![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I made it home and OMG so much to squee about.
I am putting the rest of this under a cut:
Gwen and I get to the airport early so as not to miss our flight. The traffic to Logan airport sucks with the tunnel closings so we went via rte 16. It was easier than we thought and got there about three hours early. The flight ended up about half an hour late. We got into Vegas about 11:30pm local time, and it took FOREVER to get our bags.
Getting the rental car was easy, but they were out of the class of car we were expecting, so we got a Jeep (a boat of a car!) for about $15 a day. Score! Gwen drives to the JW and we try to get into the room we are staying in for the night. No luck, the girls have gone to bed and are not answering the phone.
We call![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bekkio, even though it is about 1:30am local (4:30am for us) and she lets us crash on her floor. Wilene is still printing stuff, but Audrey and Jenn are in bed. Audrey wakes up when we come in, change and grab a number of pillows to nest on the floor with. Vegas was 100 degrees when we exited the airport near midnight, but we almost froze on Bekki’s floor. Four hours of dozing later, Gwen and I get up, dress and get ready for set-up. I get to see the space for the very first time. The JW Marriott is absolutely *gorgeous*! The meeting space is good, but the packaging is terrific, fancy chandeliers, wall sconces that look like candles, and everywhere there are nooks and crannies with comfy sofas and chairs. I set up the Common Room with the House pillows, blankets and quilts, and get a start on the Great Hall for the Welcome feast that night.
Unfortunately, my hotel room isn’t ready until after 4pm, so I am still feeling gross from the plane and dozing on the floor for most of the day. But I and my able assistants, Gwen, Jenn, Amanda and Krissie (Krissie, whom I couldn’t have finished in time without!) dress the Great Halls in record time – just before the JW staff start setting the tables. I pass by Wizard Chess to see how it is going, and people seem to be having a blast beating on each other with foam pool noodles.
With over 1000 people expected for the feast, that is a *lot* of decorating. I finally check into the hotel and get a shower. No sleep, still, but the shower does wonders for my outlook and I have time before the feast begins to make sure everything looks okay. It is *beautiful* - the JW staff has rolled the napkins to look like candles. They’ve also added little oil lamps to the tables and the effect is truly magical.
Dinner is salad and bread family style and plates of Padfoot Stew. It is wonderful. I sit with a group that includes the husband of one of our special guests. Howard is a delightful dinner companion, and meeting him and his family is one of my favorite memories. His wife is Emily Drake, writer of the Magicker’s series.
Cleanup after dinner goes quickly and I think I get to bed before midnight, but I can’t be sure. I pass by the Draco and the Malfoys/Harry and the Potters concert, but it is too loud and I was too tired to truly enjoy it. The hotel has also picked out specialty drink recipes submitted by some of our attendees, and the bars and pub served them throughout the weekend. I tried the Avada Colada (okay, but too minty for me) and the Butterbeer – by far my favorite. Cream soda, butter schnapps, whipped cream and cherry- yum! I didn’t get a chance to try any of the others (Liquid Lion, the Hufflepuff, the Luna Eclipse, Morsmordre Margarita, or the Pansy Parkinson Frilly Pink Martini). So at every informal event there was a cash bar set up for people to get drinks. I believe the concert bar did very well, as the number of people sporting the special glowing stick stirrers grew by the hour.
Up the next morning at about 5am so I can dress the programming rooms. Being on Senior Staff is long hours – but you get to know some of the best people.
Friday programming included Water Quidditch – I saw about fifteen minutes of the match between the Sirens and the Threshers, before the sun and the heat forced me back inside (114 in the shade!). Dr. Tom Morris is a dynamic speaker and I saw about twenty minutes of his presentation before I had to leave to make sure the great hall was set for the keynote lunch.
I did not attend the keynote panel, but sat instead at the registration table and sold things to people for a while. At 1:30 Wilene and I went to the pub for lunch and I was back *just* in time for Gwen’s roundtable at 2pm. I thought it went very well.
At three I went to the presentation/roundtable on crossover fanfiction. It is only a half hour, so I spend the next half hour in the vendor room before going to Heidi and Seren’s roundtable on “The Message and the Medium” about personal fandom history and how the internet and the Web have changed what being part of fandom is all about.
After that is the poster session and Water Quidditch finals, and the beginning of the double feature of the first two movies. I go to the poster session, and I found it very interesting. I have a long talk with the girl who has the poster on myths and hero’s journeys and how the relate to HP. Not really original to me, since Gwen and I have had discussions about this before, but she was interesting to talk to. The woman with the Nicholas Flamel poster cracked me up. All about the proof he is living or dead, pros and cons for each belief and she was taking a poll in relation to what we believed after reading her fairly neutral perspective on each pov.
