The Oklahoma Steampunk Exposiiton took way more of my time and energy than I expected, so I didn't post a diary yesterday. Don't worry, Itzl was also too busy making diary fodder to prompt me to write.
There were great, fantastic things about the Oklahoma Steampunk Exposition (OSE), things that vastly overshadowed the few issues.
Itzl dressed in steampunk both Saturday and Sunday, and was much admired by everyone. He had his picture taken so very many times, and got to educate a great many people about service dogs and well-trained dogs. So very many people wanted a dog like Itzl. Many poor commented on how they hated little dogs, and Chihuahuas in particular, but they loved Itzl.
The same old, same, really, yet Itzl never seems to tire of posing for pictures and allowing himself to be petted at events like this.
I ended up being defacto Vendor Liaison, which meant arriving at the hotel at 7:00 each day to make sure things were set up correctly, doors unlocked, and all complaints handled. The vendor room closed at an astoundingly late 8:00 pm, so vendors were tired and cranky by the end of the day.
I had to finish Bev's steampunk dress in time for her to wear it Saturday. All I really had to do were the buttonholes and sewing on the buttons. I got that done by usig her sedwing machine. There was a large learning curve with it, but once I figured out how her machine worked, it was all good.
Saturday was another day of dealing with issues and complaints, with much posing for photos (none of which are, apparently, posted yet).
Sunday was enlivened by the fact that I presented 2 panels, one on hausgemacht absinthe and the history of it and how to drink it; and the other on steampunk teas. These panels were back to back, so there was no set up time between them or time to go get things for the Tea. I had to haul all the things for both panels with me to the first panel, then I used the set up to explain to people what Steampunk Tea is so they weren't just sitting around twiddling thumbs.
Finally, they got to have the tea. I served Buckingham Palace Tea Blend, Windsor Gardens Blend, and Baroness Grey, along with cranberry orange scones, macaroons, deviled eggs, cucumber sandwiches, and chocolate chip cookies piped into "tongues" and dipped in chocolate.
Both panels were well received.
Then it was time to break down and cleanup.
It was quickly accomplished. So many people worked so very hard to make the event successful. The teamwork was amazing, with people pitching in to help whenever they saw a need. The camaraderie, the teamwork, the individualization of nearly everything, the creativity, the sheer pleasure in doing things is why I love steampunk.
But I think, I really think, I'd rather not be on the staff at future steampunk events because I don't get time to vend or socialize or do the panels easily that I'm scheduled to do. And it was only 2 panels!!!! Of course they both were panels that required a lot of stuff: absinthe glasses, absinthe spoons, sugar cubes, carafes of ice water, bottles of absinthe, the hand-outs for absinthe, and then all the Tea things: 3 teapots tucked into the Tea Buddy (a wheeled cart), the cups, plates, spoons, cream, sugar, serving platters, tongs, the food, napkins, tea strainers, and a stack of my Time Tarts and Chrono-Teas, the steampunk tea book I wrote.
I think I'd rather let organizers deal with the running of a steampunk convention while I enact the role of author, Tea Master, and Absinteur.
And Itzl, he was our Tea Party Stripper - his steampunk shirt came unfastened and he walked out of it then tried to put it back on.
Unlike SF conventions, there were few strange sounds that caused Itzl to alert. almost everyone had cellphoine ringtones he'd been trained on and he knew to do the "this sound is happening now but you don't need to do anything and neither do. It's just a noise"
A group of us locally decided to become a steampunk airship, and my daughter would be the seer and mystic, I'd be the monstrumologist/Tea Mistress/apothecary, Itzl would be the audiological phonomenon expert, and the other people are still deciding their roles.
It could be a lot of fun!
Anyway, here are a coiple fo photos of steampunk Itzl I took: