Volume 30, Number 2 - April 15, 1995 - Saturday Noon
The 22nd Floor: What's the Deal?
Just in case you didn't read page 3 of your Pocket Program (or pay
attention at Opening Ceremonies) you might be wondering what possessed
the Concom to turn all their function space upside down at the last
minute. You also might wonder why you have to deal with those
annoying folks sitting by the elevators on the 22nd floor counting
people debarking and occasionally turning them away.
Well, it has to do with Bloomingtons new Crusading Fire Marshal, who
has virtually guaranteed us that he will be paying us a visit during
the Con, probably on Saturday night. Take a look at your pocket
program for more details.
The Concom wasn't really thrilled with this turn of events, but rose
to the occasion to come up with some creative solutions.
As of Friday night, things seem to be working pretty well, but
Saturday night is the biggie. At peak times you might want to think
twice about making a possibly fruitless trip to the 22nd floor and hit
a few parties instead. (Hint: check out the Tower of Parties in the
Great Hall Foyer). And dont forget the Plaza Area (formerly The
Village) on the ground floor of the North Tower. There's gaming in
Plaza 4 and Filking (from 5:00 p.m.) in Plaza 3.
Registration Report
As of close of registration on Friday, the head of Registration
estimates the total memberships at 3,650, with a warm body count in
excess of 3,400! This exceeds last year's record attendance by a
couple of hundred, and it's only Friday! The unexpectedly high
numbers of at-the-doors created some difficulties: Registration ran
out of pre-printed blank badges, and was reduced to laminating
hand-written, hand-cut badges. Then they ran out of lamination
supplies and had to go out and buy more.. Long lines and frazzled
nerves were aggravated further by the discovery that some
preregistrations appeared to have been lost. The head of Registration
admits that some mistakes were made during the precon period and was
relieved to report that most people who encountered difficulties in
registering were remarkably gracious about it.
Flash Update [Sat
11:00 a.m.] Reg Head reports we have 3,380 - 3,390 warm bodies.
Which makes us larger than total attendance at the last worldcon in
Winnipeg!
Pocket Program Addendum
Additions
Bhigg House Suite: Room 1404 - 1406
- Sat 6:30 p.m.
- Grand Ballroom (just before Masquerade) Howard Harrison will be
recording a live song for his forthcoming CD
- Sat 1-3 p.m.
- Reading (out loud) at the Bhigg House
- Sat 8-11:30
- Keycon Party
- Sun 1-4 p.m.
- At-Home (like an Open House, but subtly different)
Corrections
- #117
- Taping Your Convention 101 has been cancelled
- pg 19
- Sat, 10 am, Bloomington Room
Should be: Masquerade Orientation
- pg 22
- Masquerade starts at 7:00 pm, NOT 6:00 pm
- pg 31
- Masquerade Orientation is actually Saturday, 10 am in the Bloomington Room
How Many Minicons Have YOU Been To?
Get your penquins, stars, and holographic dinosaur stickers in the
Minneapolis in '73 suite (2214). Consult the not-so-secret decoder
ring on the wall to figure out which stickers to put on your
badge. Then you'll be able to decode everyone else's badge,
too. GoshWow.
Masquerade Update
Masquerade will start at 7:00 p.m., not 6:00 p.m.
and will be simulcast on Network 73.
See the awesome, the beautiful, the dramatic, the fries! Yes, we said
"fries". Besides our usual awards, we will have two special awards
this year for costumes relating to Minicon 30's themes: Would you like
fries with that? and Some assembly required. Don't miss seeing how
costumed fans interpret them!
Featuring our Special Guest MC - Bruce Hyde.
Also
known as Lt. Kevin Riley from the Original Star Trek TV Series and now
teaching Communications at St. Cloud State.
We would also like to thank our Judges:
Gerald Dagel, Laura Hughes, Jody Lee (Artist GOH), Diane Rhody, Alicia
Wold and Suzy Zahradka.
For our contestants:
Registration for the masquerade is from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on
Friday and 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. No entries can be
accepted after 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Contestant Orientation is 10:00
a.m. Saturday in the Bloomington Room. Check at the Masquerade table
for additional information.
The Masquerade Director would like to thank everyone who worked on the
masquerade and technical crews for all their efforts putting on the
show, and all the costumers and fans --without whom there would be no
show.
Party Reports
The New Consuite
When we had to move the con suite from the 22nd floor to the pool
area, we really didn't know what to expect. Where should we put the
beer? The soda? The smoking area? How do we deal with the crowds?
And how do we badge check the damn thing? Well, the con is half over
and the lesson seems obvious: The con suite is not the four
suites at the end of the pool area; the con suite is the pool area.
People are getting their beer and soda in the end rooms and taking it
everywhere. Parties line the side walls, upstairs and downstairs.
There's music and conversation in the center. Tall ceilings mask
noise and minimize the smoking problem. We may have lost Mr. C's and
the 22nd floor, but we gained the world's largest con suite with its
own pool and jacuzzi.
-- Bruce Schneier
"Y'know, now that people don't have to go 22 floors for a beer, they're going to
drink a lot more. I hope Parties thought about that, because if they didn't,
they're going to run out of beer by midnight Saturday."
-- Arthur Knowles
Capsule Reviews--Karen Cooper
Troll's Guild Party: "Finest Party. Two thumbs up."
The Balloon Crawl: "Go there! It's so fun! It's just a riot! They have a shark
under the balloons! No, don't tell them that, it'll ruin the surprise!" [never
trust a smiling journalist]
All the Bid Parties: "Very quiet."
The New Con Suite: "Get your beer and move along folks. Keep it moving, there's
nothing to see here."
-- Karen Cooper
Bhigg House Music Party [3:00 a.m.]
"The party in the room I'm planning to sleep in is still going strong."
-- Dave Romm
Most Surreal Environment in the Con
The Elvis Room in Dark Star. Of course I never did make it to the Balloon
Crawl, so it may well be a tie.
-- sharon
Party Announcements
Sat 10:00 - Boston in 1998 invites you to Room 110 for a bid
party that's Out of This World! Come join us poolside in Cabana Room
110 at the Radisson.
Sat 9:00. - SF Minnesota Party. "For people who love SF"
Rms 681-683, North Tower (the short one)
Sat 9:00 - Niagara Falls in '98 Party. Featuring chocolate raspberry fudge. Room
1806.
Restaurant Update
There have been a few changes since the last time the Rrestaurant
Guide was updated. Here are a few (probably incomplete) corrections
pointed out by sharp-eyed fans:
New:
Eddington's ( fast food court near hotel)
Napa Valley
Grill, Twin Cities Diner (Mall of A)
Closed:
Rusty Scupper,
Khan's Mongolian Barbeque
Changed:
Lakeside Palace-> First Wok
[no dimsum]
What were they thinking?
Doug Friauf points out that the Burger King across the parking
lot from the Rad is totally inaccessible by wheelchair from the hotel
parking lot. The Subway and other shops (including the new one listed
above) are even harder to get to. Embers is your best bet if
you are travelling by wheelchair.
Flashes from the Internet
A Cautionary Tale: Balticon, running this weekend in Baltimore,
has been forced to close down all their room parties at 2:00 a.m. this
year. This is due to problems with the hotel following the $5000
vandalism last year.
The Bozo Bus Tribune
Editor-in-Chief: Sharon Kahn
Today's Editor: Sharon Kahn
Publisher: Jeff Schalles
Published at Minicon 30
(c) 1995 by the Minnesota Science Fiction Society.
Any opinions expressed herein are those
of the contributors, not necessarily anyone else.