After 4 years of launching the bid, running the bid, losing the bid, running the follow-up bid, winning the bid, planning the convention and running the convention, FiestaCon / Westercon 62 is now over. Preliminary numbers suggest we had 800 total membership with about 650 warm bodies. I'll know more once I can plow through the paperwork and remaining badges to determine more exact numbers.

Thanks to all who attended, supported, staffed and volunteered for this event. Everyone I spoke with had a great time. Reviews I've seen have been very positive. Lots of fans were worried that Westercon is dying, but I hope we've convinced them that's not the case.

Next year's Westercon 63 (Confirmation) will be held in Pasadena, CA. The following year Westercon 64 will be held in San Jose, CA. Seattle, WA, is bidding for Westercon 65 in 2012.

Much to my surprise I was selected as the Fan Guest-of-Honor for Westercon 64 in 2011! Thanks go out to Glenn Glazer, Chair, and his team for that wonderful honor. I hope I can do you proud :-)

If you have any questions, comments, input, feedback, complaints, whatever about W62 please email us using the address found at www.fiestacon.org as we'd like to pass them along to W63's team for analysis and consideration.

W62 was a mixture of exhaustion, exhiliration, rewarding, challenging, and many other words that I can't think of right now. It's the third convention I've chaired (World Horror Con 2004 & World Fantasy Con 2004 being the first two). Time to rest for awhile...

<== Mike ==>

I have been spending lots of time on FiestaCon for obvious reasons. Program Book is done and at the printer. Just received the Dealers Room layout with table assignments. Also received copies of the latest memberships. Met with the hotel to discuss banquet event orders and tweak the room layouts.

Heat Pump in main house is dead. Cleaning up around the outside and inside units before calling for repair. Had to trim weeds that had grown up around the outside unit. Moved a few boxes, too.

Stocked up pet supplies for the duration of FiestaCon. Picked up lots of freebies sent for the con. Now I have a full shed of stuff not including all the things that the Freebies Director will bring.

Time to pay bills and go through other mail.

<== Mike ==>

Recently I was invited to run the Program Division for NASFiC 2010 in Raleigh, NC, should they win the bid this year in Montreal at Worldcon (Anticipation). Raleigh is the only official bidder, but the WSFS Constitution allows for it as an optional event when Worldcon is off of North America. Since next year's Worldcon will be held in Melbourne, Australia, this option is voted on this year.

The first division head meeting was scheduled for Saturday June 20 in Raleigh. So I booked a flight from Phoenix, booked a rental car, and the folks there arranged for me to share a room with my assistant division head, Kerry Gilley, from Kentucky. I flew out Friday June 19, stopped for a plane change in Nashville, and arrived early evening. My rental car had the GPS built in, so I entered the address for the hotel and away I went. Thanks to some construction downtown I went into pizza delivery mode and arrived at the Marriott.

Besides the convention center to the west of the Marriott (they attach in the basement of the Marriott, 2nd floor of the center) we plan to use the convention center to the west and the Sheraton Hotel to the north. They are all pretty close together. I did dinner with the bid co-chair and a couple other division heads, then met my roommate so he could get into our room. The reservation had my last name misspelled, so I had to give them the confirmation number. Despite adding Kerry's name to the same reservation, he couldn't get a key until I arrived. Go figure.

Saturday we started out at the Sheraton, then visited the CVB office for a continental breakfast. From there we went to the convention center for a site tour. We discussed which rooms were available per the contract, ironed out a few details on what's going where, then visited the Sheraton's rooms and function space. From there we saw the Marriott's rooms and space before returning to the Sheraton for a staff meeting. We ordered food from the take-out menu of a nearby BBQ restaurant, and started the staff meeting. We discussed stuff needed to be done prior to Worldcon, ate lunch, talked about staff stuff, then shrank into the division head meeting where we pounded out the org chart and who gets what space.

After the meeting I did some sightseeing around Raleigh and elsewhere. Returning to the hotel late I crashed quickly. Sunday came quickly. Kerry took off early to drive back home. My flight home wasn't until mid-afternoon, so I took my time getting to the airport, dropping off the rental car and getting through security. For some reason the kiosk at the hotel to print out my boarding passes didn't work right, so I got sucky seating on Southwest Airlines. It all worked out in the end as I still got aisle seats. I had several conversations on the way back that were enjoyable. Once home my wife, Jean, picked me up and we went out to dinner before returning home for chores and con stuff.

All in all it was a good trip. I got to meet nice folks that I'll get to work with, enjoyed the food, survived the heat and humidity, and learned more about a city that I've never visited before.

For those who are going to Worldcon this year, please remember to vote for Raleigh in 2010 for NASFiC!

