Gen Con recap

Three days after my stint at Gen Con, I think I am FINALLY recovering. While at the "con", I taught crochet and scrapbooking to the spouses (and mothers) of some of the attendees. It was exhausting, but it really was a great time. I enjoyed getting to know some very interesting women from across the US.

Many of them were there with their husbands or boyfriends who game, but a few of them were mothers who had brought their teenage sons. I think that is evidence of a mother who really loves and supports her children.

Dottie, from the east coast, said she was there with her 17-year-old son. Her other son had gone with her husband to Florida for a yo-yo convention. Very fun!

I think my favorite attendee, by far, was a young woman from Minnesota. Her boyfriend is a big gamer and she is not. She is a very avid knitter. So, how did he convince her to take a 15 hour car ride all the way down to Indiana? He showed her that there was going to be crochet classes at Gen Con. Apparently her friends are crocheters and she's been wanting to learn for quite a while. I told her that was a long way to travel just to learn how to crochet! In addition to the beginning crochet class, she also came to a crochet circle class later that night where I showed her some additional stitches.

In addition, she was interested in learning how to crochet a hat. I told her I would bring her a pattern the next day. Unfortunately, we were never able to reconnect. (If you are her or know her, drop me a line!) I hear she also told the advanced knitting class teacher (a friend of mine) that I was a good teacher. It was very nice to hear that my skills were appreciated.

So, if you're a spouse of a gamer who has been begging you to join them at Gen Con, consider it next year. The Indy Star wrote an excellent article on all of the activities which are becoming available to non-gamers. In 2005, there were 8 events available. This year there were 70. I'm sure it will grow to even more in 2010.