Morrus' Gen Con Reports & Sundry Experiences in America
- Thread starter Morrus
- Start date
I'm currently in the Times Square Visitor Center, New York, making ue of their free 10 minutes of internet usage to quickly type this.
Arrived in New York at about 11.00pm last night. Having slept on the plane, I was wide awake, and so after checking into our hotel, I and my travelling companion, Al, wandered the streets of Manhattan looking for an open bar. We visited one or two "Irish" bars (I'm not sure why they were Irish, though, because ther wasn't much Irish about them - fortunately, they did serve decent beer in pints, unlike the hotel bar).
Crawled back to the hotel at about 4am and slept like a log. We then headed out for breakfast, wandered around a bit, jumped on the subway to Times Square - and here I am!
I'm supposed to be phoning Nemmerle later today, but I can't remember what I did with his phone number. Anyway, with luck, I'll be meeting up with him this evening for a meal. Or something. Right now, Al is trying to convince me to go on one of those London Bus tours around New York.
Arrived in New York at about 11.00pm last night. Having slept on the plane, I was wide awake, and so after checking into our hotel, I and my travelling companion, Al, wandered the streets of Manhattan looking for an open bar. We visited one or two "Irish" bars (I'm not sure why they were Irish, though, because ther wasn't much Irish about them - fortunately, they did serve decent beer in pints, unlike the hotel bar).
Crawled back to the hotel at about 4am and slept like a log. We then headed out for breakfast, wandered around a bit, jumped on the subway to Times Square - and here I am!
I'm supposed to be phoning Nemmerle later today, but I can't remember what I did with his phone number. Anyway, with luck, I'll be meeting up with him this evening for a meal. Or something. Right now, Al is trying to convince me to go on one of those London Bus tours around New York.
Did the Manhattan downtown tour on the bus - great fun. Wandered around Battery Park for a while, tried to ring Nemm from a payphone without success (Nemm, I've sent you an email from a Yahoo account, if you see this).
Tomorrow we plan to wander around Central Park and go up the Empire State Building, amongst other things.
General impressions of Manhattan - it's a lot more cramped than I expected. It's wierd seeing famous buildings crammed in on either side by office blocks. New Yorkers range from the extremely friendly to the downright rude, although all the bartenders have been very helpful. Some of the shop assistants are just ignorant and seem to be employed to ensure that you *don't* buy from them.
The buildings themselves are very cool - I got vertigo just looking up at some of them. Then again, I don't handle heights very well. Empire State Building should be interesting...
All in all, having a grand old time!
Tomorrow we plan to wander around Central Park and go up the Empire State Building, amongst other things.
General impressions of Manhattan - it's a lot more cramped than I expected. It's wierd seeing famous buildings crammed in on either side by office blocks. New Yorkers range from the extremely friendly to the downright rude, although all the bartenders have been very helpful. Some of the shop assistants are just ignorant and seem to be employed to ensure that you *don't* buy from them.
The buildings themselves are very cool - I got vertigo just looking up at some of them. Then again, I don't handle heights very well. Empire State Building should be interesting...
All in all, having a grand old time!
Last night was spent at CBGB's, where we watched what was quite possibly one of the worst bands in the entire world. Don't ask me what they were called, because I didn't bother to find out. The place itself was very relaxed, though.
Jetlag finally hit me at about midnight last night, and I was nearly falling asleep on my feet. Al wanted to go out some more, but I had to come back to the hotel and sleep.
This morning, we did another bus tour (uptown Manhattan) and wandered through Central Park for a while. The heat here is stifling, especially for someone like myself who comes from the rainy land of England, and I've gotten a bit sunburnt over the last few days.
The meals here are ludicrously large. I haven't managed to eat even half of one yet. I don't know if that's just a New York thing or a general American thing, but every time I get served a meal I just stare at it in disbelief and wonder whether it's supposed to be shared with everyone else in the restaurant.
The expection, of course, is McDonalds. For some reason, I got it into my head to have a Big Mac last night. To my surprise the Big Mac was served without any burger - just a bun and mayonaise! I wondered briefly whether this was just a NY thing (OK, I didn't really) before taking it back.
