highlights.” Yeah, it’s extra printing costs, but it’s worth it.

andy

Good notes, and all stuff that is easy to change. Thanks. Sandy. Since
Henry is also on this list, I guess there’s no necessity to re-post it to
the CC25 list – not to mention, the majority of us are on the same list! 🙂

Bruce

—– Original Message —–
From: “Pierre & Sandy Pettinger” <costumrs@radiks.net>
To: <runacc@yahoogroups.com>; <ICG-D@yahoogroups.com>;
<cc25committee@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 03, 2006 10:31 PM
Subject: [runacc] Re: Lessons Learned CC-24 – FFS

> My comments as FFS director:
>
> First, I apologize for the timing issues. I under-estimated the time
> it would take for all entries to walk thru the runway
> routine. Fortunately, most of the participants had done this before,
> and pretty much knew what to do.
>
> Second, I have learned my lesson – if I’m running a big show (we had
> 17 designs make it on stage), I can’t be one of them. Especially
> wearing shoes I can’t walk in, and an unwieldy hat. The one time
> before I ran the FFS, Pierre was more fully available to help, and I
> did not participate (mainly because the outfit wasn’t done). This
> will not happen if I get the chance to run one again.
>
> Third, disorganization – again tied to being in the show – I was
> trying to think so much about getting dressed and such, that I didn’t
> fully plot out the steps in the process, and try to anticipate hangups.
>
> Therefore: things I would do differently:
> 1. Try to have a walk-thru earlier in the weekend, even if it’s in
> the rehearsal space (if there is one). If a rehearsal space isn’t
> available, then try to walk thru as soon as the stage is
> available. Tech is not needed at this point, so possibly the crew
> could still be setting lights and sound while we walk thru with just
> the MC. I really couldn’t ask people to be present any earlier
> Sunday, and if we have the show later, it starts to cause problems
> with Historical judging. Better communication beforehand could have
> foresaw some of these problems, but again I was scrambling to finish
> sewing.
>
> 2. Do not do my own entry for the show. It takes too much prep time
> away from what I need to be doing.
>
> 3. There was always planned to be a second run down the stage. I
> had not thought to make it a photo run until it had already
> started. I should have had the second run go with the first person
> going out, then when they moved down the runway, have the second
> person come out. That way the photo run would go faster, while still
> giving everyone a chance to get photos.
>
> 4. I loved the runway setup. I was mistaken however, in thinking
> that the entries would walk down the runway and off the end, exiting
> thru the audience. I should have looked at that further, and made
> sure of the traffic pattern before starting.
>
> 5. I needed to better edit the script. What looks like a short bit
> of description on paper takes a lot longer to read out loud. The
> ones that were slides only, should have just been the title,
> designer, and award. I did do a lot of cutting backstage just before
> the show, but some of it was still too long.
>
> 6. I was really happy the slides worked. We used to do slides for
> the FFS, but they were film slides, and became a real PITA to do and
> show. I knew this crew could handle a PowerPoint projection, so I
> planned for it. This lets everyone see how the 2-D design translated
> to the 3-D garment. I hope future shows can continue this.
>
> 7. MUCHO MUCHO thanks to the tech crew and especially to Les, who
> patiently uploaded all the music for the show from the CD’s I
> brought. I had tried to copy just the bits I wanted and burn my own
> CD’s, but none of my music software was wanting to work for me just
> before we left.
>
> Despite the various difficulties, I still think we had a killer
> show. The garments that were made up were fabulous, and I thank
> everyone who participated, and bore with me thru the confusion.
>
> Sandy Pettinger
> FFS Director
>
> At 02:28 PM 6/1/2006, you wrote:
>>I personally really enjoyed the runway layout for the FFS and I also
>>appreciated showing the sketches of the designs in the show as well
>>as some of the winning designs that weren’t represented in the show.
>>I thought these arrangements really allowed the audience to get a
>>good look at the designs and to get an appreciation for the folio
>>process in general. The layout provided nearly three times the front
>>row space as the masquerade stage layout. However, this is just the
>>perspective of someone who was watching the show and I’ve no idea how
>>this layout worked for the participants of the show. I do know that
>>there wasn’t sufficient time for the participants to get a full
>>rehearsal on the stage. I don’t know why that was, but even so
>>things seemed to go just wonderfully.
>>
>>Running CC-24 was a privilege and a pleasure. I’m looking forward to
>>CC-25 and beyond.
>>
>>Sallie
>
> “Those Who Fail To Learn History
> Are Doomed to Repeat It;
> Those Who Fail To Learn History Correctly —
> Why They Are Simply Doomed.
>
> Achemdro’hm
> “The Illusion of Historical Fact”
> — C.Y. 4971
>
> Andromeda
>
>
>
>
>
> View the Document: http://www.Costume-Con.org/procedure/runacc/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

