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Dave's annual Post Megomeet ramble.

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  • Dave Mc
    Administrator
    • Oct 20, 2002
    • 17827

    Dave's annual Post Megomeet ramble.

    Well gang, another one in the books. When this thing started in 05 the idea was to have a “get together” on a somewhat regular basis. Most that went to Megocon in 04 agreed that the best part of the event was just meeting and hanging out in person with people we had been talking with online on a daily basis. Most wanted that to continue.

    Many wanted to do something in 05, to keep that feeling of community going. When Len found the Kruger Street Museum and found Alan (owner of the place) was interested in hosting a Mego event, the wheels started turning. We started looking into the place. It was interesting because Alan was willing to host it for nothing but the door, and a very reasonable registration fee it was. We didn’t have to rent anything, we didn’t have to pay any insurances, all we had to do was show up and do what we were going to do.

    Hmm…. The downside was it was in Wheeling, WV, a place many were not really interested in traveling. Of course most felt any future event should be held in their hometown and even convinced themselves it was because their town was the best place for the event, and not that it was just good for them. Heh.

    Anyway, we decided a Toy Museum was a good place for a get together, regardless of the town. After all, everyone has to travel from somewhere.

    So, what do we do? We really just wanted to get together, but most agreed that we needed something to do. An excuse to actually go, besides BSing with people, so we added a few seminars to the mix. We knew we wouldn’t be able to get anyone “big” to Wheeling, but we have so much knowledge and talent in our community that we were sure we could handle talks ourselves. So what else? Of course people wanted to buy stuff. How do we get dealers to come to WV? Turns out we shouldn’t have worried. Seems most of us have SOMETHING to sell or trade, so people started buying tables and we filled the room with Megoheads wanting to sell their stuff so they could buy other stuff.

    After event hours that first year, the group kind of broke down into small groups that tried to hook up together at local bars and such, but these places just couldn’t house us all together. That, and some didn’t know where we went. It was kind of a mess. Paul Clare had a suite and started inviting people to come there. We kept packing the place night after night because no one seemed ready for the day to end when it was supposed to end. If I recall, Paul stuck a Mego Logo sticker on his door that year and we eventually dubbed it “the Mego Suite”. It became somewhat “official” the next year and has become a very important part of the Megomeet experience.

    So that’s the way this thing happened. It kind of grew all on it’s own, no one person or handful of people can take the credit. It just kind of grew into something that kind of runs itself. This community can be so cool that way. Good things start and just kind of snowball.

    So here we are just finished with Megomeet 08. The fourth annual Megomeet. Was it the best one yet? No. Did anything happen that stands out from other meets? No. Megomeet seems the same to me year after year. You can predict how it’s going to go. You can predict certain faces will appear. You can predict certain dealers will appear. You can predict Thursday night dinner at Hoss’s. You can predict what time we’ll be up until in the Megosuite. You can predict who the last people to leave the suite each night will be. If you go to these each year you know how the day’s going to run. You know the kind of stuff that will be there. You know what’s going to be for lunch and where we’re eating dinner.

    I can tell you before an event that Brian Heiler wont register until the last week, even though he’s been scheduled to present for months. I know that Berto’s going to need a nap when he get’s in. I’m positive Ron will reappear right before the event happens. I’m sure Scott Arendsen’s going to have a stack of custom boxes to sell, and that Steve Moore is going to leave Saturday at 5pm. I know it’s going to be hot and muggy. I know the smell of chilidogs will hang heavy in the air from the lunch counter. I’m sure of the look Alan from Kruger streets going to give me each time I tell him I need a display cabinet unlocked and we have to climb those stairs again. I’m sure John Farley is going to have his awesome set of custom figures displayed in square glass cases. I can tell you with some degree of accuracy what time Joe DeRouen is going to leave the Megosuite and what his parting words are going to be. There will be a photo of the 8 guys who have been to all the Megomeet’s as well as Megocon. There will be cases of beer left over for the cleaning staff. There will be complaints about the food after the event. All these are things I know. They are consistent things in the Megoverse.

    Maybe on the surface that sounds boring and stagnant. It’s not to me. I appreciate each one of these consistencies. I look forward to them. These people are no longer a persona on a message board to me. They are real people with real patterns of behavior and I know them. The part that still amazes me is they know me just as well, and still they let me hang with them.

    The Mego Museum forum creates online “buddies”. These events form real friendships. There is no hiding behind words on a keyboard. No false bravado. No unreasonable reactions to misspoken statements in an online thread. The BS gets stripped away and there you are in all your geekdome with a room full of other geeks and all you can think is “this is good”.

    Each year before the meet I stress a bit. I have to pack up stuff for displays, pack up raffle stuff. I feel guilt for leaving my wife and son to go hang out with online toy buddies. Each year I wonder if I really want to do this. Each year I go and I remember why I do it. Why I go to Wheeling WV. Why I sleep in a Super8 hotel. Why I eat mediocre food in mediocre restaurants. Why I pay the hotel and gas to make the trip. It’s not to see any toys. It’s not to buy any toys. It’s to see some friends. So while I KNOW so many things about what’s going to happen, it only adds to the event. I know these things because I now know these people. Not just online, but for real, and that is just so cool. Despite their geekdome, they are a great group of people and I’m always glad I went. I always enjoy when the cycle starts all over again, and I’m always a little bummed when it ends. I’m always ready to go home and see my family and I’m always exhausted from lack of sleep, but I’m always hoping to bump into a few people on the way out the door Sunday morning for just a few more minutes of Megomeet time. That’s a testament to this community and the people who are a part of it.

