GAFilk 2009, Day 2 (delayed report)

[thatcrazycajun]

Saturday 10 January, 2:40P: Finally, a chance to sit down and plug in. The layout has changed somewhat from last year, owing to the shift of most of GAFilk's function space to the basement level (the street-level rooms closer to the lobby that we used last year were booked by another group). The new Main Programming room doesn't have its electrical outlets as well-placed as the old one, so it's harder to find a place to log on without draining the battery. And there is no normal elevator access from street level, only stairs and the ADA-compliant wheelchair lift and ramp from outside in back of the hotel.

Another unwelcome surprise from last year: I drove to the hotel yesterday to find that the Crowne Plaza Airport Atlanta has decided its parking lot is too valuable a resource to remain unmonetized, and installed auto-ticketing gates and fence posts around it. (A warning on the con website would have been nice; con chair autographedcat has claimed responsibility for this oversight.) The good news: GAFilk members are comped for the entire weekend; you simply obtain a free validation sticker from the con registration desk for each exit from the lot. More bad news: This exemption will end after this year, and members of GAFilk 12 (2010) will have to pony up like everyone else, even if staying in the hotel.

But enough negativity. Last night's Opening Ceremonies went off without a hitch, with champagne and sparkling fruit juice, toasts and glittery confetti and party favors we'll all still be pulling out of our clothes six months from now. (Well, okay, one hitch: the lyrics for the traditional full-length singing of "Auld Lang Syne"—even more crucial than usual in light of this year marking the 250th birthday of its author, Robert Burns—went missing from the con songbook, and an old one had to be rustled up and the lyrics hurriedly photocopied and distributed.) This was followed by the usual Friday-night game show, "My Filk," which was won by Team B with an instafilk by its three female members about a beeper put to rather lascivious use. billroper and daisy_knotwise entertained all and sundry for an hour afterward with the con's first concert, and then open filk happened in the same room. The con's Guests of Honor, Barry and Sally Childs-Helton, were there along with the Suttons and Ropers and many others, and much merriment was had until we left around 1:30 AM to go crash at home.

Today, we woke up late (my fault for not setting an alarm) and arrived back at the hotel around one-ish. The Songbird was able to get a lovely Interfilk-benefit haircut from museinred and we checked out the dealers' rooms (yes, plural; there are two this year) and listened to 2x10s (sign up and do two songs or ten minutes' worth of your material). Tonight: the banquet, Interfilk auction and more concerts. Will hopefully have a little time for further posts before sleep again and then getting SB to the airport for her Sunday-afternoon flight home to Kenya (sigh).

Comments

[hms42]

What did you think of the Virtual performer in the 2x10s?

[hms42]

Also, some point point out songbird to me. I just want to put a face to the name.

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

As far as the dealers' rooms, again, this was something for which we had no control. As huckster head, I found out about the situation this week, and was given 3 smaller rooms off the main function room to use as dealers' rooms. We ended up using 2 of them, with two dealers in each one. Hopefully in 2010 we'll be back to having the room upstairs. It does have its advantages, though the rooms we're using allow us dealers to spread out a bit more and give us more space for storage and stuff.