April 13. 2013 Meeting of the NJ/NY Costumers’ Guild (aka, the Sick Pups)

Hosted by Marcy at Wyncote, PA

Meeting Minutes presented by Tina Connell

Attendees: Diane, Byron & Tina, Marcy, Susan T., Elektra & Mike

The meeting was called to disorder at 4:10, following the workshop on taking body measurements, at which we mostly paired off, with Byron taking photos, and Elektra abstaining due to recent shoulder surgery. Tina brought along a book she had recently bought from Devra, (Threads magazine’s “Fitting for Every Figure”) which was very helpful as a guide on how to take the measurements. Note from Tina: this book is very good, with copious illustrations and explanations, and is well worth the price.

Official Stuph:

Tina distributed copies of the 2/2/13 meeting minutes. They were approved. Marcy reported that as of the end of February the treasury was at $313.46. Susan said that the estimated expenses to maintain the website are approx. $150. The group voted to reimburse her for her out-of-pocket expenses immediately.

Byron said that not much is going on with the ICG right now. One new feature of the ICG website is a list of all of the officers. Voting on the slate of officers for 2013 will take place at the Annual Meeting held at Costume-Con; Phil and Aurora are willing to run again for President and Vice President respectively. Zan had mentioned on line (re: guild chapters in the area) that Richmond area costumers are interested in starting a chapter. They would need six members to start a chapter.

Activities and Con Reports:

Diane: the Museum of the City of New York had an exhibit of 60's clothing. Also, an exhibit of how you can design/live in a 325 square foot apartment. She said that she, Susan, Laura and Kathy went to see the Game of Thrones exhibit in NYC – it was only there for a week! There were 7 hour long lines to get in to see it. Diane took photos and gave them to Susan to put up on the website. She said that the costumes and armor were gorgeous, beautifully made and detailed. They also went to FIT for exhibits of shoes, boots and fashion & technology, and then onward to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Impressionism exhibit. After going to five exhibitions in one day, they were exhausted!

With regard to Game of Thrones author G.R.R. Martin, Elektra said that he will be GoH at Capclave, in the DC area in mid-October. Anyone interested should get their memberships now; they will sell out early. She has a new book she is editing (“Cats in Space”) which she hopes to have out by Capclave.

Upcoming Cons and Events:

Costume-Con 31 (Denver area, 5/16-19): Byron said that at present, he has no assigned duties. Marion Clark is running programming, so it is likely that programming will run smoothly.

Balticon (Memorial Day weekend): Elektra will be very busy there, with programming, shadowing Marty, a Darkquest book launch on Sunday, and a mini-hat workshop. Susan said that people attending the latter should plan to bring trim bits and scraps for the hats.

Anime Next (6/7-9): will be in Somerset, NJ. Diane won’t be attending, but Laura will.

Lone Star Con (WorldCon) (8/29 - 2/2): Byron & Tina will be driving there. Elektra plans to attend but will be flying. Byron said that Julie Czerneda will be there; she has a new fantasy novel out, a switch from her usual SF. Hugo ballots are out – they haven’t been mailed yet, but are posted on the website. Elektra: the Hugo voter packets should go out in May.

Albacon (1^st weekend of Nov.): Byron said it will be a relaxacon this year (with a writers’ workshop), at a Residence Inn in Saratoga. In 2014 it will be a “real” con again.

Philcon (11/8-10): Elektra is Masquerade Director and is working on Programming. Byron volunteered to run the Green Room for her. Marty will be M.C. We gave Elektra permission to use any of our photos from previous Philcons for publicity. Susan said they should have lots of photos on their website of people having fun, esp. young people. Mike said that there will be a LARP this year; Gary found someone to run it. Mike Rafferty will be doing Tech. Syd Weinstein says he will do the masquerade. Elektra thinks that Seth will be coming in to help out.

DarkoverCon (#36 - aka Darkover Grand Council) (11/29-12/1): Elektra: Jaelle died a couple of months ago in Finland, where she had been living since she married. She has been paying the costs of D-Con out of her own pocket for many years.

Other miscellaneous items of potential interest:

Costume-Con 33 venue: Rob & Sandy put off their visit to settle hotel contract. They will be going down sometime shortly after Costume-Con.

Byron has priced Hall Costume Award ribbons at Hodges. It will be $108 for 200 ribbons. Once our logo is in their system, it will be easy to reorder. We decided on yellow as the color. Possibly also Spazzy ribbons (give to all new/previous winners). Byron & Tina will be donating them.

New Business: Set more meeting dates:

September (9/21): at Diane’s

November (11/23): also at Diane’s

Upcoming Meetings / Workshops:

June (6/15): Working with Patterns: location TBD (Byron & Tina will host in the Morristown area).

Elektra said that she plans to have a party at their place in Delaware in December, and that the Pups are invited. Note: she & Mike have cats, if you are allergic.

Meeting was adjourned at 6:00.