CONvergence 2012 in Aftermath

I think for many people working on CONvergence, this was a particularly challenging year to get through.  It's so very big now -- approximately 5900 registrations, and 5500 people actually attending.  And despite the challenges, mistakes, miscommunications, and flaws (and I'm keenly aware of every single one of them, both ones that I'm a directly a part of as well as others), this was a successful and memorable year, and I think we're on a good path for the future.

I had some fun panels that I was on -- the Avengers panel was a highlight, with Lyda Morehouse correctly predicting that the Winter Soldier was in Captain America's future, and the love of Shwarma just increasing. I was happy to spread the convention love at our Conventions beyond CONvergence panel, since there are so many things beyond the one weekend both locally and around the country, and there are so many successful different flavors.

I completed a 25 year goal of mine to have Sophie Aldred at a Minnesota convention, and her appearance on a totally warped version of Just A Minute was epic beyond belief.

I was also very happy to see that we had people playtesting the upcoming version of Dungeons and Dragons -- and the future of D & D panel was a particular highlight.  I might actually have to play a game sometime, as it has probably been 20 years since I last played the RPG, but I have fond memories (and have enjoyed the recent board games my brother has worked on).

The musical highlight of the weekend was seeing Marian Call perform, and I hope she comes back to Minneapolis again so I can see her perform again.

I joke occasionally that we're on the road to Fafnircon, and that's a possible future that we need to manage towards.  Our current facilities do cap us at a point, even if there isn't an explicit cap in place.  And that building can still handle larger conventions -- we aren't the largest convention that building has seen, and that building has now hosted multiple generations of science fiction, fantasy, and related fans, so it really is a home away from home for all of us.

And of course, coming next year is CONvergence 2013:

I can't wait.