I just got back from the CALLERLAB Annual Convention. (Actually, I got back yesterday at about 6:30 pm and called a C2 dance at 7 pm.) As usual, it was four days of information overload and sleep deprivation, along with a lot of camaraderie and seeing old and new friends…and even a little bit of dancing. There was always too many options of things to do during each time period (probably the hardest choice was traditional/contra dancing vs. the CALLERLAB Foundation auction, which raised over $12,000…just as well I didn’t have a bidding number; I might have spent way too much money to make a record with Global Music Productions (Doug Bennett’s company)).

Here’s what I did:

Arrived in San Antonio at about 3pm on Saturday afternoon. A friend picked Bill Eyler and me up…the Wilde Bunch was a little nervous about both of their callers traveling on the same plane, but we made it.

Went out to dinner with Del Powell on the River Walk; the concierge had recommended the Rio Rio Cantina for Tex-Mex, and it was fine.

Went to the benefit dance for the CALLERLAB Foundation on Saturday night (can’t find anything about it on the web, although there was a flyer floating around). If I listed all the callers, I know I’d forget somebody, although I will mention that Golden Boot winners Andy Shore and Betsy Gotta called a tip together.

Sunday a.m.: Went to the Beginner Dance Party Leaders Seminar (pdf), even though I’d missed the first full day of the seminar. The most interesting presentation I heard was Mona Cannell’s on historical dance; I especially liked her insights on how clothes and fashion affect the type and style of dancing in a given time period.

Sunday afternoon and evening: Spent time with Vic and Debbie Ceder to make sure we could set up the LCD projector that I lugged with me with both his PC laptop and my TiBook. Kidnapped Andy Shore and his car to take us to Office Depot so we could buy some foamcore to make a projector screen, and then to a grocery store for supplies. On to the Board of Governors’ reception. Went out to Pappadeaux for dinner, continuing a tradition begun at the Dallas CALLERLAB convention. Had indigestion all night.

Monday morning: Breakfast with other panelists up on the 20th floor (what a view!). Opening session. Scrambled during the break to get the projector and jury-rigged screen set up for our 10:45 session on Digital Music. Thank you, Debbie Ceder! Vic, Dick Henschel and I presented (hopefuly) useful information. My presentation is online at here, Vic and Dick’s will be online soon.

Lunch with Don Beck, where we talked about Mac computers and OS X, and I demoed Stone Design’s software. There are a few Mac users (including Tim Tyl, Steve Hoffman, and Lynn Webster) lurking at the CALLERLAB convention, although the vast majority are PC users. I’m not sure I count, since I do most of my square dance calling stuff on a PC.

Afternoon sessions: Missed most of the first session because Don and I continued computer stuff in the hall, after being thrown out of the dining room. Caught the last part of Andy Shore and Tim Marriner’s teaching tips session (really good; get the handout from CALLERLAB), and most of the Fresh Ideas session with Jerry Jestin and Dick Mazziotti. Ditched out early to practice Hex Squares with Clark Baker so I could dance in the BOF session on Hexes (see Hexagon Squares for Clark’s presentation). Bill Eyler also presented; he does hexagons as a gimmick at festivals, with great success.

Dinner: notable for actually ending early. Did some dancing, went up and watched the auction for a while (Dick and Jeanne Gaskill bought the Global Music recording offer). Went back down to the dancing and got in on the standard Clark Baker post-dance fun stuff: hexagons, grand square variations, barstool dancing. Went to the bar and stayed up way too late.

So much for the first day. More later.

Here’s an article in the New York Times about a resurgence in board games: The PC Generation, Back to the Board.

Some sample quotes:

Michael Megalli: “Even when you’re playing against people on the Internet, the human factor, the social interaction, is really minimized. With work and family, it gets harder to see friends as you get older, and the games are a great way to get people together who otherwise have really busy lives.”

Phil Potter: “The great thing about strategic board games is they are a great opportunity to get people together and do something social.”

Mike Kilbert: “In Monopoly, if you get the right properties and get hotels you will clobber everyone else. The people in their 30’s today don’t want that kind of game, they don’t have that mentality. They want games where everyone can stay involved.”

Well, what’s square dancing but a real-time game that’s non-competitive and everybody stays involved. It’s also highly social, and, as an added bonus, adds some physical exericise. What a deal!

There oughta be a law against autoplay music on websites. Here’s yet another example: the 52nd National Square Dance Convention starts playing something (don’t know what it is, because I backed out quick) as soon as the start page loads. But, hey, guess what? I don’t browse in a vacuum, and, as it happens, I was playing MP3s while surfing. Result: instant cacaphony.

I went back to the page briefly, to look for a way to turn the freakin’ music off, but no dice. Bamm, I’m outa there.

Wise up, webmasters: music is a good thing, but it should be voluntary, and (I think) it should serve some function…playing some stupid MIDI file just to have some sound is irritating.

Okay, I turned off my music and went back. The page played a MIDI version of Oklahoma (I can see all kinds of copyright violations, but what the heck), which is appropriate, since the convention is in Oklahoma City, and it only played it once (whew, no autorepeat). But there ought to be a way to turn it off. Quickly.