[photo-3d] NSA Y2K

["Howard Wade" <HWADE@xxxxxxxx>]

Back from Mesa with a few observations. A mostly well-run convention 
within a mostly hostile (weather-wise) environment. I thought Stereo 
Theatre projection was excellent throughout. Theatre scheduling was 
mixed—great on Saturday, bad on Friday. Somehow they got way
ahead on 
Friday by as much as 20 or 30 minutes. People scheduled their day 
around seeing certain productions and when they came at the appointed 
time their program was long since past. It probably worked fine for 
people who sat in the theatre from start to finish, but for the rest 
of us it was very frustrating and disappointing. 

There were some truly spectacular entries in the Stereo Theatre. I 
didn't see every show but my favorite would have to be Robert 
Bloomberg's *Masks* for thematic content and the consistent
beauty 
and technical quality of the slides. Frequent contributors to this 
list presented some wonderful shows: Tom Deering produced a 3-D video 
that was funny and poignant and technically brilliant, as well as a 
touching tribute to John Baird; Dave Kesner and Dale Walsh produced 
two different and incredible views of Winter; Boris was up to his 
usual astronomic standards with two shows; Harold Baize presented a 
wild show on Burning Man; and Ron Labbe worked with David Klutho on a 
couple of knockout SI-related productions.

Besides Tom's tribute to John Baird there were also very
heartfelt 
and well-produced tributes to NSA stalwarts Bill Duggan and David 
Hutchison who passed away earlier this year.

Room-hopping was lots of fun as always and it seemed that plenty of 
business was being done as well as socializing. Some rooms were 
jammed all the time, Boris Starosta's and Jon Golden's for
instance. 
The Trade Show was much smaller than last year's with a
particular 
dearth of used equipment. Maybe e-Bay has taken that segment away.

What I liked the most: the wild and wacky Anaglyphic Swim-in that Bob 
Bloomburg organized late Saturday night at the pool. What a kick in 
the head to see a pool full of people wearing red-blue glasses 
watching really bad movies in the hot desert night. Three cheers for 
the red, wet and blue. Also seeing Dr. T playing Marco Polo in the 
pool with about a dozen children before the movies started.

Things I missed most from my only other NSA convention: The truly 
great Green Bay Hotel with its free breakfast bar and happy hour that 
brought everybody together. And Bruce Springsteen and Gail Trottier.

All in all an excellent convention with only a few rough spots. I 
look forward to hearing what other participants have to say.

Howard D Wade
hwade@xxxxxxxx