InConJunction XLI
InConJunction is the longest-running nerdy event in Indianapolis. It's an old-school science fiction convention, run by the local club, the Circle of Janus. In the good old fannish tradition, it features an open atmosphere of interaction between the ordinary members and the guests of honor, unlike the celebrities behind velvet ropes we find at the big commercial conventions.
This year's convention was held over the weekend of July 1-3, 2022 at the Marriott Indianapolis East. Due to a change in management, it will be the last year the convention will be held at that hotel, and the concom is currently looking for a new home for the convention.
Because it's a hometown convention, we didn't have a lengthy drive the day before. After lunch, we just headed over to the hotel in order to be in one of the parking spaces at the top of the loading dock ramp for ease of load-in. While we were waiting, I got my newsletters prepared for the weekend, so I'd just have to finalize them and send them out on the appropriate days.
Once we the doors opened, it was non-stop busy loading in and setting up until the end of the day. This year dealers were invited to a meal in the con suite, which meant that I didn't have to go home and get supper ready. We could just head home and I wound up stuff and got to bed.
On Friday we got up early and hurried over to the hotel to finish setting up. We actually were set up in time, but we ran out of space because we were carrying a lot more consignment merchandise. As a result, I had to carry several boxes of low-priority t-shirts back out to the van to stash for the weekend.
Once the doors did open, we had some customers, but the foot traffic at a small convention like this will always be intermittent. I often have to consciously remind myself to downsize my expectations from what we'd be seeing at one of the big commercial shows that have become our bread-and-butter events.
Because sales were so slow, I ended up getting out my phone, intending to use the Notes app to do some work on a writing challenge. Instead I ended up surfing the Web too much and didn't get near as much done as I'd wanted. I might've been better off using the Dragon Touch, but I didn't have it with me, or the necessary documents on it.
In the evening we visited the con suite, then went over to the Royal Manticorean Navy table for a while, but we didn't really have that much traffic. I actually got some writing done, which helped. Then we went home and I did various prep activities for the next day's work.
On Saturday we head back over to the hotel and waited for the con suite to open. Once we did, we had breakfast, then got into the dealers' room and opened for business.
Sales were slow, and I did a fair amount of work on an essay for an e-book I was getting ready to release for Independence Day. I also had a conversation that gave me a key insight on the early part of the Sharp Wars in the Grissom timeline, not only a character's motivations, but also the driving psychology of the anti-Sharp movement.
After the dealers' room closed, we sat table for the Royal Manticorean Navy again for a while and I did some more writing. Then we came home and I got my newsletters finalized so I could hit send on them. I also took care of some other internet stuff before turning in for the night.
On Sunday morning we went back to the hotel, feeling a little glum that this would be the last day of the con, and rather ambivalent that this would be the last time we'd do InConJunction at this hotel, at least for the foreseeable future. Because the dealers' room was opening an hour later, we just hung out in the con suite until we could get in. That gave us an opportunity to talk with some of the regular members.
Once the dealers' room did open, sales remained slow and we started packing right after lunch. By the last half hour, we weren't even trying to hide our efforts.
When the front doors closed and the rollup door opened, I grabbed a cart and started hauling in the empty boxes so we could pack the t-shirts and other things that we didn't have room to keep the boxes for. At first things seemed to be going rather slow, mostly because the van was parked in the back parking lot rather than at the top of the ramp to the rollup door. However, as other dealers finished loading out and cleared the area, I was able to move the van to a better position and shorten that trip, greatly speeding up the load-out process. In the end, we got done quickly enough that we were able to get to the dead dog party and have some pizza.
Afterward I took the van up to the storage unit and unloaded the merchandise, since we needed to get some preventive maintenance done in preparation for our big trip of the year, and rain was in the forecast.
Copyright 2022 by Leigh Kimmel
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Last updated August 19, 2022.