C.I.T.O.K.A.T.E.

Success

4/23/07 08:31 pm - Success

Rave reviews of Penguicon are rolling in.

We broke our attendance record.

My ChessLARP: success.

My Coffee Ritual: success.

My Chaos Dispenser: success.

Almost every type of stimulus reward structure in my brain was pinging off the scale all weekend.

So were my feet, legs, lower back, stomach, skull, and voice, but it was a measure of how transcendantly wonderful an experience it was that I didn't mind at all.

Hotel cleaning and packing/unpacking the moving truck are done for another year. There is much more of a report to come. I sleep now.

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4/24/07 03:21 am (UTC) - drkelso

You guys ought to think about hosting one of those down here in the Southwest. Of course my pick would be Phoenix where I live, but LA, San Diego, or Las Vegas aren't that far away either. You could do your Michigan one and the other one six months apart.

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4/24/07 04:57 am (UTC) - matt_arnold

For two years there was a sister convention named Linucon in Austin, TX. I would love to see additional Penguicons happen. It would be done by locals rather than by us, since conrunning tasks are extremely dependent on attending in-person meetings in geographic proximity. Trust me on that, I've done it both ways. Another important reason that it can't be done by the same people is that it's difficult enough to put on four conventions in southeast Michigan every year (ConFusion, Penguicon, ConVersation, and ConClave). If you need support and advice though, our crew would probably have your back.

4/24/07 06:20 am (UTC) - drkelso

It kind of struck me just now how that you seem to really enjoy doing this. Maybe you should try to figure out how to get paid to do it and then do it full or part-time. If you aren't already. :) Maybe increase the price ever so slightly to pay the organizing staff.

I'd think about it myself but I'm already swamped with activities. I think I'll settle for attending for now.

4/24/07 02:18 pm (UTC) - matt_arnold

You've really struck the nail on the head regarding something I've been thinking about a lot, especially since Frank Hayes at Penguicon offered to help me get the article published that I put in the back of the program book. I haven't been very good about monetizing things that I enjoy. That is to say, I haven't been identifying where I'm valuable to others and figuring out how to turn that into my income.

However, paying the organizing staff is something that has been suggested before, and after mulling it over for months I realized it would alter the flavor of the event. It is a con for bringing together various forms of volunteer slackers. That's a topic I should discuss at greater length.

4/25/07 06:06 pm (UTC) - landley

Getting paid for what you were doing anyway is the best kind of job. (I've done that with open source programming stuff and it is SO COOL.)

Unfortunately we can't pay the organizers of Penguicon for the same reason we can't pay the GoHs. If we pay anybody we have to pay everybody, and it all goes pear shaped.

Using Penguicon on a resume, however? References? Networking? Go for it!

4/25/07 06:01 pm (UTC) - landley

There will probably be another successor to Linucon (under a different name) in Austin sometime around 2009. Several of us were SMOFing a bit about it at Penguicon this year...

4/24/07 08:21 pm (UTC) - bardicwench

*huggles*

Good con and you did a great job with Programming, Matt.

My legs & feet felt like they were going to fall off my Saturday night...

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4/25/07 05:44 pm (UTC) - matt_arnold

I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks again.

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4/24/07 08:37 pm (UTC) - atropis

indeed, a fine con.

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- 4/25/07 05:44 pm (UTC) - matt_arnold
  
  I'm very glad you enjoyed it.
  
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  - 4/25/07 07:22 pm (UTC) - atropis
    
    heh, likewise. :)
    
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4/25/07 03:54 pm (UTC) - temujin9

Huzzah! I'm sorry I missed it.

PS - If you've got time and energy for human interaction in the next week, I'm in Michigan. OTOH, if you're too dead tired and backed up on real world stuff, I definitely understand.

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4/25/07 05:43 pm (UTC) - matt_arnold

I definitely have time and energy for human interaction. Drop me an email and we'll get together.

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4/26/07 03:08 pm (UTC) - rbradakis

My first con ever was last year's Penguicon. This con made me love it all that much more. Going in last year, I didn't even know if I would enjoy it. Hah! Best fun ever! You deserve massive thanks for your part in all this, you know.

A fantastic time was had by all. Oh, yes, what was the poem that you were able to recite in the Consuite on Sunday? I wanted to find that one to 'hear' it again.

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4/26/07 03:50 pm (UTC) - matt_arnold

Best fun ever? Best fun ever? You cause me to weep with joy, sir.

The poem is "It Wears You" by Ann K. Schwader, published in Strange Horizons.

4/27/07 06:21 pm (UTC) - vakkotaur

I am curious. What was the winning item (or were the winning items) and use put to same, from the chaos dispenser?

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4/27/07 06:41 pm (UTC) - matt_arnold

There were no contest entries, so it was not a success from that perspective. Next year the capsule vending machine will take a different approach. It will be taken over by the ninjas who run the Morton's List game, and become Morton's Dispenser. It will vend randomized missions with which to interact the convention in unconventional ways!