Saturday, July 9

After being woken up briefly by Dan coming in at 5:30 AM, I got up at 7:00 or so. Once again, I thank the heavens that we packed a bunch of scones, because they are the perfect con food. I stumbled downstairs and we started sign-ups at 8 AM. Once again, we only signed up 66 artists, though another 13 or so signed up over the course of the day. Traffic in the Alley was a little more even, which made it more pleasant for everyone. I worked the register in the Alley and in Con Store for bit, spelling some of my staff, and answered any questions that came up. All of the folks who volunteered to work Artists Alley and Con Store did a stellar job and I couldn’t be happier with the staffing decisions I made.

I passed the afternoon alternating between Ops and Artists Alley with an occasional pass by Con Store to make sure everything was OK. At the end of the day payout improved a good bit over Friday; we had more artists to pay but we finished in 40 minutes. After we packed everything up for the day, I found out that Dan had gotten roped into running a spotlight for the Masquerade. After watching a couple of good acts (and one act that was so bad it shouldn’t have even been considered) I went for a little fresh air. I had a nice chat with Xylen and Hartree, then went back in just in time to see Fluff and Such Productions’ excellent video for If I Had a Million Dollars. Very funny, and very well done.

After the Masquerade, Dan was asked to stick around to run spot for 2’s show, so I left in search of food. Ramalion and I wound up going out and getting slightly lost before finding a local Irish-esque pub. The fish and chips were OK, but the company was good so that made up for it. It seems each year at AC I wind up through serendipity getting to spend some time having a nice quiet chat with folks who I know and consider friends, but haven’t had a lot of time to talk with one-on-one. I wholly endorse this trend! After dinner, I sat in on a little of the Mature Art Auction and boggled at some of the bids there, then headed off to bed.

Sunday, July 10

Much to no surprise, I wake up to find that Dan didn’t come to bed at all the night before. I went down to Ops to find him and Hartree hanging out and chatting with the Dorsai (who, as usual, were excellent company and all-around good folks to work with). Dan, Hartree, and I adjourned downstairs for a short breakfast, then I had to go open Sign-ups for one last time. We had a slight problem with a room conflict (sorry Kamau!) but once we got that worked out, things went fine. We only had 51 artists sign up (not unusual – Sunday is always the slowest day). Once we opened up, Artists Alley and Con Store ticked merrily along. It’s always frustrating that by the third day, when everyone has a good handle on how to run things, it’s time to pack it all up and go home. The nature of cons, I guess. We started payout at 4 PM and it went splendidly; we had the room cleared in 30 minutes. As usual, Grandma and Grandpa Kage were life-savers, packing up most of Con Store single-handedly while we were finalizing payout.

We got things partially packed up and then broke for Closing Ceremonies. We had just enough time between the end of Closing Ceremonies and the start of the Staff Dinner to pack and put away the rest of the equipment. The dinner was OK, not great but at least the company was good. Each year I think that it would be good not to cluster all the MFF people at one table, and each year that’s what we end up with. Ah well…

After the staff dinner we retired back to the room to relax and chat with friends. We eventually had quite a few folks at least stop by, if not hang out for a bit – Hartree, Cuttercoon, Steven, DaveQat, Jimcyl, Zenwolph, Wyldekyttin, and Uncle_Vlad, along with the other roommates. We wrapped things up at about 1:30 AM when I started falling asleep in my chair.

Monday, July 11

I was up at 9:00 AM, which is later than I would have thought I could have slept. I took a seat in the lobby and did a little people-watching, and was eventually joined by Linnaeus, and we sat and we said goodbyes to folks passing through. Once we got everyone motivated and packed, we found an off-brand shuttle who was waiting at the hotel. The driver was VERY gay, and eventually we had fun when he dived into the conversations with the rest of us weirdos. While we were waiting in the Philadelphia airport, I called my contact at Manpower to see if there was any result from the interview I had had right before we left for Anthrocon. He said that there was another candidate that they wanted to interview, and to check back with him in a few days. Well, that sucked.

The flight back to O’Hare was uneventful. We were waiting for our luggage at the baggage claim when I noticed I had a voice mail on my phone. It was my contact from Manpower again – the situation had changed. The other candidate had taken a different position, and they wanted to know when I could start? Wow! That was a really nice way to end the weekend. Dan and I opted to take the CTA home again, because obviously we hadn’t had enough punishment the first time around. The ride was long, but at least it was cheap!

After Anthrocon I spent a good bit of time searching through LiveJournal and reading the Anthrocon message boards, looking to see what people thought about Artists Alley. And really, most people just mentioned that they sat in the Alley, or they bought stuff in the Alley, and that was about it. That’s just fine with me – if everything is going well, there’s nothing to comment on; the process is transparent. That is the best possible outcome, I think, and it really makes me happy. Thanks to all of the folks who worked so hard to make Anthrocon the success that it was this year, not just in Artists Alley and Con Store, but all over the con.

So, in sum: Anthrocon this year? The best yet. And for next year? Well, now we need to work to make it even better!