Fancy Dress Party (WisCon 32 panel)
This year's theme was "Fantastic Academe," and guests were encouraged to attend as graduates or faculty of schools they had, or would like to have had, attended. Georgie Schnobrich decorated the walls with school crests: Hogwarts, Miskatonic, Transylvania Polygnostic (from the "Girl Genius" comic), Pratchett's "Unseen University," and "Saganami Island," the space academy of the Honor Harrington universe.
The food theme was "Classic Wisconsin Graduation Party," honoring Maureen Kincaid Speller's matriculation from the University of Kent. Total surprise was obtained when Maureen first saw her smiling visage adorning the cake, and she was thrilled with the glitzy gown Tracy Benton had made for her. If there was cake, there had to be ice cream, and there was. There was also the aforementioned bheer, cranberry-orange punch, cheese and sausage, "taco dip" and chips, and cocktail franks in barbecue sauce.
Tracy Benton and Bill Bodden were quite spectacular in coordinating emebellished lab coats as members of the Transylvania Polygnostic faculty. Georgie Schnobrich was very 19th century elegant as "Headmistress of the Ladies' Academy of Grace Adieu." Gregory Rihn appeared as "Sagramor the Sagacious," a long-lived sorceror who started his academic career at Oxford in 1208 and has collected schools and degrees up to Wisconsin 1979. Some other good costumes showed up, and the organizers were pleased to the extent other people dressed up for the evening even if not costuming.
The party went very well. Food and punch held out well. Organizers had thought they had over bought the beer a bit, but got a last rush of thirsty fans after midnight; turns out there had been some very popular Dr. Who and "Galactica" panels that ran very late, and by the time the attendees got up to the sixth floor, other rooms were either out of beer or closed up for the night. When word went out that the Fancy Dress Party had plenty of beer left, they were instantly popular again! Things finally ran down shortly before two AM when "last call" was given to the ten or so people left and the party closed.