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morgandawnI spent today pulling excerpts from a 20 page progress report from the 1973 Star Trek fan convention, Equicon. The concom received thousands of registrations - followed by thousands of letters from fans asking everything from directions to the hotel to William Shatner's mailing address. After laboriously scanning, copying and pasting the letters and responses, all I can say is: I LUV YOU CON ORGANIZERS!VOLUNTEERS!GOPHERS. YOU ARE CRAZY GOOD PEOPLE!!!!!
In particular, after looking for restaurants that deliver to the Vividcon hotel, this exchange had me grinning. Can you imagine the reaction of con attendees today if they read this response?
Food at the convention: Hotel policies against outside food were very strict in the 1970s. Even the maids were to be feared. Attendees asked: "Could you tell us if there are any drive-in places to eat near the hotel or perhaps a supermarket? My two friends and I are going to eat very cheaply the three days we're in Los Angeles. Money can be a problem sometimes! -Kim P." and "I have a religious dietary problem; can you arrange for the hotel restaurants to accommodate me? -J.N." and "How can a fan eat at a convention? I brought some strawberries into the hotel last year, they stopped me and said I couldn't take them to my room! -B.J.K."
"EQUICON 74 will have a guide of places to go for good but inexpensive meals. We don't want our attendees so hungry they faint from malnutrition--which has happened at cons! But play it cool: bringing food into a hotel and eating supermarket goods in your room is taking money away from them, and they rightfully resent that. When you bring something in, don't use an obvious supermarket shopping bag--there are many other things you can carry nibbles in! Don't just carry the strawberries out in the open. When in your room, be sure to clean up after yourself, and put all food away in a drawer; otherwise the maid will report it to management. Try to get food that won't go bad and smell up the room, or make a big mess; keep to high protein stuff instead of sugars, too! No, we cannot take on the job of handling everyone's dietary problems, sorry. Make your own arrangements with the hotel's restaurants AT THE TIME OF ORDERING: it is very inconsiderate to take up everyone's time fussing about it this early in the game: the restaurant can only do its best.)"
In particular, after looking for restaurants that deliver to the Vividcon hotel, this exchange had me grinning. Can you imagine the reaction of con attendees today if they read this response?
Food at the convention: Hotel policies against outside food were very strict in the 1970s. Even the maids were to be feared. Attendees asked: "Could you tell us if there are any drive-in places to eat near the hotel or perhaps a supermarket? My two friends and I are going to eat very cheaply the three days we're in Los Angeles. Money can be a problem sometimes! -Kim P." and "I have a religious dietary problem; can you arrange for the hotel restaurants to accommodate me? -J.N." and "How can a fan eat at a convention? I brought some strawberries into the hotel last year, they stopped me and said I couldn't take them to my room! -B.J.K."
"EQUICON 74 will have a guide of places to go for good but inexpensive meals. We don't want our attendees so hungry they faint from malnutrition--which has happened at cons! But play it cool: bringing food into a hotel and eating supermarket goods in your room is taking money away from them, and they rightfully resent that. When you bring something in, don't use an obvious supermarket shopping bag--there are many other things you can carry nibbles in! Don't just carry the strawberries out in the open. When in your room, be sure to clean up after yourself, and put all food away in a drawer; otherwise the maid will report it to management. Try to get food that won't go bad and smell up the room, or make a big mess; keep to high protein stuff instead of sugars, too! No, we cannot take on the job of handling everyone's dietary problems, sorry. Make your own arrangements with the hotel's restaurants AT THE TIME OF ORDERING: it is very inconsiderate to take up everyone's time fussing about it this early in the game: the restaurant can only do its best.)"