Well, that's not exactly true. Magfest is run by hundreds of crazy talented dedicated people willing to put in thousands of hours of work for little to no pay. Eli happens to be one of them - also he's on the Board of Directors which is why I sometimes claims he "runs" this ball of crazy.
What started out as an excuse for some gamers to party for three days straight in Roanoke Virginia over a decade ago has turned into a gigantic undertaking that sold out every hotel in National Harbor Maryland months ago. Its more than a little overwhelming.
I can claim absolutely no credit for this. If I'm completely honest, for most of the history of the convention I've been a grumpy Magfest widow. But since I escaped from grad school its finally become my convention too. Its sort of become a marker to measure my health progress from year to year. (eg. This time last year I spent 48 hours unable to tolerate even the most bland of foods. This time two years ago I was getting around the con in a wheelchair.) And its become a really amazing venue to be a vendor.
Geek Chic Knits does a booming business here. I share a table with a few other ladies who craft. Collectively, we call ourselves the Stitch Witches. Its amazing: I get to sit at a booth crocheting for multiple days straight - people I know and love and only get to see once a year come by and talk and give me hugs - I get to wear ridiculous costumes and no one cares because its a video game convention - and every now and again something truly amazing happens like having an honest-to-god rock star buy one of my scarves. Last fall, my favorite artist's husband dropped by and bought her one of my hats. I swear I started crying, I was so happy.
A couple of Stitch Witches set up at Magfest X
It should be a good con this year - we're a little nervous because we're running 3 weeks later than we usually do. Most colleges have already gone back into session so we might miss out on our usual student-on-holiday-break crowd. Pre-registration statistics look like we're going to be getting a huge crowd though.
Since Eli's biggest job is keeping the Magfest computer programs up and running we usually end up being some of the first people at the con for set up. We pretty much move into the Gaylord (yes, that's the actual name of the hotel, don't judge.) for a whole week. I have a couple days before the con starts to sleep whenever I want and read my heart out. Also, I have half a dozen types of loose leaf tea, a teapot and a water boiler at my command.
It should be an awesome week.
Speaking of costumes - Yes, I do usually just wear Plain dress pretty much everywhere. This was an amazing contrast in modesty. This poor girl must have been so cold. Hell, I was cold.
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