SMOFCon Montreal Day 3: Three and Out
This final day of SMOFCon 38 started with the Stuffie Panel.
Kuma Bear is taking care of his Girl this weekend and wasn't able to attend, but would have been welcome to sit in on this panel.
I spent most of the day hanging around the Hospitality Suite, keeping the coffee flowing (there was only a five-cup machine that was a tad balky at times) and now and then being the "Responsible Adult in Charge" while people doing the real work had to run out on errands.
Programming ended with my final panel, entitled "Mock WSFS Debates," that in theory was an opportunity to work through potential WSFS rules changes, but many people were already leaving this afternoon, and only three people (not counting me) attended, all three of whom (starting with Ben Yalow), were "usual suspects." Here's what I wrote about it elsewhere.
Chair Kevin Standlee called the meeting to order at 14:05. Observing a quorum was not present, the Chair asked if there was any objection to adjourning. Ms. Deneroff raised a point of order that inasmuch as there was no quorum, the meeting could not consider any motions. The Chair ruled the point of order not well taken, as when a quorum is not present, there are three motions allowed under Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised: 1. Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn (in effect, postpone the meeting while you figure out how to get a quorum). 2. Adjourn. 3. Recess (typically to attempt to acquire a quorum).
There being no further objections, the meeting adjourned at 14:07.
After having a sandwich in the Hospitality Suite, I went back to my hotel room and watched some of the England-Senegal World Cup match, lightly dozing at times, before returning to Hospitality and socializing until I was summoned to do boon work: helping to move some oversize items down the freight elevator to the hotel forecourt and help load them into a vehicle so they could be returned to storage.
Later in the evening, a small group (I'm trying to keep dinner parties down to a maximum of four people) walked a hundred meters or so to Siam Thai restaurant.
By then, I was quite hungry, and enjoyed coconut shrimp and a bowl of spicy beef curry.
Returning to the hotel, I took a COVID test (negative, thank goodness) and spent an hour or so SMOFfing in Hospitality. This was not trivial. The high-bandwidth socializing at SMOFCon is extremely important, and we had a number of important conversations that I hope will develop into some things we'll be able to announce sometime next year if we can reach the necessary agreements. I'm not going to talk about them here, of course, as they'll need to be discussed in further detail with a lot of other interested parties, but I'm looking forward to seeing how things turn out.
Unlike last night, I hope to get to sleep before midnight. Tomorrow I have a full day in Montreal without having to change hotels, which will give me a chance to go shop for a few things on which I have had my thoughts. Nothing fancy, but I hope I can find those things.
Kuma Bear is taking care of his Girl this weekend and wasn't able to attend, but would have been welcome to sit in on this panel.
I spent most of the day hanging around the Hospitality Suite, keeping the coffee flowing (there was only a five-cup machine that was a tad balky at times) and now and then being the "Responsible Adult in Charge" while people doing the real work had to run out on errands.
Programming ended with my final panel, entitled "Mock WSFS Debates," that in theory was an opportunity to work through potential WSFS rules changes, but many people were already leaving this afternoon, and only three people (not counting me) attended, all three of whom (starting with Ben Yalow), were "usual suspects." Here's what I wrote about it elsewhere.
Chair Kevin Standlee called the meeting to order at 14:05. Observing a quorum was not present, the Chair asked if there was any objection to adjourning. Ms. Deneroff raised a point of order that inasmuch as there was no quorum, the meeting could not consider any motions. The Chair ruled the point of order not well taken, as when a quorum is not present, there are three motions allowed under Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised: 1. Fix the Time to Which to Adjourn (in effect, postpone the meeting while you figure out how to get a quorum). 2. Adjourn. 3. Recess (typically to attempt to acquire a quorum).
There being no further objections, the meeting adjourned at 14:07.
After having a sandwich in the Hospitality Suite, I went back to my hotel room and watched some of the England-Senegal World Cup match, lightly dozing at times, before returning to Hospitality and socializing until I was summoned to do boon work: helping to move some oversize items down the freight elevator to the hotel forecourt and help load them into a vehicle so they could be returned to storage.
Later in the evening, a small group (I'm trying to keep dinner parties down to a maximum of four people) walked a hundred meters or so to Siam Thai restaurant.
By then, I was quite hungry, and enjoyed coconut shrimp and a bowl of spicy beef curry.
Returning to the hotel, I took a COVID test (negative, thank goodness) and spent an hour or so SMOFfing in Hospitality. This was not trivial. The high-bandwidth socializing at SMOFCon is extremely important, and we had a number of important conversations that I hope will develop into some things we'll be able to announce sometime next year if we can reach the necessary agreements. I'm not going to talk about them here, of course, as they'll need to be discussed in further detail with a lot of other interested parties, but I'm looking forward to seeing how things turn out.
Unlike last night, I hope to get to sleep before midnight. Tomorrow I have a full day in Montreal without having to change hotels, which will give me a chance to go shop for a few things on which I have had my thoughts. Nothing fancy, but I hope I can find those things.