ConGlomeration 2006
Conglomeration 2006 was held over the weekend of August 11-13, 2006 at the Clarion Hotel and Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. We headed down on Thursday, and after a storm things turned very hot and humid. I kept a very close eye on the temperature gauge as we drove, since the engine of the van was not liking the heat.
We got to the motel where we were going to spend Thursday night and settled into welcome air conditioning. However, we didn't have good lighting, so it was difficult to use the Palm VIIx to write.
Friday we got up early and got out of the Quality Inn to head over to the con hotel. We made good time and were ready as soon as they opened the doors. However, we then made an unhappy discovery -- because of all the rain and a roof leak, the carpet in our area was wet. We were given a couple of extra tables in our backspace to pile our backstock on, and we agreed we could work with it.
That only lasted until we discovered that water was dripping from the overhead pipes onto our merchandise. The dealers' room coordinator got several people to help us relocate to a corner of the art show so we wouldn't get our stuff dripped on.
Once we got set up, we got checked into our room at the con hotel and settled in to sell. I tried to get some writing done during the slow periods, but once the loading dock door was closed, the air conditioning was cranked up so high that I got too chilly to write.
After the dealers' room closed for the night, we had supper. Then we went to the various parties.
Saturday we got up early and headed down to the con suite for breakfast. Then we headed over to the dealers' room to get our tables opened. Sales were slow, but we got a few really good ones. In between sales I worked on my writing.
In the evening we had supper. Then we had a rather fraught conversation in the con suite before we went around to the various parties.
On Sunday we had breakfast, then got our personal belongings out of our sleeping room before heading over to the dealers' room to get our tables open. At first business was slow, and I even had writing time. But just as we started packing, we got a rush of business that slowed our packing and actually made our sales much better than we'd hoped.
We got some excellent help and were able to get out quite quickly. After a final visit to the con suite to say good-byes, we hit the road. We had some uneasy moments when the alternator gauge started fluctuating, but it settled down and we got home safely.
Copyright 2012 by Leigh Kimmel
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Last updated October 21, 2012.