Full descriptions WERE printed.
In the folio.
there’s no need to have extra expense by printing them again.
I saw plenty of people bring their folios to the show, as I always have seen in other years.
Ricky

The full descriptions should be in a program booklet; read narrative is
often “highlights.” Yeah, it’s extra printing costs, but it’s worth it.

andy

View the Document: http://www.Costume-Con.org/procedure/runacc/

SPONSORED LINKS Performing arts camp Center for the performing arts Performing arts center

——————————————————————————
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS

a.. Visit your group “runacc” on the web.

b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
runacc-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

——————————————————————————

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

In a message dated 6/4/2006 8:25:48 AM Central Standard Time,
casamai@sbcglobal.net writes:

> Since
> Henry is also on this list, I guess there’s no necessity to re-post it to
> the CC25 list – not to mention, the majority of us are on the same list! 🙂

I’m on this list? Since when? ;P

Actually, I have been reading all the comments and saving the e-mails for
future review!

Henry

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I’d suggest having something like my Stage Movement panel early in the
weekend with a *very strong suggestion* that FFS models attend, and make
sure the workshop facilitator knows you want a little catwalk practice
as part of the panel.

That workshop is actually easier to do with more bodies, because the
embarassment factor at standing up and being goofy goes down
dramatically when there is a roomful of other beginners doing it with you.

Pierre & Sandy Pettinger wrote:

>1. Try to have a walk-thru earlier in the weekend, even if it’s in
>the rehearsal space (if there is one). If a rehearsal space isn’t
>available, then try to walk thru as soon as the stage is
>available. Tech is not needed at this point, so possibly the crew
>could still be setting lights and sound while we walk thru with just
>the MC. I really couldn’t ask people to be present any earlier
>Sunday, and if we have the show later, it starts to cause problems
>with Historical judging. Better communication beforehand could have
>foresaw some of these problems, but again I was scrambling to finish sewing.
>
>

As the hypoglycemic and hypothermic model at CC24, I’d suggest having
the awards announced between the narrated runway walk and the photo
walk. It would have made the morning much healthier for me!

>3. There was always planned to be a second run down the stage. I
>had not thought to make it a photo run until it had already
>started. I should have had the second run go with the first person
>going out, then when they moved down the runway, have the second
>person come out. That way the photo run would go faster, while still
>giving everyone a chance to get photos.
>
>
>
>

Kevin

Make a note, Fiona…..

Bruce

—– Original Message —–
From: “Kevin Roche” <kevin@twistedimage.com>
To: <runacc@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 10:25 AM
Subject: Re: [runacc] Re: Lessons Learned CC-24 – FFS

I’d suggest having something like my Stage Movement panel early in the
weekend with a *very strong suggestion* that FFS models attend, and make
sure the workshop facilitator knows you want a little catwalk practice
as part of the panel.

That workshop is actually easier to do with more bodies, because the
embarassment factor at standing up and being goofy goes down
dramatically when there is a roomful of other beginners doing it with you.

Pierre & Sandy Pettinger wrote:

>1. Try to have a walk-thru earlier in the weekend, even if it’s in
>the rehearsal space (if there is one). If a rehearsal space isn’t
>available, then try to walk thru as soon as the stage is
>available. Tech is not needed at this point, so possibly the crew
>could still be setting lights and sound while we walk thru with just
>the MC. I really couldn’t ask people to be present any earlier
>Sunday, and if we have the show later, it starts to cause problems
>with Historical judging. Better communication beforehand could have
>foresaw some of these problems, but again I was scrambling to finish
>sewing.
>
>
As the hypoglycemic and hypothermic model at CC24, I’d suggest having
the awards announced between the narrated runway walk and the photo
walk. It would have made the morning much healthier for me!

>3. There was always planned to be a second run down the stage. I
>had not thought to make it a photo run until it had already
>started. I should have had the second run go with the first person
>going out, then when they moved down the runway, have the second
>person come out. That way the photo run would go faster, while still
>giving everyone a chance to get photos.
>
>
>
>
Kevin

View the Document: http://www.Costume-Con.org/procedure/runacc/
Yahoo! Groups Links

I think this was done at CC24, but I think from now on forward, we need to
add a “put your cell phone on vibrate and leave the room” announcement along
with no flash phtography during the masquerade.

Also, people need to leave a panel room if they get a call, rather than take
it in the back.

