This is the thread where we can discuss what happened at TONMOCON II, and post our pics and materials and share our stories. My take:

I had a ball. It was great to finally meet people I've known for years online. And it was equally great to again see the folks who attended TONMOCON I after two years.

The first night we gathered at the Old Salty Dog -- it was a perfect setting. I forgot to bring my camera out that night so others will have to contribute here.

After that, we went to the motel where most folks were staying for the "after party". Hard to put into words what that was like, but suffice it to say it was highly enjoyable. Some good pics came from that one, but again I didn't have my camera (but was able to delete one thank heavens... guys, let's save THAT discussion for the Supporters forum, please! :wink:)

The event itself was very rich in content -- comparable to that of TONMOCON I. We juggled the agenda a bit since Rich (Thales) was unavailable, and with Greg (Cthulhu77) not there either, the edge was taken off the ethics discussion :grin:... but we did cover it for about 20 minutes or so.

Erich and Rebecca made Ceph Races a reality; we had a good laugh at that one.

The presentations were fully documented; Jason (cephalopodcast) recorded about 90% of the presentations I'd say, and WK had a video camera on a tripod. Again, there were all the digital cameras taking videos and pictures too, so there should be lots to share.

We could have had a larger turnout I think, but at the same time, with the amount of time we had and the company present, we were not lacking in any way. It was a busy day and a half, all time extremely well spent for me and my family.

The people at Mote were incredibly gracious and accommodating. I can't thank them enough!
Ok, here are some pics, more later -- rest of you, please share as well!

Here were the presentations I threw up there...

Sounds great Tony! I thought about it all day from my sick bed!

Looking forward to all of the "dirt" !

This is the only picture I took the whole weekend:

http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/~cthompson/steve_wk_overthetop.JPG

Hmmm. Who won?:lol:

I think it depends who you ask. WK would probably say he won by disqualification. Steve would probably say he won by being witty. Somebody (I forget who exactly) captured the contest on video and was going to post it on youtube. If that video has any audio, the details surrounding Steve's controversial victory will become clear. If not, it's an R-rated discussion for the Supporters forum. :wink:

Carol's son... and i'm pretty sure it has audio.... :lol:

I'm at a machine here and finding it awkward to operate .... the marvels of modern technology.

Here are just a few pics, in no particular order. I'll have to add stories later on as I'm tight on time right now. I've also had to reduce the image size considerably, so if you want full-size images just pm me.

We needed more time there! What a great bunch to vacation with!

:)

There's a real story behind some of these (late-night antics)!

cuffleboard? shuttleboard?

Can we get some names to go with the pics, so for us that did not have the honor of meeting people can know whos who?

Steve's pics:Top down.
Brian Walls (White Kiboko)
Erich Orser
(L to R) Monty, Debbie, Tony, Nancy, Sharon, Jason and Greg
Tony
Brian
Melissa
Steve, Carol, Kevin & Heather
Tony, Brian, Steve, Erich, & Monty
Kevin and Brian

And a few more (excuse my 'bad hair' day)

That's all from me (pic wise) today

Those are awesome. I'm sorry I missed the Sunday night party... looks like it was fun!

Looks like everyone had a really good time. So jealous I couldn't go!! Next year!!!! :smile:

or the year after that!

Just everyone bring plenty of B Complex vitamins. Take them before going to sleep. Works like a charm, most of the time.

Here are a couple more from my camera...

First: stars of the ceph races

Second: Steve presenting

Third (L to R): Angus (back), Debi Ingrao (from Mote; SquidMum), Trish (from Mote), Jess (Carol's daughter), Greg (Illithid, correct? Never made that connection before!), Carol (corw314), Steve, Brian (WhiteKiboko), Neal (DWhately's husband).

some more...

First (L to R): Monty, Nancy (from Mote), Heather Braid, Kevin (Carol's son), Jason (cephalopodcast), Debi Ingrao (from Mote; SquidMum), Trish (Jason's wife), Carol (corw314).

Second (L to R): Brian (WhiteKiboko, aka WK), Tania (my wife), Erich Orser

Hey everyone it's Kevin,

I finally uploaded the video to O'shea wanting brian to do em, I threw it on youtube.com, I must say its rather hilarious!

