Programming began at noon today, and I browsed various panels as I roamed the hallways of the two Hyatt towers finding out where everything was… Dealers’ room opened at noon. Art show opened at 2pm, but haven’t made it there yet.
Highlight of the day was the Opening Ceremonies, in which toastmaster John Scalzi moderated the event like a talk show host, sitting at a desk and introducing each guest of honor, who would take a seat in the armchair nearest the desk, while previous guests shifted down a spot. We had Erle Korshack, co-chairman of the first Chicon (the second Worldcon) way back in 1940; then Mike Resnick, the sister (whose first name I missed – Kathy?) of absent artist guest Rowenna Morrill, Jane Frank (art agent), Peggy Rae Sapienza (fan, who’s run the Nebula Award ceremonies the past two years), and Sy Liebergot (Apollo mission controller who was on duty when Apollo 13 happened). Everyone spoke well, and the audience was entertained.
Earlier I strolled through the dealers’ room, which is decent sized, and took a couple breaks to post today’s post and glance at email. Later I had an early dinner at Houlihan’s, right on the corner by the hotel, with a small group; we then strolled down to Millennium Park, since someone wanted to see the Bean — i.e. Cloud Gate — which I’d been to, so I led the way. And in the adjacent Jay Pritzker Pavilion a jazz festival was playing; we listened to that for a while.
Parties are presumably underway this evening, and after posting this I’ll check those out.
