Fargo ValleyCon

[Guest Nadine]

1 you will need to move all furnature out but a few chairs, make sure one chair is comfy for Our Lord (work with the hotel on that)

2. have small amounts of snack chip set up around the room (nothing that leaves orange fingerprints on walls)

3. the decision to have alcholol makes things impossible to the nth degree. Since this is your first time, i would have canned drinks in the bathroom, perhaps with one person to fetch and gather tips (if desired).NO NOT let people go get their own drinks since the floor will be wet and slippery,

4. congoers should be asked to pick up a case of beer and maybe a 6 pack of soda (one needs to be diet for the diabetics).

Other experienced people please add to this - i just woke up.

[Stego]

Kasteen has been in touch, and I'm happy to help. She is more than welcome to use the BWB name.

Ro! Make sure you bring Steve!

[Kasteen1979]

Thanks for the use of the club name and for the room tips. Can someone clue me in on what GRRM prefers to drink? I want to have PLENTY on hand!

I hope that those living somewhat close will try to make it! Sounds like this is going to be a great year!

[Stego]

Well, it's somewhat traditional for us to provide Bailey's for him, but it's absolutely not all he enjoys. I've seen him excited over wines and margaritas. He'll drink any decent mixed drink, I think. (I say think, because I tend to be inebriated during these times.)

George is the definition of 'not picky.' Have something tasty and I'm pretty sure he'll be happy. This includes munchies. (Munchies should always be single-serving sized and NOT bowls of things. Con sickness is no joke.)

[piedpiper]

'ello all.

I'm a Fargo native and extremely excited for this years ValleyCon (and, of course, its featured guest). I only recently, about five months, discovered GRRM, but believe me, after devouring all of ASoIaF in a matter of a month or so and checking out the library to further my fantasy fix, was floored to discover via a flyer that the man himself would be gracing my humble hometown with his presence.

Since then, I've been eagerly watching this site and Not A Blog for all things Martin and news about this years ValleyCon. As the event gets closer and closer, I thought I'd throw out a greetings to everyone here and those folk who will be checking out the con.

Also, Kasteen, if you find yourself overwhelmed with preparations and need another hand (or someone to kick in for some booze or snacks, etc), feel free to let me know. And to everyone else, I look forward to meeting any/everyone and feel free to hit me up about going-ons, where to eat, and whatnot. The past ValleyCons that I've stopped by have been very laid back and inviting, so I'm sure this'll be a great time.

Have a good one.

clay

[Guest Nadine]

Stegho, I already talked to Steve. I will get with him when its not raidnight. :P And by having bowls of munchies, I mean for other people. Those bowls get so rank I bet there is a cure for cancer or something in them.

Kasteen, I have hosted twice so I'd be happy to help you with whatever you need. In fact, my brother works at a brewery and gets a good discount. I can check with him and see how much he can nab before they fire him for being a drunk. Its not *great* beer, but its alchoholic. :P

George also likes a good Ouzo.

Actually peeps, this is not long after George's birthday (3 weeks) so maybe we could get a cake or have a birthday dinner, time permitting.

I may have a grand reveal (thus, I show you my firstborn!!)- its my son's Birthday on the 17th and he has been begging me to let him go to a con since he figured out what they were about (geekery!!). Its a small con, so it will be easier for me to keep an eye on him. *sigh* Him and I are pretty bad about geeking out so I will have to watch us in the dealers room. :P

[Kasteen1979]

Woot! The more people post, the more excited I'm getting! :)

Clay-There is a group in town, Red River Valley SciFi and Fantasy Club, that you might want to hook up with. There is a meeting this Sunday night, 7pm, Barnes and Noble, if you feel like meeting myself and Kelly (another organizer).

I've the got the room itself handled (furniture out, 20 chairs, comfy chair for GRRM, 2 long tables), decorations handled, food handled (individual snack size nuts, chips, sweets, and trail mix), had also considered a birthday cake (flavor?), and use the tub for reg/diet soda and water.

The only real issue is what to do about booze...

The organizers and I had thought about one huge dispenser of sangria or punch, two coolers of ice, one cooler of good beer, and one cooler of American light beer. I'm assuming that some people will have their own alcohol as they go from room to room...Any thoughts? Nadine, any help you want to give is appreciated!

