A few words of comment about the lows.
There was a stage manager, Steve, who has taken over from Mark. He was doing a number of different things including organising his two sons who were running sound and lights, sorting out the video cameras that record the show and mildly panicking when he realised that the cables he had didn't fit the lights he hired. The microphones were set at 4pm to the correct levels but I think turning the amp off until just before the show changed the levels. A learning experience for the 11 year old concerned. The final bow routine is properly part of the role of the compere.
As for the cool hall. Really there are two options. Have the person on the front desk (mainly me) away from the convention and therefore unable to help or have them at the hall. I suggested to the school that they might want to handle this problem in a couple of different ways which they ignored. Given that they had ignored some more fundamental things (like the locked door between green room and stage that took them 5 hours to resolve) then the coolish hall was the least of my worries.
I'm glad that overall you enjoy the convention. The date for the next will be announced soon.
Nigel