<== Mike ==>

Jean and I signed up to attend a green career seminar at UCLA on Sunday June 7. We were going to anyway, but in our email came an offer for a lower price, so we jumped on it. We also decided to meet up with friends from San Diego at Disneyland on Monday June 8.

We drove over from Phoenix to LA on Saturday June 6 and stayed at a small hotel near LAX. Searching for discounted accommodations near UCLA was fruitless, so our pick was just under 10 miles away. We arrived late in the evening, unloaded the car, got the laptop connected to the wireless internet and crashed. 6am we got the wake-up call, packed the car after cleaning up and wound our way to UCLA near Beverly Hills. We pulled up to the info station where they gave us directions on the parking structure we should use, how much and how to pay, and where to find the building housing the seminar. Even got a spiffy map! We found it easily enough on the north side of campus, paid the attendants and found the seminar easily enough next door. They offered us fruit, bread and muffins, coffee or tea. I hunted down a vending machine for a soda and we sat in the audience to hear the speakers. After the organizer made his speech we heard the keynote speakers in turn, two of them. The first was more interesting than the second. After that they had two panel discussions, both of medium interest on the state of green industries, job opportunities, what they were doing in those industries, etc. Lunch break was interesting. Although they had a buffet restaurant in the basement, you had to visit another hall nearby to pay. What they didn't tell you is that it was locked and you had to wait for someone to let you in, then pay. What they also didn't mention was that you could purchase a BruinCard in the lobby of our seminar building using the ATM-style kiosk. I took care of our payment early and we went downstairs (elevator, actually) to a horde of kids at Sunday brunch. We got there about 1210pm and I didn't even get an omelette until 1248pm. Jean settled for salad and I went back for more stuff post rush, forgetting the start of the afternoon breakouts at 1pm until we were finished eating. We headed off to separate breakouts with me starting with the non-profit and grant writing one. It was almost over by the time I got there, but I learned a few things. The second one was of nominal interest about green jobs; we spent the first 10 minutes (after a 17 minute delay) just introducing ourselves and why we were there. It was pretty boring. The third and last one was starting when a fire alarm went off. I was in the restroom and came out to find Jean carefully going down the stairs. I asked her where the backpack was she brought and she said a nice gent took it downstairs for her. I helped her down and the guy from the first breakout was guarding it! We thanked him, stepped outside, got hassled by the UCLA staff for standing too close to the doors, so we just left.

We decided to find M&M's Soul Food restaurant north of LAX. I was contacted by a friend in LA who saw my post on Facebook about our premature departure and asked to meet up for dinner. So we ended up visiting with him and his wife at their house, going to M&M's (they were out of peach cobbler much to Jean's horror), had fried chicken (well, mine was smothered baked chicken), and talked until we left their place. We had a reservation in Anaheim near Disneyland for convenience and checked in, unloaded the car, set up the laptop, connected to the internet and crashed.

Monday we got up late, cleaned up, headed towards Disneyland. Our friends were already in the park, so we parked and caught the shuttle in only to be turned away at the security checkpoint because Jean had a Leatherman tool clipped to her purse. I had already passed through carrying a pocket knife, but she had to turn around so I left with her. Because we were meeting friends inside I returned to the car with the terrible devices and we finally entered the park. It's gone up in price since we were last here. Parking was $12, 1-park / 1-day pass was $69 each, and renting a wheelchair because of Jean's knee problem was $12 ($32=$12+$20 deposit, refundable upon return). Lunch (pizza, salad, two drinks) was $27. We went on the Innovention ride (remember the Carousel of Progress?), Star Tours, and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster. By then our friends' kids were getting tired, so we headed out of the park to meet them at Pirello's Restaurant in Buena Park. We tried their hot dog, salad, Italian beef and chicken sandwiches, fries, etc. There was a problem with my chicken sandwich and they had to recook it, then the fries were delayed. All in all it was ok, but not great. It's a chain out of Illinois with some in Indiana and California. Our friends took off for home and we returned to the hotel for rest and internet work.

Tomorrow we head home.

Jean and I attended BayCon in Santa Clara, CA. We left home on Thursday last week in the early afternoon and about 12 hours later arrived at the Hyatt con hotel. After unloading the car and crashing, we got up Friday for lunch and shopping. By the time we returned it was about time for dinner with friends in the lounge and party hopping. They had quite a few including a birthday party in the BASFA party for G David Nordley, a personal friend. Pasadena's Westercon threw a party, the Klingons hosted one and the Fanzine Lounge was open for celebration, too.

