Main Stage


Banner by Lissy Longbottom

This is the area in which the Q&A portion of the symposium will take place. There is a long table on the stage with a spot for each delegate to sit, as well as a spot for the Department Head who will be moderating the event.

OOC: To keep things neat and organized, the debate should be taking place in THIS thread, and your character's reactions should be taking place in the Seating thread, just like in the School Quidditch RPG.

Alright, time for the great debate to begin! Her heels click clacking as she walked up to the podium, Gabi smoothed down her beautiful skirt and looked out at the crowd. She pointed her wand to her throat so that her voice echoed across the large convention room - it was time to begin the FUN part!

"Would all our visiting delegates please report to the Main stage so that our Q&A seminar may begin? Thank you!" she called out. Hopefully they'd all heard her, and she didn't need to go hunting them down....

Delegates. That was him.

Milton straightened his tie and then walked up to the podium. Since he was the first one there...did he get his pick when it came to the seating arrangements? He was going to assume he did. He picked one of the chairs all the way at the end of the row, hoping that he would either be the first or last person up this way. First would be great, so he could start off this whole debate on the right note. Last was also good, because you always wanted to finish strong.

Ah yes. This was ideal seating. Good job Milton!

"Miss Schultz," he said with a smile and a curtesy nod as he took his seat behind her. He was assuming she would run this whole shindig, right? She was a nice woman. Not bad to look at either, except for that ring on her finger...

Aadil made his way up onto the stage, smiling at people as he passed them and took one of the seats towards the middle of the group of chairs.

All visiting delegates to the main stage, that was definitely calling out to Achilles.

The questions were about to start, and, as Achilles made his way up to the table he was internally asking himself where he should sit. It seemed silly, surely, but, when one was being asked questions, well, seating was important. Imagine having to actually walk onto the stage and tragically fall, flat on their face, embarrassment. Definitely not something Achilles wanted for himself. So, he took a second, standing by the table until he decided to take a seat on the very end of the table. He couldn't possibly trip being on the edge.

Where was everyone else? "Now now! Don't be nervous. Come on up here, I highly doubt any of us bite." Achilles said with a very nervous laughter, and his hands slightly fidgeting and twirling with one another. Nerves hitting him. "Let's get this thing rolling!" CLAP! Just one. Awkward.

Oh look, there was Achilles! Milton knew the man from back at work...they weren't in the same division, but he had chatted with him a few times around the water cooler. He smiled at the man and gave him a hearty clap on the back as he sat down.

"Good to see you, Storm," he said with a smile, his rough accent coming out as he spoke. English was not his first language, but he knew it fluently, he just could never get that damn accent to go away. "Looks like it might just be you and me, eh?" he added with a chuckle.

He KNEW that Gabriela had invited more people than this...where WERE they?

Achilles hoped that the slap to the back, from Milton, had let all the nerves in him escape and float away to somewhere else. Seriously, they just needed to go somewhere else. The nerves couldn't be hitting him right now.

The man gave his co-worker a nervous smile as a way of saying hello. "You too Milton. I saw quite a few people out there, seems like a good turn out to me." Achilles said. Yes. Good. Just talk. That'd get all of the nerves out of him. He listened to Milton and gave a shaky nod. Maybe he was trying to ease the tension? Surely it couldn't just be them two answering all the questions. Achilles would combust having so many eyes focused only on two people up here at the table. "No, no. There has to be more delegates, yes?" He said, trying to convince himself.

It hadn't been them two at this event, after all. Now, everyone else just needed to be nice and dandy and get themselves up here.

Not even time for a bite to eat? Rashida heard the announcement and began to head towards the Main Stage. She supposed it was her own fault for spending so much time browsing through the flying carpets and mingling with the vendors, but she honestly could not pass up such an opportunity for networking. Not in the business she was in. So, even though she could use something from the buffet, she made her way up to the center of the room as the debate and discussion was why she was primarily here.

As she approached, Rashida noticed two men there ahead of her and she put on a cordial smile as she greeted the. "Gentlemen," she said in her moderate Indian accent, acknowledging them each with a slight bow of the head. And the woman in charge of it all - she was briefly acquainted with her as arrangements had been made for her presence at this event. "Ms. Schultz," she greeted with a polite smile as well. Selecting a seat near the middle of the arranged chairs, Rashida sat up straight awaiting the first of the question as she ran over a few key points in her mind.

Gabi wrinkled her blonde brows. Where were the rest of her vendors and delegates? Probably all caught up with the people at the symposium. It had been QUITE a turnout, that was for sure! But still, Gabi had a schedule to keep up with...she needed to move on!

"Alright, we're going to be getting started now, so if the other delegates could please make their way to the stage..." she said. Yes, that would be GREAT. Her voice was still booming across the room, so everyone in the seating area could hear here. "Let's start off by going down the line and introducing yourselves. Give us a bit of background as to why you're qualified in the area of flying carpets," she said with a smile. She nodded at the first delegate, giving them the go ahead to get started.

OOC: There is no set order in which to answer! Just pretend it was your charries turn when you post. As I said, other delegates/vendors, just post yourself coming in and sitting down and hop right into the debate!