Four of us are planning on taking Friday, Oct. 16th, off from work so that we can get into the room as early as we are able to start decorating. If anyone is planning on being in town on Friday morning/afternoon and wants to help, let me know!

[Guest Nadine]

Do you plan on staying in the room where you intend to party? *not so fondly remembers showering knee deep in ice*

Punch: drinks get slopped a lot, and spilled. Anything red or otherwise deeply staining should be avoided. Otherwise a great idea - bartender if needed, or not, if not needed. We have always made some sort of vodka (cheapass vodka) punch. X-ray would be the woman to hit up on that.

On that thought... Cups!!!: small to moderate sized cups!

Drinks: VERY weak!!!! People like us (geeky and maybe socially ackward) tend to drink more at these functions to either loosen up or just because its something to do with your hands.

Smokers: Guessing the room will be smoke free? We had one smoking room once and OMG, even though I smoked then it got nasty.

Actually, I would say totally hook up with xray - we usually ask boardmembers to bring a bottle of booze (cheap vodka for punch please) or a case of beer AND donate to help with the costs of the room, food, drink mixes, etc but Xray is rather good at estimating the booze to people ratio.

dispensers of drunk punch? Do you mean like those nifty push the button and out comes the drank? If you have those that would ROCK. *sidenote* we should invest in those for future cons really*end sidenote*

Yeah, there are a million little details. :lol:

Edit:

ooooh, anyone who went to KC a few years ago remember what that one drink was called? It was like everclear and liquid CO2 and blue gin?? or something and it smoked (and daj made me dead with a smoking drank contest). I bring it up because we usually have themed drinks and since we are technically on the wall, it would be fun to have a wall themed drink. Unless its black...Thinking, if we could figure out how (and it was cost effective) it would be cool to have that drink and call it melted wall or something much more clever (tears of the wall).

Depending on what you decide on, we could feature ravens, the wall itself, moletown (eeee!! I love the idea of mole town! they have whores!!!). Seriously, we could milk the shit out of the north thing. Wish we could do an icebar. Goddamn, that would be awesome.

Have confirmed, my son wants to go and spend his birthday at a geek convention. I have happy tears.

On birthdays - the cake shouldn't be avail to the gen public. We should do it when its just us and George (if we can make the time).

[Kasteen1979]

Yes...push-button drink dispenser...I just figured that would be easiest! I know a recipe for a really good sangria that is white wine instead of red, so that would sidestep the slopping/staining issue. Also, sangria uses wine, juice, and tonic/seltzer, so it wouldn't be as strong as vodka.

As far as decor, I didn't know how much help I would have with this, so I was going pretty simple. I found wallpaper that looks like stone, so the entire room would have a castle look. I contacted Westeros.org and they gave me permission to use heraldry from their site, so a friend and I were gonna make an art project out of it....some kind of fabric for table coverings...only thing I was still thinking about was lighting. If we want to do something more intricate, I'd need more help...*lol*...I have a wedding the weekend after this, and a chapter of my thesis due on Halloween.

Oh! And should I also remove the tv? I notice that many consuites have something sci-fi/fantasy playing in the background. Or, do we want music?

[Kasteen1979]

As far as a private cake party, I haven't heard yet when GRRM is getting into town, because Friday night would be the night to do it. There is a great restaurant in downtown Fargo where we could go, great food. Problem is that the party room has to be open from 8pm-2am, so I'd have to get back to open the room...so really depends on when he is getting here and if he would want us to take him out...and I'd need some estimate of people to make the reservation, etc., etc....OR, we could skip the Con Banquet on Saturday night...I haven't bought tickets for it yet...don't know if GRRM has to attend that or can opt out...

And no, not staying in the party room...I'll need a people-free zone at some point during all of this, I'm sure...*lol*

OH!!! And...there is a discount in you register before Sept. 15th, and a student discount if you have a student ID...

http://www.valleycon.com/registration.html

[Guest Nadine]

Sorry, belayed edit there.

Only time I ever saw a TV going was to show horror flicks. Its usually too loud to really be able to listen to anything other than close conversation.

litechick (lives in MN) is like, the best lighting person in the biz - maybe PM her and get some ideas, or maybe she will go too! I may be the worlds worst decorator.

