Depending on your age and familiarity with me you might already know that I was guest of honor at Megaplex 5 back in 2006. I was briefly able to attend Megaplex 6 in Jacksonville, FL as I was traveling through the area because of a vacation cruise to the Bahamas I was taking with  Calicougar before the birth of our daughter. For one reason or another however I haven't been back to Megaplex since then, and I've always felt disappointed by that. As much as I enjoyed the convention I had to make a strategic decision about how much time off I could take each year to work conventions along with balancing out the expense of attending with whatever sales I could expect to make, and in the long run Megaplex had a lower priority than the other conventions I was already committed to. I decided that I really wanted to go back this year however and chose to make it happen whether I made a profit or not, and boy am I glad I did.

Megaplex has gotten a lot larger than it was 11 years ago, but one thing hasn't changed: the people involved and the personality "flavor" is still the same. Each convention I attend has its own staff, policies, local attractions, and the like, but Megaplex just feels more personal. I'm biased of course, -I have several friends involved in the staff and history of the convention, but I saw plenty of evidence that went beyond just myself where the staff took an above average interest in the satisfaction of the dealers and attendees. This made the convention feel more like an extended family gathering rather than a business event of like-minded enthusiasts. I like that.

I also liked that the convention has grown in attendance and I had a lot more work to do than I remembered even when I was the guest of honor. Sales were strong enough that I am definitely happy with the results and will certainly consider making a return before another 11 years elapse. I regret that I was busy enough that my usual convention behavior of developing roots at my dealer's table and failing to spend much time seeing the panels, the different activity rooms, or even visiting with other dealers, but I remain grateful for the opportunity to see and visit with all the people who took the time and interest to see me at my table as they perused the Dealers Room.

One of the things that I noticed perhaps at Megaplex more than other conventions was the greater amount of people who were either regional or first-time convention attendees altogether. I've been to so many conventions over the years that there are certain people I seem to see everywhere I go, and events like Megaplex are a good reminder that despite my range of travels there are still quite a lot of people who only ever get to attend a "local" convention or even just one convention a year, and it's always a tremendous thrill to meet someone who is discovering my work for the first time. In all honesty one of the big reasons why I attend conventions in the first place is because of the happiness I feel when people react well to the work that I provide them. The money is nice (and supremely important in the years when I was between jobs) but there's a serious amount of *joy* I feel when someone likes my work enough to pay money for it in the first place and then express genuine delight upon the receipt of the finished effort.

This year I got to meet several new people who either bought something for me for the first time or just met me for the first time and shared stories and interests. I'm normally a fairly quiet person and I've come to realize how valuable it is for me to attend a convention where I have my work on display in such a way that people are encouraged to come up and talk to me specifically about the things I love. I could never be the same outgoing personality I am behind my dealer's table if I were to meet you all in the context of a big public gathering like a music concert, a school PTA meeting, or just walking along the sidewalks in a crowded downtown. But when I sit and interact with people who come up to me to express an appreciation for art and cartooning then it just makes my day. Seriously.

I was able to do several commissions this year which I'll be posting eventually once I can process the scans, but I'm most impressed with the amount of con badges that I was able to do. I don't think I've ever done so many in one convention before and that was a really nice thing. I should mention here as I did to people at the show that I remain available (if less efficiently productive) to do commissions and badge art outside of conventions so if anyone likes the badge art I upload then I'd be glad to do more like it for you even if I'm not attending the convention you plan on attending.

I only have two complaints about the convention: Orlando in August is *brutally* hot and humid, and the parking spaces available for the hotel was disappointingly limited. I honestly can't believe someone hasn't died yet while wearing their costumes in the Florida heat... I might have suffered heat stroke if I'd stayed out too long just in my regular clothes and I spent as much time as possible indoors with the air conditioning cranked to maximum. The parking situation is just what you have to live with, but because I had a lot of heavy, bulky items to carry to my room (and there was no elevator for that part of the hotel) I for damned sure wasn't going to give up my close parking spot on Thursday morning so that I could leave the hotel for dinner elsewhere. As such I never ventured further than the hotel restaurants or the Village Inn across the street even though the hotel was located along International Drive which had numerous desirable restaurants I would have loved to stop at. C'est la vie.

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do about Megaplex 2019. I have big plans to finally visit Europe next year and my hope is to make Eurofurence the start of that journey. With Anthrocon in July and Eurofurence at the end of August I technically could still make Megaplex at the beginning of August, but that starts getting into questions of how much vacation time would I be using up and whether I might be able to be out of the office that much in a short time frame. I don't know the answer to that, but I'll be looking at it closely to see if I can't make it all happen. More to come on that front!

As always, my sincere thanks to everyone who takes the time to say hello or express an interest in the work I do at these conventions. It's truly a pleasure for me to attend and interact with everyone and I look forward to the next opportunity.

See you guys again!