Need to rest your feet or feeling a bit parched? Head on down to our con suite and get some refreshments. It’s a nice place to get away from things, chat with new friends, grab a drink or just take a break.
OpenCola was originally invented to demonstrate what "open source software" means, by making an "open source drink". The OpenCola company set free the recipe and instructions on the web, as contrasted with the top-secret recipe of the closed-source cola companies. Best of all, OpenCola tasted good. Although the company was sold and stopped making and bottling it, the recipe lived on. Years later, Matt Arnold and Bill Putt found the recipe, reproduced the product, and distributed it at Michigan's science fiction and open source convention, Penguicon. Unhappy with the results, they recruited Chuck Child, and ascended to the mad laboratory in his tower. There ensued much product creation, testing, modification and maybe even ball lightning. This resulted in a knowledge base for local fandom, allowing custom beverage production, flavor modification, and a whole group of OpenCola variations. The latest and greatest OpenCola was launched at Penguicon in '06, and tasted just as good as the expensive store brands. A former OpenCola employee tasted it and said it was better than theirs. Why stop with Penguicon? Open Cola is being presented at several of the local conventions, as a better, cheaper, and more customizable beverage. It is proof that we need not look exclusively to the large manufacturers for that caffeinated water of life, boon to all night owls and people of true intensity. Our beverage future can indeed spring from our own hands. Get your free OpenCola in the Youmacon hospitality suite! Ice cream made with liquid nitrogen will be provided by Penguicon, a combination open source and science fiction convention in April. This year it's going to be at this very same hotel, the Troy Hilton, on April 20-22, 2007. Visit the Cafe Penguicon room party above the lobby on Friday and Saturday nights for free ice cream made with Liquid Nitrogen. It will be served in Consuite at limited times during the day. LN2 can use an entire spectrum of flavors that would not be possible with regular ice cream. You can even bring your own ingredients or invent your own recipes to be flash-frozen.