Convention 2006

Where to begin ... at the beginning I suppose! Mom (Phyllis ) and I arrived at the hotel at about 11am on Thursday morning, after an easy drive from New Jersey (we drove together from Illinois, and spent Wednesday evening in New Jersey visiting family). Our room wasn't ready yet so we sat in the lobby, where I fired up my laptop to double check the schedule (which I'd neglected to print) and find out what time registration started - NOON! Not too long to wait. We were very excited for the weekend to start.

While we were in the lobby, I saw several people wander in who looked like they might be w.com'ers - I don't know why I thought so, they just "looked" like they might be part of my online family - so I asked (because let's face it, I'm not shy!) "Are you with writing.com?" Yes, they were, and I met my first w.com'ers - Problematic Content , Mariposa , Jay's debut novel is out now! , Leger~ , missbiggs. How exciting to put names and faces together! We all introduced ourselves by our usernames, and a few of us hugged even though it was our first time meeting each other -- except Problematic Content , who had warned us weeks before not to hug him. (Note: Problematic Content is all talk - he's actually a big teddy bear and a really nice guy, but don't let him know I spilled that secret about him! And he's a great dancer!)

At noon we wandered over to the registration area, where I finally met The StoryMaster and The StoryMistress -- WOW! I've been a member of w.com for over four years, and have always wondered what they would be like in person. To say they surpassed my expectations would be an understatement -- they are WONDERFUL! We hugged as soon as we entered the room, got our goodie bags (there were TWO goodie bags, and both were chocked full of snacks and wonderful w.com items), and right away Phyllis and I knew we were among friends as we immediately started to joke and laugh with everyone in the room.

We ate lunch with the others who had arrived so far - quite a nice spread of food was laid out for us, the first of many amazing meals. A writing.com convention is a lot like being on a cruise (minus the ocean part, of course). I say that not only because of how much fun they are (and I'm just sorry this was my first and last convention!), and how there is always something to do -- but also because of the FOOD! We were never hungry the entire weekend. The meals were fantastic, and if we managed to get hungry in between, there were always snacks and goodies around. And The StoryMaster and The StoryMistress were terrific as our captains and cruise directors. All we were missing was the ice sculpture! Well that, and the ocean of course.

After lunch we went to check into our room - which we did quickly so we could rush back to the w.com lounge and meet more people as they arrived. How exciting to finally meet Diane and Melissa is fashionably late! , who arrived together. I also was happy to meet The Milkman , who I "met" in my earliest days on w.com via "Writer's Cramp," and catwoman , who had also been an early supporter and friend when I joined the site. And Holly Jahangiri said "I told you so!" when we hugged hello (did y'all know how tall she is!?!), as she had predicted a few months ago, long before she registered for the convention, that she had a feeling we'd meet soon. And, and, and .... so many people! Some I had "met" online, some I didn't know yet. But we all quickly became friends.

Thursday evening we had a delicious dinner, more introductions and orientation from The StoryMaster and The StoryMistress , "getting to know you" games, which my math-challenged table had some trouble with -- and then we had a couple of live Creative Campfires. As usual (I hear it happens every year) a cow and some aliens made it into at least one of the stories. And then we danced!! What fun - everyone danced with everyone, occasionally we danced with a partner, and the highlight was always watching The StoryMaster , The StoryMistress , and others do the electric slide - what a hoot! Even more fun when they tried to get Problematic Content to do it as well. I watched and laughed and wished I knew how to do it so I could join in the fun. auric did some Michael Jackson moves at one point, and Robert Waltz can cut quite a rug as well. And there was quite a limbo contest that ended up with Kraken through the Snow beating out The StoryMistress and Melissa is fashionably late! , even though he's about ten feet tall.

Friday dawned with another great meal, and then we got to our creative sessions. I had a table of hysterical women to work with: Phyllis , Diane , Leger~ , Holly Jahangiri , The Critic , Jay's debut novel is out now! , Lexi , missbiggs, Wenston , and myself. We had a great time working on the character sketches Diane worked up for us - in one I was a wussy bank manager who hid in my office while my bank was being robbed. And in my favorite one I was a gay firefighter returning from a white-water river rafting trip with my loving life partner, Diane , and another couple. We stopped to help a family after a bad car accident on a winding mountain road - and my loving life partner Diane killed me off trying to save the family, so I guess my loving life partner Diane didn't love me so much after all! Our table read those particular character sketches out loud, which made other attendees tell us to shut up, lol. They were just jealous!

