GaymerConnect

Well, that was fun.  I didn't get 95% of the references, but it was a ball (and hard work) staffing the Dragopolis booth with Jeff.  The CosPlay was well done (if lost on me), but everyone was friendly and fun to be around.  I did feel a bit like Jane Goodall from time to time, but that was to be expected. There are nice write-ups here and here, including pictures of us!

Best pics from from the lovely and talented Matt Baume, the famous voice and face of Marriage News Watch. Check out Matt's new photography site here, and his GaymerX photos here.

Working the booth with Jeff and Butch (and Brian in the afternoons)was a rewarding friendship experience. And we are all so PLU it was great. We kicked off the weekend with the opening party with Pandora Boxx and the amazing designer Dallas.




It was clearly a "first con."  The Hotel Kabuki completely failed on logistics, and the organizers had not yet the experience nor the confidence in their authority to make it right. Dave Hayes would have bitch slapped that scene into place right quick, but he's The Man behind the colossal Sundance Stompede and has the personality to match. Unfortunately, the first night party was all "bar line." Seriously, over a thousand people and only two bartenders, neither efficient. One was a slow, unhappy woman and the other guy looked like Pat Morita's great grandfather. I think it is possible that there were people who spent the entire duration of the party just waiting in line. The people themselves, however, were mostly fun and mostly in friendly, meet-people mode. The weekend was an interesting mix of cute gaymer cub nerds, and just, well, nerds. There was a definite population of those who never grew out of their awkward social phase, and it was kind of warming to see that they found each other. The preponderance of groups engaging solely through handheld game devices was a bit disconcerting. But it was after all a gayming convention.

Anchoring the entertainment around popular drag performers was a great idea, and brought both quality entertainment and a sense of pseudo-celebrity glamour to the event. I enjoyed meeting Dallas (a queen herself and all woman), the brilliant designer behind some of the best drag outfits. And Pandora Boxx headlined the dragtertainment. Pandora has her own episode for download in Dragopolis, and Jeff and Brian became friends with her through that experience. She's talented, kind, and hilarious. Her panel, which she admitted was odd because it was basically "a panel with a guy who likes some games and did drag on a tv show," was so much fun and a highlight of the weekend.

Other highlights included:

• Learning more about the vast world of tabletop games, many I think I would enjoy if I had the time or inclination for such.

• Marveling at the passion some of these players clearly had for their gaming worlds, even at the expense of health, hygiene or unwittingly becoming the embodiment of a cliché.

• Seeing a surprising number of guys/gays I know from all over town and from vastly different social circles who came to the Con on their own—and having such a good time and connecting with those they might not have otherwise.


• Knocking on the wrong door to borrow an iron and being welcomed in without question, and then taking over the body painting of the nearly naked muscle bear inside because that's sort of my thing and I had my tools with me anyway.


• The rocking CosPlay.




The Professor X and Magneto costumes were pretty funny, as the bald guy was Captain Picard the first day, and every time I looked over someone else was sitting in the wheelchair, and theirs was a slightly fetish booth so we thought the chair was just part of that scene. We finally started talking about it amongst ourselves on the second day, like "Yeah... What's with the wheelchair?" Then Magneto strolled in and there was a group "Ohhhhh...."

• Working the Dragopolis booth with such awesomely fun people (those being Jeff, Brian, and Butch), the drag celebrities who would stop by, and the enthusiasm of the fans of the game who wanted autographs and their photo taken with Jeff and the storyboards.








• Not knowing what to expect. Ever. Like walking into an elevator to find this:


• Walking through Japantown with Akashia in her Storm costume and then watching Jeff and Gordon judge the CosPlay contest at way too early on Saturday morning in the misty cold fog.




• Joey from GeeksOut who was both adorable and freaking hilarious.

  
• Furries



• Meeting and hanging out with Alex Woolfson, the artist behind Artifice and The Young Protectors.


• Hanging with one of my favorite editors and the voice of Marriage News Watch, Matt Baume (and his charming boyfriend James).


• The frequent drag fabulous




But of course, most of our time was spreading the enthusiasm for Dragopolis. Almost everyone was either (1) already a fan or (2) ready to become one.


We got our one-sentence sales pitches down pretty quickly.

"What is Dragopolois?"

"You're not already playing Dragopolis? It's the world's first drag queen based video game!" or "It's all you could ever want in a drag queen video game."

We would often get into the story of the game play and set out the scene and the fun. For one person, Jeff described the action, including the setup that you're backstage at Ru Paul's Drag Race and the evil Apokalypstick kidnaps the Pit Crew and you have to go race and fight your way through the streets of Dragopolis to get her boys back..."

This person just looked at us dumbfounded. I added helpfully, "It's based on an true story."

"Loosely." Jeff clarified.

That became the running gag for the rest of the weekend. "Loosely based on a true story." Which ultimately became Ru Paul's Drag Race: Dragopolis!... Truly based on a loose story.

And scene.

Feel the Power of Dragopolis!