Aug. 29 to
Sept. 2, 2002
San José
Costumers' Suite at ConJose
What is The Costumers' Suite?
It's WorldCon quality hospitality with style.
Unaffilliated with any guild or group, the Costumers' Suite has traditionally been a party open to all costumers and costume afficianados. At ConJose we hope to continue with and expand on that tradition.
This page is a work in progress. Don't be surprised if things change. If you've signed up to host a shift, we will contact you when changes are made.
NEW!!! We now have official confirmation; we have a suite. Budget information is also firmed up. We are still looking for sponsors and hosts.
Suite Events
| Thursday | |
| 8:00-close | CostumeCon 21 - The Chicago MOB |
| Friday | |
| 2:00-6:00 | A Leather Tea, presented by Dark Knights |
| 6:00-8:00 | Closed for Cleaning |
| 8:00-close | TBA, Presented by Mara & Company |
| Saturday | |
| 2:00-6:00 | A Faerie Grotto - The Greater Bay Area Costumer's Guild |
| 6:00-10:00 | Closed for Masquerade |
| 10:00-close | Replay of ConJose Masquerade - Andy Trembley & Kevin Roche with both official and Carl Mami's ICG archive tapes |
| Sunday | |
| 2:00-6:00 | DMSFS Presents: ???? (ssshhh! It's a surprise!) |
| 6:00-8:00 | Closed for Cleaning |
| 8:00-close | Bid Party: CC24 in Sacramento |
| Monday | |
| 2:00-6:00 | Closed for Closing Ceremonies |
| 6:00-close | Manhattan Mondays returns to San José hosted by Lucy Manhattan |
Who is organizing the suite at ConJose?
Andy Trembley and Kevin Roche, with, of course, a little help from our friends
Long-time Bay Area fan and costumer Kevin Roche is a co-founder of the International Costumers Guild and the Costumers Guild West. One of the people behind CostumeCon 12 in Santa Clara, at the convention he introduced the "Single Pattern Contest" as part of the Future Fashion Show. Kevin has also worked numerous historical fairs including Rennaissance Pleasure Faire North and the Great Dickens Christmas Faire. These days, Kevin (with Karen Tully) produces wild, rollicking events for the Greater Bay Area Costumers' Guild.
Recent (well, "recent" being a relative term) Midwestern emigreé Andy Trembley is one of the few, the proud, the fools who made their Masquerade debut on a WorldCon stage. Another ex-rennie, he worked in costume sales at The Bristol Renaissance Faire and in their court. Andy hates speaking about himself in the third person (he thought it sounded foolish back when Bob Dole did it).
Enough of the pompous bios. It's our goal to provide a welcoming environment for all. We just don't want to be tied to the room for the whole convention, so we're actually looking for a lot of help from a lot of friends.
Hosting a shift
The Costumers' Suite is available to costume groups and organizations who wish to host a party, reception, or just host a shift in the suite. The requirements on hosting groups are simple:
- All parties in the Costumers' Suite are open to all convention members.
- You may not turn away people just because they are not a member of your organization.
- You may not turn away people just because you don't like them.
- You will provide the people to ensure the room stays "hosted" during your shift.
- You will provide snacks, refreshments and decor as you see appropriate.
- While masquerade videos are cool, we would prefer them not to take over the whole room.
- You will clean up after your party or shift.
- You are not required to contribute monetarily to the suite, but it would be appreciated.
If you can live within these restrictions, we would love to have you host a shift. Please contact me at webmaster@bovil.com to volunteer, or if you have any questions about volunteering.
Shifts are currently planned for 2:00-6:00 and 8:00-close. If you wish to split or share a shift with another group, please say so. If enough people volunteer, the afternoon shifts will be split and extended to 12:00-3:00 and 3:00-6:00.
Room facilities are solid now. We have a a two-room ("one bedroom") suite. There is a relatively large parlor (without a television) and an attached bedroom (with a television). We will work with the hotel to ensure the bedroom is well set-up for watching videos.
At the urging of Elaine Mami, we are planning to have basic soft drinks and chips/dip/salsa available; for more information see the "sponsors" section below. Please, though, consider providing snacks more appropriate to your theme.
Costumers' Suite Sponsors
The Costumer's Suite will be a "One Bedroom Suite" at $249/night. Over 5 nights and after taxes, that room will cost just under $1400. Both the parlor and the adjacent bedroom will be used for entertaining. We're also looking for an approximately $750 budget for basic munchies and soft drinks ($175/night), bringing the total planned suite expenses to $2100.
Kevin and I have the moola (or at least the credit) to cover this entirely, but covering both the suite budget and our personal WorldCon budgets would make for a very expensive weekend. A little help in defraying the Suite expenses would be greatly appreciated.
If you wish to help out with expenses, we'll gladly take your money. What will this get you besides the satisfaction in helping carry on a WorldCon tradition? Well, your name or the name of your organization on this web page, for a start. If we can afford it, we'll be placing an advertisiment in a future ConJose PR, and we'll list your name (or the name of your organization) there too. And, of course, we'll try to fit this information on our at-convention advertising and signs too.
Disclaimers and Credits
The Costumers' Suite at ConJose is not an official function of ConJose or The World Science Fiction Society. It is also not an official function of The Greater Bay Area Costumers' Guild or the International Costumers' Guild (although the planners are guild members).
Previous organizers of the Costumers' Suite include Barb Schofield & Martin Miller, Susan De Guardiola, Elaine & Carl Mami, Sandy & Pierre Pettinger, and Cat Devereaux.
Pillaged ConJose logo by David Cherry and swiped from the ConJose website (before it was etched green).
Credit for any shifts and parties should go to the shift/party hosts. ConJose Costumers' Suite planning and organization is a Bovine Illuminati/TwistedImage Productions project.