We'll be taking it easy tonight - maybe catch a movie. The Empire State Building is on the menu, too. Tomorrow we'll be catching a plane to Milwaukee for Gen Con.
Jetlag finally hit me at about midnight last night, and I was nearly falling asleep on my feet. Al wanted to go out some more, but I had to come back to the hotel and sleep.
This morning, we did another bus tour (uptown Manhattan) and wandered through Central Park for a while. The heat here is stifling, especially for someone like myself who comes from the rainy land of England, and I've gotten a bit sunburnt over the last few days.
The meals here are ludicrously large. I haven't managed to eat even half of one yet. I don't know if that's just a New York thing or a general American thing, but every time I get served a meal I just stare at it in disbelief and wonder whether it's supposed to be shared with everyone else in the restaurant.
The expection, of course, is McDonalds. For some reason, I got it into my head to have a Big Mac last night. To my surprise the Big Mac was served without any burger - just a bun and mayonaise! I wondered briefly whether this was just a NY thing (OK, I didn't really) before taking it back.
We'll be taking it easy tonight - maybe catch a movie. The Empire State Building is on the menu, too. Tomorrow we'll be catching a plane to Milwaukee for Gen Con.
I'm posting from Gen Con, and am only allowed 5 minutes on these free terminals, so I'll be brief.
Gen Con has been a real blast! Eric picked me up at Milwaukee airport and drove Al and I to our hotel. It was great to meet Eric at long last, and I'm pleased to say that, after meeting in real life, we are stil friends. We went out for a meal on Thursday eveing (me, Eric, Kara, Piratecat, Nemmerle, Rangerwickett, KidCthulhu and Jessie, RW's girlfriend) and then headed on to the Safe House for the evening.
Friday I spent wandering around the convention, browsing, and increasingly dreading the ENnies ceremony that evening. The ceremony was just fantastic, and I can't wait for next year. You'll see pictures, and even hear an audio recording of the whole thing soon.
Today was spent wandering around again, meeting publishers etc. It was great to meet face-to-face with people who I have exchanged emails and messageboard posts with.
I see that the ENnies results have been posted in another thread, so I won't waste time posting them again here (I was going to, but I'm short on time).
Off now to the Safe House again for another night of merriment and debauchery (assuming we can find Al, Mark, Kevin etc).
Gen Con has been a real blast! Eric picked me up at Milwaukee airport and drove Al and I to our hotel. It was great to meet Eric at long last, and I'm pleased to say that, after meeting in real life, we are stil friends. We went out for a meal on Thursday eveing (me, Eric, Kara, Piratecat, Nemmerle, Rangerwickett, KidCthulhu and Jessie, RW's girlfriend) and then headed on to the Safe House for the evening.
Friday I spent wandering around the convention, browsing, and increasingly dreading the ENnies ceremony that evening. The ceremony was just fantastic, and I can't wait for next year. You'll see pictures, and even hear an audio recording of the whole thing soon.
Today was spent wandering around again, meeting publishers etc. It was great to meet face-to-face with people who I have exchanged emails and messageboard posts with.
I see that the ENnies results have been posted in another thread, so I won't waste time posting them again here (I was going to, but I'm short on time).
Off now to the Safe House again for another night of merriment and debauchery (assuming we can find Al, Mark, Kevin etc).
I'm just leaving Gen Con with Al and Mark now. It's been a blast. I'll write up a full, detailed report as soon as I can (I'm hoping that Mark will let me use his computer at home to do so).
My bag is twice as heavy as it was when arrived - I've left with an enormous pile of books. I wish I'd had more time to meet more people, but the days just flew by and before I knew it it was all over. Still, next year I can make up for that.
I'll post a lot more as soon as I can, complete with a whole bunch of cool pictures - including one of Eric on stage at the ENnies caught at just the wrong moment!
Oh, and I've been told I look like so many people now that I'm losing track of who I actually am....
My bag is twice as heavy as it was when arrived - I've left with an enormous pile of books. I wish I'd had more time to meet more people, but the days just flew by and before I knew it it was all over. Still, next year I can make up for that.
I'll post a lot more as soon as I can, complete with a whole bunch of cool pictures - including one of Eric on stage at the ENnies caught at just the wrong moment!
