This was my 12th year out at MN's most popular Sci-Fi convention, CONvergence and it was very different. I had a blast and did most of my normal con routine with a much larger (and cuter) element added: Harrison!
He was very good and doesn't seem to mind big crowds (which is a huge plus at such a big convention). He met lots of new people and made many new friends. According to one old man, Harrison's large, bumpy head means that he is of German descent and his red hair means he is descended from Vikings... this was possibly our most strange encounter.
Here is a Day by Day breakdown:
Thursday:
Megan and I got to the hotel early so I could attend a meeting for the Social Media department (Yay!) and were surprised to find that our room was already available (More yay!). Matt and Harrison were able to come earlier than expected. Megan and I waited in the relatively short line for our badges while we waited for Matt and Harrison to arrive. Harrison's badge name: Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All.
Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me pick up Matt's badge as he needed to be there with his photo ID. Understandable, but still inconvenient as then Matt had to wait 3 hours in line for his own badge. I'm glad we did it separately and weren't both in line for that long because Harrison sure would not have lasted 3 hours in line...
This is the zig-zag line for reg which starts upstairs and all the way down the hall and ends far, far to the left down the hall on the first floor. Some people were waiting 4-5 hours. I guess that's what happens when 5000 people show up at the same time...
The day was short and not too full of shenanigans, but it was a good day. I did initial bedtime with Harrison and Matt took over around 10 so I could go socialize. We hung around the bar, mostly, and ran into a number of con friends.
I was back upstairs at midnight but only managed to scrape 3 hours of sleep. Harrison woke up 4 times during the night because he much preferred being held in bed with me rather than in the pack n play...
Friday:
This was our Doctor Who day. I only lasted a couple of hours in my Rose Tyler cosplay because it was so warm. A wig on top of a pleather jacket... not in July (for me, anyway, there are some hardcore people out there..).
Harrison was our 11th Doctor, Matt was 10 and Megan was a Dalek. Harrison got a lot of Oohs and was very good all day. We hunkered down in the Garden Court at one point to watch Yoga Quest. Sean managed to wrangle badge ribbons by borrowing Harrison and telling the instructor he was doing the "Happy Baby" pose.
We found a TARDIS
Harrison got to play in the big bed for awhile.
At some point during the day, Harrison ate my badge ribbons... he drooled all over them and made them all wet and the sticky backs were no longer sticky. It was kinda sad but really funny at the same time. I was wondering why he was being so quiet and happy... he had been trying to get ahold of my badge all day.
Matt took bedtime this night so I could run off to the panel "How to talk to girls at con" for my first time live-tweeting an event for CONvergence. It was really fun! And the panel was very funny, with some great stories. However, the panel was over by 9:30 and it was my turn to take over for Matt since he took the first night. Sure, I was a little disappointed I had to miss out on a few things, but that was the sacrifice we made when deciding to bring Harrison. It was worth it!
Aside from a 12-1 a.m. tantrum, Harrison did much better the second night.
Saturday:
Harrison and I were up bright and early. We left the room quietly, letting Matt and Megan sleep without the squealy screech of a hyper Harrison. We met many people in our morning about the quiet convention, while most were still tucked away in their beds after a hard night of partying. Harrison and I (well, just the I) were offered morning mimosas, which is apparently a CONvergence tradition, you just have to be up early enough to know of this traditions existence. We got a chocolate croissant in consuite. We met a man in a very cool Dalek "costume" (it was essentially a home-built Dalek with enough room inside for him to fit). We also met a young girl dressed as the 11th doctor who told me about her con experience. It was a good morning!
Harrison napped not long after and then it was time to costume up. Harrison was my Dragon and I was his Khaleesi.
We had so much fun! Harrison was so popular and we got stopped often for pictures or for just people to admire the cuteness. We did lots of walking around, visiting the dealers room, consuite etc. We did another lap in the Garden Court, Harrison was most happy laying down and letting people crowd around him. He loved my necklace and my fake hair.
But it was Saturday and Matt and I had decided to take a night for ourselves. My parents picked up Harrison for his first night away from me. I was so nervous, but I knew he was in good hands. He was also very tired and would like the quieter space of their house.
Throughout the night, I was consistently asked 2 things: "Where is your dragon?" and "Were you the girl with the baby dragon?" Harrison sure made an impression :)
A large group of us went to Lauren's room to watch the Masquerade on CVG-TV. It's hard to tell the quality of the costumes through the tv, but a lot of the skits were funny and clever. Can-Can geeky dancers (Faves: Ursula and Leia) was probably most memorable for me. I'm really glad I didn't do it this year (another big change), it would have been far too hard to fit it into my schedule.
I went to another panel for @CONvergenceLive and live-tweeted about London in Fact and Fiction. It was not a panel I would have normally gone to, but it was really cool and I'm glad my volunteering is getting me to branch out. Two of the panelists were English and I could have listened to them talk all day, especially Paul Cornell (a Guest of Honor) who has a deep voice, great for public speaking.
After the panel, I made a quick stop at the Prancing Pony (yum! 1919 Root Beer!) and then to the Garden Court for the Single Ladies flash mob. I got the whole dance on video and will upload it soon and post the link later. It was so cool! Kara's helmet was great!
Matt was enjoying the freedom of the night.
I had finally finished his Jedi costume! I was so happy he was able to wear it this year! I missed Harrison, but it was nice to have a night to ourselves. We visited party rooms, got Icees, drank more root beer. Megan got a little drunk (well.. most people got a little drunk..) and spilled on me twice (luckily just water). She also kept shouting "WE'RE SISTERS!" and trying to hold my hand... sigh. We were up until 2 and then finally gave in to sleep. I was sad, I didn't want con to end.
Sunday:
Even without Harrison, I still woke up early. 8:00 still meant I got around 6 hours of sleep, good for me! I kind of woke up in a puddle... oops, guess I should have worn a bra to bed.. TMI, I know, but it's what got me out of bed. I dressed in my owl onsie (one of the dealer's room vendors asked if I was Doctor Hoo :D) and I went downstairs for breakfast, ran into MDog and Pete. It was a pretty relaxed morning. Visited the dealers room a few times hoping to find a cute (and child friendly) souvenir for Harrison, but no luck.
Noon was checkout, so we packed up and moved out. I had one panel left to attend: the Masquerade Results panel. It was so cool to see all of the costumes up close. I usually see everything backstage and so seeing the work all of these costumers put into their projects is incredible. I took many pictures for the CONvergence Twitter.
I met up with others and we just did our relaxed hangout for awhile in F2E2, ignoring the inevitable truth that con was ending and we had to return to the real world. A lot of my friends had already left, Kara even skipped off to Chicago bright and early. But it was time. Megan and I grabbed a burger off the grill on the way out. We drove to my parents and picked up my grumpy (but soon happy) baby and CONvergence was over.
All registered for next year! What costumes should we do??
