GenreCon 2012-- Day 3

I started the day off by watching the news coverage of the con from the night before. Can you spot me in the video? Haha!

9:30am again came early, but thanks to my great decision-making the night before, I felt well-rested and ready to go.
My co-volunteers? ...not so much. ;)
Some looked like death warmed over (I'm looking at you, Liz!) and others just looked tired. Next year I'm definitely going to plan around the Saturday night room parties. I felt a bit left out!

It was just Nick, Rob and I in the dealer/signing room on day 3, which worked out fine. I wandered around the floor while they sat and 'supervised'.
By day 3, there's a wonderful camaraderie and friendship between the volunteers, so there was much joking and teasing. It was great.

Mark Meer talks with Mass Effect fans

I got to watch Mark Meer (Mass Effect) fawn over some fans in GREAT costumes. We don't allow fans to take posed photos with the guests, but this time Mark himself asked for the photo!

The talent did a lot of connecting. You could tell the con was coming to an end and no one wanted it to!

Mark Meer chatted with pretty much every other guest, as did Robert Maillet and Mark Lutz.
I think the talent really enjoyed meeting each other! I like to imagine that some will stay life-long friends. :)

Robert Maillet (seated) chats with
Mark Meer

The vendors also seemed very happy on day 3, because many of the guests started buying the merchandise they'd had their eye on all weekend!
I saw Mark Meer buy a few ChiZine books and Julian Richings bought a movie and a book!

I took it upon myself to 'live-tweet' on Day 3.
I noticed that no one was really doing it, and I thought the fans (and my followers!) might find it fun!
I got a HUGE response! Thanks, you guys, for being so interested in my tweets! I hope you all come next year so you can see the awesomeness for yourself!

His t-shirt says, "Hello, my name is Inigo
Montoya..."

I watched Robert Maillet buy a t-shirt and I just had to take his pic while wearing it. Can you see the name tag? Hahaha! He DOES look like Inigo Montoya!

The morning went by quickly and at 12:30, I went to see about my photo op with Nicholas Brendon.
There was a small line, and at 1pm it started to move.
Imagine my surprise--and joy!--when I was told that I could get a photo with BOTH Nicholas and Tom Lenk for the price of one photo op!
Um, yes, please!!
I was last to go and I smiled nervously for the camera.
I think the photo came out okay, don't you? :D

I got ANOTHER hug from Nicholas (he initiated, not me!) and went back to my 'job' in the dealer room.

I was again just thrilled to watch the talent interact. Most of them had only just met each other and, like the con volunteers, seemed to mesh and just had great camaraderie!
I guess geeks are geeks, no matter WHAT we do for a living! :D

Mark Lutz and Nicholas Brendon
(You can see Robert Maillet standing
in the background)

Mark Lutz hanging with the Dead Genesis crew

Robert Maillet and Sandhal Bergman
(Red Sonja, Conan the Barbarian)
pose for a photo

And I finally got my photo with the amazingly inspiring Jacqui, Nicholas Brendon, Mark Meer and Mark Lutz's con manager!

Nicholas Brendon and Robert Maillet
say goodbye

Sadly, Jacqui and Nicholas had an early flight out, and they were the first to say goodbye. I got ANOTHER hug from Nicholas--again, instigated by HIM!--and waved goodbye.
Meeting them was a dream come true and I'm so, so grateful that Genrecon made that happen.

Back at the volunteer table, Nick and I were fascinated to watch the filming of a Versus Valerie webisode. The amount of takes and different camera angles--it's seriously REALLY cool to watch! I can't wait to see the finished product!

Mark Meer playing a cosplayer
playing the Tenth Doctor
in Versus Valerie

 I got to hang with my favorite child actor, Connor Stanhope again too. He really seemed to enjoy himself, which made us all pretty happy.
When it's a guests FIRST con, you want to make it special and something they'll remember forever. I like to think that Chris, Rob, Jody, Adrienne (Connor's liaison), Tom and I were able to do that for him.

Volunteer Chris, hangs with Courtenay Taylor
(Mass Effect) and Connor Stanhope

I gushed over him enough yesterday, so today I'll just ask you to follow him on Twitter and Facebook to show your support for a really great kid. Thanks. :)

Next it was time to say goodbye to Mark Lutz--and I got a REALLY unexpected hug from him!
I was thrilled to watch him and Sandhal Bergman say their goodbyes--they talked and joked about Mark's HUGE bottle of booze.

Sandhal (in the hat) wants to know how Mark
is going to get the huge bottle through
customs!

Sandhal and Mark say goodbye

It really was touching to see everyone so sad to be leaving the con.
Hydra team, fellow volunteers--I wish you'd been able to see what I saw. They truly had a wonderful time with us and with each other.
Kudos and congratulations for showing them what a fan-made con is all about!

But it wasn't COMPLETELY over yet!

Connor and Nicole Gauss (My Little Pony) hung out for a few more hours, and there were still a few panels and Q&A's going on as well.

Nicole Gauss and Connor Stanhope (notice the
sonic screwdriver!) pose for a pic

Finally, FINALLY, it was time for my daughter to meet me. It was a LONG weekend without her--and it was the first time I'd ever been away from her, even overnight!
I missed her like crazy!!

I brought her around to meet Nick and let her pick out a new toy. She chose the red ghost from PacMan. Haha!
Of course, I couldn't help myself and took this awesome photo of her with her new ghost buddy. Best. Pic. EVAR! ;)

My daughter poses for a pic--
But who's that in the
background?
Oh, only Julian Richings
saying goodbye to
Robert Maillet!

With a few last and completely unexpected goodbye hugs from Tom Lenk, Robert Maillet and Connor Stanhope, it was time for me to head home.

I hugged Nick--best boss ever--and thanked Kris, one of the lead volunteers for an amazing weekend.

The ride home was quiet and bittersweet. On one hand, I was so happy to see my baby girl, and on the other, I missed my co-volunteers and the con atmosphere so much already.

So thank you, Tom and Karen and Kris and Paul and Petr--the whole hydra team. We've done the impossible--and that makes us mighty.

To Chris, Nick, Jody, Liz, Rob, Justin, and all of my co-volunteers--We did it, guys. And the best part? We've made friends for life. I adore ALL of you. Until next year, Staff Infection, et al!

To the vendors--You are ALL awesome. Although the con was small, you all made your own fun and decided to sign up to come back again next year!
Thank you for believing in us, for your patience and for being fun. :)

To the guests & talent--Lifelong memories were made this weekend, for some of you, for our attendees and for US, your volunteers. Thank you for being gracious, approachable, friendly, funny, patient and just plain amazing. I'll never forget any of you. :)

And to the attendees--Wow, you guys. WOW. You're amazing and smart and fun! Thank you for taking a chance on our little con and for making it bigger and more wonderful than we ever imagined it would be.
I hope that your memories of Genrecon are as amazing as mine are, and I can't wait to see you again next year.

It wasn't perfect, our little con--there were a few glitches and minor set-backs--but all-in-all, everyone seemed happy and, best of all, they had fun.

Expect bigger and better things next year. you guys. And expect me. Wild horses couldn't keep me from GenreCon 2013!

Thanks for reading my experiences, everyone. Hugs and con-love to you all!