Oh, and I've been told I look like so many people now that I'm losing track of who I actually am....
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I have a few more pictures. You'll see that Eric acted as an unofficial microphone stand, standing next to each winner with the mike box thingy attached to his belt.
Anyway, on with the pics. I don't have time right now to explain each one, although I'll edit this thread as soon as I get the chance to comment on each.
Me at the start of the ceremony: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00547.JPG
Me on the left, Ryan Dancey on the right: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00548.JPG
Ryan Dancey, M.C. for the evening: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00549.JPG
This is just a small portion of the crowd that gathered. There were a LOT of people there! In the front row, you can see RangerWickett on the left; the relaxed looking guy in black is Teflon Billy, and to his right is Michael Morris. You can see various publishers dotted about the picture: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00568.JPG
Some guy called Peter. Apparently he owns some kind of gaming convention somewhere: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00571.JPG
The following pics are mainly awardees accepting their awards. You'll see people like Monte Cook, Anthony Valterra, James Wyatt, Chris Pramas and others.
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00550.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00551.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00552.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00554.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00555.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00557.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00558.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00559.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00560.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00562.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00563.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00565.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00566.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00567.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00569.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00570.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00572.JPG
I suggested to Peter that we give Ryan Dancey a surprise award right at the end of the ceremony. He loved the idea, and agreed to present it himself, so here he is, giving Ryan the award for "Contribution to Open Gaming": http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00573.JPG
Anyway, on with the pics. I don't have time right now to explain each one, although I'll edit this thread as soon as I get the chance to comment on each.
Me at the start of the ceremony: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00547.JPG
Me on the left, Ryan Dancey on the right: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00548.JPG
Ryan Dancey, M.C. for the evening: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00549.JPG
This is just a small portion of the crowd that gathered. There were a LOT of people there! In the front row, you can see RangerWickett on the left; the relaxed looking guy in black is Teflon Billy, and to his right is Michael Morris. You can see various publishers dotted about the picture: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00568.JPG
Some guy called Peter. Apparently he owns some kind of gaming convention somewhere: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00571.JPG
The following pics are mainly awardees accepting their awards. You'll see people like Monte Cook, Anthony Valterra, James Wyatt, Chris Pramas and others.
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00550.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00551.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00552.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00554.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00555.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00557.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00558.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00559.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00560.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00562.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00563.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00565.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00566.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00567.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00569.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00570.JPG
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00572.JPG
I suggested to Peter that we give Ryan Dancey a surprise award right at the end of the ceremony. He loved the idea, and agreed to present it himself, so here he is, giving Ryan the award for "Contribution to Open Gaming": http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/Ennies/DSC00573.JPG
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I'm in Chicago now, and the hotel has a PC that I can use so I'll spend a few minutes going into a bit more detail about the last couple of days.
Eric met me at the airport on Thursday and gave me a big hug - unfortunately, I had sunburn, so I kinda wished he hadn't! It was really great to meet him - over the last couple of years he has become a dear friend, yet I had never laid eyes on him! His wife, Kara, was there too - she's a lovely woman, very pleasant.
We headed back to the hotel and checked in. Then we all strolled over to the convention centre to pick pick up badges etc. I'm pleased to say that there was no line to pick up my badge, although there was some initial confusion when it appeared at first that one had not been put aside to me. That was resolved in a couple of minutes though - very efficiently, I might add.
RangerWickett had left a message at my hotel saying that he had arrived but he didn't know where we were supposed to be meeting up (a few of us had arranged a quiet meal). I attempted to use a payphone to call him, but was thoroughly unsuccessful. Enlisting Eric's help didn't seem to help - whatever we did we couldn't get through to him - we got invalid numbers, we got the payphone spitting our money out, at one point I'm sure it actually laughed at me! Eventually we went via the operator who put us through after asking us to deposit nearly $5 (you owe me, Wickett! - well, you owe me, Eric, Al and Kara, since we all had to pool our change and create a big pile of quarters to feed into the damn thing!). Finally we got through to Ryan - the number was his cellphone and he was at my hotel looking for me!
