So last week was, as usual, busy as hell and fun as hell. I always get through the week partly on stress and partly on joyful adrenaline, just because I'm hanging out with people I really like doing something I really love to do. By the end of the week, I've always got a peculiar mix of post-coital depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. My feet are always sore, and I always sleep like a log for a few days afterwards too.
We got a lot done last week with even more limited resources than we've had in the past, so to that end I'm very proud of all the great work we did. I wish I could have cloned myself a half dozen times then re-integrated all the clones at the end of the week; I suspect then I would have had enough time to meet with everyone I wanted to see and check out all the cool products that I wrote and read about. But as it was, I'm really delighted with last week's efforts. Our freelancer, Brad Cook, did some sterling work for us.
Enough shop talk. On the social end, I was really, really happy to see THE Olivers as much as I did. Brad and Beth are special people and a lot of fun to throw back a few with. And Brad, don't even bother to show up for another Expo if you're not bringing Beth along. She's awesome.
Jean-Luc Dinsdale and his wife Gerie are really cool peeps, too -- I hope to see a lot more of them in the future. Now I have to figure out some way to scam a trip to Vancouver on the company's dime so I can see them in their native haunts. And if anyone's wondering, the way to Jean-Luc's heart is a six-pack of Anchor Steam Ale. I was also really happy to spend some time with Ryan and Jenn Adams, who I see all too rarely, and who came in town just to see me -- and, as it turns out, crash in my hotel room, since they got locked out of the garage they parked in.
I was delighted to see most of the usual suspects in the Mac gaming scene, including the MacSoft crew, the Aspyr bunch, Freeverse, and, albeit briefly, MacPlay -- admittedly not in an official capacity at the show but ready to represent regardless. It was also really good to touch base with some other folks at the show like GarageGames' Jay Moore and 21-6's Justin Mette, along wtih Brian Greenstone from Pangea and lots of others.
One of the peculiar things about the business of Mac games is that we're a very tight-knit community with a lot of affection for each other, even though we see each other only annually, in many cases. I guess it bears out the old saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder -- we don't spend enough time together to get sick of each other.
One downside of last week is that a lot of people weren't feeling well and had other commitments, to boot. This has been a particularly bad season for illness, and there were a few casualties to the flu and upper respiratory disorders, plus there were a few others who had to jet early because of familial commitments or CES, the big electronics show that happens in Vegas at about the same time as Macworld. So that was a bit disappointing, but not enough to spoil it.
One highlights of the show was the Macworld 20th Anniversary Party at Harry Denton's Starlight Room on top of the Sir Francis Drake in Union Square. Hundreds of people showed up on Tuesday night. and it was a swank affair, even if the place was a bit cheap on the food and service was slow. Wednesday followed with Party 1.0, and even though my company didn't have anything to do with its sponsorship, it was more my kind of scene -- live music thanks to the all-star band, and lots of easy prey for me in the form of unwary Freeverse employees.
Thursday was awesome with the Mac Bowl, our annual charity event to raise money for underpriveleged San Francisco schools (we pulled together $15,000 for the Treasure Island Elementary School and had a bomb-ass good time in the process). If there was a downside to Thursday's social aspects, it was that we spent -- as always -- way too much time at the W.
The W is a hotel chain that has differentiated itself by offering stylish, tiny rooms to its patrons and a nighttime scene in its lobby, bar and restaurant. Personally, I think they're unbearably fucking pretentious, officious ghettos of Eurotrash, posers and style-nazis who all need a collective enema. But I understand -- particularly in San Francisco, where the W is right across the street from the Moscone Center -- why it's a hangout for Expo showgoers. It's convenient, the rooms aren't that much more than some of the other local hotels if you get a decent deal on them, and for a casual visitor, it seems nice enough. But when I found myself there on Thursday, for the fourth night in a row, I snapped. I freaked out. I had a panic attack and needed to get the hell out of there.
All I really needed was an hour or two away to collect my thoughts, and indeed I came back later after having a late-night meal at Mel's Diner with Jenn and Ryan (first time I'd eaten a regular meal that day) in a better mood. I'm usually immune to having a place like that bug me that much, but I'll chalk it up to being short on sleep (at that point, two days without any) and running for way too long on nothing but adrenaline and stimulants. That's bound to make you a bit aggro before too long.
Friday was a total decompression day for me -- I never even made it down to the show. Decided I could get a lot more done from my hotel in between a nap and a shower; it was a smart move, although this massive allergy attack got in my way for a while before I took some Claritin. I wrapped up the evening with dinner with the Mac Observer crew and assorted guests -- it's become something of a tradition for me, and I couldn't have asked for better company. I called it an early night at that point, though work briefly got in the way.
All in all, I chalk it up as another successful Macworld Expo. Already I can't wait til the next one.