Here's the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AnLiwYGSY0

Yep, that's about how I remember it...

Thanks for posting it!

Oh, dear... :wink:

...Greg (Illithid, correct? Never made that connection before!)

That Greg is actually gjbarord... If Illithid was there, I didn't get to meet him, although there were a few folks who came in in the afternoon who I didn't get a chance to talk to... There were 4 people on the attendee list who I didn't get to talk to (aside from the known cancellations of OB and Thales): Illithid, Girlsquid, Donnerboy, and norgebyblood -- if any of you were there, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you, and if not, I'm sorry you couldn't make it...

As far as I know, I didn't get to meet any of these members, either. If you showed but didn't hang out, let us know!

And a few from me...

First, two speakers -
Debi Ingrao from the Mote. Note that wonderful squid costume!
Greg Barord

And a look at what the area near the Mote was like.

Wonderful conference!

Nancy

:shock: Oh man... you can dress :oshea: up, but you can't take him out.
Sooooooo, this is my first time online in about 6 weeks, and it looks like the con was great - so jealous!

Ok folks, I took a bunch of pictures but can't figure out how to post them. Can someone jump start me?

Click "go advanced" in the quick reply box. Start typing your message... in the section below you will see a "manage attachments" button. Click that, and another window will pop up. Click the browse buttons to locate the files on your hard drive. You can attach up to 3 items. Once you've chosen your three files, click the upload button. Wait a while to allow the files to upload. The page will change and you'll get a confirmation that they uploaded successfully. Then you can close that window, to come back to your reply screen. Finish up your message and post. Easy, right? :smile:

Pic 1: the presentation room (New Pass Room)

Pic 2: the stuffed octopus greeting us at Mote (my daughter named it "big blue"

Pic 3: Us during lunch break at the New Pass Grille... a very short walk from Mote... DWhatley is unfortunately obstructed by the pole... you see Erich and WK in the background... and D's husband Neal is in the foreground.

That Greg is actually gjbarord... If Illithid was there, I didn't get to meet him, although there were a few folks who came in in the afternoon who I didn't get a chance to talk to... There were 4 people on the attendee list who I didn't get to talk to (aside from the known cancellations of OB and Thales): Illithid, Girlsquid, Donnerboy, and norgebyblood -- if any of you were there, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you, and if not, I'm sorry you couldn't make it...
Ah, OK -- I assumed it was Illithid because I didn't see anyone else claiming to be him, and I wasn't sure what Greg's username was... but to your point, it seems there were a number of folks who couldn't make it -- too bad, would have liked to meet them, too!

Pic 1 - alternate group shot

Pic 2 - more of the display as you walked into the New Pass Room

Pic 3 - another shot of the presentation room

Here's some pictures from the motel on Saturday afternoon. First picture Erich , 2nd GregBarord, 3rd Steve.

Here are 3 more: !: Carol 2: Kevin, Heather, and Jesse 3 Kevin and Jesse

The next 3 are from the Salty Dog.
1 Tony and Monty
2Colin
3 Trish

More from the Salty Dog.
1. Greg, Jesse, Jason, Lianna (Tony's daughter)
2. Steve and Tania
3. Neal and Dee

The next 2.
1. Nancy, Carol, and Tony
2. Steve and Tania

More from the Salty Dog.

1. Someone from Mote, and Greg
2. Monty
3.Jess, Liana and Frankie

More...
1. Jason and Liana
2. Steve and Tania
3. Colin and Melissa

and more....(whew!)
1. Colin, Melissa, and Angus
2 & 3 Monty

Back at the motel...

1. Erich and Greg
2. Angus, Monty, Nancy, Erich, Brian, and Greg
3. Trish and Melissa

And just to clarify, "Colin" in these pictures is me, not Colin Dunlop, the "Colin" you all know from this forum. "Colin" didn't get to attend the conference.

Clear as mud?

