SVP on the Mississippi

[MKIRKALDY@aol.com]

Since folks are a little slow in recounting their experiences last week at SVP 
in St. Paul, I will offer some random recollections and observations.  The 
Radisson Riverfront Hotel was ideally located, just across the street from the 
Mississippi River and within easy walking distance to restaurants and the 
Science Museum of Minnesota.  Since the weather was mild and bright, many 
attendees went exploring during lunch breaks and in the evening.   There was a 
small snack bar in the hotel where one could buy pastries and coffee/juices and 
a fairly expensive restaurant on the 22nd floor with an inner area that 
revolved to get a 360 degree view of the city (one diner said it was like being 
on the baggage carousel at the airport :-) ).  

I heard at the business meeting that there were ~992 people registered, and 
they were hoping to get those extra few to make 1000 attendees.  The meeting 
rooms were spacious, and it was an easy escalator ride up or down to get to 
competing talks.  As I had mentioned before, there was no food served in the 
morning or at breaks, which surprised many people.  A group of us went out to 
dinner before the opening reception at the science museum, and by the time we 
got to the museum, all the food there was gone.  I heard later that early birds 
(theropods?) had piled food on their plates, leaving little for those who 
dallied.  Keeping that in mind, we also ate before we went to the auction on 
Friday, only to find that box lunches were provided.  (Food is very important 
to paleos, as evidenced by our DML breakfast experience.)  

I don't think that there was one landmark talk like last year's Ken Dial 
presentation on WAIR (although Tom Holtz had a poster which furthered that 
research).  I heard that Nate Murphy's talk on the preparation of Leonardo was 
interesting, but I didn't see that one.  I liked Larry Witmer's talk on 
ankylosaur nasal osteoderms.  Not a criticism of the program particularly, but 
I thought that some of the posters would have made better talks than some of 
the topics which were selected for platform presentations.  

Andy Farke's Student Roundtable and Reprint Exchange was very well attended and 
successful.  Many people were interested in how to get into graduate school, 
get a job in paleo, get tenure, get a grant, and get published, and each table 
had an expert who offered guidance in those areas.

Back to the science museum, it was a beautiful, multi-storied building, which 
dropped down from street level to the river.  Their paleo collections and 
dinosaur mounts were well-appreciated, and there was a current exhibit on the 
Lewis and Clark Expedition.  

The auction was fun, with Brent Breithaupt and Ralph Chapman dressed as 
psychedelic auctioneers (see one of ReBecca's photos).  Donations seemed to be 
a little off this year, although proceeds seemed to be up.  Several rare paleo 
books brought $200-$300 apiece.  

The banquet was pleasant, with round tables of 10 in the ballroom.  The 
speeches were fairly short, the food was served, and the wine flowed.  Everyone 
was primed to go to the afterhours party, which had music from the 70s and 80s, 
fulfilling a real need for paleos to dance--a tradition started in Denver '99.  
 Everyone who could was on the dance floor eventually, with same and opposite 
genders dancing together in the partying spirit.  There was an outbreak of 
slamdancing as more beer was consumed, which was pretty funny.   Although the 
party was supposed to end at 2 a.m., I heard that people were still celebrating 
hours later.  No documentation on whether or not Dr. Holtz was the last man 
standing.  

By Sunday, everyone was tired but reluctant to say goodbye to friends and to 
St. Paul as the 2003 SVP Meeting came to a close.  2004 is a return to Denver.

Mary