PartyPartyPartyPartyParty!

Another major moment of awesomeness at Worldcon Anticipation was the BLUMBUFS (By Light Unseen Media, Broad Universe, Fae Sithein) party.

This was the BIGGEST FRACKING PARTY I have ever been a part of throwing… and it was WHOA! For those who are new to throwing convention parties, or thinking about them… below is our story of total success.

Inanna, Christy, & I had thrown a bunch of ideas and planning sessions together months before the actual convention. After the death in Christy's family, it was just Inanna and I doing the planning and managing. At the convention, we had the help of Phoebe Wray, Kathryn Sullivan, and our newly well-met roommate & Broad, Ana Cristina Rodrigues. Everyone helped set-up, and Kathy kindly took the special designation of Door Dragon, handing out 465 stickers before she had to leave at about 1AM (& the party went well past 2AM). (THANK YOU ALL!!)

In pre-setting up & organizing, convention volunteers and the ConSuite went beyond the call of duty to advise and help us out. Thanks Cindy & David & Joel especially!! Even before the convention, Anne Methe was exceptionally patient in answering all our questions and giving us party advice. Major kudos to the volunteers and staff!

Inanna was in charge of the decorations and music. Her flyers got a lot of attention - her acronym of all the co-hosts peaked a lot of curiosity and was remembered by people throughout the convention whenever I referred to it. And the music and gorgeous decorations really drew people in. Did any of us think to take pictures????? Maybe next time… But, she suspended streamers in our party colors of silver, blue, black & white, with a bunch of balloons from the cathedral ceiling - something a lot of people complimented on. Lots of people also came in to hear the mix she made of music from SF/F movies and culture.

I was in charge of food & booze-a-mahol… something I'm rather comfortable with. It took two shopping trips - one with stuff we could carry over the 10 or so blocks from the IGA to the hotel, and one in the ConSuite van for the stuff that was NOT so easy to carry (bottles of juice, ice, and massive food platters).

We moved into the 2-story Maisonette Suite, and I transformed the upstairs bathroom into a kitchenette with the help if ice and the kettle Inanna brought for me. The tub served as one cooler/refrigerator and the super-Coleman-cooler made fridge #2. Extra cookie sheets created top-levels so cold could sink onto the food trays to preserve them longer… and through the Coleman cooler to harden Jello shots. (For those of you interested in how one might make Jello shots at a convention without an actual fridge, sign up for the Novel Friends Newsletter, where I will reveal this along with my bad-ass jello shot recipes! (trish (at) anovelfriend (dot) com) )

I also set up the bar to block off the back hall so we roommates would feel comfortable with the crowd separated from our luggage, laptops, and other stuff. J It also facilitated smooth movement through the downstairs and upstairs nicely, letting people mill easily.

In addition to my 2 kinds of Jello shots, I mixed a batch of Black Death Punch - a recipe I created just for the convention based on the alcohol we could obtain easily. I will keep the recipe secret here. Come to a future party I help throw to find out more… Mwahahaha! I had some rum, vodka, and amaretto leftover, so I also mixed some soda drinks for as long as I could.

As self-appointed Bar Broad, I had the mixed blessing of being able to chat a little with almost everyone (and we estimate over 500 guests!) - but only a little. There were a few friends & acquaintances I'd made at previous cons or this con, as well as other friends from my old job, and just plain Interesting People who I didn't have the chance to talk to at length. I am very sorry about that… and I hope we can find each other at future conventions! I was also rather happy with my bartending & barplanning in general. My supplies lasted through the entire party with no leftovers and no turning anyone down - except for those with more specific drink requests than I had - root beer, virgin fruit juice, brand name sodas, and beer. However, I knew these were available at other parties, so I didn't feel too bad. J

Despite being wonderful fun, the party did its job promoting all three co-hosts. Inanna sold out of her books, most of the Broad Universe information was taken and I had many great conversations with those I look forward to seeing on our boards, and I got to get a lot of people interested in Fae Sithein! (Note: see if Christy wants to post our joint blog on the center part of www.faesithein.com).

Look for us at future conventions… I'll try and keep my website and blog updated with upcoming events.

Just in case you want to party. ;)