Saturday I set up our fan table for FiestaCon, NADWCon and LepreCon. A Tucson fan helped me table sit so I could grab lunch and use the restroom. Once shut down I hit more parties and opted to graze for dinner. Jean was still working on web pages for FiestaCon and ASFA, so she stayed in to munch on groceries purchased on Friday. Parties included LosCon 36, San Jose in 2011 Westercon Bid and the usual suspects.

Sunday I set up late morning, sold a few memberships, got spelled by the Tucson fan again and hit the dealers room, art show, etc. I bought a couple of books to get signed and personalized for friends in Phoenix. Jean wanted to stay in to continue on web page updates, so I ate offsite with a friend. We did Mongolian BBQ this time and it was good. Parties were Reno in 2011 Worldcon Bid, LosCon 36 and the usual others.

Monday I attended the Wither Westercon panel discussion. I also listened to he Hubble Space Telescope update panel which was interesting. Closing Ceremonies were short, the Hiss/Purr/Whatever feedback panel after that was helpful, then we did dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant with friends. It was not very impressive. There wasn't much going on as the con was shutting down, so we stayed in to work on computers and watch tv.

Tuesday we packed up the car and checked out. After lunch we tried to find a store for shopping, but couldn't find it using the address so we just headed home. About 12 hours later we arrived safely, unpacked briefly and crashed. Our trip took 1500 miles, averaged almost 38mpg, and we got to listen to lots of audiobooks.

<== Mike ==>

We just had our May staff meeting for Westercon 62 (FiestaCon). We also had a Program Team meeting and a quarterly board meeting for the sponsoring organization, LepreCon Inc. Those and an investment club meeting made for a really long day at one restaurant :-)

The program is coming along and scheduling is in process. Dealers Room is full. Art Show is filling rapidly. Memberships are lower than projected, but with the state of the economy that's not a surprise. There are still plenty of hotel rooms, unfortunately. Charity Auction has lots of neat stuff. We have lots of freebies coming. Progress Report #4 is being worked on and will include the ballot for Westercon 64 (2011). PR3 contained the bylaws. Visit our website, http://www.fiestacon.org, for additional details. Updates occur frequently. All the Guess-of-Honor should be in Wed afternoon/evening. Final hotel walkthru & staff meeting will be Sun Jun 14 at 12noon MST/PDT at the hotel, of course.

Jean and I will be attending BayCon to promote W62. This will be the last promotional trip until the convention.

Besides W62 I'm working on finalizing the contract for LepreCon 35 (RelaxaCon this fall) and the bid to host Bouchercon 2012. NADWCon has a full hotel and we've arranged for an overflow site nearby. Check out http://www.nadwcon.org for details.

<== Mike ==>

We lucked out on this last trip and didn't lose any cats while out of town. Unfortunately, after being back one day we had two cats pass away on us.

One was Bebe, sister to the previously mentioned Jacques who died some time ago. She was a sweet cat of grey coat with blue eyes. Before we left she had lost some weight. By the time we got back she was ill and passed before we could get her to the vet. Sigh.

The other was Reuben, brother to Isabel. Brown/green/grey tiger with white here and there. Appears to have climbed in the laundry bin under the basket and left earlier today. He was healthy prior to our trip, so we don't know what happened.

It's never easy to lose a pet, especially the sweet and kind ones :(

<== Mike ==>

My wife and I drove to Seattle, WA, to attend Norwescon 32 at the Doubletree Hotel at the SeaTac airport. The purpose of the trip was to promote FiestaCon (Westercon 62) and NADWCon, both sponsored by Leprecon Inc later this year, via a fan table. We departed home on Tuesday April 7 around 2pm MST and drove to Sacramento, CA, arriving around 2am PDT about 750 miles from home in Scottsdale, AZ. Wednesday we finished the drive in about 12 hours and another 750 plus miles. We got checked in ok and with bell service got our stuff to the room in minimal time and effort. As usual we listened to several audiobooks on the way.

Thursday April 9 we spent some time shopping for personal supplies and struggling to find the appropriate bank ATM that was supposed to be nearby. Turns out lots of streets don't go all the way through. Sigh. After lunch and shopping we returned to the hotel and scoped out the fan table. Ironically, it was located next to the stairwell where the last Phoenix Westercon (57 in 2004) had a fan table. Pasadena (2010) had no apparent presence, but San Jose (2011 bid) was next to the Worldcon (Montreal 2009) folks sharing the same table. I decided to purchase our memberships and filled out the reg forms. Uh oh, they require signatures, so I signed for Jean's. Uh oh again, date of birth? Major privacy violation there. Uh oh yet again, no checks accepted. What sf/f con doesn't take checks? Norwescon 32. And I had to supply our dobs to even get memberships. Big Red Flag! But we were here to promote the con and it was either that or go home early. We went out to eat nearby for dinner and crashed after finding no parties going.

