Filk con & lyric query

Quick answer first: the "Pile high, pile high" refrain is from "The Digwell Carol", the very last song on the FIRESTORM tape from Leslie Fish.

Further ruminations on a filk con next:

First, <blink>. Gad, I suppose in *this* crowd I may indeed have the most concom experience--which is a little unnerving, as said background consists of a couple of turns at "junior assistant" level at a couple of Baycons, and my contribution to this year's Orycon (Pocket Program & Writers' Workshops). I know a number of the PorSFiS crowd, true, but my actual conrunning experience is not all that deep.

By and large, I think the brainstorming is on the right track here. And I think we probably do have enough volunteers to fuel a small concom--bear in mind that a small con with narrow programming should only *need* a small concom. (Again, for size-and-shape models, we might look at past August CONs in Portland, and perhaps at the Portland and Seattle Potlatches.

What would be needed, I think, to frame a serious proposal to someone (either PorSFiS or a Seattle parallel group, and my own preference would be PorSFiS), would be the following:
# the beginnings of a concom, and in particular a chairbeing
# a site (city at minimum, interested hotel if possible)
# an approximate date
# plausible guesses at attendance and budget
# outline of planned programming/guests/GoH(s) (can be general)

The hardest part of this is going to be a con chair, because I can think of exactly one person in the entire Northwest who has *both* high interest in filking and extensive concom experience--and I very much doubt that she could be talked into doing that job. Besides which, we need Cecilia more as a guest anyway.... Truthfully, I think some sort of demonstrable administrative/organizing talent will get us farther than general concom experience in this line.

Size isn't too hard to project; CON and Potlatch, as I recall, ballpark at ca. 200 bodies, which I suspect is about minimum threshold to make the economics work.

Budget is a little trickier. Major expenses will be (a) GoH costs, usually transportation, room, and per diem (aka meal money); (b), hotel costs [possibly including tech support and/or equipment for performers and concert spaces]; (c), hospitality (we *do* want a hospitality suite, right?), (d) publications/PR [flyers, progress reports, program book and/or con songbook]. Here our best bet may be to see if we can get a concom treasurer or three to let us pick their brains.

replySite remains under discussion. Two thoughts: if we are planning for the long term, it might be worth considering a rotating scheme such as Potlatch has used--say, alternating between Portland and Seattle. (With a smaller con, we will also have a lot more flexibility in picking hotels.) Or we could look between the two--there *is* a Red Lion, probably soon to be a Doubletree, at Kelso, for instance. If they have enough function space, that might be a very workable compromise.

Date is also still under discussion. We probably need to keep clear of both Orycon in November and Norwescon in the Easter/Spring Break area, and then there's Rustycon (when is that, anyway? February?). This is one reason I've been thinking August, although late January/early February might work if that's not where Rustycon is.

<yawn> Which is enough ruminating for now; I need to go fold socks and get ready to go off to California for a week.... Received on 11/23/96