Evening — Consuite setup. Available for hanging out, but no food or drink. [Consuite, room 209/211] Susan Philbrook and Brian Lundgren.
Noon — Consuite opens. By 5 p.m., we'll have soft drinks available, and after Opening Ceremonies full snacky-service will begin. [Consuite, room 209/211]
2 p.m. — Registration opens. [Consuite, room 211]
3-5 p.m. — “Crafty Time” — A time to work on and show off your current art or craft projects. Laura Krentz. [Lincoln Board Room Consuite, room 209/211, unless we can get into a programming room early]
5-5:30 p.m. — “Hecto Workshop Part II” — Learn how to use a hectograph! Matt will set up and demonstrate the principles of hectography, and the materials will be available throughout the con. This year we (probably) will have a typewriter to experiment with (oooooh! new tech!). Matt Strait [Programming Room]
5-7 p.m. — Dinner Break. Go out to a nearby restaurant or opt in to a group order of Pizza Luce, with food to arrive at the hotel around 6:30 p.m. Coordinated by Scott and Irene Raun
You can sign up by e-mail before the con or in person at the con, up to about 5 p.m. 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.
6 p.m. — Gaming Room opens. The Gaming Room will be open continuously throughout the convention until 11:59 p.m. Sunday night. We’ll provide tables and chairs and some games and puzzles. Feel free to bring your favorites. [Gaming Room]
7 p.m. — “Opening Ceremonies” — Greetings, announcements, etc. [Programming Room]
7:15 p.m. or immediately after Opening Ceremonies — “We’re All Bozos on This Bus: Minneapa, Rune, and Other Fannish Writing” — What is an APA, anyways? David Dyer-Bennet is in the process of scanning issues of Minneapa for the MnStf archives. Dean Gahlon was Official Editor of Minneapa for many years. Matt Strait runs Rune, our irregularly published club zine. Laura Krentz coordinates Once Upon a Time, an APA focused on children’s fantasy books. Let’s talk about the history of fannish writing and maybe get inspired to write something for the next issue of Rune. Matt Strait, David Dyer-Bennet, Dean Gahlon, Laura Krentz [Programming Room]
8:30-10 p.m. — “Astrophotography Slideshow” — Come see some astrophotos Rachel Kronick has taken recently. From open clusters to distant quasars, and a whole lot of galaxies, she's gotten some nice shots over the past year or so. Rachel Kronick [Programming Room]
10 p.m. — “Crappy Magic Draft” — Get rid of some ‘Magic: The Gathering’ cards that never really fit in with your other decks, and maybe gain something useful (probably not). Bring 30 lands (six of each color) and 45 other cards, approximately half spells and half creatures. (You can tell if an artifact is closer to a spell or a creature by reading the card.) We'll shuffle them all together, build a 60 card deck with a draft style allocation, and then play. Do not bring cards that you expect to get back. Emily Stewart [Gaming Room]
11p.m. until late — “Late Night Music Circle” — Programming room open for a music circle or other spontaneous activities. Music gets first dibs. Bring your instruments and a copy of Rise Up Singing and/or Rise Again if you want. [Programming Room]
11p.m. — “Whiskey Tasting” — Carol Kennedy will bring a couple of very good whiskeys. If anyone else wants to bring some, we can share and compare. People don't have to bring something to participate. Must be 21. [Lincoln Board Room]
Morning — “Cartoons” — We'll watch some Saturday morning cartoons like you used to. Kevin Austin [Programming Room]
10-11 a.m. — “T'ai Chi Mini Class” — Learn a five-posture T'ai Chi form to reduce stress, enhance relaxation, boost your immune system, improve balance, lower blood pressure, and add some movement to your routine. Can be done standing or seated. No special equipment necessary. Beginners welcome. Presented by Twin Cities T'ai Chi Ch'uan Studio. Kim Husband and Dan Frederick [Programming Room]
11 a.m. — “MnStf Board Meeting” — Come and be bored with the board. Learn how the business that brings you this con is done. MnStf Board [Lincoln Board Room]
12 noon — Lunch Break.
