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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Piratecat" data-source="post: 308964" data-attributes="member: 2">Friday night: the ENnies!I look out over the crowd and think, "Damn! There are a lot of people here."  I have some sort of philosophical epiphany about the transient nature of the internet being fractured as we begin to forge personal, lasting friendships at occasions such as this... then I see Morrus and Eric being photographed while holding that damn "Hot Italian Beef" sign I mentioned before, and it all disappears.Russ is quite good (despite being nervous), and Eric as usual is charming and funny. Peter Adkison and Ryan Dancy are both superb. Ryan in particular is a rare combination of charisma, stage presence, and intelligence. Everyone laughs when he mentions that it's harder to flame people when he isn't in front of his keyboard. I lose on best adventure, but I'm really pleased about who I lose to, so it could be worse. The Fiery Dragon guys have the good graces not to mock me until I'm out of earshot.  Seriously, we all mope for a bit, but there's not much future in feeling sorry for yourself, so it doesn't last long.All the chairs are long gone, so I sit on the side of the stairs next to Peter Adkison. It's interesting how people remember other folks; this is the third time I've met him, and I don't register yet, I think. The next day I'll meet him again while walking with Russ, and I can virtually see him slot me into the "not Morrus" section of his brain that means he can forget about me later.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  He has a look on his face that's really one of wonder, of knowing that he owns this thing and that it's a whole lot of fun. I think it's right about now that I stop worrying about next year's con, because I decide it's in good hands.The ENnies finish before you know it. As soon as they're done, everyone congregates to chat. I see old friends - Urbanmech, Wulf Ratbane, Dinkeldog, Kugar, and many more - and meet new ones (most of whom seem really cool.) Doctor Doom asks me to sign his nipple. The Paizo Publishing guys introduce themselves (I already knew Erik Mona, who's an old friend) and we chat about the future of Dragon and Dungeon. David Noonan (WotC editor) is incredibly gracious, and we talk about the editing/playtesting process. I finally get to meet Teflon Billy, who seems like a heck of a nice guy although we don't have a huge chance to talk. It's good fun.Gradually, the number of people starts to lessen, and we head off to a local bar called the Velvet Room. White Wolf and FFG are having a private party with free drinks there, and we squeeze in, totally not realizing that at least one of our members (Coik) is underage. Doh!  Inside, we find room to talk. It's a fascinating contrast in cultures; normally the bar is a classy and exclusive place, and watching beautifully groomed women with horrified grimaces on their faces squeeze past hordes of gamers is surprisingly funny to see. We've invaded their turf, and they seem to be in shock.KidCthulhu eventually arrives, and we huddle in the loud darkness and exchange both jokes and stories with people like Eric & Kara, Russ & Al, Dinkeldog & Halma, and many more. It's good to be amongst friends.Next: The Nutkinland/ENBoard Cthulhu game!</blockquote>

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