OK.  It isn’t quite a nightmare.  Everyone arrived safely and are in their dorm rooms.

That’s about all I can say.  We had one late flight, which isn’t too bad, but our videographer’s camera equipment didn’t arrive with him.  Ouch.  I fear the worst.  Airlines seem to lose or misplace bags with expensive equipment a lot more often bags full of clothes, in my experience.

Launch Pad Arrival.  We didn’t get out of the airport on the road until after 9pm and it was 11:30pm before arriving in Laramie.  People were tired after all the long travel (Pat Cadigan came from London for instance!).

This was the real nightmare.  We try to make the experience positive and take care of everyone.  We buy everything anyone should need and have it ready for them, we check out things in advance, etc.  And we showed up and none of the key cards for the rooms worked.  They recoded them and they didn’t work.  They opened some rooms with temporary keys, then those stopped working.  Eventually they used a master to get some rooms open and we found out they all didn’t have linens the way they were supposed to.  Then they went to tell everyone to go back downstairs to get hard keys.  And when we asked about taking up internet cables for everyone, there was a remark about how they’re only supposed to be for “counselors.”

Oh my freaking god.  I am so embarrassed for my self, my group, my university, and my state.  It was after 12:30 pm before I left with the problems only mostly resolved.  We start at 9:30 am tomorrow morning and I’m not going to get enough sleep.

The group seems enthusiastic and great and I feel like we’ve already let them down.  We’ve had minor problems in the past, but everyone is going to be tired and cranky I fear, and with good cause.

I don’t know how we’ll do for video.  Stacey is going to try to work with my Sony Handycam, and hopefully United will deliver his lost bag.

I push so hard to try to do more every year, better every year, for more people every year.  I kind of want to pull back to smaller and simpler.  I mean, I flew back from Brazil just for this and the clueless folk in the dorm can’t even take care of these great writers and give them keys.

I have great patience and understanding, most of the time, but I guess I’m tired and cranky.  The dorms are cheap for University events and really help stretch the NASA grant money and let more people attend.  But tonight I just don’t know.

All I can do is try to make the workshop totally awesome.  And I will.

At least my kitty seems happy I’m finally back home tonight.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Tags: uncategorized