I go to dinner with Gwen, half the HPEF board of directors and two of our special guests (Dr. David Baggett and Dr. Edmund Kern). Then I cruise through Night Classes to see how they are going (wow, looks like they are going well, and everyone is having a marvelous time!). In bed by midnight and can sleep in until 6:30am the next day. Saturday I get up at 6:15, because I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. A quick shower and decision to wear jeans, despite the heat, and I am in time for the morning staff meeting.
Saturday programming goes as well as Friday’s. Informal programming today includes the Strip Trip (or Hogsmeade night out on the Vegas Strip), the live podcast dual teamup of the Leakey Cauldron and Mugglenet, and the double feature of the second two movies.
Personally, I despised the podcast project. They were in the way and unruly and a big fat pain in the mikta. I found the whole group of the organizers rude, unprofessional, and highly annoying. This is my own personal opinion, though and I know they have their place in fandom as well. But I do not frequent their sites because I know of, and have had dealings with, their leaders before, and this weekend’s experience did nothing to make me revise my opinion.
On the other hand, I found the HPANA guy friendly, professional, and highly intelligent. So for my HP news, HPANA will be my site of preference. Sorry, HPANA guy, I don’t remember your name.
Too tired to do more than poke my head into the double feature to the loud and jovial group yelling at the screen and saying all the lines together, I trundle off to bed knowing I have an early morning to dress the great halls for the leaving feast. The double feature went to 3am, and the JW staff finish changing the linens in the great hall at 5:30am when I went in with the table runners.eibbil_libbie recruited some help, and by six-ish I and five others are feverishly working to make sure our stuff gets down on the tables before the JW staff set them at 7:15am. Libbie, for this alone, I adore you, but for *everything* you did this weekend as Auror, I buy you a virtual butterbeer.
Then it’s auction time – I bid on a couple of silent auction items. So did Gwen and she won art! The big ticket item is the signed script. Then the post mortem and cleanup and pack. No sleep on the plane home, it is the red-eye and uncomfortable. We land as the sun comes up on Monday morning, I drive Gwen home and then myself. Over 24 hours since I woke up Sunday morning, I finally fall into bed.
It was intense and long, but at the same time too short. For all my Lumos buds, see you at Prophecy!
I am putting the rest of this under a cut:
Gwen and I get to the airport early so as not to miss our flight. The traffic to Logan airport sucks with the tunnel closings so we went via rte 16. It was easier than we thought and got there about three hours early. The flight ended up about half an hour late. We got into Vegas about 11:30pm local time, and it took FOREVER to get our bags.
Getting the rental car was easy, but they were out of the class of car we were expecting, so we got a Jeep (a boat of a car!) for about $15 a day. Score! Gwen drives to the JW and we try to get into the room we are staying in for the night. No luck, the girls have gone to bed and are not answering the phone.
We call
bekkio, even though it is about 1:30am local (4:30am for us) and she lets us crash on her floor. Wilene is still printing stuff, but Audrey and Jenn are in bed. Audrey wakes up when we come in, change and grab a number of pillows to nest on the floor with. Vegas was 100 degrees when we exited the airport near midnight, but we almost froze on Bekki’s floor. Four hours of dozing later, Gwen and I get up, dress and get ready for set-up. I get to see the space for the very first time. The JW Marriott is absolutely *gorgeous*! The meeting space is good, but the packaging is terrific, fancy chandeliers, wall sconces that look like candles, and everywhere there are nooks and crannies with comfy sofas and chairs. I set up the Common Room with the House pillows, blankets and quilts, and get a start on the Great Hall for the Welcome feast that night. Unfortunately, my hotel room isn’t ready until after 4pm, so I am still feeling gross from the plane and dozing on the floor for most of the day. But I and my able assistants, Gwen, Jenn, Amanda and Krissie (Krissie, whom I couldn’t have finished in time without!) dress the Great Halls in record time – just before the JW staff start setting the tables. I pass by Wizard Chess to see how it is going, and people seem to be having a blast beating on each other with foam pool noodles.
With over 1000 people expected for the feast, that is a *lot* of decorating. I finally check into the hotel and get a shower. No sleep, still, but the shower does wonders for my outlook and I have time before the feast begins to make sure everything looks okay. It is *beautiful* - the JW staff has rolled the napkins to look like candles. They’ve also added little oil lamps to the tables and the effect is truly magical.
Dinner is salad and bread family style and plates of Padfoot Stew. It is wonderful. I sit with a group that includes the husband of one of our special guests. Howard is a delightful dinner companion, and meeting him and his family is one of my favorite memories. His wife is Emily Drake, writer of the Magicker’s series.
Cleanup after dinner goes quickly and I think I get to bed before midnight, but I can’t be sure. I pass by the Draco and the Malfoys/Harry and the Potters concert, but it is too loud and I was too tired to truly enjoy it. The hotel has also picked out specialty drink recipes submitted by some of our attendees, and the bars and pub served them throughout the weekend. I tried the Avada Colada (okay, but too minty for me) and the Butterbeer – by far my favorite. Cream soda, butter schnapps, whipped cream and cherry- yum! I didn’t get a chance to try any of the others (Liquid Lion, the Hufflepuff, the Luna Eclipse, Morsmordre Margarita, or the Pansy Parkinson Frilly Pink Martini). So at every informal event there was a cash bar set up for people to get drinks. I believe the concert bar did very well, as the number of people sporting the special glowing stick stirrers grew by the hour.
