A rather lengthy to-do list

The post-mortem was very productive and people came up with lots of good ideas for next year, most of which we can get done without blowing fresh holes in the budget. (See previous post.) So, without further ado…

• Sarah suggested we do a YA short story contest (short stories written by young adults) with prizes, and has already started talking about it on Mad Genius Club, so I guess we’re committed.
• I suggested we do an auction on Saturday night in the tradition of the dearly departed Arcana. This got a lukewarm reception, so we may not do it.
• It was suggested we set up a Discord server for the convention, and a mailing list.
• Also, apparently nobody likes the current website. Holly’s husband got volunteered to do something about that.
• People suggested that we add field trips to the Atomic Museum, Mob Museum, and Hoover Dam for the benefit of people who hadn’t seen them.
• This may have to wait until we get bigger and add another room to the function space, but people asked for science panels.
• As requested, I am going to try to get the hotel to put all our rooms on the same end of the same floor, ideally near the Derby Suite.
• I am lumping two things together here, but we’re going to add author tables to replace the Dealer’s Bedroom, and one of the function rooms will be a dedicated art show/dealer’s room. Also, I’m making an executive decision to cut the price of a vendor’s badge to $50 so that it’s more affordable for artists.
• There were suggestions for guests, about which I have already contacted Toni at Baen. One of our prospective guests has already responded and sounds interested.
• It was suggested that we continue having floor drawing with Caitlin, and it strikes me that one of the rooms in the Derby Suite (which will be our consuite) would be good for this.
• I didn’t write this down, but if one of our invited guests accepts, it was suggested that an outing to one of the many local gun ranges would be a good idea.
• At Sarah’s blog, it was suggested that we name Jerry Pournelle and Michael Flynn as Ghosts of Honor.

We are, of course, interested in other suggestions. Feel free to add them below!