Pax

PAX was awesome. It was seriously one of the best weekends of my life. It's the biggest convention of any kind that I've been to. There were about 40,000 people there all said and done. I heard someone say that geek conventions are how they recharge their batteries for the normal world. That definitely holds true for me. If anyone wants to know how I manage to live out in the middle of nowhere, I go to 2 conventions a year.

So, as you know, I was an Omeganaut for the convention. Not only did I get to compete for a pretty sweet prize, but I also got an all access pass to the convention. I was able to get into the exhibition hall before anyone else all three days of the weekend. I was also able to cut to the front of every line. I didn't cut in any lines that had less than 1o0 people in them. I did however get to the front of the concerts and a couple panels.

I also got to meet Wil Wheaton, and get his autograph. I only wish I wouldn't have been overcome with "ZOMG I'M MEETING WIL" and had been able to have an actual conversation with him. I didn't really get a chance to meet Gabe and Tycho, but that's ok.

As far as the Omegathon itself went, I played a mean game of Jenga in the first round. There will hopefully be video of this by the end of the week. It's a bit surreal to play Jenga with a large audience. When you get your piece pulled out, you get a nice golf clap. If you make the tower sway, there's a large gasp. The second round was "Calling All Cars" which is a playstation 3 game. I didn't get a chance to practice this game, so the competition was the first time I had played. This lead to my defeat. I'd say next time I'll try harder to practice everything, but there probably won't be a next time for this.

I absolutely plan on going back next year. I'm hoping to get as large of a contingent of friends going along as possible.