Official Stuph:

Tina distributed copies of the 12/8 meeting minutes. They were approved. Marcy reported that as of the end of December the treasury was at $355.76. Vicki made a donation, and Aurora and Toni are renewing.

Byron said that not much is going on with the ICG right now. The ICG had the opportunity to acquire a copy of Quicken at a greatly discounted price. Lifetime Achievement Award nominations are still open. Any ICG member is good standing may nominate (if you are not, give to Byron and he will submit).

Toni, as “Vice”, said that her report is “Don’t Get Old” – she is still recovering from her stroke in November.

Arisia: There were 3,600 attendees there. The Masquerade had 38 entries (39, but one scratch), two more than last year. The same costume got Best in Show and Best Workmanship. The halftime “entertainment” was terrible – Karaoke! Toni praised the con suite and staff den – they had REAL food! Toni was on 8 panels, Byron & Tina on 3 each.

Lunacon: Weekend of 3/15-17: Mike will be Masquerade Director; he said that he hopes to bring new blood to the masquerade through his contacts in the anime, etc. communities. Byron sent Diane’s list of possible program items to Meredith, and Lisa also contributed hers. Toni also sent her some suggestions. So far no response. The members of the group expressed their hopes that this year Lunacon would give the program participants their schedules earlier than the week of the con.

There was a brief discussion of what people thought about why Arisia and Balticon are doing well, and Lunacon and Philcon seem to be dying. Lack of “fun” factor at the latter; no longer announcing their next year’s guests by the end of the con; lousy publicity; poor social media presence; division heads don’t answer inquiries; really late notifications to program participants of program items.

Costume-Con 31: Who’s going? Byron & Tina. Faith - maybe - friends & family in Denver

Balticon (weekend after CC): Diane said Jim & perhaps the girls will be going, but she will be away in Turkey. Rich said Lisa put a query up on the Pups list, looking for program participants. Byron & Tina will still be driving back from CC, so can’t attend.

Other miscellaneous items of potential interest: Architectural Digest Home Show in NYC (3/22-24). A quilt show the first weekend of March at the Garden State Exhibition Center in Somerset. FIT will have an exhibit of shoes soon. The Harry Potter exhibit @ Discovery in NYC is very good (Toni - there’s a Harry Potter convention in Nashua, NH). The HBO store should be putting up an exhibit of Game of Thrones items soon, before the new season starts. There’s a retrospective of Dr. Who on Sunday evenings on BBC America. Farpoint Con: Baltimore area, Pres. Day weekend: Faith said they’re still hanging on, taking on more anime and steampunk. Boogie Knights performing. Shore Leave now moved to early August.

April (4/13): Taking Body Measurements workshop, to be held at Marcy’s @ Wyncote, PA.

June (6/15): topic & location TBD (Byron & Tina may host in Morristown area).

Meeting was adjourned at 6:45.