More from the motel
1. Neal
2. Heather, Angus, Nancy and Monty
3. Angus, Monty, Nancy, Erich, and Brian's foot

and more
1 & 2 Steve and Heather

more
1. Monty, Erich and Dee
2. Neal and Melissa
3. Erich and Debbie

and more
1. Debbie, Carol, Monty, Greg, Melissa and Brian
2. Steve, Neal Erich and Dee
3. Debbie, Steve and Neal

A few more from the motel.
1. Brian, Erich, Steve's foot, and Carol
2. Erich, Steve, Nancy and Carol
3. Kevin and Heather

I think these are the last.
1. Jason and Greg
2. Tony and Nancy
3. Erich and somebody from Mote

Most poignant.

Looked like it was a lot of fun!

Oh, this looks great and must have had a right old giggle. It's good to see photographs of people outside of the single images on the staff page. Now we really know what you look like!

Debi's brilliant octopus costume must have raised a few eyebrows. Classy indeed.

Oh, this looks great and must have had a right old giggle. It's good to see photographs of people outside of the single images on the staff page. Now we really know what you look like!

Debi's brilliant octopus costume must have raised a few eyebrows. Classy indeed.

Actually, it was a squid costume. Check out the tentacles in the photo with Erich. It was really clever and is making the old brain cells churn away with ideas for a complete squid costume.

:sad:

:sad:

Indeed, we missed you... I only left you and Cuttlegirl off the list of no-shows because we had news that you'd had to cancel. Next time for sure, right?

We did miss both of you, and commented on it more than once. Melissa and Angus ended up in your room, ob, and Cuttlegirl would have been staying with us. The more the merrier. It was fun, but would have been more fun if the 2 of you were there too. We were, however, very glad that Melissa nabbed your room before a non ceph head could.

Good look at Mr Stripe

http://www.rebeccaroka.com/mrstripe.jpg

And now: Miss Glamourpuss!

http://www.rebeccaroka.com/glamourpuss.jpg

Two of Black lightning.

http://www.rebeccaroka.com/blacklightning1.jpg

http://www.rebeccaroka.com/blacklightning2.jpg

Unfortunately, we have no good pictures of Mr Blues.

Sharon, your pictures are great. I want more!

Let me say how great it was to meet you. You are one of my new Favorite People On The Planet.

Why thank you very much. I like you and your beautiful family too. I wish there were more pictures, but that's all I have...except for one of Steve that I refuse to post because I also like him. :wink:

...except for one of Steve that I refuse to post because I also like him. :wink:

post it.......gwan.....dare ya....:twisted:

Nope. I'm not that mean. Close, but not quite.

Awesome pics and and fantastically good time was had by all! I so enjoyed meeting everyone and I didn't realize how many of us were staff, that's a pretty decent showing!!!:smile: We arrived home Tuesday night and it was back to work for me on Wed. I have many more pics but for now here is just a few! All the Tonmo member pics are on a different camera which I have not had the chance to load yet....more to come!!!!!!

I'd love to see the items from the local paper and the TV news spot that covered the event!

Sorseress,
I am not sure why you are not posting unflattering pics of Steve when you posted that red headed old lady picture of my grandmother ;>)

PS

I will look at what is in the camera tonight but haven't even unpacked yet as we are in trauma at work.

Here are links to my photobucket slideshows:

TONMOCONII:
http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o6/dwhatley/TONMOCON/?action=view&current=27000b96.pbw

MOTE:
http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o6/dwhatley/TONMOCON/?action=view&current=8a6ca889.pbw

And a couple of unposted shots:

Dang. I gotta make it to the next one.

You can say that again. Is it too early to start wondering where TONMOCON 3 is going to be held?

Great to see you all in Sarasota; here are a few pictures from the 'con. I've put up some others in a temporary gallery at http://my.raingod.com/gallery/2007/tonmocon2007/. The large versions (suitable for printing, putting on T-shirts etc) are available for download there as well, so if you see one you like, grab it now (because the gallery will go away in a month or two).

And some more pictures ...

Last three (but there are more in the gallery)

Those are some great pictures. I like your captions too.

Excellent!