Up the next morning at about 5am so I can dress the programming rooms. Being on Senior Staff is long hours – but you get to know some of the best people.
Friday programming included Water Quidditch – I saw about fifteen minutes of the match between the Sirens and the Threshers, before the sun and the heat forced me back inside (114 in the shade!). Dr. Tom Morris is a dynamic speaker and I saw about twenty minutes of his presentation before I had to leave to make sure the great hall was set for the keynote lunch.
I did not attend the keynote panel, but sat instead at the registration table and sold things to people for a while. At 1:30 Wilene and I went to the pub for lunch and I was back *just* in time for Gwen’s roundtable at 2pm. I thought it went very well.
At three I went to the presentation/roundtable on crossover fanfiction. It is only a half hour, so I spend the next half hour in the vendor room before going to Heidi and Seren’s roundtable on “The Message and the Medium” about personal fandom history and how the internet and the Web have changed what being part of fandom is all about.
After that is the poster session and Water Quidditch finals, and the beginning of the double feature of the first two movies. I go to the poster session, and I found it very interesting. I have a long talk with the girl who has the poster on myths and hero’s journeys and how the relate to HP. Not really original to me, since Gwen and I have had discussions about this before, but she was interesting to talk to. The woman with the Nicholas Flamel poster cracked me up. All about the proof he is living or dead, pros and cons for each belief and she was taking a poll in relation to what we believed after reading her fairly neutral perspective on each pov.
I go to dinner with Gwen, half the HPEF board of directors and two of our special guests (Dr. David Baggett and Dr. Edmund Kern). Then I cruise through Night Classes to see how they are going (wow, looks like they are going well, and everyone is having a marvelous time!). In bed by midnight and can sleep in until 6:30am the next day. Saturday I get up at 6:15, because I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. A quick shower and decision to wear jeans, despite the heat, and I am in time for the morning staff meeting.
Saturday programming goes as well as Friday’s. Informal programming today includes the Strip Trip (or Hogsmeade night out on the Vegas Strip), the live podcast dual teamup of the Leakey Cauldron and Mugglenet, and the double feature of the second two movies.
Personally, I despised the podcast project. They were in the way and unruly and a big fat pain in the mikta. I found the whole group of the organizers rude, unprofessional, and highly annoying. This is my own personal opinion, though and I know they have their place in fandom as well. But I do not frequent their sites because I know of, and have had dealings with, their leaders before, and this weekend’s experience did nothing to make me revise my opinion.
On the other hand, I found the HPANA guy friendly, professional, and highly intelligent. So for my HP news, HPANA will be my site of preference. Sorry, HPANA guy, I don’t remember your name.
Too tired to do more than poke my head into the double feature to the loud and jovial group yelling at the screen and saying all the lines together, I trundle off to bed knowing I have an early morning to dress the great halls for the leaving feast. The double feature went to 3am, and the JW staff finish changing the linens in the great hall at 5:30am when I went in with the table runners.
eibbil_libbie recruited some help, and by six-ish I and five others are feverishly working to make sure our stuff gets down on the tables before the JW staff set them at 7:15am. Libbie, for this alone, I adore you, but for *everything* you did this weekend as Auror, I buy you a virtual butterbeer. Then it’s auction time – I bid on a couple of silent auction items. So did Gwen and she won art! The big ticket item is the signed script. Then the post mortem and cleanup and pack. No sleep on the plane home, it is the red-eye and uncomfortable. We land as the sun comes up on Monday morning, I drive Gwen home and then myself. Over 24 hours since I woke up Sunday morning, I finally fall into bed.
It was intense and long, but at the same time too short. For all my Lumos buds, see you at Prophecy!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
The Luna Eclipse was good--but the Hufflepuff was...far too strong in the alcohol department, with a lack of banana flavouring, I think. Those are the only two I tried.
In any case, Lumos was definitely worth it. All the volunteering I did was a ton of fun, and I'm glad I got to help out with decorations. It was awesome, and I'm already looking forward to Prophecy so I can help out there. XD My boss already knows I'll be gone that week.
From:
no subject
And Gwen and I were just talking about ways we could get to Prophesy. I think she will extend her vacation to include it. I think I've worked out the work schedule so that I can include it as well. We shall see. I will register for it anyway.
♥
From:
no subject
The worst that'll happen is you'll have to sell your ticket, right? Atl east you know you'll have a spot--it's going to be awesome, I just know it. Only 11 months, 4 weeks, and 1 day to go! *has the ticker up on userinfo already*
*loves on*
From:
no subject
From:
no subject