March 21, 2015 Meeting of the NJ/NY Costumers’ Guild (aka, the Sick Pups)

Hosted by Lin @ Guilderland, NY

Meeting Minutes presented by Tina Connell

Attendees: Lin (host), Debi C., Byron & Tina, Diane, Marcy, Rich & Stephanie, Susan & guest Debbie Coombs. Merlin provided the floor show.

The meeting was called to (dis)order by Byron at 3:35, following the Sari workshop by Debi.

Official Stuph:

Review of Minutes: minutes from the January 24th meeting were approved.

Treasurer: As of the end of February, we had $334.57 in the account. Byron asked Marcy to please mail reminders to any members who haven’t paid their dues yet. She noted that we haven’t heard from Bruce Adams in quite a while; he was retired and in poor health the last time we heard from him.

ICG activities: The ICG will be deciding on a new chapter, Time Travelers CG, based in Portland OR. The ICG will be approving a new special interest group: Props and FX. To be part of a SIG, one must be an ICG member. There were 6 names nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award. They will be using an Australian ballot this time. Balloting closes on 4/15. The annual meeting of the ICG will be at Costume-Con – if members are not planning to attend, they should give Byron, or someone else who will be attending, a proxy.

Lunacon & Lunarians: Byron & Tina went to the 2^nd meeting. There were approx. 25 people there; membership is presently 34. The meeting was primarily focused on Lunacon. Guests of Honor will be Robert Sawyer & Rick Sternbach. The committee is presently negotiating with two hotels, the (usual) Hilton and the Marriott. Abi will be running the masquerade and the costume program track. Diane commented that Abi has been having some health issues and may need backup. The next Lunarians meeting will be on 4/19. Memberships are $30, and are prorated for those joining later in the year. Diane said their Facebook page is very active. Byron said that they have submitted articles of incorporation to the NYS Dept. of State, but haven’t heard back yet. Once they do the club can take care of a lot of other business (new bank account, new PO box, application to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status). The club will be having an Indiegogo campaign to raise money.

Albacon 2016: Byron announced that (for his sins) he will be Chair of next year’s Albacon. Dates are not set yet, because we’re waiting for Lunacon to set their dates so there won’t be a conflict. Albacon also can’t go up against Balticon or Costume-Con. Byron asked for suggestions for possible GoHs. Susan suggested GRR Martin, and Diane suggested Michael Stackpole, who would attract Star Wars fans.

Show & Tell: Byron passed around newsletters from the ICG, the St. Louis and Virtual Costumer guild chapters. Both the ICG and the Virtual Costumer solicit article submissions. One doesn’t have to be an ICG member to submit articles.

Arisia: Stephanie and Debi commented on problems at Arisia this year re: photography without consent.

The Library of Congress is presently having an exhibition: ‘Grand Illusion: The Art of Theatrical Design’ which runs until 7/25. It will then move to LA in August. There is an exhibit of Donatello sculptures at the Museum of Biblical Art in NYC. ‘It Came From Schenectady: Science Fiction in the Capital Region’ is an exhibit of SF memorabilia, costumes and art in the Schenectady, NY area (Mabee Farm, Rotterdam), running through September 2015. Byron & Tina loaned art and costumes. Coming in May, and running through mid-August is an exhibition at the Met Museum, ‘China: through the Looking Glass,’ which will be located in the Costume Institute gallery and two other galleries. Diane mentioned exhibits at FIT featuring Lauren Bacall, Halston, and ‘Faking It’ which run until various dates in April.

Albacon 14.5: (5/8-10 - Mothers Day weekend) The con is aiming for about 150 members. There will be a writers workshop, ice cream social and artists reception on Friday evening, gaming, films, no masquerade but awards for hall costumes. The Con Suite traditionally has ‘real’ food. Elektra Hammond and Keith de Candido are expected, in addition to GoH Mur Lafferty. Debi: our room block is on the 1^st floor, as is all of the function space (the hotel does not have an elevator).

Costume-Con 33: (5/15-18): Byron said if any of our members are going, please consider entering the SF&F Masquerade. There were some comments about this year’s Folio – very few designers, and distributed very late. Devra had to resign as Dealers Room manager, due to her health; so far they don’t have a replacement, and have few dealers yet. CC finally has a tech director, Sue Kulinyi.

Balticon: (5/22-24): Debi is now Bid Chair for the NolaCon bid; there will be a bid party at Balticon. Someone from Arisia will be the bid treasurer. She said that if New Orleans wins, Kevin and Andy will work with her, and if their bid wins she will work with them.

Pi-Con: (7/31-8/2): The Pups meeting at Pi-Con will be sometime on Saturday (a 2 hour block will be scheduled - time TBA). Since this will be a meeting at a con, in function space, we will not have the usual feeding frenzy pre-meeting. There will be a costuming track and masquerade: Carol Salemi is running it. If any of us want to do a workshop, let her know.

Sasquan (WorldCon Spokane, WA, 8/19-23): Byron went to Spokane at the end of February. The masquerade will be held on Friday, in a real theater, with raked seating for 2,800. Due to space constraints and lack of elevators in the theater, the green room will be in the convention center, and then contestants will be taken across a breezeway to the theater. There is room for about three dens in the backstage holding area. Byron thinks the masquerade may have about 30 entries. He already has three volunteers for the green room. The convention center space was recently expanded. Riverside Park (adjacent) is very nice. Spokane is located in high desert – daytime highs in August will be quite hot but cool down at night. The Davenport hotels are Marriott properties now. Lin said she might be there. Sasquan is expecting about 3,000 members in attendance.

AnimeNext, Somerset, NJ (6/12 - 14) was mentioned.

Debi said she will be at far too many cons this year, to push NolaCon.

New Business: Election of officers will be held at the June meeting. “Be there, or be elected!” Byron will not be standing for Prez this year, because he will be too busy working on Albacon 2016.

June 13^th at Diane’s house, Kendall Park, NJ (workshop TBA)

Weekend of July31-August 2 at Pi-Con at the Sheraton Hartford, next to Bradley Airport (Windsor Locks, CT). On Saturday: exact time/function room will be announced later. To be hosted by Debi Chowdhury. She said that the meeting will have cake, as it is her birthday weekend.

Meeting was adjourned (relapse into chaos) at 6:05 pm.