Fan Expo Canada After-Action Report

As I write this Sunday night, I'm sitting at Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport, scarfing down chili-cheese fries and thinking over the fantastic weekend I just had. Some highlights:

• I was on three panels and they all went very well. (If you weren't at Phil Reed's and my "Behind the Scenes at SJ Games" panel on Saturday, you missed some secrets being revealed!) Thanks to my co-panelists and to all the audience members who asked fantastic questions; you made the panels work at least as much as we did.
• I got to meet up with lots of friends, old and new, including Jim Zub, Greg Hyland, Katie Cook, Eric Lang, and Robin Laws. Extra thanks to Zub and Eric Lang for making sure I did not leave Toronto without experiencing some of the fantastic cuisine, including a dish of poutine that was practically a religious experience.
• The Central Canada Men In Black ran a tight demo ship. They let me take over a table for a couple of Not-So-Secret Playtests, which gave me loads of good feedback on a couple of games that aren't quite there yet. Thanks, team!
• SUPER thanks to the Fan Expo team, especially Justin Mohareb, who invited Phil and me up, and the Travel Team who made sure I made it back to the airport with enough time to spare. Justin, let's do this again really soon.

An extra-special NO THANKS to Delta Airlines, who lost a backup pilot it turned out we needed just long enough for us to get hit with another weather delay, canceling our flight from Detroit to Toronto. And when they rebooked us on another flight about 45 minutes later (note: they were not SCHEDULED that close together), apparently no one thought that half a plane full of travelers would need their luggage; Phil and I were only two of a dozen or more people who ended up not getting their bags once we finally made it to Toronto. The weather isn't Delta's fault, but not knowing where their reserve pilot was hiding was a completely avoidable screwup.

If you're in the Toronto area or can get there, I highly recommend Fan Expo; apart from the impressive gaming track and game room, there are TONS of other activities to enjoy and great celebrity guests to meet. Plus, Toronto is awesome. I hope the next time I'm there, I get to see a little more of it.