Look! The leaning tower of… Isengard!

I just finished reading another very entertaining writeup over at Eating Bees where Sanya talks about her experiences attending and working various conventions over the years.

I’ve kind of always wanted to attend a convention like that, but I’ve just never had the chance. Conventions take place in locations where they can get the most bang for the buck, so you typically see them in places like Vegas, New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and other large venues. The closest location for me would be Dallas, but that is still a 7 hour drive.

Still, I think it would be a lot of fun to gather in one place with so many like-minded individuals. I would enjoy getting to know others who share the same interests that I have and get to just lose myself to my inner geek.

Years ago, my old guild decided to stage a gathering. We opened it up to everyone and we had a lot of people express interest. When the gathering happened, only 5 of us ended up showing up. Still, we had a great time. We converged on the city of New York and spent a couple of days just talking and getting to know one another, but it wasn’t even remotely awkward. We had something in common… something we all had a passion for. We had that instant bond.

A year later, we held a second gathering in a different location. After listening to us talk about the first one, attendance was higher the second time around. I think we had 12 people show up… this time in Hartford, Connecticut. If the first gathering was fun, the second one was a full-blown party. I have rarely spent so much time just laughing and talking and feeling totally at ease.

The following year, I was unable to attend. I understand that they had something like 30 people this time including 4 from other countries. It wasn’t too long after that, however, that everyone began splintering into different games and we just never had another one.

I remember reading about some of the early game conventions and they sounded like so much fun. I really wish I had attended at least one, but I remember thinking at the time that if I had the money to spend, the last thing I would do is attend a geek convention. This was before I had finally embraced my innate geekness.

I actually debated attending Sony’s Vegas convention this year, but decided that this would be a bad year for me to go. First off, finances are tight. Mostly though, it is because I am not really playing any Sony games currently, so I would have nothing to offer and nothing to talk about.

Some day though.

One of these days, I will pack up my camera, check to make sure I remembered to bring out the full geek aura inside, and head off to what will probably be the most enjoyable trip I have ever taken… a place where not even 1 single person will snort when they hear me talk about how “I spent the weekend slaying orcs.”