    So instead of posting my annual post Megomeet novel as a recap of events, I thought I’d take the chance to try to explain not the what, but the why to those that might not have been to one. It’s not about the event. Honestly, the event itself is somewhat mediocre, as events go. It’s not about the town of Wheeling, the Kruger Street Museum, the food, the beer and it’s not even about the toys. They are just the common denominator. It’s about the people that come and participate. From the old Meet veteran who has been there from the first event to the person coming for the first time. It’s the mix of people and the enjoyment everyone gets from letting their geek out. It’s an event that has to be experienced to really be understood. I hope that everyone here manages to get to one eventually.

    My thanks to all who came and made it fun for me personally, and my thanks to all those that helped out. I won’t risk posting names because I will forget someone, but the people are what makes the meet what it is, so really, it’s all that came that get my thanks, for providing me a much needed break from the “real world” and for ANOTHER really cool weekend.

    So while I can tell you now with much probability what’s going to happen, who’s going to do what and how the event is going to go, I can also tell you that I will be at Megomeet in 09 and that once again I’ll be bummed when it’s all over.
  • sauce
    Removed
    • Jun 24, 2007
    • 3491

    #2
    Man, you can really write! I loved this post a LOT. It has many literary qualities that made your message even more heartfelt and important. Nice!
    Bryan

    Comment

    • ScottA
      Original Member
      • Jun 25, 2001
      • 12264

      #3
      Beautifully written Dave. That's MegoMeet to a T. But it wouldn't be half what it is without you my friend.
      Last edited by ScottA; Jun 10, '08, 8:56 AM.
      sigpic WANTED: Boxed, Carded and Kresge Carded WGSH

      Comment

      • SUP-Ronin
        Stuck in a laundry shoot.
        • Oct 8, 2007
        • 3146

        #4
        Originally posted by nayrbgo
        Man, you can really write! I loved this post a LOT. It has many literary qualities that made your message even more heartfelt and important. Nice!
        Bryan
        Yeah, what he said. (I don't express myself well in Arial)
        Thanks Dave.
        "Steel-like jaws clacked away, each bite slashing flesh from my body - I used my knife and my hands, and when they were gone, my bloody stumps - and yet the turtles came."

        Comment

        • miguet
          Persistent Member
          • Dec 11, 2007
          • 912

          #5
          Dave, it's wonderful to read your post. It's insightful.

          Comment

          • Mr Havoc
            Veteran Member
            • Mar 27, 2008
            • 331

            #6
            Nice Dave, I would love to meet all of you there next year.

            Comment

            • Hulk
              Mayor of Megoville
              • May 10, 2003
              • 16007

              #7
              You nailed it Dave. Megomeet in a nutshell. Of course we all know that the one common denominator we couldn't spare is your unending effort and enthusiasm. I can't imagine it happening without you.


              Comment

              • megojim
                Permanent Member
                • Oct 13, 2001
                • 3630

                #8
                Great post Dave . . . . every bit of that made sense to me and I was a MM newbie!
                Thanks for all your hard work . . . . . you too Chris
                -jim
                My Custom Figures


                1 Corinthians 9:24 - Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!

                Comment

                • Earth 2 Chris
                  Verbose Member
                  • Mar 7, 2004
                  • 32498

                  #9
                  Well said Dave. Thanks for all you do.

                  Chris
                  sigpic

                  Comment

                  • AcroRay
                    Persistent Member
                    • Apr 17, 2005
                    • 1010

                    #10
                    Nicely said!
                    Micronauts Collector, Historian, Consultant
                    AcroRay's Laboratory - My Micronauts Blog
                    The Micropolis Embassy - My Micronauts Group
                    Rockets, Robots & Dinosaurs - My Blog for Other Interests

                    Comment

                    • palitoy
                      live. laugh. lisa needs braces
                      • Jun 16, 2001
                      • 59204

                      #11
                      It's no surprise that Dave can sum up stuff better than anybody, well said.
                      Places to find PlaidStallions online: https://linktr.ee/Plaidstallions

                      Buy Toy-Ventures Magazine here:
                      http://www.plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop

                      Comment

                      • JDeRouen
                        Author of Small Things
                        • Jun 14, 2001
                        • 16560

                        #12
                        Next time, I'm going to have to leave the Megosuite either later or earlier, and come up with some totally off-the-wall parting words, just to throw Dave off!
                        --
                        Order Small Things, my contemporary fantasy novel featuring Megos, at http://joederouen.com/?page_id=176

                        Comment

                        • AAAAA
                          Permanent Member
                          • Oct 28, 2005
                          • 2505

                          #13
                          Enjoyed it greatly.

                          Comment

                          • Megospidey
                            Museum Webslinger
                            • Jul 26, 2006
                            • 5305

                            #14
                            Dave - thanks for the opportunity to serve on the custom mego panel. It was sheer custom mego geek pleasure to talk customs with people who "get it". And to be on the panel with some of the "old" school guys...David Lee, Jim Hampton, and Ed Nagy.

                            It was an honor to finally meet you and spend time with you in the flesh. Looking forward to another year on the board and then doing Mego Meet again in 09.

                            Comment

                            • megocrazy
                              Museum Trouble Maker
                              • Feb 18, 2007
                              • 3718

                              #15
                              You brought a tear to my eye Dave. It could not have been said any better.
                              It's not a doll it's an action figure.

                              Comment

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