BIG UPDATE Mixed emotions of having to depart back to Minnesota today. The weather here was fantastic and I love the fact that there are no bugs, something I am accustomed to dealing with during such temperatures at home. I am hoping these persistent headaches will cease once I get back home. My theory is the smog or air pollution here is causing them. I only recently finally broke down in near tears on Saturday to medicate it and have been popping pills constantly to keep them at tolerance. I quickly adapted to understanding a horn honk as a form of communication/greeting here in L.A. Driving is an entirely different animal out here and I wont miss the bumper to bumper traffic, limited (and expensive!) parking, complete lack of courtesy, and 90 MPH in a 45 speed norms. My hosts with whom I stayed are wonderful people and I regret I did not have more time to spend with them and get to know them further but hope that next year similar arrangements can be made to correct this. I will also not miss the incredible increase in living expenses here. Its safe to say that services and entertainment (especially the things we burn our disposable incomes on) are twice as expensive as they are at home, and products are generally marked up by 25% or more. I do and do not look forward to the work that lies before me to continue to build the communities and resources I manage only because of an occupation that gives me so little time to work on them. The resources that I had unlocked through the networking and connections I made at Blizzcon will be enormous and beneficial to hundreds of thousands of people utilizing the services I help provide. Much was also learned with this being my first Blizzcon. Arrangements for next year will be much more organized, more thoroughly prepared for, and make a much larger impact and impression on the public. With a taste of what to expect, I can now expound upon that information and through my contacts, arrange an epic experience for those who are either fans, community members, friends, or staff that sacrifice so much with me to see these communities grow. Thats all for now. As my brain digests everything I took in over the last week out here I will share further thoughts and experiences as well as the latest developments in what is to come!
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 16:29:48 +0000