After much bumbling about, myself, Al, Eric, Kara, Piratecat, KidCthulhu, Mark, Nemmerle, RangerWickett and RW's girlfriend Jessie managed to make it to the arranged meeting place at the required time, and we all headed out for dinner.
It was just fantastic to meet these people! Piratecat, like Eric, has been a friend for ages, and yet I'd never met the guy! He was exactly like I expected him to be. Nemmerle was shorter, and more energetic than I expected. Mark looked, sounded and acted exactly like Robert De Niro. It was uncanny. We all had a nice meal and then went to the Safe House for a few drinks. I didn't know the password (I know it now, fortunately!), and my forfeit (along with Al and Nemm) was to do a chicken impression. Still, it's all in the name of fun. Eric and Kara didn't know the password either and ended up having to search each other. The cool thing about the place is that the entranceway has a TV camera pointing at it which links to various TVs throughout the place - so anyone who does a forfeit is watched by the whole bar and is greeted by cheers when they finally enter!
We stayed in the Safe House until about 2am (a few people left early) and then headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.
The following day was cool. I wandered the exhibit hall and did my stint at Mystic Eye Games' booth. It was great to see Wild Spellcraft finally in pinrt, and RangerWickett seemed very happy. After that, it was nearly time top start preparing for the ENnies, so I met Eric at the stage and we had a lok round.
At first we were a bit confused - there were no chairs, there was no PA system. So we sat on the stage for a while, waiting. Adlon was there too, and I headed over the road to grab a quick bite to eat with him - he's a nice fellow. Unfortunately, it seemed that my pre-ENnies nerves had gotten the better of me and I wasn't able to eat more than a mouthful or so.
When we got back, chairs had already been laid out. Things started happening - Peter appeared, protoptype award in hand (one read "Best Publisher - Russell Morrissey" and the other read "Best Convention Owner - Peter Adkison"). We only had two, because the rest couldn't be made until after the winners were determined - they'll get sent to the winners shortly. Ryan Dancey appeared, and the area started to get crowded. Dave Arneson made a suprise appearance, and it was great to shake his hand and introduce myself.
And then the awards began. You can see the pictures above, and we managed to get the first 26 minutes of it as an mp3 recording (this will be available asap). Peter introduced me, and I made a shortish speech before introducing Ryan Dancey.
The atmosphere at the ceremony was electric. There was so much goodwill flowing throughout the audience, the event was so much fun, that I was on a real high the whole way through. It went smoothly, with no major errors, and everyone seemed happy to be there - people cheered and clapped, whistled and hooted. It was amazing!
Immediately afterwards was the EN World Gathering, and I got to meet loads of people from the boards! That was very cool! Everyone was very friendly. I had a brief chat with a few publshers afterwards, along with a couple of people from the WotC web team who had very nice things to say about EN World. All in all, it was a terrific experience.
After that, a bunch of us headed out again - this time to the White Wolf/FFG party. That was fun - although I was exhausted by then and probably didn't make the most of it. I was thoroughly glad to hit the sack when I got back to the hotel.
That was Thursday and Friday. I'll cover the rest of the weekend later. Mark has kindly offered to let me use his computer here in Chicago, so I should be able to do a more substantial update. I did hear a few bits of news here and there (WotC are sending cease and desist letters to 3 software organisations/sites - one of them is PCGen). I don't know how much news you've all been getting while I was away, but I understand that some other sites have been posting reports etc, so you may well already know this. There are a few other bits and pieces to report, but they can wait for the moment (or you can probably get them around the web in various places).
Anyway - more later!
Eric met me at the airport on Thursday and gave me a big hug - unfortunately, I had sunburn, so I kinda wished he hadn't! It was really great to meet him - over the last couple of years he has become a dear friend, yet I had never laid eyes on him! His wife, Kara, was there too - she's a lovely woman, very pleasant.
We headed back to the hotel and checked in. Then we all strolled over to the convention centre to pick pick up badges etc. I'm pleased to say that there was no line to pick up my badge, although there was some initial confusion when it appeared at first that one had not been put aside to me. That was resolved in a couple of minutes though - very efficiently, I might add.
