Prophecy 2007
I know at least one person who wants to know about this...
I've just returned home from the conference in Toronto, but it has taken me over a day just to feel like I am back on earth. It was an amazing experience, but an overwhelming one as well.
We arrived on Thursday and it was great to be in a large room with over a thousand people, all wearing SOMETHING to do with HP. To see that many people in costume was so comforting, in a weird way. We (my husband tagged along, but did not register for the conference) went to see the movie at IMAX. It was an exclusive showing for the conference, which was alot of fun, being surrounded by slashers, who took a few moments of the movie a little differently than intended (the scene with Snape telling Harry: "be prepared to be penetrated" - got quite the laugh)
Friday was packed with tons of formal presentations - which I loved (Go Ravenclaw!). One thing that stood out was the academic discussions, which were enlightening and well presented. The other aspect I loved, was being in a room with LJ-ers...to see so many people who I only knew by their names before was neat, as was listening to them discuss issues that I understood, but that many people out of LJ were left scratching their head. It has really made me appreciate being a part of the fandom. Oh, and Steve Vander Ark was really funny and treated like a GOD by a lot of the people. The neatest thing was to see him instruct people to pull their wands out, and all you could see was a sea of wands in the air.
Saturday was filled again, but the highlight of course was the formal ball. Everyone was dressed to the nines! Girls wore prom dresses, wedding dresses etc. Lots of people were dressed up in their character costumes. We danced like crazy and then hung out in the foyer til the wee hours of the morning. Got "interviewed" in the elevator by someone I had met, S, which was lots of fun. Some of the memorable costumes were the very acurate Lockhart, Mme. Maxine, Hagrid and the Snapes (lots and lots of Snapes). There was one woman who went around with a full size picture frame (Mrs. Black) and a really tall, back leather encased Bellatrix. The funny ones included a couple of really good Umbridges, including HazelHawthorne, who was very scarily accurate (and who did a round table on sex education at Hogwarts, but not in costume, thank goodness!). One Umbridge actually showed up the next morning, all dirty and covered in leaves!
When it was all over, the let down was comparable to the let down after reading DH...I am so glad I went, but it was so sad to leave. I will really miss wearing my robes everywhere and being able to talk about Harry with like-minded people.
And now I have to decide which conference I will go to next: Portus, in Dallas in 2008; Sectus 2 in England 2009 (rumored to be in a castle), or Infinitus, 2010, in Orlando, (with a side trip to the theme park and possible feast in the Great Hall).
Because I will go to another one...
I've just returned home from the conference in Toronto, but it has taken me over a day just to feel like I am back on earth. It was an amazing experience, but an overwhelming one as well.
We arrived on Thursday and it was great to be in a large room with over a thousand people, all wearing SOMETHING to do with HP. To see that many people in costume was so comforting, in a weird way. We (my husband tagged along, but did not register for the conference) went to see the movie at IMAX. It was an exclusive showing for the conference, which was alot of fun, being surrounded by slashers, who took a few moments of the movie a little differently than intended (the scene with Snape telling Harry: "be prepared to be penetrated" - got quite the laugh)
Friday was packed with tons of formal presentations - which I loved (Go Ravenclaw!). One thing that stood out was the academic discussions, which were enlightening and well presented. The other aspect I loved, was being in a room with LJ-ers...to see so many people who I only knew by their names before was neat, as was listening to them discuss issues that I understood, but that many people out of LJ were left scratching their head. It has really made me appreciate being a part of the fandom. Oh, and Steve Vander Ark was really funny and treated like a GOD by a lot of the people. The neatest thing was to see him instruct people to pull their wands out, and all you could see was a sea of wands in the air.
Saturday was filled again, but the highlight of course was the formal ball. Everyone was dressed to the nines! Girls wore prom dresses, wedding dresses etc. Lots of people were dressed up in their character costumes. We danced like crazy and then hung out in the foyer til the wee hours of the morning. Got "interviewed" in the elevator by someone I had met, S, which was lots of fun. Some of the memorable costumes were the very acurate Lockhart, Mme. Maxine, Hagrid and the Snapes (lots and lots of Snapes). There was one woman who went around with a full size picture frame (Mrs. Black) and a really tall, back leather encased Bellatrix. The funny ones included a couple of really good Umbridges, including HazelHawthorne, who was very scarily accurate (and who did a round table on sex education at Hogwarts, but not in costume, thank goodness!). One Umbridge actually showed up the next morning, all dirty and covered in leaves!
When it was all over, the let down was comparable to the let down after reading DH...I am so glad I went, but it was so sad to leave. I will really miss wearing my robes everywhere and being able to talk about Harry with like-minded people.
And now I have to decide which conference I will go to next: Portus, in Dallas in 2008; Sectus 2 in England 2009 (rumored to be in a castle), or Infinitus, 2010, in Orlando, (with a side trip to the theme park and possible feast in the Great Hall).
Because I will go to another one...