[Groop] My Take on the SD Con

[MisterElie at aol.com]

In a word, "WOW!"  Oops, sorry, I said it backwards.  Let me try  it again: 
"!WOW"  
 
The con was certainly different from any other con I have been to.   For one 
thing, I discovered this was NOT a great place to fill in some  missing back 
issues from my collection.  But it was a great con to see  what's going on in 
the pop culture world of this country and other countries  that produce work in 
English and Japanese.  
 
I met some people I've always wanted to meet including some of y'all out  
there in emailland.  I've noticed several people, including ME talking  about all 
the problems getting to the con, through the lines, getting a hotel,  and all 
the other con horror stories.  I know ME recently said all  those problems 
are worth it to experience this con, but I'd like to go a  step further.  I 
thought the con was very well organized.  I thought  we got through lines just as 
fast as we would at any other con, we knew exactly  who was speaking and 
where, and we had no problems getting to and from our  hotel.  Of course, to be 
fair, we also planned the trip in April.  If  you make reservations early, 
preregister for the con, and plan on a reliable  mode of transportation, you'll have 
a very enjoyable and pleasant experience at  the con.  We were told it would 
be really bad on the floor on Saturday, so  we planned all that day following 
ME around in the panels.  Except for our  hotel being slightly farther away 
than we thought from the convention center,  there wasn't a bad experience for 
us to be had.  
 
I will, however, echo everything else you've heard about hygiene.  The  con 
is packed with lots of people and we get sweaty within a couple of  hours.  
There were people there that could have used a bath starting Friday  and it only 
got worse the preceding two days.
 
Our biggest conundrum was the Saturday at noon panel debate: "QuickDraw or  
the Star Wars panel: which to see?"  We settled on QuickDraw and it looks  like 
LucasFilm used that panel to reveal to the world the title of the final  Star 
Wars movie, "Revenge of the Sith."  Someone, please tell me I made the  right 
decision by attending QuickDraw!
 
Janet and I want to make this an annual event.  Hopefully, by June  2005 
we'll have this year's con paid off so we can go to next year's con a month  later.
 
Elie
 
P.S.  Oh, by the way, did I forget to mention that Janet's birthday is  next 
Wednesday, August 4th and when I left for the con I didn't have any idea  what 
to get her?  So what would any Groopie in my predicament do?   That's right, 
you guessed it!  I asked Sergio what to get Janet.  I  took his advice and 
procured the item(s).  I'll let Janet reveal Sergio's  birthday present idea to 
you all herself next Wednesday evening.  Be sure  to stay by your email.
 
 
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