The first day of the FISM 2009 program reads a little dry.
8.30am - Registration Desk Opens
9.30am - Magic Fair (Dealers)'
4.30pm - Opening Ceremony
7.00pm - welcome Dinner
No lectures, no competitions...
Yet, the way they have set everything up has worked extremely well.
Between the different rooms of the Magic Fair they have set up a temporary Food Court with lots of seating and relaxation areas and, as I type, there are hundreds of magicians mixing, mingling aand browsing through the dealer's exhibits, enjoying food and drink, watching Chinese music performances on the food court stage, and strolling through the photographic and folk exhibits.
The ample free time is working very well as everyone is getting a good opportunity to spend quality time meeting up with their friends from all over the world.
So far the buzz is "Yes, there have been some mistakes here and there, but despite that this FISM is excellent."
The Magic Fair certainly has a wide mix of exhibitors. Many from Asia with effects and props which most Western registrants have never seen before, and for the Asian registrants there's a big variety of magic from European dealers as well. It's only been open four hours but already a lot of dealer's have 'Sold Out' signs on some products.
One problem that's only going to get worse as the week goes on though, is the carpet in the Magic Fair rooms. For some reason those in charge have decided to place protective carpet over the carpet in the rooms (this is the first convention ever held in the Chinese Convention Centre... so maybe they want to keep it looking fresh). As a consequence the top layer of carpet keeps bunching up and people keep tripping on it. Unfortunately, it makes the Magic Fair look a little less than professional.
The Food Court on the other hand, is very, very good. You purchase an 'I C Card' at the "Saling Desk" (excellent example of Engrish) and charge it up with 100 Yuan (about $20 Aussie dollars). Then you go from stand to stand purchasing anything you like from a huge selection of food and drinks. And your 100 Yuan goes a long way!
In about an hour or so FISM 2009 officially kicks off with the Opening Ceremony. Hopefully, I'll have a full report on it here shortly, plus I'll add some more pics to the photo album so you can get more of a taste of what we're experiencing over here in Beijing.
