My PAX East Experience: Gamers Gone Wild

My PAX East experience consisted of one event; Gamers Gone Wild.

After attending the first event, I made it a point to be a part of team hosting the event and not just a guest. My plan was to get to know more of the people from here, but things didn't quite work out that way.

I was put to work pretty quickly. I didn't mind. I was there to work. It was a little strange as I didn't know anyone and only recognized faces from various sites, Facebook and Twitter. I did see Waterborn for a minute but he was on the way to getting something put together so I got his attention long enough to let him know I made it and I was there to help. I spent the bulk of the party proper checking people in at the VIP desk. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun. For starters, a lot of the people I follow on Twitter were on the VIP list. At least I could put names to faces and have 15 second conversations with them as they got their badges. What was also cool was that people were generally good natured and had zero attitude. If they weren't on the list, I would ask them to find the host who added them and bring them to me to work it out. We eventually closed the desk because the venue was at capacity.

The one hour shift at the desk turned out to be a three hour shift. I didn't mind, there was a lot going on so I figured I would stay put and continue until I was needed to do something else. The person I was working with was friendly and fun to hang out with so it was all good. DSmooth hooked me up with a tasty beverage while I was at the desk and once the desk was closed.

Besides the mountains of swag there were a couple of beat the pro stations with Fatal1ty and SFX Prodigy X plus WWE All Stars was playable at the party as well. The crew from Radioactive Nerd was recording a podcast and Justin.TV was carrying the party live. Even DSmooth and theRealCliffyB made nice and all was right with the world.

Here's the kicker. The people I wanted to hang out with and talk to disappeared when I was done. I saw them all come in since I was right at the front door, but with four floors of party going on I underestimated how easy it would be to find people. I did see DSmooth and Waterborn later in the night though. SFXLADYJ also gave me props for a job well done as did Eminentt. When the party was over, getting the place cleared out was a challenge. People didn't want to go home. There was also quite a bit of equipment that had to get moved in a hurry. But we got it done, even though somebody pissed off the kitchen crew in the process.

Do I wish I had more time to do the regular PAX stuff? Of course! But I am totally satisfied with my experience and ready to work another party. See you there in 2012!

Many thanks to DSmooth, Waterborn, Eminentt, SFX Pink, Ross and Julie from SFX 360 for the words of encouragement and for hosting a kick-ass party.