I was the Toastmaster for WIndycon 41! It was awesome. I mastered a lot of toast. That toast didn’t know what hit it.
Also, I was made to talk in public, but that seems to have gone pretty well. Nobody threw things at me. I will never be an improv actor or stand-up comic, but with a friendly crowd hoping that Opening Ceremonies will not run four hours long, I am generally capable of being funny without being malicious and keeping a running commentary going, which is 95% of the job. The other 5% is reading little scraps of paper that people keep handing you with desperately vital announcements on them, usually written in somewhat cramped cursive that you are puzzling out while trying to talk.
It was fun and I was fairly lightly scheduled and didn’t do a dealer’s table, so it all worked very well. Got to see many great friends, drink with some of them, hang out with lots of authors (many of whom are also friends), be on panels that were occasionally contentious and eat ghost pepper ice cream. I regretted one of those decisions very much.
Kevin was inducted as a member of Dorsai Irregulars, a con security group that he’s been working with for a few years, so my booth babe is now lost to me forever and Taliabear will probably be stuck helping me man tables until we are old. (And if any of you from Security comes after HER, swear to god, I will cut you.)
If you are unfamiliar with any of these people or with how con security functions, just assume Kevin won a lifetime achievement award for “Most Likely To Run Toward The Sound Of Vomiting.”* The award is shaped like a hat. Anyway, I’m proud.
As is usually the case after a weekend of extroversion, I slept for approximately fourteen hours today and plan to do so again tomorrow. Lotta fun, would do it again, need nap now.
*This is 20% of con security. 40% is giving directions, 20% is checking badges and managing signing lines, and the other 20% of classified.
