Beyond the required Annual Meeting, the Heinlein Society also spent considerable time and effort to create a strong presence at Renovation.

The Society’s Information Table was manned essentially all daylight hours of the convention.  As the Table was outside the secured room where Dealers, Exhibits, and Art Show were held, it had to be set up each morning and taken down each evening.  A number of fans stopped by the Table to pick up “I Grok Heinlein” badge ribbons, or information about the Society (with some on-the-spot renewals or new registrations), or candies from a never-empty bowl, or simply to talk about Heinlein.  In addition to professional authors such as Robert Silverberg and Gregory Benford, the famous radio personality Dr. Demento stopped by.

A set of paintings once owned and displayed by Robert and Virginia Heinlein in their home was lent to Renovation for display.  The paintings were by Chesley Bonestell, F. Kelly Freas, and Fred Ludekens.  President Sheffield took great care to safeguard the paintings by removing them for secure storage when the Art Show room was closed for the day, and re-positioning them each morning.

As a side note, also on display was the original cover art for the first paperback edition of Stranger In A Strange Land.

The Heinlein Blood Drive was held on the first day of Renovation, with mention in the massive convention Souvenir Book, but nothing on Wednesday’s daily program grid.  While donors sought out the Society’s Information Table, the conditions in combination led to a low and disappointing 12 units gathered.

On the final day of the convention’s programming, a panel titled “Stranger at 50” was offered on the 50th anniversary of the publication of Stranger In A Strange Land.  Playing a central role in the panel was official Heinlein biographer and first Society President Bill Patterson.