Bruce

A policy will not do any good, unless there are consequences for violating it. People who do not silence their phones or take calls in meetings will exhibit the same behavior no matter where they are. They’re probably also the same people who will carry on a separate conversation during a panel.

Announcing it before the Masquerades start and before every panel will help to remind people to turn their phones off, but will not completely stop the behaviour.

Michael

> ——-Original Message——-
> From: Bruce & Nora Mai <casamai@sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: [runacc] Cell Phone policy
> Sent: 10 Jun ’06 20:42
>
> I think this was done at CC24, but I think from now on forward, we need to
>
> add a “put your cell phone on vibrate and leave the room” announcement
> along
> with no flash phtography during the masquerade.
>
> Also, people need to leave a panel room if they get a call, rather than
> take
> it in the back.
>
> Bruce
>
>

FWIIW –
When people ignored the “No Flash Photography” request at Balticon, the
following year we had a plant in the audience who fired a flash at me
right after I made the request, and two very large security people ran
over, grabbed him, grabbed his camera, pulled out the film (it was that
long ago) stamped the camera into pieces and dragged the miscreant out
of the hall. We never had the flash problem at a Balticon again, and
I’m sure that there are still some people who didn’t know that the guy
was a plant. I suspect that you could do the same thing with a cell
phone abuser.

Marty

bruno wrote:

>
> A policy will not do any good, unless there are consequences for
> violating it. People who do not silence their phones or take calls in
> meetings will exhibit the same behavior no matter where they are.
> They’re probably also the same people who will carry on a separate
> conversation during a panel.
>
> Announcing it before the Masquerades start and before every panel will
> help to remind people to turn their phones off, but will not
> completely stop the behaviour.
>
> Michael
>
> > ——-Original Message——-
> > From: Bruce & Nora Mai <casamai@sbcglobal.net
> <mailto:casamai%40sbcglobal.net>>
> > Subject: [runacc] Cell Phone policy
> > Sent: 10 Jun ’06 20:42
> >
> > I think this was done at CC24, but I think from now on forward, we
> need to
> >
> > add a “put your cell phone on vibrate and leave the room” announcement
> > along
> > with no flash phtography during the masquerade.
> >
> > Also, people need to leave a panel room if they get a call, rather than
> > take
> > it in the back.
> >
> > Bruce
> >
> >
>
>

In a message dated 6/11/2006 2:38:40 AM Central Standard Time,
MartinGear@comcast.net writes:

> FWIIW –
> When people ignored the “No Flash Photography” request at Balticon, the
> following year we had a plant in the audience who fired a flash at me
> right after I made the request, and two very large security people ran
> over, grabbed him, grabbed his camera, pulled out the film (it was that
> long ago) stamped the camera into pieces and dragged the miscreant out
> of the hall. We never had the flash problem at a Balticon again, and
> I’m sure that there are still some people who didn’t know that the guy
> was a plant. I suspect that you could do the same thing with a cell
> phone abuser.
>

I’ll volunteer to be the rube on that gag!
Henry

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

It wouldn’t work, Henry. You don’t look stupid enough.

Tina
___

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

An interesting idea. I agree, there have to be consequences. We may need to revive that little play for CC25, then. OUr security guy would probably get a kick out of that.

Cell phones are considered more “vital” than cameras, but it’s worth a shot.

Bruce

—– Original Message —–
From: Martin Gear
To: runacc@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2006 1:33 AM
Subject: Re: [runacc] Cell Phone policy

FWIIW –
When people ignored the “No Flash Photography” request at Balticon, the
following year we had a plant in the audience who fired a flash at me
right after I made the request, and two very large security people ran
over, grabbed him, grabbed his camera, pulled out the film (it was that
long ago) stamped the camera into pieces and dragged the miscreant out
of the hall. We never had the flash problem at a Balticon again, and
I’m sure that there are still some people who didn’t know that the guy
was a plant. I suspect that you could do the same thing with a cell
phone abuser.

Marty

bruno wrote:
>
> A policy will not do any good, unless there are consequences for
> violating it. People who do not silence their phones or take calls in
> meetings will exhibit the same behavior no matter where they are.
> They’re probably also the same people who will carry on a separate
> conversation during a panel.
>
> Announcing it before the Masquerades start and before every panel will
> help to remind people to turn their phones off, but will not
> completely stop the behaviour.
>
> Michael
>
> > ——-Original Message——-
> > From: Bruce & Nora Mai <casamai@sbcglobal.net
> <mailto:casamai%40sbcglobal.net>>
> > Subject: [runacc] Cell Phone policy
> > Sent: 10 Jun ’06 20:42
> >
> > I think this was done at CC24, but I think from now on forward, we
> need to
> >
> > add a “put your cell phone on vibrate and leave the room” announcement
> > along
> > with no flash phtography during the masquerade.
> >
> > Also, people need to leave a panel room if they get a call, rather than
> > take
> > it in the back.
> >
> > Bruce
> >
> >
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Consequences? I can guarantee consequences considering my personal feelings about idiots with cell-phones. Just give me permission.

