I need your help. Urgently.

Haha, no, somebody else said that! Dorit did remark that I sound a lot like said pupil though. To my mind, that's no bad thing... although I'd prefer originality!

[i]Hold on a minute - surely I'm not detecting a faint whiff of nervousness here?[/i]

I'm all nervousness, me. I'm currently looking for clothes that hide movement so people can't see me shaking. Somehow I seem very capable of giving V-signs left and right though. Dunno why.

I might get in touch with Lydia, I'll think about it... my sets are very short (20 minutes tops) and I'd hate to think she'd go out of her way to get so little...

Brief update - we now have one third of the required deposits. The trickle continues. My health is slowly improving. Neither is fast enough for my liking but both are causes for optimism.

And another update.

[b]50%[/b]

Yup, we're half way there in deposits. And enough promises to make the symposium happen.

But there's a business aspect to this, so I'm not counting un-hatched chickens.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst. That's what they say and it's good advice. So please, if you're one of those wonderful, wonderful people who have been helping out in whatever way to spread the word - keep it up. It is seriously looking like your efforts will be worthwhile.

My health, for those who care, is also steadily improving, although one attendee with whom I was exchanging messages on myspace today would probably tell you I'm still showing signs of having been beaten with a stupid-stick. I just hope I can post this without mishap.

Glad to hear you're starting to recover, and for the record, I care.

Speedy recovery to you.

Cool. Thank you, Thomas.

Not to worry - life with ME can be something of a roller coaster, but I've been on the ride long enough to know how it goes, and that I always pull through. Still, this particular dip was a doozy!

(And just to add to it, this last weekend my internet connection has been really flakey. And it almost never plays up - I've stuck with the same ISP for ten years because of the quality of service. Ugh!)

I also know how it goes with bookings - we've had the initial rush of early adopters, bless them, and are well into the agonisingly slow but steady phase. Soon comes the time when we get bookings from the cautious, who see "book BY the end of May" and translate it as "book AT the end of May." I really shouldn't moan about potential customers, but, well, if my hair wasn't grey already...

I know how that booking thing goes from having helped run a science fiction convention. Last minute bookers allways worry the day lights out of us too, but it usually allways works out.

God, I wish I could be there what with a star studded cast of master thereiminsts, and all.

I'll be pullin' for ya at this end anyway.

Boy, this one is going right to the edge. I processed a nice little batch of deposits on my return from Brighton - enough to push it into the grey - not enough to make it certain, but not few enough to make the decision clear cut. So I am handing over to Mrs Charlton - she has the business skills needed to resolve this, and if it can have a positive outcome then it will. She's good.

I'll post again at that time.