Eric Thompson knocked on Danielle’s ajar office door; she looked up and waved. “Got a minute?” he asked.
“Of course!” she assured. “Come in.”
“I just wanted to see how the party preparations were going,” he commented as he sat down.
“I’ve got a hospitality team working on it right now,” she disclosed. “It’s mostly good news. One hitch is that all the possible locations at the fairgrounds were too pastoral for a formal party. Most of them are made for gardening shows, cattle auctions, stuff like that. Largely dirt floors; concrete if we’re lucky. So they’ve booked a giant ballroom at the convention center downtown for your black-tie event. I assume that’s to your liking.”
“Of course!” Eric beamed. “I’ve been to functions there before. Their chefs are top notch!”
“The plans for the public event at the fairgrounds are proceeding quickly,” she added. “Once word got out, interest exploded; at this point, we’ve got a full week of festivities, and we may add a few more days.”
Eric seemed taken aback. “Well…I appreciate the popular interest…but now it’s going to cost us ten times what I was mentally budgeting.”
“Actually, it won’t,” Danielle corrected. “The people who used to be part of the city’s Fair Commission heard what we were doing, and were very interested in helping! It’s mostly retired people, elementary school teachers, scout troop leaders, people like that. The civil unrest and budget cuts prevented them from hosting a fair for a really long time; they seem really eager to bring it back! And most of them are volunteers; we’ll just reimburse them for some expenses.”
“You’re right, that does sound a lot cheaper,” Eric agreed.
“It gets better. Our first plan called for hiring food vendors and ride operators, but that’s not how they do things. Now, we’re renting the space to local businesses. We recoup some expenses, and they get lots of foot traffic!”
Eric laughed and put his hand to his forehead. “That sounds great. I totally had the wrong idea about how to run a fair. This plan sounds a lot better.” He sat up. “Besides, I’m far more interested in the formal party. How are the plans for that going?”
“Mostly well,” Danielle began. “As you requested, we have enough space for everyone with a supervisory title, plus key technical personnel. But…16otaku is resisting.”
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Eric rolled his eyes. “Oh, them again. Always a handful. What’s their complaint?”
“They’ve begrudgingly accepted your request to fete them on stage, but they would strongly prefer not to be asked to mingle with the crowd. Something about not being good with people, and having had enough of that lately.”
“I suppose I can understand that,” Eric parried. “But I really wanted to show off our heroes! I think a lot of people are coming just to see them.”
“As a concession,” Danielle added, “they said around three dozen of the latest-model robo-butlers would be ready by then, to handle serving food and drinks.”
Eric blinked. “Wow, that was more than I was expecting. I guess I can cut them some slack.” He relaxed in his chair. “Besides, this event is mostly so that I can mingle with the crowd. I rarely get to see all the people that make this company work, without the usual hierarchy of intermediaries. It’ll be refreshing to hear from the ones down in the trenches, so to speak.”
“I sure hope you’re ready for that,” Danielle cautioned. “You might get an earful.”
“I hope I do!” Eric gushed. “I look forward to it!” He pondered for a moment. “I wonder what it takes to get power nerds like 16otaku to take an interest in company parties? This was meant to be a reward for them, to celebrate their achievements.”
“Oh, I think they’re doing quite well on their own,” Danielle hinted.
Eric arched one eyebrow. “How so?”
“It varies,” Danielle explained. “Stacy is apparently a big music fan; she had very firm opinions about the sort of musical acts she wanted to see. Finally, she took over one of the larger exhibition halls, and plans to have a week-long rave. I and the Fair Commission told her she could, as long as she kept it family-friendly. She assured us she would.”
Eric gestured with his hands. “Why do I even doubt them? I should know better. I can’t wait to see what she’s put together! At least, if I can pull myself away from the midway.”
“Gary and Irwin have taken up that task,” Danielle informed. “I don’t have much information on it, but apparently they’re working with the ride operators to make sure everything is safe, and to ‘soup them up’. I can only imagine what they mean by that.”
“Sounds like something else to look forward to!” Eric grinned.
“And finally,” Danielle sighed, “Isabel and Dwight have reserved several time slots in the arena during the day, for…kung-fu battles?”
Eric closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of course they did. I think I’ve learned my lesson here; I can’t believe I was concerned in the first place.”
“They’re not the black-tie type,” Danielle agreed. “But when it comes to the fair, it seems they’re in their element!”