Nora

—– Original Message —–
From: bruno
To: runacc@yahoogroups.com

A policy will not do any good, unless there are consequences for violating it. People who do not silence their phones or take calls in meetings will exhibit the same behavior no matter where they are. They’re probably also the same people who will carry on a separate conversation during a panel.

Announcing it before the Masquerades start and before every panel will help to remind people to turn their phones off, but will not completely stop the behaviour.

Michael

> ——-Original Message——-
> From: Bruce & Nora Mai <casamai@sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: [runacc] Cell Phone policy
> Sent: 10 Jun ’06 20:42
>
> I think this was done at CC24, but I think from now on forward, we need to
>
> add a “put your cell phone on vibrate and leave the room” announcement
> along
> with no flash phtography during the masquerade.
>
> Also, people need to leave a panel room if they get a call, rather than
> take
> it in the back.
>
> Bruce
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello!

I just looked in the box of stuff from CC21. I still have 23 Future Fashion
Folios. Would anyone like one? I believe the archives have copies.

Henry

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

At Conalulu (Hawaii Westercon), I had John Hertz read a list of don’t.

I deliberately made it very long to be funny.

John got past the important ones (no flash, pagers & cell phones off)
and read a few of the more esoteric/silly ones. He stopped reading
aloud and mimed looking at very long list.

He then looked up at the audience and said “Be nice to each other.”

No flashes, no beeping. 😉

on the flip side.

1995, Intersection, they STOPPED the show when the first flash went off.
Then threatened to stop the show again and keep it stopped till the
offender left or was removed the hall.

JohnO

Bruce & Nora Mai wrote:

>
>
> I think this was done at CC24, but I think from now on forward, we need to
> add a “put your cell phone on vibrate and leave the room” announcement
> along
> with no flash phtography during the masquerade.
>
> Also, people need to leave a panel room if they get a call, rather than
> take
> it in the back.
>
> Bruce
>
>

As all of you know, my co-Service Mark Holder for Costume-Con, Kelly Turner, died last year.

Kelly’s estate has assigned me his portion of the Costume-Con Service Mark, and this transfer was officially recorded with the USPTO in April 2006 and is now searchable in their database.

Official information:

Recordation date: 4/17/06
Reel/frame: 003328 / 0020
Brief: Assignment of an undivided part of assignor’s interest
Assignor: Tague, Rosetta E., executrix for Turner, Kelly F.
Assignee: Dick, Karen L.

So, effective immediately, I am the ONLY name that should be on any statements regarding the CC Service Mark, and you should update your web sites, flyers, and other publications accordingly (i.e., no more references to “Kelly Turner” or “estate of Kelly Turner”).

Betsy, please update the ConStitution.

I am going to go fix the front page of the Costume-Con.com web site right after I post this.

I’m sorry that this unfortunate situation is creating more work for everyone. Please bear with me during this time of transition.

–Karen

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

CC25 site done, as requested.

Nora

—– Original Message —–
From: “Ricky & Karen Dick” <castleb@atlanticbb.net>
To: <runacc@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 12:00 PM
Subject: [runacc] Costume-Con Service Mark Update

> As all of you know, my co-Service Mark Holder for Costume-Con, Kelly
> Turner, died last year.
>
> Kelly’s estate has assigned me his portion of the Costume-Con Service
> Mark, and this transfer was officially recorded with the USPTO in April
> 2006 and is now searchable in their database.
>
> Official information:
>
> Recordation date: 4/17/06
> Reel/frame: 003328 / 0020
> Brief: Assignment of an undivided part of assignor’s interest
> Assignor: Tague, Rosetta E., executrix for Turner, Kelly F.
> Assignee: Dick, Karen L.
>
> So, effective immediately, I am the ONLY name that should be on any
> statements regarding the CC Service Mark, and you should update your web
> sites, flyers, and other publications accordingly (i.e., no more
> references to “Kelly Turner” or “estate of Kelly Turner”).
>
> Betsy, please update the ConStitution.
>
> I am going to go fix the front page of the Costume-Con.com web site right
> after I post this.
>
> I’m sorry that this unfortunate situation is creating more work for
> everyone. Please bear with me during this time of transition.
>
> –Karen
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> View the Document: http://www.Costume-Con.org/procedure/runacc/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Karen,
I will have my website updated as soon as possible.
Henry

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

So a convention bid that will remain nameless (but just won their
site selection) was raising some suspicions with me. I read a bunch
of fanzines and checked out a bunch of club websites in their
hometown to see what the general feel for the bid in the area was,
and found nothing.

