FirstNight was really cool. It's amazing to see a single WorldCon event (other than the Masquerade) draw that many people for that long of a time. Magicians, musicians, dancers and a faux political convention (vote for your favorite dead author) combined with the regular activities of the ConCourse (the Fanzine Lounge -- John Hertz got his way on the name -- hosted a TAFF/DUFF reception). It was an excellent start to the convention.
Parties were decent or better. Columbus/Nippon bid party continued. Australia 2010 bid party was amusing. TorCon rotting-corpse-of-the-dog party was OK.
And surprisingly, the Broken Drum (a convention-center operated bar in a con-decorated space) is a wild success. Good wine, good beer, good entertainment.
Oh, and we caught up with
sleepy-time!