GenCon 2009

Hey all,

Well GenCon 2009 is almost over. There is a half day left tomorrow and I need to be at the airport before it is officially over.

GenCon wasn’t the same this year.

Several factors contributed to this:

- I went alone

- Less need to reaffirm my geek cred.

- Wasn’t comfortable leaving work for a week

- Didn’t really have anything I was itching to see/ do this year.

I tried to tempt several people into joining me at GenCon this year. Unfortunately with flights and room it can be quite expensive to do GenCon (the con it’s self is quite cheap for around $200 for badge and 6 or 7 events). Like many things in life, the experience grows the more you share it. Last year was great as it was the first time I had been and everything was new! Aaron and I had a blast wandering the convention and playing all kinds of games.

I did get a chance to hang out with the Fear the Boot hosts and other forum users but started feeling like a stalker after the second day. I actually saw one of the hosts wandering the Dealer Room, looking unimpressed, with two fan boy forum users following behind him.

Maybe part of the downer was that my “heroes” of last year weren’t huge icons to me anymore. I’ll touch on that later.

Last year was great to feel like there were so many other like minded geeks out there. Hell, I’m one of the geekier people in my circle of friends and 75% of GenCon attendees put me to shame! This year, although I needed a geek fix, I didn’t feel like I was “coming out of the closet”. I’m comfortable about my geekness and proclaiming it isn’t as freeing as it once felt. It just feels like every day, run of the mill, me.

Work has been challenging since the start of July. We installed a new console and got ready for Lion King. During the first week of Lion King, things started failing. Although I fixed those (well most of them) I felt very nervous about leaving the Jub for a week. I feel nervous when I leave someone else in charge and the lighting system isn’t in top shape. When I’m out of town I can not swoop in and save the day.

I really wasn’t eager for any one thing this year. Last year I was going to meet Fear the Boot (favourite podcast), meet Ryan Sohmers (favourite online comic strip writer), and hit gaming Mecca (not to be confused with the plural version of Battlemech; Mecha) with my best friend Aaron. Much like a good movie, sharing an experience with someone makes it better.

I think a large part of it was that last year I had met some of my heroes. This year, I was their equal (or maybe some of the glitter had just cleared from my eyes). Maybe that is part of the funk I have been in for the past two months; I’ve overcome my past heroes and am last as to what to aim for next.

I do have another question in my life but I will not talk about it here. It’s a question I know the answer to but refuse that it’s the only path to take. My favourite quote from a book says” Any man can choose; but a hero takes both.” Heroes take the hard road that most of us see as to difficult to be an option. Usually the best way to tell you are doing the right thing is to do the thing that is hardest to do.

I’m undecided if I will return to GenCon next year. I have been contemplating ComicCon but am not a huge comic fan and not sure how much I would enjoy it. I have decided that I need to bring someone next year that has never been to GenCon before. By helping them experience the excitement of first “GenContact” I can help spread the fun and warm feeling I got my first year here.

Well I need to check what actual time my flight is tomorrow. Apparently entering schedules into your phone in a different time zone is problematic...

CYA,

Bren