Friday I set up the fan table and began to try to get the word out. I spoke to many folks who had no desire to visit Phoenix in July, no surprise there. I also got to see some fen whom I knew and we got caught up on stuff. I called a few friends who live in the area to see if they were to attend so we could set up plans. I managed to attend one panel on future stuff, but fell asleep for a bit. Sigh. After shutting down the table we did dinner with friends and I scoped out the parties. Uh oh, state law requires photo ID to enter parties serving alcohol? I never walk the halls with ID unless I'm going offsite, so after being turned away from a couple of these I had to avoid the parties with door guards which effectively halved the number of open parties. It didn't take me long to return to our room.

Saturday was more of the same fan table sitting, we did lunch with a friend from Yelm, WA, then hit the dealers room in a tag team arrangement so we could staff the table. We did the same for the art show which was very good. I got around to visiting the Consuite for the first time and, you guessed it, uh oh, they wouldn't serve me a soda as they were saving them for main meal times. What Consuite refuses to serve sodas when asked? Norwescon 32. We were on our own for dinner, went offsite again, then I hit parties upon returning. Same problem as before, only half the parties were open. I made sure to visit the Reno in 2011 Worldcon bid party in the tower and had a good conversation there. I then hung out at the San Jose Westercon bid party just down the hall from our room where I had a good conversation with a fellow now living in Portland who had just toured the US with his wife before going back to school. I then crashed.

Sunday we didn't staff the fan table much, instead doing fun stuff and I got to fill in on the Worldcon panel shared with a Portland fan and a Seattle, formerly New York, fan. It went pretty well. We shut the fan table down, headed off to Pike Street Market for a late lunch with a local friend, did some shopping and returned to the hotel. The con was pretty much shut down, so I spoke with some dealers I knew as they were packing out. After chilling in the room we went out to dinner nearby, then shut down early for Monday's departure.

Monday April 13 we packed up the car, checked out and headed south to Portland. Because the car was full we postponed our trip to Powell's bookstore. We also didn't hear back from our friend there, so we hit some outlet stores along the way and made it to Redding, CA, before crashing.

Tuesday we headed south again and made it to Banning, CA, between Los Angeles and Palm Springs, CA, before stopping for the night.

Wednesday we made the last jaunt home, picked up mail and packages waiting for us, processed tax stuff and spent 2.5 hours waiting in line to drop them off at Phoenix Main Post Office. What a cluster! I've never seen it handled so poorly. If we hadn't returned on tax day I would have taken care of it on the 14th. Oh well, after a late dinner we headed home and did some unpacking of the car.

Overall, we drove over 3100 miles, averaged around 38mpg in our hybrid, and had a mixed experience in Seattle. We did speak to about two dozen interested persons in either/both cons we were promoting, we got to hang out with old friends and make a few new ones. Now we have to catch up on chores before our next trip!

<== Mike ==>

Since 1994 the Space Access Conference has been held in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area in spring. Last year was the first year I missed it due to another event being the same weekend out of state (World Horror Con 2008 in Salt Lake City, UT). Except for 1994 I have been on staff and for the last 10 years I've been #2 behind the Executive Director, Henry Vanderbilt.

This year we are at the Best Western Grace Inn, Phoenix, AZ. The conference runs Thursday through Saturday. So far we've had amateur groups, NASA, private launch companies, FAA, etc. speak. It's pretty interesting.

For more info please visit www.space-access.org

<== Mike ==>

Ok, so I've been pretty busy this month.

My wife has been to a dentist numerous times for crowns. She's also been to an orthopedic surgeon about a shoulder and knee problem. In order to avoid surgery she's taking physical therapy 3 times a week until we head out for Seattle to attend Norwescon next month.

Speaking of next month I'm second in command again for Space Access Converence 2009 (www.space-access.org) for those of you who really want to attend a rocket science conference.

Westercon 62 (FiestaCon) is moving forward. Programming is developing rapidly and our website (www.fiestacon.org) is being updated pretty regularly as new info comes in. We're working on Progress Report #3.

We're making plans for ASFA (www.asfa-art.org) at Worldcon (www.worldcon.org) in Montreal. I'm now the President (as well as the Mountain Region Director). Jean is now the Secretary.

Between lots of yardwork and housework, shopping and eating out, taking a non-credit class on Beading 101 at Scottsdale Community College with my wife, it's been a full month. We tried twice to rescue some dogs, but in each case someone else got there first, so we keep our eyes open for another opportunity. Our one remaining dog is doing fine, but is lonely. We board her while we travel out of town.

All in all, it's been interesting :-)

<== Mike ==>