Report on Bartow Con
I knew Bartow Con was cominglong before it got here. But for a long time, I didn’t think I would be goingto it. They had no more vendor’s tables, and the word was that the Klingontable would be outside. I burn at the drop of a sunbeam and don’t handle heatwell, so I saw no reason for me to go.
But then I was remindedthat I was navigator for my husband’s shuttle. I couldn’t get my own costumedone in time, so I borrowed a TOS (the original series) costume and got myselfready to navigate. By then, thank goodness, the ‘club’ tables had been moved toa room inside the building. So we loaded up the shuttle with cargo and apassenger and headed out.
The event was held onSaturday, Oct 14, at the Bartow Civic Center in Bartow FL. We had to have ourarea set up and ready by 9:30 AM on the 14th, or we could arriveFriday afternoon and set it up. We opted to set up on Friday, so we left ourhome about noon, picked up our passenger about 1, and headed for Bartow usinghighways and some local roads. We thought about using I4 to get us abouthalfway there, but it was several miles north of our position, and would havetaken us longer.
The trip was uneventfulexcept we accidentally turned a little early before we actually reached BartowCity Limits. Luckily, that road dumped us onto Old Bartow Road, which wefollowed south and came right to the hotel we had booked. So we checked in, unloadedthings not needed at our table, and had a very late lunch before we went to theCivic Center.
It took us maybe anhour to unload our shuttle and set up our area. Other Klingons were alreadythere, helping the Federation set up their area, but they were mostly done withthat and were very helpful in getting us set up. Having accomplished that, wewent back to the hotel, had supper and settled in for the night.
In the morning onSaturday, hubby was a bit under the weather, so I drove our passenger to theCivic Center and dropped him off. On the way back, I stopped and got some basicmeds to treat my hubby. He was mostly garbed when I got to the hotel room, so Ihelped him finish up, and we were off, arriving at the Civic Center a fewminutes before 10, which was when the even began. I dropped Hubby off at thedoor, then parked the shuttle in the grass with the other shuttles.
Our space was in a roomwith 4 ‘clubs’ having space, and half the room was set up as a panel room. Ittook some time for people to find this room, but by the time the first panel tookplace about noon, visitors were pretty common. Two more Klingons showed upabout 10:30, meaning we had 8 Klingons in uniform for this event.
I spent most of the dayat the table space, handing out brochures, business cards and keychains. That allowedthe others to wander about the con, seeing what was where and who was there.About 4 times, hubby came back with a cup of flavored shaved ice, which weshared between us. One time, he sent me to get a shaved ice, so I could getwhatever flavor I wanted. On my way, I picked up a bag of popcorn, which turnedout to be very salty. And another time, one of the Klingons was enjoying someBirthday Cake-flavored cotton candy. I had never heard of that flavor, so sheoffered me a taste. I pulled off a tiny fluff, and it very definitely tastedlike birthday cake!
Three times, wegathered all the Klingons together to get some group photos taken at variousphoto opportunities. The photos were fun, but the process of getting everybodygathered together in one place was like herding cats!
Let me describe thevenue. The civic center has 2 ‘main entrances’, both of which open into a largeroom with a stage. This room was filled with vendors selling books, patches,uniforms, foodstuffs, craft items, retro toys… Lots of stuff! There was asmaller room to the south of the west entrance, and this seemed to be full ofartists selling their wares. If you turn north before you come in the westentrance, there is another room with more vendors and a guy with 4 or 5backdrops for photo ops. Now, back through the main room. On the north side ofthe stage, there was a short hallway that led to the VIP room, where the mediaguests were selling photos and autographs. There were also other VIPs, such asbest-selling authors and the like. If you go through this room and out theother side, you come to an open-air hallway and you find the room where we werelocated.
Several food truckswere in the parking lot outside the west entrance. If it sounds confusing, it was;there was at least one room I wasn’t aware of before we went to it to havephotos taken.
I think we were allagreed that Bartow Con 2023 was not a bad effort for a first con. I don’t knowwhat kind of meeting rooms the local hotels might offer, but they might deservea look. If the committee finds the Civic Center is their only choice, theymight make maps of the facility available, either on the wall near doorways orin a brochure that also lists the panels and where they are located. And ifthey can find another room, they might consider offering gaming, which isgenerally pretty popular at these types of gatherings. I wasn’t able to watchit, but I understand their costume call was popular, and in front of the stagewas crowded as people waited to hear who won what prize in which category.
After the last panel inour room ended about 5:30, 5 or 6 of us started tearing down our display. Iwalked to the shuttle and brought it around to the closest entrance so we couldload up.
Five of us were stayingat the same hotel, so we all went to supper together and enjoyed ourselvesbefore returning to our rooms for the night.
In the morning, wepiled our suitcases in the shuttle and headed out a little after 9. I was alittle foggy-headed this morning and found myself confused about what directionwe would turn as we tried to follow the instructions backwards. Once Iconfessed that, our passenger got out his Google Maps and took over navigating,sending us cross country on county roads and local streets until we finally gotto his house. We helped him unload his stuff, and then headed home, arrivingabout 11:30.
We feel the journey wasa success.
