----------------------------------------------------------------------
At Gilliland's, Rosa Oliver presiding. The meeting was called to order at 9:20 PM, and the minutes were approved as corrected. Treasurer Bob Oliver gave the fourth quarter and year-end reports. Fourth quarter receipts were $309.48 and disbursements were $1,121.80 for a fourth quarter loss of $811.82. WSFA began the 1981 fiscal year with $1,224.49, received $4,890.02, and paid out $3,690.22, for a year-end balance of $2,424.29.
DISCLAVE 81 - The artists are being paid, but hotel bills haven't been received yet. We appear to be in good shape.
DISCLAVE 82 - Elizabeth Lynn has accepted as GOH. We will probably be back in the Sheraton.
ENTERTAINMENT - WSFA got tickets for the Saturday June 6 matinee of "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" at Arena Stage. Tickets were not available for the preview of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Doll will look into the possibility of a theater party for "Outland."
MEMBERSHIP - Two new members were taken in: Jeffrey Berman and David Lindsay.
PUBLICATIONS - The June Journal was distributed.
OLD BUSINESS - zilch.
NEW BUSINESS -
ANNOUNCEMENTS -
The meeting adjourned at 10:17 PM.
A three-word film review: Go See RAIDERS !!!
------------------------------------------------------------
The WSFA Journal is the official publication of the Washington Science Fiction Association. Editor in Chief: Jane Wagner, 1000 6th St. SW #308, Washington, DC 20024 (202-554-2730). Assistant Editor: Joe Mayhew.
At Oliver's, Rosa Oliver presiding. The meeting was called to order at 9:16 PM. The minutes were approved as read. The treasury stood at $5,677.89. More than this total is coming from Disclave.
DISCLAVE 81 - About one-third of the revenue has been turned over to the treasury - $3,333.33.
DISCLAVE 82 - We have a contract with the Sheraton National. Room rates are $40 flat. Some of the new function rooms will be available, and so will some of the same problems. The high school group we met this year has a 10-year contract, so they'll be back. We will try to get some other function rooms, since the high schoolers will occupy the same function rooms next year. NO PETS will be allowed next year (this clause the result of somebody's pet boa constrictor). There will be a penalty clause for damages, due to a carpet ruined by cigarettes in the huckster room this year. We will make arrangements to survey the rooms before and after use.
ENTERTAINMENT - Somebody besides Doll will have to be responsible for the 4th of July picnic.
MEMBERSHIP - Two new members were taken in: Letitia Wells and Tim Childers.
PUBLICATIONS - The July Journal will be out at the next meeting. We need people to write articles for future Journals.
OLD BUSINESS - Barry & Judy Newton offered to host the 4th of July picnic, and the club voted to accept this offer and to pay for the meats. BSFS accepted the smofball challenge. Festivities will commence at 12 noon.
NEW BUSINESS -
ANNOUNCEMENTS -
The meeting adjourned at 10:09 PM.
The 5th Friday Party in July will be at Lisa Peoples and Mary Morman's place (map below). Directions: Take I395 in Virginia to King St. (Rt. 7), and go west on King St. At the third light, turn right. Take the first left (at the traffic islands). Location of revels is in the first court (4847B S. 28th St.). Park on street.
[map coming soon]
The International Cookie Conspiracy was a smashing success. We served home-baked cookies the whole time the Con Suite was open. On Sunday we served cookies coming into the Hucksters' Room as well as at the registration desk, and we still took cookies home! It took a 5th Friday Party and a WSFA meeting to eat them all up. Highlights: the gingerbread dragons, the planetary art cookies, the chocolate chip cookies with the computer chip on top, and the steamer trunk full of cookies that wandered in.
Saturday night, the hotel posted the stairways off limits. What happened was that there was a tour group of little old ladies blocked into the third and fourth floors. Given some of the costumes walking around, particularly the black leather and chains variety, it could have easily been cardiac arrest time. Eventually we talked the hotel security into taking the signs down and posting their people where the tour group was.