The party room *has* to be open? IIRC, there were 2 or 3 cons where we shut the doors and put a 'private party' sign on the door, and it did deter most. :lol:

Lunches can be easier than dinner, depending on his con schedule, which doesn't seem to be available until 2 weeks before the con.

Ah, thats ok. A lot of shit happens randomly anyway.

Great idea on the drinks. :D

oh man, this will be my first non-Pod con. How odd.

[Guest Nadine]

Oh, and if people do bring booze to contribute, they need to know clearly what to bring. I am a big believer of NOT having everyone bring the booze for their favorite drinks then the bartender has to hop hop to accomodate them (or *they* have to get in the tiny space alloted to the bartender and screw everything up). Screw that. Bartender is busy enough.

Sadly, even with a (omg awesome!!) booze dispenser, we still need someone to keep an eye on things and make sure the tip jar/cup is emptied and the cash is stored somewhere safe. Not everyone is as honest and wonderful as we are.

Trash & Ice: need to either designate peeps for that, or set it up with the hotel.

There really is an awful lot to do with hosting a Con. Its kinda cool that is all out for everyone to see just how much the person must do. Its a huge credit to all those who have come before that they worked all this out and gave great con year after year.

Edit: will put my son to work. He is a good boy and helpful. Tho I shouldn't talk about him as if he is 4 anymore...just almost 14. *sigh* Anyway, he can learn the ins and outs of cons and volunteering early.

[Padraig]

oh man, this will be my first non-Pod con. How odd.

That's what you think! :P

Ok no, i'm not going.

[Guest Nadine]

That's what you think! :P

Ok no, i'm not going.

Oh Pod, for years you have teased me. *sigh*

[Prince of the North]

Thinking, if we could figure out how (and it was cost effective) it would be cool to have that drink and call it melted wall or something much more clever (tears of the wall).

"Weeping Wall"? :dunno:

[Michael Jon Snow]

WhiteRaven and I will be there. It will be her first con and my second.

I will be happy to help in any way necessary. Trash duty and ice runs are not beneath me.

Nadine covered just about everything I could add.

Oh, the spiked watermellon turned out awesome in Denver. I would be happy to take care of that.

[Kasteen1979]

Glad to hear that some of the Brotherhood will be there! I just got home from a great Valleycon planning meeting, and everything is bookin' along smoothly. For anyone that is planning to visit the Consuite, I ask that you bring some beer (I don't care what kind, but think of brands many people would drink, not just the really obscure stuff you might like). I've got the snacks, soda, and Sangria covered, so donations of beer, ice, and/or money would be great. The price tag on this little event is starting to add up! Also, the con itself opens at 3pm on Friday, so we will be decorating the party room late morning/early afternoon that day. Anyone who is in town and would like to set up, please send me a private message and I will give you my phone number so you can call/text me.

Thanks a lot for all the help and suggestions!

Oh, and register as soon as you can (pre-reg before the 15th is even cheaper)! It will help the Con cover up-front costs, like GRRM's plane ticket!

[Guest Nadine]

The hotel can supply the ice - its usually easiest to call them when you need an ice refill. Done on the beer. It does get damn expensive to throw the party doesn't it? In the past we have asked BwB (of which you are too Kasteen! Welcome to the cult.:P) party goers to donate $20 to defray the costs. You are throwing the party and don't be shy about asking for help. Its not fair for one or two people to bear the costs.

One Con, we had fruit and it was an utter disaster. Fruit juice got everywhere and it was sooo sticky. And despite the knives being put away, some freak still found the hugeass butcher knife. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but of the last 6 congoing years, that is something I would highly suggest avoiding.

[Ixodes]

I am planning my trip. Does anyone know what is scheduled? Couldn't find the info on the website.

I may be able to get there Friday night but it depends on what happens at work. Otherwise I'll probably be on the road Saturday morning. Is there anything happening Friday night or early Saturday that I shouldn't miss? When does George get into town?

Any help is appreciated. At this point I am planning on bringing beer for the room and some cash to defray costs. Is there anything else needed?

[Kasteen1979]

GRRM's travel plans haven't been completely revealed to me. They are talking about maybe involving him in some programming on Friday night, but his main panels will be on Saturday--a Literature panel around noon or one, with his keynote sometime after. I'd say get there as early as possible!