1 p.m. — “Nature Walk” in Hyland Lake Park Reserve. You may want to bring a camera, hat, walking stick, sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle, etc. Address: 10145 E. Bush Lake Rd, Bloomington. Phone: (763) 694-7687. Meet in the lobby to join a group and carpool if necessary. (Videos may be available in the Programming Room for those who don’t want to go out.)
3:30-5 p.m. — “Minicon Programming Brainstorming Session” — Come share ideas about Minicon programming. This is an open meeting and a membership to Decongestant is not needed to attend. Emily Stewart [Programming Room]
5-7:30 p.m. — Dinner Break. Get together with some other fans and go out to a nearby restaurant.
7:30-8:30 p.m. — “Concert: Nate Bucklin” — Enjoy a live concert by one of MnStf’s favorite fannish musicians. Nate Bucklin [Programming Room]
8:30-9:30 p.m. — “A History of Fannish T-shirts” — Wear an old favorite if you have one that still fits, and we will take a group photo. We’ll watch a slide show of some past con t-shirts and share stories about them. Bring some t-shirts for a display of fannish shirts, starting Friday evening. (Label your shirts so you can get them back, and add a note about the year, artist, and interesting stories, etc. if you can.) Matt Strait, David Dyer-Bennet [Programming Room]
9:30-11:30 p.m. — “Gaming with Rachel Kronick” — Rachel will be joining us via videochat from Taiwan. Let's play some games with her that are reasonable to play that way, like Code Names, Spyfall, Taboo, and/or EPYC. Rachel Kronick [Gaming Room]
11:30 p.m. until late — “Late Night Music Circle” — Programming room open for a music circle or other spontaneous activities. Music gets first dibs. Bring your instruments and a copy of Rise Up Singing and/or Rise Again if you want. [Programming Room]
Morning — Cartoons. Even though it's Sunday, we'll watch Saturday morning cartoons. Kevin Austin. [Programming Room]
1 p.m. — “New Technologies” — What new technologies are fans adopting these days? 3D Printing? Virtual reality goggles? What else? Show and/or tell us about what you’re using. Dean Gahlon and anyone who has something to share [Programming Room]
2-3:30 p.m. — “Secrets of Pumpkin Carving” — Halloween decorating guru Richard Tatge will demonstrate and share tips on carving amazing pumpkins. Watch him work his magic! If you want to carve one, too, bring a real pumpkin or a carvable Styrofoam pumpkin and some carving and scooping tools to create your own work of pumpkin art. For carving the Styrofoam pumpkins Richard recommends the smallest, thinnest paring knife you can find (e.g., those sets of 4 little paring knives with colored plastic handles you can sometimes buy in supermarkets). For real pumpkins you will need sturdier paring knives and something to scoop out the goop. A small supply of real pumpkins and knives will be provided, but please bring your own if possible. If you can scoop out your pumpkin ahead of time, you will have more time to spend on artistic carving. Richard Tatge [Programming Room]
3:30 p.m. — “Closing Ceremonies” — Should we do this again? Do you have ideas for next year? Will you volunteer to run things? [Programming Room]
4 p.m.-11:59 p.m. — “Music Circle” — Music is encouraged, but the room will be available for conversation when musicians are not using it. [Programming Room]
Through 11:59 p.m. — “Open Gaming” — The gaming room remains open through the evening. [Gaming Room]
6 p.m. — Dinner at the Tea House in Plymouth. Sign up for dinner at the Tea House by 2 p.m. in the Consuite. Please indicate on the sign-up sheet whether you intend to meet us at the restaurant or meet in the lobby at 5:30 p.m. to carpool to the restaurant, and whether you can provide transportation if needed. Address: 88 Nathan Lane, Plymouth, MN 55441. Phone: (763) 544-3422. Coordinated by Dean Gahlon and Laura Krentz
After dinner at the Tea House to whenever — “Dead Dog Party.” Hosted by Ctein. [Consuite, Room 209/211]
Note: Subject to change, of course. We’ll announce and post changes at the convention. Locations for these events are listed in [brackets]. Program participant names are listed in italics.