In Which I Attempt To Sell Shiny
Today, I have monies. \o/ Yay for payday! (does the I Am Not Broke dance) It is an extra big payday too, due to the interesting twists and turns of dates that occur when you are paid monthly. Next month shall be even bigger. This is balanced by two back-to-back short paychecks around December. >:[ But I shall be careful with my savings, and stock pile like a good squirrel.
Which is why I'm looking at plane tickets. >_> I have monies now, and so should make the Big Ticket Purchase now, before prices go up. Yes/Yes? (Speaking of, sophie_448, we must see if we can arrange to share a plane or something! D: )
See, WinCon is in October. Three months is a decent amount of time to purchase plane tickets. (And also, if I buy them now, my boss will not be able to randomly remember a Family Reunion, picnic, trip or etc and ask me to only take one or a half day off.) I'm looking at $255, heading out on Thursday and returning Monday. That's not bad, considering what it cost me to go to Denver last year! I could save $40 by driving to a nearby airport, but I would end up spending it in car storage and gas.
I've been to WinCon twice, in 2008 and 2009. 2008 in Baltimore, I got my first tatoo*. In 2009, I was on far too tight a schedule to manage ink again. This year, I hope to get a second tattoo! Either I will get a shared tattoo with jadetate and clex_monkie89, or I will get a Cap Tat. One way or another, I want more ink!
* Yes, thenyxie and her husband were involved in my tattoo choices. No, I don't regret it. At the time, I wasn't aware of what had happened. And that is the last I'm going to mention of it.
Since my brain is on WinCon, this is when I try to sell my entire flist & circle on WinCon.
First, just to get my bias out of the way, I have to say that WinCon is awesome. And I mean that in an all-encompassing way. The attendees are awesome. The con organizers are awesome. The atmosphere is awesome. The panels are awesome. The liquor is awesome. I could go on and on and on here. Just know that I think WinCon is easily the shiniest thing since sparkle-plated sliced bread.
WinCon is very, very female and LGBTQAI friendly. In fact, it's so female friendly that I would strongly advise any guys to think heavily before attending. Most of the male-types I've seen there have been husbands or boyfriends, and not actual attendees. (Last year, we had a Boy. He was shiny, and also looked incredibly intimidated.) In fact, according to the FAQ, husbands and boythings who plan to attend need to e-mail the organizers first. This is a safe space, y'all.
In previous years, WinCon was for Supernatural fans. This year, it's multifandom. There will probably be a lot of attendees who are SPN fans, but the focus isn't there anymore. The planned panels are, for the most part fandom-neutral, though I understand there will be some fandom pimpage panels. Even though both of my experiences with WinCon were when it was SPN-only, I really don't personally connect it to SPN much. It's like a giant fangirl slumber party, with better digs than I usually get and a lot more alcohol than my liver can take. My experience may be especially slumber party like, because I am a snuggly person when drunk. But regardless, most of what I remember outside the official schedule was very fandom neutral, and I don't think that's going to change.
For alcohol... Well. I spent pretty much both WinCons completely toasted. And this went extremely well. Again, I am a snuggly drunk, and I had lots of people to snuggle with. The alcohol tends to be very free-flowing due to one of WinCon's best features: the Roadhouse. I don't know if there will be a Roadhouse this year. I hope so, but I don't see it featured. The Roadhouse is/was, TL;DR, where you find free alcohol. Last year, I bought a bottle a Patrone, but I could have easily spent much much less and been just as drunk. If there is no roadhouse, I will be buying alcohol again. Feel free to hit me up for a shot.
WinProm is something they did last year, and are doing again this year. It is the most awesome excuse to dress up in the history of ever. Fangirls dancing, yo! This year the theme is Starry Night (wtf that was the best we could do after Apocalypse Prom?), and I fully intend to go in style. If your life is anything like mine, you have Zilch excuses to wear formal attire. This Is Your Chance.
Finally... Charity. WinCon also has a raffle, with amazing and awesome prizes, and the proceeds go to charity. This year, that's Ficca Bank. Even without awesome prizes (and there are always awesome prizes), that's worth putting some money towards.
Wincon is always an amazing, fun experience, and I haven't walked away from it dissatisfied yet. If you're worried about being alone, I will be there, and I totally welcome people to snuggle and cling to. It's not really a big convention, which helps with the atmosphere, and (speaking entirely for myself) makes it hard to feel lonely and isolated. There's booze, food (according to the FAQ, there is a Corporate McDonalds nearby), music, excellent company, a good atmosphere and a ton of fannish things do and to discuss.