Friday evening brought another delicious meal, where I had the pleasure of sitting and eating with The StoryMaster 's parents, who were great fun to meet. Then we moved over to the room next door for "Open Mic Night" where we were treated to the talents of a couple of comedians, some fabulous singers and poets, and I won the room over with my "How to Make the Perfect Margarita"  poem -- Phyllis read my poem, while I made two pitchers of frozen margaritas and passed them around in small cups so everyone got a taste, or two, or three .... <points at Diane and Melissa is fashionably late! > Yeah, I had to bribe them with drinks to be their favorite, but whatever it takes! One of the funniest acts of the evening was Robert Waltz telling some rather racy jokes about bears and sheep, that made us all groan and laugh, and continued to be mentioned throughout the rest of the convention. And Verm read some amazing "Flash Fiction/Prose" pieces that I hope she'll add to her portfolio if she hasn't done so already. It was a wonderful evening, and we have some pretty talented people, let me tell you! When Open Mic ended, we stayed in the room and signed each other's year books, which was a nice keepsake to take home with us.

Saturday brought more food ... a yummy breakfast ... and the Creative Auction. What an amazing experience that was! People brought things from home that they either made or purchased, and we had about half an hour to check them all out. There were so many things as many of us brought more than one item, and they were incredible! This is a very talented group of people! The auction began, and who knew The StoryMaster was actually a professional auctioneer in his alternate life?!?! Well, all those who had attended previous conventions knew, but I had no idea! He was hilarious and fun, and made the twelve hours the auction lasted just fly by! Oh wait, maybe it was only three hours ... anyway, it was fun! Watching Problematic Content and Melissa is fashionably late! battle each other and drive up the prices on world famous catwoman fudge, The StoryMistress photos, and other terrific items brought by fellow conventioneers was a riot, and especially when Melissa is fashionably late! fought to win Problematic Content 's "Poop Bucket" -- I laughed harder that morning than the rest of the weekend combined - and that is saying a LOT because I laughed most of the weekend as it was. I was especially thrilled when The StoryMistress bought both of the framed photos I brought because she is an AMAZING photographer, and it meant a lot that she liked mine.

The Banquet/Masquerade Ball occurred on Saturday evening - and we all dressed up in our finest for another delicious meal and more dancing. We cleaned up very nicely, I must say! Just before the Banquet I thought I had lost my car keys, which would make driving home the next day difficult, but The StoryMaster and Jedi Moose helped me retrace my steps, and I found them just before we headed to dinner. The highlight of my evening was dancing with my firefighting loving life parter Diane - so all is well there! At the end of the evening we all danced together in a circle, enjoying a last few songs, and then we headed back to the lounge to spend the rest of our final evening together. We talked and laughed (though I conked out about 12:30pm) and then sadly headed off to bed, knowing it was our last night at the convention.

Sunday morning I slept in and didn't make it to breakfast, but after packing and loading the car and checking out of our room, Phyllis and I went to lunch for one last meal with the rest of the gang. Sadly Holly Jahangiri and The Critic had left earlier and I didn't get to say goodbye to them and a couple of other folks - and lunch was a delicious but somber affair as we all had to say goodbye to each other for now, unsure when we'll get together again. There was much laughter, many hugs (even Problematic Content was hugging but don't tell him I told you), and when we sad goodbye to each other I was feeling pretty sad, but also grateful for the opportunity to have spent the weekend with such wonderful people. I didn't get to meet and talk with everyone who was there, but I did get to spend time with many people, and I am so glad we decided to attend -- I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Some of my favorite memories of the weekend include happy hours with Mai Tais in my room, meeting wonderful members of my w.com family, dancing, Open Mic Night, and the amazing auction. I learned some new things too. For instance, I now know the correct pronunciation of Kraken through the Snow 's name, and that Tigger thinks of Prancer really IS a bouncing Tigger! But the thing I'll cherish the most was all of the laughter and joy we shared all throughout the weekend. I enjoyed meeting each and every one of you in Pennsylvania last month, and I look forward to getting together again soon!

And a special THANK YOU, The StoryMaster and The StoryMistress for making it all possible, and for all of the hard work and time you put into making it such an amazing weekend.