Great to see you all in Sarasota; here are a few pictures from the 'con. I've put up some others in a temporary gallery at http://my.raingod.com/gallery/2007/tonmocon2007/. The large versions (suitable for printing, putting on T-shirts etc) are available for download there as well, so if you see one you like, grab it now (because the gallery will go away in a month or two).

Cool! If it's OK, I'd like to use the "cuttle whisperer" pic various things, like possibly my staff pic (although I may choose one of the ones that really shows my face as a headshot for that; I got a lot of "you need a better staff pic" comments in Florida...)

Cool! If it's OK, I'd like to use the "cuttle whisperer" pic various things, like possibly my staff pic (although I may choose one of the ones that really shows my face as a headshot for that; I got a lot of "you need a better staff pic" comments in Florida...)

I have it from Angus that he'd be very happy for you to use the photos. "The reason why I put them all up was so everyone could use them however they wanted."

I have to tell Clem that people recognized me by the avatar he made.

Melissa

I got a lot of "you need a better staff pic" comments in Florida...)
Me too. What's up with that?

Monty,
I vote for the "Talking with cuttles" picture for your staff shot! It has kind of a Star Trek appeal.:grin:

Actually, I vote for one of the "cute Monty" pics.

but the cuttle discussion photo is cute (IMO of course)!

Me too. What's up with that?

Sounds better than: "Your personality is much more tolerable than it is online..."

ok, i may have taken liberty with the wording, but i did hear it several times.... :hmm:

yeah, i'm calling you out erich... :grin:

:roflmao:

Sounds better than: "Your personality is much more tolerable than it is online..."

You won everyone over when you said that your nose doesn't inflate. :lol:

You won everyone over when you said that your nose doesn't inflate. :lol:

Unlike his tongue!

can't see the mole, so you can't prove it's actually me....

and steve, just remember i've been holding out on posting pics/vids, so don't bother showing the non-zoomed image....

it would invite (s)Quid Pro Quo....

I have to tell Clem that people recognized me by the avatar he made.

Melissa
I nailed the umbrella.

:wink:

I only recently (after TONMOCON) realized there were appropriate words on her dress as well - You nailed the whole image!

Just in case this hasn't gone around yet

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070625/VIDEO01/706250690/-1/xml

Thanks Trish! Love that clip!

*sigh*

Folks, it took a long, long time before I was able to finally look at this thread. I'm still a little broken up about missing the festivities, and the pics -- while absolutely delightful -- made me feel the disappointment of not being there all the more acutely.

It looks like everyone had such a great time, and it was really cool to see what many of the TONMO regulars actually look like. Funny, the only one of y'all that I've actually met is Melissa, yet I feel as if I know so many of you personally.

I especially loved those li'l robo-cuttles! Which one of you created them? I'm not kidding, they could be prototypes for a new toy -- there's a store here in NYC called KID ROBOT which specializes in upscale toys of that type, and I'll bet if you sent them photos of your creations they'd ask you for a batch to sell!

The photos of the real-life cuttles were equally impressive.... one of them, with the little guy floating in the water column in profile, gave me a vivid flashback to the Guild Navigators in David Lynch's film version of DUNE. (I'm 99.9% certain that he based their design on cuttlefish, right up to the eyes.)

This year has been a washout so far, and will probably continue to be. In addition to missing TONMOcon, AnimeNEXT and Otakon (two major East Coast anime cons), I've had to forgo the opportunity to hear His Holiness the Dalai Lama lecture at Radio City Music Hall in October, because the tickets run $25 to $75. I will be going to the NY Anime Fest in December simply because I purchased the ticket awhile ago and can't get a refund, but to tell the truth, in retrospect, I would've rather skipped it and saved up to attend both TONMOcon and HHTDL's lecture instead. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.... doesn't do much good.

I sincerely hope I can make it to TONMOcon next year, but that depends on both its location and our financial status. I can't imagine that it will take place any closer than Florida, and if I couldn't even afford to go there, I certainly won't be able to go if it's any farther away. Besides, we've got members all around the world who are certainly entitled to attend a TONMOcon in their neck of the woods -- I assume the next few TONMOcons will be in places like the UK or even Kiwiland.