Most of the problems were bare feet and carrying beer in public places. There were a few related to costume-type weapons. The Planet of the Apes character ran afoul of Virginia's anti-masking law which is aimed at the Ku Klux Klan. Most of the security men are Marines holding down a second job. They are not unreasonable, but they aren't fans, either.
The hotel gets high marks for its operations people. They were cooperative, intelligent, and courteous. We told them to block and they blocked, and lo...there were no complaints from the hotel about noise in the con suite! We told them not to overbook, and they did not overbook, and even though they were full up, they didn't turn away any confirmed reservations.
The convention? What I saw of it looked pretty neat. I would have liked to attend.
We arrived at Disclave this year with our usual anticipation mixed with apprehension. Disclave would probably be fun, but the last con we had been to had been the ill-fated Balticon with its goons, and we dreaded another hotel run-in since we had hopes of using the Sheraton next year.
But Disclave turned out to be remarkably hassle-free, all things considered. I wasn't on the program, as I had been told I was, but Bev and her hardworking crew got me registered quickly and back into the lobby to smof* and carry on.
The only program item I attended all weekend was Isaac's GOH speech
which was, as expected, pretty good. The only complaint I have is that
I had the misfortune to choose a seat right by the only propped-open
door, and thus missed part of it, as the noise outside the hall
increased. (Being in the first trimester of pregnancy has this
unfortunate effect of making you need to pee frequently, and I wanted
to be prepared by being near a door.) I briefly attended Jack's panel
on art shows, but was called away by an urgent need to eat breakfast.
There seemed to be fewer pros this year than last year, but maybe
it just seemed like there were more in the crowded confines of the
Hostility Hospitality House.
The Art Show was pretty good, but we've come to expect that. I did miss seeing Steve Stiles' "Little Grunt" pieces, and mentally kicked myself** for doing so all weekend, as people gleefully discussed them. The Huckster Room was hot and overcrowded, but I found myself in it a lot all weekend as many of my friends had table there. I was particularly glad to see Loyal Fred Ramsey and the rest of the crew from Paracon, one of the finest small cons outside the South (plug, plug), and he tried to sell me the Last Words of Dutch Schultz. (I already know what they are.) (Hail Eris.) They informed me that my advisor in college, Philip Klass (aka William Tenn) would NOT be coming to the con.
But truly, parties are the heart and soul of Disclave. The back of my badge was covered with cryptic little notes about room numbers, times, days, etc. It's a good thing I'm eating for two, otherwise my diet would have been blown to hell by all the goodies at the parties. Not only the usual forms of salt you expect (pretzels, potato chips, etc.) and Disclave's INTERNATIONAL COOKIE CONSPIRACY, but fudge, fruit salad, Siberian Souffles, Sangria, and I don't think I even made it up to the NY in 86 party with all their goodies. (And I was avoiding the dread NY in 83 party, not wanting to be contaminated by their foul presence.) I did part of my party-hopping with Adrienne Fein and Arthur Hlavaty, the Hugo-nominated fan writer (yet another plug). Stand-out parties of the con were Baltimore in 83, featuring a 9-year-old girl walking on Mr. Moose's back (My Ghod, he does start them young, doesn't he!) and Dalroy Ward's private affair (uh, I think that's the wrong word to use around Dalroy...) which featured B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y C*A*K*E.
I missed the Parker-Bemis wedding due to slow service at the Big Boy, but once the con suite was open we staked out the king-size bed and sat on it while we smoffed all night. (Except for when we watched slides of the space shuttle, which brought back fond memories.) We listened to how Rusty went to the first Denvention, dropped in briefly at the Paracon party, went out to eat at Denny's, and then drove the 90 minutes home to Manchester.
This con report lacks a concluding sentence (self-referential statement).
------------------------------------------------------------
*SMOF: to carry on in a manner befitting a
secret master of fandom.
**Not very easy to do, I assure you.
This year's 4th of July Picnic is being hosted by Barry and Judy Newton. Festivities commence noonish or so, and continue until it's time to go watch the fireworks. WSFA is buying the hot dogs and hamburgers; be sure you bring your contribution to the general munchies table. The great WSFA-BSFS GRUDGE SMOFBALL GAME will take place on the high school baseball diamond next door. Y'all come!!
[map censored]