The room was nowhere near the physical set-up I'd requested. No risers were available, so we had to take the head table (fortunately made up of two tables) and set them up as two single tables with some space between them. There was no table for the contestants, so we lifted the water service off the table at the rear and moved that table up to the front. There was no data projector, so we did not do the opening title sequence. Lisa did the tech from a nest in the back of the room on account of there being no place from which she could do it in the front.
yourbob and trinsf turned up early and helped a great deal getting the tables, score indicators, and panelist cards set up while I set up the game board.Things we forgot to bring: our digital camera, so we'll have to wait for
yourbob's photos, and the front-desk call-bell (for a correct answer), which was in the Business Meeting kit where it normally lives.Lisa was unhappy that when we started the show, she accidentally hit the wrong button on the tape deck and played the "think" music instead of the opening titles. The two are the same for the first ten beats, so we didn't realize it was wrong until it was too late to do anything about it. I simply worked through it and as far as we could tell, most people attending were so surprised that we had any game music that they may not have paid attention to it not being the right version.
I'm very pleased with the stand-up foam-core board I made to hold the question cards. It worked very well. Len Wein, the only panelist who hadn't done "our" show before, and a big game show fan as well as a professional writer, said when he looked at the "set" how impressed he was with it, which made me feel pretty good.
Thank goodness there is 30 minutes between panels. We had to rush like mad to turn it into the game set initially, and to turn it back into panel configuration, and even then we started a few minutes late and were only able to play three games instead of four; therefore, we'll play five games of Match Game After Dark instead. We can do that because there is nothing scheduled after us in that room, so we can run late if we want.
Lisa and I kicked ourselves for not thinking of the Spaceport Lounge -- which is an open stage with seating in the restaurant area -- as a perfect place to do this show. Unfortunately, by the time we thought of it, it was too late. Rats! Still, the audience did have a good time, and we hope they'll tell friends to come -- although given the size of the Santa Monica Room, maybe not too many friends.