RangerWickett had left a message at my hotel saying that he had arrived but he didn't know where we were supposed to be meeting up (a few of us had arranged a quiet meal). I attempted to use a payphone to call him, but was thoroughly unsuccessful. Enlisting Eric's help didn't seem to help - whatever we did we couldn't get through to him - we got invalid numbers, we got the payphone spitting our money out, at one point I'm sure it actually laughed at me! Eventually we went via the operator who put us through after asking us to deposit nearly $5 (you owe me, Wickett! - well, you owe me, Eric, Al and Kara, since we all had to pool our change and create a big pile of quarters to feed into the damn thing!). Finally we got through to Ryan - the number was his cellphone and he was at my hotel looking for me!
After much bumbling about, myself, Al, Eric, Kara, Piratecat, KidCthulhu, Mark, Nemmerle, RangerWickett and RW's girlfriend Jessie managed to make it to the arranged meeting place at the required time, and we all headed out for dinner.
It was just fantastic to meet these people! Piratecat, like Eric, has been a friend for ages, and yet I'd never met the guy! He was exactly like I expected him to be. Nemmerle was shorter, and more energetic than I expected. Mark looked, sounded and acted exactly like Robert De Niro. It was uncanny. We all had a nice meal and then went to the Safe House for a few drinks. I didn't know the password (I know it now, fortunately!), and my forfeit (along with Al and Nemm) was to do a chicken impression. Still, it's all in the name of fun. Eric and Kara didn't know the password either and ended up having to search each other. The cool thing about the place is that the entranceway has a TV camera pointing at it which links to various TVs throughout the place - so anyone who does a forfeit is watched by the whole bar and is greeted by cheers when they finally enter!
We stayed in the Safe House until about 2am (a few people left early) and then headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.
The following day was cool. I wandered the exhibit hall and did my stint at Mystic Eye Games' booth. It was great to see Wild Spellcraft finally in pinrt, and RangerWickett seemed very happy. After that, it was nearly time top start preparing for the ENnies, so I met Eric at the stage and we had a lok round.
At first we were a bit confused - there were no chairs, there was no PA system. So we sat on the stage for a while, waiting. Adlon was there too, and I headed over the road to grab a quick bite to eat with him - he's a nice fellow. Unfortunately, it seemed that my pre-ENnies nerves had gotten the better of me and I wasn't able to eat more than a mouthful or so.
When we got back, chairs had already been laid out. Things started happening - Peter appeared, protoptype award in hand (one read "Best Publisher - Russell Morrissey" and the other read "Best Convention Owner - Peter Adkison"). We only had two, because the rest couldn't be made until after the winners were determined - they'll get sent to the winners shortly. Ryan Dancey appeared, and the area started to get crowded. Dave Arneson made a suprise appearance, and it was great to shake his hand and introduce myself.
And then the awards began. You can see the pictures above, and we managed to get the first 26 minutes of it as an mp3 recording (this will be available asap). Peter introduced me, and I made a shortish speech before introducing Ryan Dancey.
The atmosphere at the ceremony was electric. There was so much goodwill flowing throughout the audience, the event was so much fun, that I was on a real high the whole way through. It went smoothly, with no major errors, and everyone seemed happy to be there - people cheered and clapped, whistled and hooted. It was amazing!
Immediately afterwards was the EN World Gathering, and I got to meet loads of people from the boards! That was very cool! Everyone was very friendly. I had a brief chat with a few publshers afterwards, along with a couple of people from the WotC web team who had very nice things to say about EN World. All in all, it was a terrific experience.
After that, a bunch of us headed out again - this time to the White Wolf/FFG party. That was fun - although I was exhausted by then and probably didn't make the most of it. I was thoroughly glad to hit the sack when I got back to the hotel.
That was Thursday and Friday. I'll cover the rest of the weekend later. Mark has kindly offered to let me use his computer here in Chicago, so I should be able to do a more substantial update. I did hear a few bits of news here and there (WotC are sending cease and desist letters to 3 software organisations/sites - one of them is PCGen). I don't know how much news you've all been getting while I was away, but I understand that some other sites have been posting reports etc, so you may well already know this. There are a few other bits and pieces to report, but they can wait for the moment (or you can probably get them around the web in various places).
Anyway - more later!
