Off To The Games

It has been 7 years since I manned a booth at a game convention. The memory of the pain and terror is dull now, and I believe I have what it takes to tackle the task again. I recently attended the GAMA convention in Vegas with 500 hobby store owners from across America with 3 of my team members. We manned two demo stations and were the talk of the Con. We kicked some serious ass and had everyone talking about the new collectible RTS game that is going to revitalize the hobby store industry.

The convention season is just starting, the next one on the list is Origins in Columbus Ohio with a slightly larger attendance of 35,000 rabid gamers. This day I woke up at the ungodly hour of 3AM, rolled over onto my cats head and with a swipe of a claw and a sharp pain across my ribs, I was awake and ready to start the trip.

Apparently Tuesday is the day the Mormon missionaries fly out across the nation to spread the gospel. Fearful that should one sit next to me, I would be in for 6 hours of preaching I quickly prepared a story that I was sure would dissuade any youngster from trying to preach further.

Sure enough the plane was full and a black sister (All the guys are called Elders and the girls Sisters) took her seat next to me and with a smile, introduced herself as Dante. She knew right away that I was a non believer and asked me about my faith. Demonologist I slyly replied. Oh I’m from Hati and know all about black magic, my family does not approve of my choice to follow the teachings of Jesus and practice black magic. Feeling suddenly outmatched, I had no choice but to drop the façade and subject myself to hours of preaching.
At some point during the lesson she must have gotten tired of my blank stare and fell asleep as her head hit the tray unfolded in front of her seat. I felt it rude to take a picture at this time. The angry stare of the very large Mormon physical fitness trainer sitting next to her may have also dissuaded me.

The second leg of my trip was on a plain a bit smaller than I was comfortable with. I can’t say the ability to feel every turn and wind gust was especially entertaining. I found myself wishing for the security sister Dante seemed to convey. I briefly considered praying to god as she had suggested, but was jarred to reality in the next moment as the landing gear retracting made the little plain jump.

For my steed on this adventure, I was given a Volvo S70, which may be a bit beyond what my aging years can handle. I managed to figure out, peg A into slot B but sat for minutes poking and jabbing at the start stop engine button before noticing the flashing lights and sirens with the message “Step on the break THEN press the start button”
That obstacle out of the way, I made good time to the hotel where I will return each night to nurse the wounds that 35,000 gamers can inflict. Tomorrow is setup, Thursday I dive into Hell.