The Kansas City Centennial event was the effort of a group of Heinlein scholars and admirers who rose to fill the void and ensure that the celebration of Robert Heinlein’s 100th birthday happened in grand style. The consensus seems to be that we succeeded.
Thanks Where Thanks Are Due
We had the support of more than 600 paying attendees… and no one is due more thanks than those folks who committed their registration, hotel and travel dollars to be with us and make the event a success. (That’s you – take a bow!)
We had the early endorsement of the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, and their experience and people on the ground in KC are what made the mechanics of the event happen.
We had the publicity support of the Kansas City in 2009 group, which carried our materials and banner to all the places they visited in pursuit of their 2009 Worldcon bid. We can say this much: KC is a helluva place for a big convention, and the KC’09 crowd knows how to do it. Here’s wishing them luck in getting the bid this September and telling you that if it’s KC in ’09, you’ll want to be there!
Having the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) and Campbell Conference join us, early on, made all the difference in making the event successful and stable at the critical early stages. Thanks to David Mead and Adam Frisch of SFRA, and James Gunn of the Campbell Conference for your trust and support when we needed it!
It does seem like this list should be longer, doesn’t it? But nope, the small and overworked event committee, plus the above groups and the people they brought to the effort, are what made that magical weekend happen. Think about that for a bit while you’re remembering what a bash it was.
Thanks to Our Sterling Lineup of GuestsThere’s never been an event that brought together A-list guests from so many different worlds. Thanks to all our guests for making the whole much greater than the sum of its parts!
…and many more, some of whom joined panels impromptu and contributed greatly by doing so. Thanks to all of you for coming together and making Heinlein’s worlds collide. |
VolunteersWe said we couldn’t do it without volunteers to help… and we did it because of our fabulous crew of volunteers. Most came to us through KaCSFFS and KC’09, but several key people just walked in (paid!) and rolled up their sleeves. The event ran smoothly and was a success because of these folks’ hard work:
Rolled-Up Sleeves Crew (incomplete because lots of people pitched in when they saw a need):
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Some Attendee Stats…
Here’s the abstract: We had over seven hundred attendees from 43 US states and territories, 2 Canadian provinces, and four continents… Japan, Israel, France, Brazil and Italy, from fandom, academia, spaceflight, government and entertainment.