“Finding nothing” is the point.

I noticed that none of the club websites had links to the bid. I also
realized that there aren’t that many links for our CC26 website
outside of the other CC websites.

So I started thinking “Link Exchange.”

We’ve got to get our link engine up and running (it’s not yet, and it
will be a few weeks), but I’ve already been working on link button
and banner designs. I’ve gone with the industry-standard sizes of
468×60 and 120×60 (not that I’m planning to plug these into
commercial link exchange networks).

<http://bovil.livejournal.com/177121.html>

I’m going to suggest that y’all come up with link graphics in these
standard sizes (including Costume-Con.org and Costume-Con.com) to
make it easier for us to bank links together on our sites, and also
to give link images out to other clubs, costume groups and costume
website folks.

We’ve got a ton of costume groups and clubs in California who may be
interested in cross-linking. I’m sure you’ve got some in your
backyard too.

—
andy trembley, Bitchy Design Queen – http://www.bovil.com/
San Jose, CA – ’72 R75/5 ’86 R100 (mine) – ’92 K75sa ’03 R1150R
(Kevin’s)
“It’s not pink, it’s peach-colored. Pink is tacky.”
–Manfred Pfirsich Marie Rommel

read the FAQ… Ridicule: http://www.idiots-r-us.org/
read the FAQ… IBMWR: http://www.ibmwr.org/faq-files/
read the FAQ… AirList: http://www.airheads.org/faq.html
read the FAQ… Hoaxes & Urban Legends: http://urbanlegends.about.com/

—
andy trembley, Bitchy Design Queen – http://www.bovil.com/
San Jose, CA – ’72 R75/5 ’86 R100 (mine) – ’92 K75sa ’03 R1150R
(Kevin’s)
…remaining .sig trimmed for better message/.sig ratio

We’ve got links to both CC26 & 27 on the CC25 site. And we’ve got links to
some older sites that are still in existance.
And we’d be happy to link to any current bids that have a web presence.

Nora

—– Original Message —–
From: “Andrew T Trembley” <attrembl@bovil.com>
To: <runacc@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 6:03 PM
Subject: [runacc] Linkage…

> So a convention bid that will remain nameless (but just won their
> site selection) was raising some suspicions with me. I read a bunch
> of fanzines and checked out a bunch of club websites in their
> hometown to see what the general feel for the bid in the area was,
> and found nothing.
>
> “Finding nothing” is the point.
>
> I noticed that none of the club websites had links to the bid. I also
> realized that there aren’t that many links for our CC26 website
> outside of the other CC websites.
>
> So I started thinking “Link Exchange.”
>
> We’ve got to get our link engine up and running (it’s not yet, and it
> will be a few weeks), but I’ve already been working on link button
> and banner designs. I’ve gone with the industry-standard sizes of
> 468×60 and 120×60 (not that I’m planning to plug these into
> commercial link exchange networks).
>
> <http://bovil.livejournal.com/177121.html>
>
> I’m going to suggest that y’all come up with link graphics in these
> standard sizes (including Costume-Con.org and Costume-Con.com) to
> make it easier for us to bank links together on our sites, and also
> to give link images out to other clubs, costume groups and costume
> website folks.
>
> We’ve got a ton of costume groups and clubs in California who may be
> interested in cross-linking. I’m sure you’ve got some in your
> backyard too.
>
> —
> andy trembley, Bitchy Design Queen – http://www.bovil.com/
> San Jose, CA – ’72 R75/5 ’86 R100 (mine) – ’92 K75sa ’03 R1150R
> (Kevin’s)
> “It’s not pink, it’s peach-colored. Pink is tacky.”
> –Manfred Pfirsich Marie Rommel
>
> read the FAQ… Ridicule: http://www.idiots-r-us.org/
> read the FAQ… IBMWR: http://www.ibmwr.org/faq-files/
> read the FAQ… AirList: http://www.airheads.org/faq.html
> read the FAQ… Hoaxes & Urban Legends: http://urbanlegends.about.com/
>
> —
> andy trembley, Bitchy Design Queen – http://www.bovil.com/
> San Jose, CA – ’72 R75/5 ’86 R100 (mine) – ’92 K75sa ’03 R1150R
> (Kevin’s)
> …remaining .sig trimmed for better message/.sig ratio
>
>
>
> View the Document: http://www.Costume-Con.org/procedure/runacc/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

I have my person working on links on my bid site.
Henry

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Please forgive me if this has been covered on the ICG board.
I’ve seen all the talk about memberships being given away.
Here’s my thoughts.
They come from the years of doing events that have tickets/memberships

Give away a bunch!

