Yo Montana

[MKIRKALDY@aol.com]

Random thoughts from SVP:

The flights into and out of Bozeman were overwhelmingly paleo-passengered and 
seemed like private charters. 

The paleontology community seems to have had a baby boom this past year, with 
many infants in attendance. Oliver Rauhut and his wife were there with their 
new baby, Inca, Pete Larson and his wife had baby Ella with them, and Stuart 
Sumida and his wife Elizabeth Rega took new son Darwin to most of the events.

It snowed in Bozeman on Thursday--with a beautiful dusting on the mountains and 
on attendees who ventured outside.  Thank goodness for the reliable bus 
shuttles.

The Jurassic Park III movie was fun--free attendance and open snack bar.  The 
bag of goodies given out included a copy of the fine Brett-Surman/Holtz
Jurassic Park Institute Field Guide (how many autographed copies will show up 
on eBay?).  There was a speech by (someone?) about the Jurassic Park franchise, 
the Jurassic Foundation, and their relationship to the Jurassic Park Institute, 
followed by a short speech by Phil Currie.  Seats at the ends of some aisles 
had reserved tags on them, but special guests such as Horner
didn't show up (or at least didn't sit there).  The theatre has the ambiance of 
one of the great and balconied showplaces of the past century.

The movie was generally too loud for much talking back to the screen, although 
there certainly was some at the beginning, with much laughter during the scene 
at the field camp.  I sat between Tom Lipka and Tracy Ford, and they had funny 
comments throughout. The movie remains short in time and sense.  

The poster sessions, while excellent in content, were in too small a space. The 
gymnasium housed both the posters and the book/vendor area, which in the past 
had been close to the main meeting rooms.  The first couple of poster sessions 
were hot and crowded, and it was hard to get through the aisles to see all of 
the presentations.  

The auction too was short on space, and many people were only able to go 
through the silent auction tables once because of the crowds.  Brent 
Breithaupt, Ralph Chapman and their helpers did a great job in keeping the
festivities moving along, as evidenced by the record sales again this year.   

The banquet was held in the Field House, which also is home to concerts and 
sports events (rodeos?).  This venue was huge, having no problem accommodating 
the 1000 or so diners on Saturday night.  Very high ceilings (rafters) made 
heating and cooling difficult to control--we were at one of the front tables 
where a cold breeze steadily blew.  Michael Skrepnick won the 2 dimensional 
category in the Lanzendorf Awards.  Philippe Taquet was made an honorary member 
of SVP, introduced by Kevin Padian with his usual sophisticated brilliance.  

SVP had the great idea of having an afterhours party following the banquet. 
They had a reception room booked at Holiday Inn, and most people showed up 
there to say their goodbyes and generally celebrate a memorable convention.

Mary
mkirkaldy@aol.com