Craig Mitchell has kindly sent some of his on the ground reporting, which he’s also covering over on the Genii Forum as well from Kentucky:

Early reports from the registration desk ( which was well staffed ) were of enormously long lines with wait times in excess of an hour ( caused in large part due to a very long checking process of ensuring that everything was in the bag and having delegates sign off receipt of tickets, voucher etc which just delays matters immensely )

Thankfully - my wait time was significantly shorter ( and made all the more enjoyable by bumping into hot contest favourite Shawn Farquhar and family ) With Jim Steinmeyer standing in line right behind me … everyone who is anyone has descended on Kentucky.

The registration bag is the black fabric shopping bag type ( I much prefer the more traditional delegate laptop style bag as used by Stan at Magic Live ) filled with a number of goodies including a superb convention “magazine” put together by Richard, Dustin and the rest of the Genii team. An outstanding job - well done guys … the book is filled with all the details on the event and the obligatory shots of “hierarchy” complete with mayoral chains and enough congratulatory messages being passed backwards and forwards on their rise to power from family, friends and “worshippers” - aaah - magic politics is so much fun. But then this is IBM SAM after all - twice the amount of fun..

A special highlight is a custom close-up magic set put together especially for the convention featuring a host of custom branded IBM SAM effects including Princess Card trick, 2 card monte etc. A very nice touch along with an IBM SAM lapel badge and a “special” Presidents badge ( in case you want to have the respective mug shots of the new IBM and SAM presidents adorning your attire) Maybe there is a special Presidential Anthem they play as well ?

All in all - a good job on the reg kit with more vouchers to swap out in the coming days for extra surprises …

Tomorrow’s program sees Dealers open at at 9 am - Opening Show featuring Mac King, Voronin and David Garrard at 12 pm followed by a special lecture by Jim Steinmeyer in the afternoon. CLose-up contest at 7:30 in the evening - lots to look forward to …

And Louisville has added its own magic to the night with a full on lightning and thunder show … thank goodness for aircon.

Craig is also covering this on the Genii Forum