The website: http://omgwincon.com/
The LJ Comm: wincon
Dates: October 15 - 17
Location: Chicago
Ticket: $125
Airfare: ~$250
Hotel: $100/night
Drunken Karaoke With A Roomful of Other Fangirls: Priceless
Crossposted to Dreamwidths ohnoz!
Which is why I'm looking at plane tickets. >_> I have monies now, and so should make the Big Ticket Purchase now, before prices go up. Yes/Yes? (Speaking of, sophie_448, we must see if we can arrange to share a plane or something! D: )
See, WinCon is in October. Three months is a decent amount of time to purchase plane tickets. (And also, if I buy them now, my boss will not be able to randomly remember a Family Reunion, picnic, trip or etc and ask me to only take one or a half day off.) I'm looking at $255, heading out on Thursday and returning Monday. That's not bad, considering what it cost me to go to Denver last year! I could save $40 by driving to a nearby airport, but I would end up spending it in car storage and gas.
I've been to WinCon twice, in 2008 and 2009. 2008 in Baltimore, I got my first tatoo*. In 2009, I was on far too tight a schedule to manage ink again. This year, I hope to get a second tattoo! Either I will get a shared tattoo with jadetate and clex_monkie89, or I will get a Cap Tat. One way or another, I want more ink!
* Yes, thenyxie and her husband were involved in my tattoo choices. No, I don't regret it. At the time, I wasn't aware of what had happened. And that is the last I'm going to mention of it.
Since my brain is on WinCon, this is when I try to sell my entire flist & circle on WinCon.
First, just to get my bias out of the way, I have to say that WinCon is awesome. And I mean that in an all-encompassing way. The attendees are awesome. The con organizers are awesome. The atmosphere is awesome. The panels are awesome. The liquor is awesome. I could go on and on and on here. Just know that I think WinCon is easily the shiniest thing since sparkle-plated sliced bread.
WinCon is very, very female and LGBTQAI friendly. In fact, it's so female friendly that I would strongly advise any guys to think heavily before attending. Most of the male-types I've seen there have been husbands or boyfriends, and not actual attendees. (Last year, we had a Boy. He was shiny, and also looked incredibly intimidated.) In fact, according to the FAQ, husbands and boythings who plan to attend need to e-mail the organizers first. This is a safe space, y'all.
In previous years, WinCon was for Supernatural fans. This year, it's multifandom. There will probably be a lot of attendees who are SPN fans, but the focus isn't there anymore. The planned panels are, for the most part fandom-neutral, though I understand there will be some fandom pimpage panels. Even though both of my experiences with WinCon were when it was SPN-only, I really don't personally connect it to SPN much. It's like a giant fangirl slumber party, with better digs than I usually get and a lot more alcohol than my liver can take. My experience may be especially slumber party like, because I am a snuggly person when drunk. But regardless, most of what I remember outside the official schedule was very fandom neutral, and I don't think that's going to change.
For alcohol... Well. I spent pretty much both WinCons completely toasted. And this went extremely well. Again, I am a snuggly drunk, and I had lots of people to snuggle with. The alcohol tends to be very free-flowing due to one of WinCon's best features: the Roadhouse. I don't know if there will be a Roadhouse this year. I hope so, but I don't see it featured. The Roadhouse is/was, TL;DR, where you find free alcohol. Last year, I bought a bottle a Patrone, but I could have easily spent much much less and been just as drunk. If there is no roadhouse, I will be buying alcohol again. Feel free to hit me up for a shot.
WinProm is something they did last year, and are doing again this year. It is the most awesome excuse to dress up in the history of ever. Fangirls dancing, yo! This year the theme is Starry Night (wtf that was the best we could do after Apocalypse Prom?), and I fully intend to go in style. If your life is anything like mine, you have Zilch excuses to wear formal attire. This Is Your Chance.
Finally... Charity. WinCon also has a raffle, with amazing and awesome prizes, and the proceeds go to charity. This year, that's Ficca Bank. Even without awesome prizes (and there are always awesome prizes), that's worth putting some money towards.
Wincon is always an amazing, fun experience, and I haven't walked away from it dissatisfied yet. If you're worried about being alone, I will be there, and I totally welcome people to snuggle and cling to. It's not really a big convention, which helps with the atmosphere, and (speaking entirely for myself) makes it hard to feel lonely and isolated. There's booze, food (according to the FAQ, there is a Corporate McDonalds nearby), music, excellent company, a good atmosphere and a ton of fannish things do and to discuss.
The website: http://omgwincon.com/
The LJ Comm: wincon
Dates: October 15 - 17
Location: Chicago
Ticket: $125
Airfare: ~$250
Hotel: $100/night
Drunken Karaoke With A Roomful of Other Fangirls: Priceless
Crossposted to Dreamwidths ohnoz!