Decongestant 2

It's the fall 2017 convention from MNSTF: Oct 6–8, 2017 at the Hilton Bloomington, 3900 American Blvd W. (Already convinced? Skip to registration.)

It's over!

Decongestant 2 is over. Fun was had! There were even some educational and productive activities for people who wanted them. We had 70 members, all but four of whom attended. 58 pre-reg'd. This included 7 children and teens.

Our next convention is Minicon 53. You could look here to see if we're planning any other small cons.

You might be interested in Decongestant 4, which is being held in 2019.

Program Book

Here are photos of the program book.

At-con newsletter

Because we are silly (and because we had a hecto workshop halfway through the con), two were done in label-printer and two were done in hectograph:

Issue 1
Issue 2 (text-only transcript)
Issue 3 (art copied from this original)
Issue 4

What should I expect at Decongestant 2?

Decongestant 2 is a small science fiction and fantasy convention geared primarily towards relaxation. There will be good food, music, gaming, a teen room, an art show, a bit of programming, and whatever else you bring to it. If you were at Decongestant 1 or the METHOD Cons, you can expect pretty much the same thing. It's a tradition.

Hotel/room reservations

Directions to the hotel and airport shuttle information.

Rates are $109 for a king room, or $119 for a double/double, if booked by Monday, Sept 18 (extended from Sept 8). You can book on the intertubes, or by calling +1-844-856-8554 and mentioning "MNSTF".

If you find that the kind of room you want isn't available through that link, try booking directly the hotel (as though you weren't with the con). We do not need to fill our block to meet a financial obligation to the hotel, so book however works.

What space does the con have?

We have a cluster of small-to-medium-small rooms on the 2nd floor. One is a suite, and the rest are function-space-type rooms. This is an expandable con. If you want to run a large game, create a new department, or have some other cool idea, let us know. We can expand into more space — the hotel currently also has available at least one boardroom and a large ballroom on the first floor.

When should I show up?

On Thursday night, the consuite will be open, but we don't promise food or drink until Friday.

The consuite will open at noon on Friday. At-con registration and pre-reg badge pickup will be available starting 2pm in room 211. Other rooms will be opening up soon thereafter. See those departments' sections for details.

The con will run all weekend through the dead dog party Sunday night. We expect to still be partying into the wee hours Monday morning.

What should I bring?

Just yourself would be fine! But we've made a list of more things that may increase the fun.

Programming

There will be some! We have one track of fairly light programming which will give you something structured to do if you want that. We don't exclude the possibility of heavy programming if there's interest in that.

A preliminary schedule is up! More items may yet still be added. Contact us if you'd like to schedule something.

Teen Room

There will be a teen room! It will have a Super Smash Bros Melee tournament, and other video games. We will have coloring books and table top games including Catan, Pandemic, Cards Against Humanity, and more. The teen room opens at 2pm Friday.

You might want to see the DeCONgestant Teen Room Facebook group.

Art Show

Art of all forms is welcome! Pieces may be for sale or just for display. Space is limited — we will try to fairly share it if we run out. There will be no fees for entering pieces in the show nor commissions taken for sales.

Gaming

There will be a dedicated gaming room available 24h during the convention, starting 6pm noon Friday and running through at least midnight Sunday, and probably until 3am Monday morning.

Music

There will be space available for musicians after programming ends all three days. Friday and Saturday nights the room will be available all night. Sunday night, we have it until at least midnight, and probably until 3am.

Videos

We will show videos Saturday and Sunday morning, including, at least, Thunderbirds.

Transportation

The Hilton is reasonably well served by buses. As usual, the problem is for commuters getting home at night. The last bus north is at 11:56pm. See Metrotransit to double check that and for more details.

For drivers, there is free parking in the attached ramp.

Food!

Consuite:

There will be a consuite. This is a room with snacky food and drink (included with your membership) and social space available during all reasonable hours. There will be a fair amount of food here, but it shouldn't be counted on to feed you three meals a day.

