Good morning all. I hope all my American friends had a nice day off yesterday.
Yesterday wrapped up DragonCon. I’ve heard that it’s either the second largest comic book / fantasy / general all around nerd convention followed by ComicCon or third with New York’s convention taking second place. Either way, 65,000 people descend upon downtown Atlanta for 3 days for all things nerd. This is in addition to those who descend upon us for the Chick-fil-a SEC kickoff game. What a combination. It’s the only time of year where one can safely walk around downtown without being armed. But I digress…
What struck me this year was how the exact same set of circumstances could change so drastically with different personalities involved. Last year I had a great time. My room leads were fantastic and I got along with pretty much everyone who worked in the room. Four of us worked the entire convention in there. This year…not so much. The room leads didn’t work at all this year. As such, we had a new lead. She’d only worked smaller ballrooms before and had no co-lead, so she was in a bit over her head. The sound girl, who I worked with last year, stepped way out of line several times. She even yelled at a guest and the room lead. To put things in perspective, the room lead is the voice of God in that ballroom. One does not yell at the room lead. The room lead wasn’t confident enough to put the sound girl back in her place. The room lead also left several times to see other panels, leaving us with no leadership. I was scheduled in that room for the entire 3.5 days. After two 10 hour days in there, I requested a schedule change. Between a bunch of guests and panels I didn’t care about and the sound girl’s megalomania, I removed myself from the situation. It was better for everyone that way. Overall, I wasn’t happy with my experience. The volunteer coordinators send out a survey each year and that will give me the opportunity to point out the issues with both the sound girl and the room lead. For next year, I’m seriously considering if I want to simply buy a ticket and spend the weekend as a spectator rather than risk being stuck with people I may not get along with for 3 days. I have 364 days to decide. Let’s try not to put the cart before the horse.
On the positive side, I bought some new books. I love ink and paper. Boy also bought some new games for us to try. We played two of them last night. It’s always nice to have new games. One of the vendors had a stuffed Cthulhu. I would have gotten him, but he was a wee bit pricey. Perhaps next time. I’m taking today off to recover, then back to my regular routine tomorrow. I’ll be glad to get back to work. I can only handle a certain amount of time off before I get fidgety. There’s a lot to be said for routine. It also helps me remember what day of the week it is. *checks calendar*
XOXO!
Beautiful Scars 