Whee! Convention time!

So much has been going on this past week and a half that I hardly know where to start. Since it all revolves around the one thing, my work's convention, I don't know that it will be of any interest, heh.

Lessee. Our convention is a little different than most conventions in the gaming industry. It is held at our facility. The main activities are not actually gaming, although there is quite a bit of that going on with the dungeon scenario and the two table-top war game tournaments.

The biggest draw are the small classes with our freelance sculptors and painters, where anyone can learn to paint or sculpt directly from the best in the industry. That is quite a draw, even for the dabbler.

Prepping for the con is definitely work. A lot of the heavy production equipment is moved around to make space for tables, chairs and lots of lighting. Then extra nights spent making terrain and cleaning the shop thoroughly. All this in addition to making sure, or at least trying to make sure, that production still flows and releases and restocks are still shipped. Whee!

The artists begin to arrive. One trickles in here, another there, then all the rest come on the same day. Heh. All the while, we clean and straighten and set up and still try to do some of our regular duties. Then the guests arrive and all regular duties that haven't been completed are postponed.

Thursday night we had our 'meet and greet' catered by a local barbe-que place (yum!!) and were able to just mingle and chat. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were a frenzy of classes and shopping.

I manned the 'Boneyard' purchasing station, where we did trades on an ounce for ounce basis. finari helped out all weekend, too. Yay! We allowed people to bring in all of our metal that they didn't want and pick up an equivalent amount of loose figures that they did want. We also let them purchase by the ounce. It wasn't necessarily a better deal than buying items in the blister so much as they could chose specific parts they wanted if they only wanted one or two things from a single pack.

What were some highlights? I didn't really get that many extra curricular activities in, but over all, I have to say that I love the people that come to our con. In general, everyone is so psyched to be there that it bleeds off and affects me in such a positive way that, in spite of working for over 14 hours per day (not counting after hours socializing), I am happy to be there, too.

The biggest highlight is seeing people I haven't seen since the last convention. I'm really coming to know some of the specific fans more as people and less as fans, and that's definitely fun. I need to do something nice for one or two specifically since they are so helpful and nifty. I think two of them will be at GenCon, so I need to get to planning.

Tomorrow night what's left of the sculptors and painters that are left will go dancing. It should be fun. One of the painters is also an accomplished seamstress, and she always has the coolest outfit. This year she made one for another of the painters, so there will be at least three of them looking particularly cool. In the past, I've dressed up but have found that when I'm dressed up, I'm less likely to dance. So this time, I'm just going as me and dancing a lot.

The last artists go home Friday morning and then it will all officially be over. I'll be sad and happy at the same time. Sad, because it was fun and the artists and fans are great. Happy because I'll be able to get some semblance of normal disarray back, rather than this total insanity. ^_^

I am going to miss Origins this year since the company isn't going. I have really come to like Columbus, especially as a convention town.

But I'll see everyone again at GenCon, plus my friend Ged.

I need to respond to the email she sent me like a month ago. Eep!

I'm such a slacker.