The irony of the situation hasn't escaped me -- after all, as some of you may remember, it was Yours Truly who first put forth the idea of an annual TONMOcon, and it looks like I'm fated to never actually attend one.

OK, enough Eeyore-speak for now!!! What I can hope for is that at various times in the future, each and every one of y'all will (individually) get a chance to visit Da Big Apple, and we can meet for lunch, dinner, a visit to the NY Aquarium, or AMNH, or whatever. After all, it just takes two TONMOers to make a "minyan" for a minicon!

Many-armed hugs to everyone.... e-mail or PM me when you get the chance, and keep those neat photos coming!

Love from your Benthic Buddy,
Tani

And if anyone would ever find their way to Planet Vlaardingen, same goes: we have a fishery museum, dedicated to 6 centuries of catching herring... hello? Anyone?

Would so have enjoyed having been present, next year for sure dudes et dudettes!

Since TONMOCON's are actually bi-annual events (first was in '05, this one was '07, next will probably have to be '09), I definitely think the mini-TONMOCONs should start becoming more frequent. We should talk about an NYC TONMOCON -- I know Clem and Tani are there, and it's just a short ride for me to get there. Carol is nearby as well, and I'm sure there are others. Something to discuss!

Interesting thought Tony, I had already started up PM discussions towards said aim... Adam and myself have built a small track record, so organizing the matter should be in safe hands here :wink:

Since TONMOCON's are actually bi-annual events (first was in '05, this one was '07, next will probably have to be '09), I definitely think the mini-TONMOCONs should start becoming more frequent. We should talk about an NYC TONMOCON -- I know Clem and Tani are there, and it's just a short ride for me to get there. Carol is nearby as well, and I'm sure there are others. Something to discuss!


Even though it's a bi-annual event doesn't mean we can't start planning the third one now!

Absolutely! Here are my own thoughts on options, in no particular order:

-- Back to Monterey (such a neat place, and on a personal note I missed Dr. Gilly's tour)
-- Back to Mote (they were sooooo accommodating and on a personal note I missed the aquarium (but at least my family got there!))
-- NRCC at the University of Texas
-- Visit Dr. James Woods in Bermuda
-- Somewhere in the Northeast (haven't had luck finding a good venue in the past)
-- Fossil Hunting in Folkestone (UK)
-- Visit Dr. O'Shea in NZ
-- Hawaii

Others?

While trips abroad would be very, very fun... it does not seem like that option would be feasible for most people. The NRCC will no longer be at the University of Texas in 2009. Actually we are moving into some space at the Aquarium @ Moody Gardens and will hopefully be moved in by next month... It is two years away but Moody Gardens has a convention center, the aquarium, the NRCC soon, and a hotel all in the same location. Galveston is also in the middle of the country and may make travel a little more feasible perhaps.

Just putting it out there.

Greg

Absolutely! Here are my own thoughts on options, in no particular order:

-- Back to Monterey (such a neat place, and on a personal note I missed Dr. Gilly's tour)
-- Back to Mote (they were sooooo accommodating and on a personal note I missed the aquarium (but at least my family got there!))
-- NRCC at the University of Texas
-- Visit Dr. James Woods in Bermuda
-- Somewhere in the Northeast (haven't had luck finding a good venue in the past)
-- Fossil Hunting in Folkestone (UK)
-- Visit Dr. O'Shea in NZ
-- Hawaii

Others?

Steve had suggested Chicago and the Shedd aquarium, but I don't know if we have anyone in that area to help organize it. Seattle might be interesting.

Overseas somewhere (NZ, UK, or wherever) would be great, but it's a little too early for me (and I suspect many others) to be able to have any idea whether I could allocate the time for international travel. Also, it seems to me that we haven't been terribly successful getting our counterparts from overseas out to the two cons in the states (have we had anyone from overseas attend besides Steve and Chrono?), and I suspect our success would be similar trying to get people from the states to attend an event outside of North America. I'm not asserting this or anything, just guessing.

I think it was Monty who had the idea of having multiple localized tonmocons simultaneously networked together. That sounds really interesting.

Here's a thought...Isn't there a University in Pa that has an ongoing lab with cephlapods? I go by there all the time but the name escapes me.....