Oh. It was time to begin with the questions. Great. Wonderful. Achilles would love this portion. Nope. All he had to do was talk slowly and take deep breaths before answering, hopefully that could help him.

He leaned forward in his seat, watching the lady announce that the session would be starting now. First, they, the people sitting about on the tables, needed to know why Achilles was meant to be here and what brought him here.

The man gathered his thoughts and did his best to form a very loose explanation in his mind before speaking aloud. "Erm. My name is Achilles Storm, and my flying carpets department that I work in deals with the testing of the product. I've been working in this area for quite some time, so I know how the order of it all goes. We get the carpets sent to us, I overlook them and make sure that if there's something wrong with it, that myself, and my co-workers do our best to assure that the flying carpet is safe enough for the public. Once thats been looked over, the carpets are ready to be sold on the market." He said to the general audience.

Was that good enough? Did they need to learn more? That was pretty much the basic of the basics of his job.

"I've always wanted to make sure that flying carpets are fun, but safe and reliable in every way for any person thats convinced to buy one." Achilles said as an after thought, allowing the crowd to learn slightly more. The man leaned forward in his seat and glanced at the organizer of the event, he then glanced down the table, listening to everyone else's backgrounds.

While Milton was excited to see his colleague Achilles there, he was a bit...well, miffed at the same time because it was going to be awkward. They had completely polar ideas on what flying carpet laws should be like...and while Milton hadn't been quiet about it in the past, he knew that he was going to be actively campaigning for it now against him. Whoops. No hard feelings Storm, yeah?

It got to his turn, and Milton cleared his throat and charmed his voice so it was louder and able to be heard across the room, as Miss Schultz had done. "Hello, my name is Milton Janssen. I'm the head of the Transportation department in South Africa, so I oversee all divisions including the flying carpet division."

Alright, now onto the REAL reason he was here. "I personally do not feel that flying carpets have a place in our society. They're outdated and not even used by many people in my own country, and throughout my years in the Department, I've seen countless - and senseless - accidents that could have been prevented if the witches and wizards involved had used something safer, such as Floo Powder or brooms. So my stance on the issue is that you do not need to extend the law allowing carpets to your own country, as I personally have seen first hand how many problems they can cause," he said. There, perfectly articulated just as he had planned, despite his accent.

Hm, still missing some of her delegates? Gabi should have gotten some tracking devices put in their robes or something. Still, there was more work to be done and more questions to ask!

"Thank you for your introductions. I would just like to say, on behalf of the entire Ministry, we are very pleased to have you here to share your wisdom!" she said with a smile. She looked down at her cards and cleared her throat.

"Before we get into the audience questions, I would like you all to first state whether or not you agree with the current ruling in our country. As you know, magic carpets are outlawed due to the fact that they are important muggle artifacts and should be treated as such - NOT as something to sell and profit off of. Do you agree with this?" she asked them, biting her lip as she waited.

Rashida was slightly put off by the lack of greeting she received since she had arrived at the stage, but did not let it affect her demeanor. Instead, she used her time to continue to reflect on the things she wanted to convey. She listened attentively to the two men who had spoken before her, slightly raising an eyebrow as Janssen spoke. She wasn't sure she could disagree more. And then it was her turn.

"Rashida Singh" she introduced herself, "My husband owns a rather successful flying carpet business in India and I assist with the marketing and exporting there. I also serve as consultant to my country's Transportation Department, something of a liaison between the Ministry and the industry to help provide awareness in safety and secrecy issues."

She looked over at Ms. Schultz as she read the first question and Rashida did not hesitate, especially as her family did profit from the business. "I believe the law itself is outdated," she began, smiling pleasantly at the audience. "With the proper safety charms and regulations put into place, it is a very convenient and efficient way of travel. Especially those with large families such as myself and who want to travel over long distances." Floo powder couldn't get you all that far and other forms were difficult with children. "As far as treating them properly, those of us in my country treat our carpets with reverence and respect. I'm sure you've all seen how beautiful they are." She, herself, stopped a moment by the vendors to see the lovely carpets. They were simply magnificent. "They may be a muggle artifact to some, but certainly not those that are created specifically for the purpose of wizarding travel."

Achilles was attentive to what was being said. Making sure not to miss one word. That would be bad. What if someone said something he could use to his advantage for his own personal gain during all these questions. That'd be important.

He paid attention to what Mrs. Singh had to say, nodding in certain parts where he agreed with her. Once it seemed she was done with her opinion on the topic, Achilles waited a few seconds before answering himself. "I am against this current law." He simply stated. Now, onto more important matters. "I agree on a few of Mrs. Singh's points. With the right procedures being taken, the products being looked over, and, with perhaps implementing licenses to those responsible enough to use flying carpets, I would say it should all be reasonable."

"I think that just because one person perceives carpets as a wizard product or another as a muggle artifact it doesn't change the actual product itself. To anyone who wants carpets to be muggle, by all means, keep it as a muggle artifact. To those who wish to use it magically, then do so. The carpets can be used in whatever way, I don't think calling it one thing or another makes it lose its value. Its still a carpet nevertheless." Point made.