Nutshell Consonance Report

[howeird]

Will have much much more later in the week, have many photos to color correct and videos to edit. And writing to do.

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The good:
- I have never seen so much musical and showmanship talent ever before in a single filk venue. Yay Seanan!
- Lots of places to eat in easy walking distance (reviews to come)
- Hotel spaces were right-sized
- Judi Miller as Toast jammed rocked!
- Con Suite was always well-stocked with sandwich makings and gluten-free, sugar-free stuffs
- Tons of free parking
- Everything was on the ground floor
- Balloons for the kids, and well-attended kid's room an intelligent distance from the concert hall
- There's always room for cello

The not so good:
- No programming grid, just concerts and open filk
- Unused rooms due to no programming
- Temperature was always way too warm in the concert hall
- Hilton's Ginger cafe had extremely limited choices, for too many $$
- Audio setup needed color coding on the connectors and matching color coding on the Mackie
(way too much "which mike is that?" and feedback from mikes which should not have been hot)
- Private party across the hall from the concert venue on Sunday
- Con Suite had almost no chocolate, no cake, and almost nothing that wasn't healthy. And they had that horrible Splenda-sweetened diet Coke.
- Loud live music in the bar Fri-Sat and louder, bad Karaoke Sunday almost killed AJ, the loudest filker on the planet
- Tricky Pixie's set list (more on that later)
- Fell in love with a German girl.

Comments

[mistymarshall.livejournal.com]

hahaha...well you have a German incentive now huh?

[howeird]

Some time I must tell you about my drunken adventures in Germany.

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

I have to agree very strongly with most of what you say about the con, both plus and minus.

There was at least some programming planned in the empty rooms - I was going to lead a theme circle in one of them. The bad news is it had to be cancelled because they found out about the bleed-through from the excessively noisy bar. The good news is they found out in time to cancel, and if they stay at the same hotel another year, perhaps they can get different rooms without so much bleed-through to use for 2nd-track programs.

Yeah, the concert lineup was absolutely fantastic. Friday night was my personal favorite, and I usually skip Friday night programming - but not when it's Mary Crowell. I only missed 2 concerts (personal sleeping constraints - I was barely able to drag myself out of bed in time for Steve Mac Sunday afternoon after joining the Dawn Patrol.)

I had breakfast Sunday morning in the Ginger cafe. $12 for cold potatoes, cold sausage, cardboard bacon and eggs that resembled gloppy space alien brains - it was a little excessive, but considering the shuttle driver refused my tip on the trip from the airport, well, those things balance out.

The charge for use of computer and printer in the hotel office meant, for me, no email or LJ for 3 days, which is probably a good thing. I usually don't travel with a computer, and not being able to print a boarding pass free for my flight was a minor annoyance.

Yes, yes, 1000 times yes on the DC with Splenda. They need to drop that like the sack of garbage it is.

I'm trying to imagine what you'll have to say about Tricky Pixie. I did notice that the songs were all very serious until the end, and I personally prefer a set that mixes up the comedy and tragedy, but hey, my sets tend to go the opposite direction, so I can't be too critical about that.

Was it one of the German girls at the con, or someone else?

[howeird]

Thanks for the info on the lack of programming. But that wouldn't explain daytime programming when all the bar played was mild muzak. No concerts before 1 pm called for some little bits of programming 10 am - 1 pm, methinks. By programming I mean things like you and Lynn Gold leading a "ukulele for dummies" workshop, Kristoph talking about the steps to creating a production CD or holding a "how to sing into a microphone" hands-on. Or a song-writing workshop a la a mini version of what we did at the brunch Conflikt before last.

The German girl is Sibylle Machat (isn't that a French name? :-)) who is way too cute to be so smart and talented, and vice versa.

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Sybille is pretty incredible. Is this the first time she's been to a West Coast con? I've seen her before, I think mostly at OVFF.

You should forward a link to this comment to Dr. James. It's good for the con to get feedback.

[johno.livejournal.com]

I actually scan LJ & do searches for reports, then forward them to the concom.

So everyone gets to see them.

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

Ditto on the Splenda -- I drink regular Diet Coke/Pepsi like crazy, but with the Splenda I just cannot choke it down.

[johno.livejournal.com]

There was both Nutrasweet and Splenda based DC avail.

Or did the Consuite staff force you drink Diet Coke w/splenda?


BTW: One of the guests and several staff members specifically asked for Spenda based DC be avail.

[howeird]

There was both Nutrasweet and Splenda based DC avail.
Yes and no. The times on Saturday post-dinner and Sunday afternoon when I checked, there was only the Splenda version on ice. There *was* a carton of warm Nutrasweet version in the room...

BTW: One of the guests and several staff members specifically asked for Splenda based DC be avail.
Well, I guess filk does attract masochists. :-)

The Great NutraSweet Vs Splenda Debate

[robertortega.livejournal.com]

Mea Culpa on the Splenda DC debacle; I was the one filling the bathtub with soda on Friday morning, and nobody appraised me of the difference. (I'm one of those weird ones who can drink either; canbedexterous, as it were.) In my ignorance, I used all the NSDC but one sixer in the first load without reserving any for further demand. And trust me -- there was further demand. I spent more than a few minutes with my arm up to the elbow in ice water trying to fish out a NSDC for someone with an allergy to Splenda.

Thanks for the kind words about the con suite -- but I wasn't aware that baklava, Oreos and Girl Scout cookies were health food . . .