[Groop] Very Late Con Report

[George Karalias]

Hello everyone,

Well, I've finally posted some pictures from the Con and here is a brief 
report.

In a nutshell, it was a superb time. The people I met were great and the 
show itself was everything I expected and more. Mark is totally correct 
in his description. The Con is three cons rolled into one and there is 
no way a person can see it all. Because of all the trade shows I've 
organized and attended in my career, the main floor was a breeze for me. 
I scoured the whole show, twice, carefully picking what I really wanted 
to spend time on and avoiding lines as much as possible.

The panels were another story completely. Even Disney World is more 
managable in terms of seeing all you want to see and scheduling 
efficiently. At this Con, I made the choice to concentrate on Mark's 
panels and try to see others of interest, if time allowed. Needless to 
say, I didn't see any of the others. I saw the Sergio & Mark Show, Quick 
Draw, the Voice Panel, June Foray, Ray Bradbury, Gold and Silver Age 
panel, and Chuck McCann. Every one of these panels was excellent. The 
thing that impressed me the most was that any one of these panels would 
have been an event I would have bought tickets for independently, if 
they had taken place at Berklee, MIT or any another small venue here in 
Boston. (This is how I saw and met Mel Blanc and Jim Henson, many years 
ago) Mark knows exactly what the fans want to see. Probably because HE 
is their biggest fan to begin with... (for instance, he was the first to 
stand up for June Foray's standing ovation!) Part of the reason I missed 
some of the other panels was that I had meetings with clients in San 
Diego (business before pleasure, you know...). My strategy was to keep 
my client meetings away from the times that Mark had a panel. Because of 
a re-schedule, I missed the first ten minutes of the Chuck McCann panel!

I also got to meet Nate P and Shane at the Blambot booth. Spoke to Nate 
again at Sergio's booth. I met Scott H on Preview night and had a great 
conversation with him. Met most of the Groop members that were at the 
Con on Friday morning at the breakfast. I met Eric at the panel. They 
were all wonderful to meet in person, finally. It felt like I'd known 
them for years (which I had... through email...) And Gary... well, then 
there was Gary. What a tremendous guy. Add to this the fact that I got 
to meet his wife and daughter! As Gary mentioned in his email, we all 
had a splendid dinner together on Saturday night, my last night in town. 
I only regret that my wife and two daughters weren't there to join the 
"Long-Suffering Mrs. G" and Claire on their shopping spree through San 
Diego. Let's just say that the "Long-Suffering Mrs K" would have a lot 
in common with "Mrs G."

In continuing the Tom Luth "colored" pages saga that has resulted in 
Gary's stress, I did get to see the pages that Eric purchased from Tom 
Luth. After Eric showed me his, I did in fact race over to Tom's table-- 
four times-- with no luck in catching him there. Oh, well. If I had 
known he was selling these when I met him at the panel, I would have 
reserved mine right then and there!

Here is the link to some of my pictures. 
http://www.karalias.com/SD/SanDiego2004.htm

I think I've bored everyone enough for now. If I think of anything else 
that was significant, I will send an addendum.

-George