The consuite will be open Thursday night through Sunday night. Thursday will be setup, but you can hang out, too. On Friday, it will open as a socialization space (no food or drink) around noon. By 5pm, we'll have soft drinks available and after Opening Ceremonies full snacky-service will begin. We will endeavour to have consuite open as late as people are awake and somewhat vertical. It might close ~2am if people aren't.

Cake:

This year our food theme is absurd cake pans. If you have a pan that makes a cake in the shape of Cthulhu or what not, bake us a cake and contribute it to the consuite, won't you?

Friday dinner:

We will have an optional group Pizza Luce dinner on Friday, with food to arrive at the hotel around 6:30pm. You can sign up by e-mail before the con or in person at the con, up to about 5pm. E-mail sraun at fireopal dot org, with subject: "Decongestant Friday Dinner Order". We accept two types of orders:

Special order of some complete item. (See their menu.)
Join in on the joint pizza order.

If ordering the latter, assume 16" pizzas. Tell us how many slices, and up to three kinds of specialty pizza in descending order of preference. They cut their 16" pizzas into 12 slices.

We'll be picking 2–5 of their specialty pizzas to order — we'll try to order such that we're getting at least one of the preferences stated by anyone who pre-ordered.

Saturday dinner:

We will also have an optional group dinner on Saturday. It will be catered by Tandoor in Bloomington. It is $13/person, which includes tax and tip. Vegan and gluten free options will be available, along with a variety of spiciness levels.

Dinner will arrive around 6:30pm and will be ready to eat at about 7pm. Please keep in mind that it might start slightly earlier or later.

It will be served "buffet style"; please do not submit individual orders. This will be our fourth year doing this type of thing. Last year's experimental "optional lamb" was very successful and provided the frequently requested versatility that is difficult to do for smaller groups. This year we will get a variety of vegan or vegetarian dishes and have some optional lamb and chicken to be added. Lamb and chicken will be seasoned lightly with garlic and rosemary, as was the case with the lamb last year. We have typically had a bit of extra, and we will repeat that experience, but not as excessively. There will be room for a few at-the-door people.

If you want to participate, please declare your intent by doing the following:

Before Wednesday, Sept 27 at 5pm (note: earlier deadline than previously advertised), email Emily at mle292 at gmail dot com saying that you'll participate. Please write "Saturday Decongestant Dinner" in the subject heading.
Payment in advance will be appreciated, but is not required. There will be someone designated to collect funds at MNSTF functions. Menu to be determined, but currently expected to be similar to last time. Please feel free to look over their menu and make a suggestion to the same email address, or open a discussion on a MNSTF forum.

Sunday dinner:

There is no official group dinner on Sunday, but it is traditional for many people to go out in one or more large groups and then return to the con for the dead dog party.

Dave Romm memorial

MNSTF mainstay Dave Romm passed away in September. We will have a memorial for him at 5pm on Sunday. You need not have a con membership to attend. See the programming schedule for details.

Accessibility

Decongestant 2 is a small con with minimal programming and minimal financial resources. Panels and other activities are expected to be reasonably accessible by virtue of being very small. With this in mind, if you anticipate needing accommodations in order to enjoy the con, please contact us and we will see what we can do.

Code of Conduct

You should read the code of conduct.

Join Us!

The pre-registration deadline was Sept 17. You can still register at the door. We accept cash and check. No credit cards. There is an ATM in the lobby.

Age	Pre-reg	At the door
21+	$50 *	$60 †
13–20	$10	$20
0–12, continuously supervised	Free	Free
0–12, free range	$10	$20
Day rate (8am–8am)	‡	$40
Just-a-few-hours rate	‡	$20
Really-just-one-hour rate	‡	$10

* If you are short on cash, instead pay $40 — no questions asked (nor will we publish who paid what). If you're shorter on cash, e-mail decongestant2-aidNONOPNO@mnstf.org and let us know your situation.

† Similarly, you may instead pay $50, no questions asked, or less if approved by the chair. However, for practical reasons, confidentiality is not guaranteed at-the-door.

‡ Partial memberships can only be purchased at the door.

For posterity, here is the paper registration form.