Orlando, Florida − October 13-16, 2010

Denise Sawicki

Kelly Lee

Matthew Preston

Scott Hardie

Steve West

The following is Scott Hardie's remembrance of the event:

Tue 4pm - Kelly and I arrive at the rental house, receive a walkthrough with the landlady, and relax in the pool for an hour. Having some time alone to soak in the water is meditative and affects me in ways I can't express, and clears my mind for the days ahead. We buy an enormous quantity of groceries (breakfast, snacks, and drinks for six people for four days). In the morning, we hurry to put up the final decorations and run final errands.

Wed 3pm - Steve arrives at the airport food court. The three of us eat fast food, buy souvenirs and astronaut ice cream at the Kennedy Space Center store, and generally fool around the airport for two hours until Denise arrives.

Wed 6pm - We pass time at the house by playing Tsuro. Denise emerges as the winner in all three games. Finally, Matthew calls that he's on the way, and we meet him at Sonny's BBQ for the first of many gut-busting meals.

Wed 10pm - Tired from the flights, we only have it in us to watch Nothing but the Truth, the movie that last topped my annual list. It gets a very positive reception, particularly Vera Farmiga's acting.

Thu 10am - Let the games begin! In the first round of Celebrity Goo Game Live, Matthew and Steve battle for the early lead, with Denise and Kelly making a respectable showing... until the difficult final goo stumps them all, and Matthew is the only one not to bet the bank, giving him a victory with a huge margin over the others.

Thu 2pm - After a delicious Japanese lunch, we settle in for an afternoon "Battle of the Bands" tournament that runs much longer than expected. Each player begins wtih four members of one of their favorite bands, and losing a concert means losing one of the icons. The last player with an icon remaining would win. Denise scores several early victories, leaving Matthew with just Eddie Vedder as the sole member of Pearl Jam. To give inactive players something to do, Kelly sets up a game of Munchkin, which Denise wins fairly quickly. We break for dinner: Kelly's homemade lasagna.

Thu 8pm - We switch gears to a different card game: Gothic Earth Fluxx, a custom game made by Kelly and me, based on the RPG. It's a tour of the characters and concepts already familiar to the regular players, but the convoluted victory requirements make the game too lengthy and it's not popular enough to play a second time. Steve eventually claims victory as hero Fayt Leigngod. Before bed, we play a few more rounds of "Battle of the Bands," ending with Denise and me at 2 icons remaining, and Matthew and Steve at 1 icon remaining.

Fri 10am - Round two of Celebrity Goo Game Live is run by Matthew, giving me my first opportunity to play the game myself. After some early leap-frogging of the scores, I settle into a dominant lead and maintain it through a difficult final goo that only Kelly guesses correctly.

Fri 12pm - After we enjoy a sandwich bar set up by Kelly, we settle into a long session of Tales of the Red Death, a self-contained session of Gothic Earth that gives the players a sample of the 1899 setting without affecting the main plotline. Working together as a priest (Steve), a spirit medium (Kelly), a scientist (Matthew), and a secret agent (Denise), they entered a haunted house, explored the dark secrets of its owners, and defeated a vengeful druid trapped in the wood a millenium earlier by Merlin. The game runs long as I predicted, but the players are game for the convoluted story and seem to get into it.

Fri 6pm - Since the games have run long, we re-arrange the schedule so that we can finish "Battle of the Bands" right away. Denise and Steve polish off my last two remaining members of Metallica, then Matthew takes away Steve's final member of the Beatles. It finally comes down to Denise's Magnetic Fields versus Matthew's sole remaining member of Pearl Jam. Matthew's stamina and perseverance carry him through difficult odds to a well-deserved victory over tough competition.

Fri 9pm - It's time for the Awardies, the centerpiece event of the weekend. We pose for costumed photos on the red carpet, then settle in for a silly and lively awards presentation. Midway through, I unveil a surprise: Reversing the previous year's activity in which GooCon guests complimented site members who couldn't be present, I had arranged for absent site members to record complments for GooCon guests. One by one, I play Steve Dunn's video about Matthew, Nathan & Raquel Quam's video for Kelly, Aaron Shurtleff's video for Amy Austin (played even though she was unable to join us), Jackie Mason's video for Denise, and Ryan Dunn's video for Steve. Each one is a big hit, inspiring tears (Jackie's heartfelt message) and laughter (the other four hilarious videos). The Awardies themselves are a hit too, with Steve claiming the most silly statuettes (four). After the show, we settle in for a "mystery activity" about the future of the site.

Sat 10am - In the final round of Celebrity Goo Game, the players take turns dominating at first, with each of the four players having the lead at one point. Eventually, Matthew emerges with a high score that only Steve can catch. In a repeat of the first round, all four players are stumped by the final goo, and Matthew's conservative bet leads to his victory by a wide margin. We break afterwards for a quesadilla and fajita bar served by Kelly.

Sat 2pm - For the afternoon, rather than breaking into several smaller groups as we had planned, all five of us head to DisneyQuest, a five-story video arcade. We play a few immersive motion-simulator games together, the most popular of which thrusts us into battle on the high seas as pirates, before breaking up for a couple of hours playing games solo.

Sat 7pm - To wrap up the weekend, we drive to Lake Alfred for dinner at Gary's Oyster Bar and Seafood House, which turns out to be an excellent choice. With shrimp, grouper, catfish, gator, and conch fritters, we get a taste of delicious Florida cuisine. When we get back to the house, it's time to take down decorations and pack our bags, but we stop to take a call from Jackie Mason and pass the phone around.

Sun 6am - First Denise departs, then Matthew and Steve a short time later. It has been our longest and most satisfying GooCon yet, and we couldn't be more tired and more thrilled at everything that took place.

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