The pr from the giveaways at other cons is great.

One thing to remember tho, make all gift memberships NON TRANSFERABLE. you want to reward the person who won it.
NOT create a secondery market on the ICG list for re-sales like happens so often on worldcon memberships.
people on the list or elsewhere who would buy these second hand, WANT to come to the con and will pay to do it, and you the committee need thier money.

If your gift memberships don’t get used, who cares, you got the pr out of them anyway.

Always be willing to give memberships to people who you are sure , 100% sure wouldn’t be coming.
I don’t mean every broke starving fan who would like another con hallway to sleep in for a weekend.

I mean , business’s in your area, teachers, ect…

also, use memberships for barter.

trade out a membership for cubes of soda for the con sweet, or stationery supplies , or whatever.
sponsoring out a CC is the way to make up for the less than 500 people we’ve been seeing of late.

That’s how we’ll be doing CC-27 for sure.
If you have comittee people signed on for this type of stuff, please have them contact me, and I’ll be glad to send them some info on how this all can work.

We have written a book on doing this for haunts, and I lecture on it around the country quite a lot.

many of the things can be adapted to cons.
Just as the reverse can happen.
a haunt trade show we did in columbus Ohio last week, used Marty’s CC contract disk to get a better deal from thier hotel.

Ricky

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I think we will have given away some dozen or more by CC25. We also have a
page for pics of the winners: www.cc25.net/memberhsip_winners.htm.

Bruce

—– Original Message —–
From: “Ricky & Karen Dick” <castleb@atlanticbb.net>
To: <runacc@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2006 12:15 PM
Subject: [runacc] Talking about CC memberships

> Please forgive me if this has been covered on the ICG board.
> I’ve seen all the talk about memberships being given away.
> Here’s my thoughts.
> They come from the years of doing events that have tickets/memberships
>
> Give away a bunch!
>
> The pr from the giveaways at other cons is great.
>
> One thing to remember tho, make all gift memberships NON TRANSFERABLE. you
> want to reward the person who won it.
> NOT create a secondery market on the ICG list for re-sales like happens so
> often on worldcon memberships.
> people on the list or elsewhere who would buy these second hand, WANT to
> come to the con and will pay to do it, and you the committee need thier
> money.
>
> If your gift memberships don’t get used, who cares, you got the pr out of
> them anyway.
>
> Always be willing to give memberships to people who you are sure , 100%
> sure wouldn’t be coming.
> I don’t mean every broke starving fan who would like another con hallway
> to sleep in for a weekend.
>
> I mean , business’s in your area, teachers, ect…
>
> also, use memberships for barter.
>
> trade out a membership for cubes of soda for the con sweet, or stationery
> supplies , or whatever.
> sponsoring out a CC is the way to make up for the less than 500 people
> we’ve been seeing of late.
>
> That’s how we’ll be doing CC-27 for sure.
> If you have comittee people signed on for this type of stuff, please have
> them contact me, and I’ll be glad to send them some info on how this all
> can work.
>
> We have written a book on doing this for haunts, and I lecture on it
> around the country quite a lot.
>
> many of the things can be adapted to cons.
> Just as the reverse can happen.
> a haunt trade show we did in columbus Ohio last week, used Marty’s CC
> contract disk to get a better deal from thier hotel.
>
> Ricky
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> View the Document: http://www.Costume-Con.org/procedure/runacc/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

Richard wrote:

> Wow! Definitely YMMV. Anime Expo has ~33,000 this years, and I think again
> at most half are pre-reg’!

It doesn’t cap. Anime Los Angeles may sell out in advance this year;
they’ve capped at 1600 members and people know it. A membership cap
drives sales. It does for capped anime conventions, and it does for
Costume College. Not something that applies to Costume-con at its
current size, really.

Having talked to the Fanime (5000+ person anime convention in SJ, for
those of you who don’t know) people at Bay Area ConStruction this year,
I got a lot of useful information about their marketing and sales
strategies.

Fanime does set monthly pre-registration sales goals, usually focused
around conventions at which they promote. It’s very important in their
budgeting process, and ensures they have the needed cash flow to operate
the convention.

Fanime does nearly no paper pre-registration. They have advertising
fliers, and send people to their website for online registration with
online payment. If you want to sell to anime-congoers, you must have
online registration and payment.

