What a welcome!

[gerisullivan]

Kudos to SFContario! Not only were Alex, Merle, and Marah (SFContario Chair, Chair's wife, and Vice-chair) waiting for us in the lobby when we pulled into the Ramada at 12:15 am, there was a gorgeous and thoughtfully assembled gift basket waiting for me in the room. If we'd wanted the entire car emptied tonight, Alex, Merle, & Marah would have gladly pitched in to ease the process. (We didn't; we wanted whatever personal bags we could get to.)

I've known Alex & Marah for years; it was a total delight to finally meet Merle. It was a total delight to be so warmly and thoughtfully welcomed at such an hour. And, as Alex pointed out, it seemed quite possible that we might be hungry, having missed the dinner after Michael Swanwick's reading at the Merril hours earlier. He would have not just told us where the 24-hour diner was, he would have accompanied us there so we'd have company if we wanted it.

Tonight is for sleeping, which I truly am going to do soon, soon, soon. Thank you, SFContario, for doing such a fabulous job of looking after me right from the get-go. Wow.

P.S. Border crossing was totally smooth and easy. Nice. Many thanks also to fringefaan for doing most of the driving, and to Ron Drummond for the cd that is totally to my taste, and in interesting ways, too; for his fine company from the moment we arrived at his home on the river, through our a late lunch/early dinner in Troy, and to seeing us safely on the road again; and for walking us by the family home where Herman Melville wrote his first two books.

Okay, tired. Tired. I have no idea if that P.S. is coherent or not. I'm pulling my keyboard privileges until I've slept for at least 6 consecutive hours. Here's hoping for 8 or even 9.

Comments

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

PS totally coherent. Good night!

[jcbemis.livejournal.com]

yes, that's how GOHs are supposed to be treated

[avt-tor.livejournal.com]

Geri was extremely low maintenance; she's very easy to treat well.

In the '90s I was head of guest liaisons for Toronto Trek, a fan-run media convention here (now called Polaris), so I've had to deal with guests with bizarre personality issues and extreme expectations. SFContario wasn't the same kind of convention and we decided to go with a much more fannish and low-impact model of guest liaison, where we would just put them on interesting program items and check up on them periodically to make sure things were okay for them. (Not that we were in a position to throw money or people points at guest issues the way Toronto Trek could.) We didn't treat the guests as celebrities, just as members of our community worthy of being honored.

[avt-tor.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad you had a good time at the con. As fan guest of honor and as host of that astonishing party (that's my new word, when "awesome" is insufficient), you helped make the convention wonderful and different for everyone.

My mother's family (my Irish roots) are from Troy, so I'm curious where you stopped. Of course my associations with the place are mostly kid memories; my grandfather used to take us to the Friendly's on Hoosick Street, so I often try to make a stop there when I'm in town.

[mvt.livejournal.com]

Glad to get to know you this weekend. always glad to have another redhead in my life : )