Fanime makes no effort to actually sell memberships at other
conventions. Their at-convention marketing efforts are purely aimed at
building recognition of their convention and building goodwill towards
their convention. They don’t print registration forms on the backs of
their fliers or put registration forms at their fan table or on the
freebie table. Their rationale is that people go to other anime
conventions to spend their money in the dealers room and on food and
drink, and that they don’t want to have to decide between instant
gratification (buying stuff and eating) and delayed gratification
(spending con budget money on a preregistration).

So how do they make their reg goals? They instead provide advertising
fliers with an online coupon code that’s good for up to a month after
the convention. Prospective members will buy a membership once they get
home (fresh budget, no dealers room), and the coupon-code encourages
them to do it soon. This has been very successful for Fanime.

andy

Is anyone still printing them, since we’re supposedly cross-promotinng so
that our numbers will eventually grow?

Also, does CC28 have flyers going to DC?

Bruce

Bruce & Nora Mai wrote:

> Is anyone still printing them, since we’re supposedly cross-promotinng so
> that our numbers will eventually grow?

Mine are on hold at the moment; we’re close to signing the hotel
contract, so I don’t want to flood the circuit with “Hotel TBA” fliers
and I definitely don’t want to flood the circuit with “Hotel X” and (for
some reason) on the chance the agreement falls through before signing.

andy

Do people think it would help if we posted our individual flyers in the Files
section of Yahoo for this group?

Henry

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

If Dave is still on this list, I’d be curious to know how many walkin
registrations he got for CC23, and what percentage that represented.

BTB, I received an offlist e-mail from Scott Corwin – Sheila Lenkman’s
husband – who is becoming more involved with the administration of Archon.
Accroding to him, he is also starting to see a slow down of pre-regs over
where they were this time last year (the con is on the first weekend of
October). They were also down last year, but they made up for it in
walk-ins. The NASFIC for next year – also here in St. Louis – is
experiencing a similar trend. Given how prices will be much higher at the
door for that event, I wonder if they’ll have a similar number of walk-ins.

Word is that perhaps attendance may not be much greater than a normal
healthy Archon – maybe 2500? That’s pretty small for a NASFIC, is it not?

I believe that after CC25, there will be much to discuss about the current
business model we’ve been following for years. I think CC26 will be fine –
being in California and Kevin and Andy’s constant promotion will no doubt
make the con successful. But I wonder what will happen in the future?

Bruce

Bruce

Bruce & Nora Mai wrote:

> BTB, I received an offlist e-mail from Scott Corwin – Sheila Lenkman’s
> husband – who is becoming more involved with the administration of Archon.
> Accroding to him, he is also starting to see a slow down of pre-regs over
> where they were this time last year (the con is on the first weekend of
> October). They were also down last year, but they made up for it in
> walk-ins. The NASFIC for next year – also here in St. Louis – is
> experiencing a similar trend. Given how prices will be much higher at the
> door for that event, I wonder if they’ll have a similar number of walk-ins.
>
> Word is that perhaps attendance may not be much greater than a normal
> healthy Archon – maybe 2500? That’s pretty small for a NASFIC, is it not?
>

NASFiC is a strange beast, kind of the ugly stepchild of WorldCon. It’s
got a draw, but not that great of a draw. The traveling convention core
constituents will go, but that’s only a fraction of the Worldcon core
constituency. A significant number of people who say “I can’t go to
Yokahama” will also say “St. Louis isn’t Worldcon” and not go there
either. NASFiC also won’t get the “Oh, wow! WorldCon is nearby” reaction
from fans who aren’t regular attendees of the local and regional
conventions. If Scott is talking about an estimated 400-600 person bump
in Archon/NASFiC attendance next year, that’s a healthy guess based on
my knowledge of the different groups of Worldcon attendees.

If Archon gets 2500 people, it’s going to be much larger than last
NASFiC in Seattle. I could get you hard numbers there if you would like.
I was at the Anaheim NASFiC, and unfortunately I don’t have a really
good feel for how big it was; we flew in Friday after work and flew home
Sunday afternoon (I had just moved, new job, no vacation yet). It was
kind of a blitz.

andy

Yes, that might be helpful. Thanks for the info – I think that gives a
better, if disappointing, view of what to expect. Normally, Archon averages
around 2200 or more, and has been growing, but I suspect that the higher
cost of a NASFIC will keep a good number of younger people away who normally
can afford the $40 – $45 or so for a regular Archon.

Bruce

—– Original Message —–
From: “Andrew Trembley” <attrembl@bovil.com>
To: <runacc@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2006 11:10 PM
Subject: Re: [runacc] More registration behavior info

> Bruce & Nora Mai wrote:
>> BTB, I received an offlist e-mail from Scott Corwin – Sheila Lenkman’s
>> husband – who is becoming more involved with the administration of
>> Archon.
>> Accroding to him, he is also starting to see a slow down of pre-regs over
>> where they were this time last year (the con is on the first weekend of
>> October). They were also down last year, but they made up for it in
>> walk-ins. The NASFIC for next year – also here in St. Louis – is
>> experiencing a similar trend. Given how prices will be much higher at
>> the
>> door for that event, I wonder if they’ll have a similar number of
>> walk-ins.
>>
>> Word is that perhaps attendance may not be much greater than a normal
>> healthy Archon – maybe 2500? That’s pretty small for a NASFIC, is it
>> not?
>>
>
> NASFiC is a strange beast, kind of the ugly stepchild of WorldCon. It’s
> got a draw, but not that great of a draw. The traveling convention core
> constituents will go, but that’s only a fraction of the Worldcon core
> constituency. A significant number of people who say “I can’t go to
> Yokahama” will also say “St. Louis isn’t Worldcon” and not go there
> either. NASFiC also won’t get the “Oh, wow! WorldCon is nearby” reaction
> from fans who aren’t regular attendees of the local and regional
> conventions. If Scott is talking about an estimated 400-600 person bump
> in Archon/NASFiC attendance next year, that’s a healthy guess based on
> my knowledge of the different groups of Worldcon attendees.
>
> If Archon gets 2500 people, it’s going to be much larger than last
> NASFiC in Seattle. I could get you hard numbers there if you would like.
> I was at the Anaheim NASFiC, and unfortunately I don’t have a really
> good feel for how big it was; we flew in Friday after work and flew home
> Sunday afternoon (I had just moved, new job, no vacation yet). It was
> kind of a blitz.
>
> andy
>
>
> View the Document: http://www.Costume-Con.org/procedure/runacc/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Judging was last weekend so we thought we’d post a few numbers here.

The Folio will have a total of 100 designs from 30 designers.
17 of those designers are NEW!!!!!

6 designers are from outside the United States.
11 designers submitted their designs via email.

More details to follow as we crunch more numbers,

Nora, Karen & Steve

Hi, all!

This is a reminder, since I’m deep in the archives right now. Artsy
photography is all well and good, but when an official photographer
selects the up-close image rather than the complete costume, that’s a
problem for the archives.

CC8 and CC21 in particular suffered from artsy portrait photos at the
cost of a complete image. And worse, the images needed to be extracted
from the completely unhelpful “scrapbook” format selected by the
official photog for display of CC21’s images. (Extraction, by the way,
that I couldn’t do myself – if Judy Mitchell’s husband hadn’t done the
work for her, I’d still be scanning the images I purchased instead of
using the electronic version.)

You need to be sure that the official photog understands that a
selection of the images being taken will be published on the CC site, so
there are no questions or misunderstandings about how the images will be
used.

And on a separate note, regarding the doll contest: I’ve gone to extra
lengths to be sure I had complete info on doll entries since I’ve been
maintaining the site. This task was hampered at CC21 by a contest
director who did not include the names of the dolls in competition on
display. I never got a complete list, and have had to guess which doll
went with which photo. I’m two titles/descriptions short for the photos
I took while I was there. (I have the same problem, in fact, with CC16,
which is why I make the list and take photos of the doll and title at
the same time.)

If you do have an official photographer record the dolls and exhibits,
please express to the photographer the importance not just of the entry
or exhibit but also the NAME of the object!

Yours for less frustration in documenting events!

Betsy

—
—
Betsy Delaney

*************************************************************************
See my resume at: http://www.hawkeswood.com/betsywork.shtml
*************************************************************************

I’m pleased to announce that today I signed the hotel contract for
Costume-Con 26 with the DoubleTree Hotel San Jose, well-known site of
many Bay Area conventions!

Our room rates will be $92 for a standard room, 1-4 people.

Note: Reservations cannot be made in our room block before April 24, 2007

Further details will be posted as we have them!

Kevin Roche
Convention Chair, Costume-Con 26
<www.cc26.info>

Coolness!

And you looked quite snappy in your business suit this evening.

JohnO

Kevin Roche wrote:

> I’m pleased to announce that today I signed the hotel contract for
> Costume-Con 26 with the DoubleTree Hotel San Jose, well-known site of
> many Bay Area conventions!
>
> Our room rates will be $92 for a standard room, 1-4 people.
>
> Note: Reservations cannot be made in our room block before April 24, 2007
>
> Further details will be posted as we have them!

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]