seattle Keyword
Enforcers
It was a rainy day while I was in London that a post went up on the Penny Arcade website calling for volunteer submissions for “The Enforcers”. The Enforcers are the large group of people, clothed in black shirts that spot the Penny Arcade Expo generally being helpful and keeping everything running smoothly.
I knew of the group from discussions and news on the previous conventions and had always wondered if I could be part of something that seemed so cool. I applied for a job, not really thinking I would be accepted what being a travelling Australian and all. To my surprise soon I found an email from penny arcade in my inbox informing me of my acceptance to “The Black”. My life hasn’t been the same since
Being an Enforcer isn’t just a volunteer job. It is a way of life. Being surrounded by people who think, talk and act like you, all with an insane level of passion is intoxicating. Everyone is accepted. Parties are arranged on an almost weekly basis. Helping hands are offered to all those who have accepted the black. Being an Enforcer is about fun, games and friends. In the first two days of being in Seattle I attended two Enforcer gatherings, one specifically to welcome the 3 out of town enforcer Australians (and 3 local Aussies) at the Outback Steakhouse.
It is also about being some of the most professional mother fuckers around for the week of PAX. Exhibitors and staff of the convention were often amazed to find out that we don’t get paid for our work at the Expo. They were continually impressed by our expertise and professionalism. I explained to a few that asked me about it that I felt it came from a level of passion and dedication to the subject matter and organisers that you don’t normally see at most expos or jobs even.
I made more friends in my time in Seattle through the Enforcers than I have pretty much in my whole trip combined. At the moment my Enforcer badge is tucked neatly in my backpack, waiting to be hung somewhere safe at home to remind me of all those that made my time at PAX and in Seattle so wonderful.
SAX, bag stuffing fun
About a week before PAX is SAX. SAX is a day of bag stuffing, pizzas, introductions and hilarity.
This year the Enforcers banded together in production lines to stuff flyers, tshirts, buttons and other junk into over 20,000 swag bags to be handed out to attendees at the Expo. The stuffing started at 9am and didn’t finish until about 7pm, with only a small break in the middle which was staggered to allow people to grab some pizza.
While monotonous the activity was great fun and once your brain had fallen into a pattern of grab, stuff, pass it was easy to chat with those around you. Meeting so many new people all striving for a common goal was a great way to get to know the people I would be working with pretty much non stop for a week at the convention.
Next time you grab greedily at the bags handed to you at your next convention give a thought to the many hands that went into making sure you got all your stupid vouchers!
PAX 2009
I have been following the development of Penny Arcade Expo for many years. Created by Mike and Jerry from the webcomic Penny Arcade it is a convention by gamers, for gamers. This years convention, held between the 4th and 6th of September was attended by over 60,000 people making it their biggest yet.
Pretty much this whole adventure has been leading up to PAX. I mentioned it in the About the Odyssey section right at the start of the trip and have been excited about it since. I bought my pass well in advance, even before they were officially on sale and spent many hours reading and re-reading my ticket receipt, counting the days until I would be in Seattle and at the con.
I worked as an Enforcer (more on this later) at the Expo which gave me a great behind the scenes look at the whole convention from setup until tear down. I have never worked a more rewarding and exciting job. My main role was to be in Info Booth, helping attendees, VIPs and assorted other people who need help with what ever I could offer. We managed Lost and Found, handled checking in other Enforcers, gave advice where ever appropriate and generally looked after the welfare of the attendees.
I didn’t really see much of the convention per-se. I was working most of the time out of choice because I enjoyed it so much. I did wander about the convention a few times though talking to people and checking out new games. Brutal Legend looks great, as does Dantes Inferno, Diablo III and Star Craft II. I had a go on the PSPGo which was surprisingly light and looked at the new PS3 Slim, which is pretty much the same “size” as the PS3 Phat, just thinner. I helped Tim Schafer find his way to his booth, talked to people from Microsoft and Nintendo and oogled the gorgeous cosplayers that dotted the Expo Hall. I didn’t get a chance to check out any of the Panels, but I did say hello to Mike and Jerry, the former who I got a photo with at the after party. Jerry had a baby on the last day of PAX so there was no chance of seeing him at the after party. I really enjoyed the whole expo. The vibe that resonates through the whole place, emanating from attendees, exhibitors, speakers and staff alike is one of kinship and fun. Never have a I felt so at home at an event.
One of the funniest moments I experienced while in our little Info Booth bunker was being approached by an older lady who was trying to get in touch with her over excited 16 year old. The young man was supposed to contact his mother at 2pm but had been too busy / couldn’t be stuffed doing so and she was worried and came and saw us around 7pm. Unfortunately we explained to her, we had no way paging the centre, so she would just have to keep trying on his phone. As she turned away accepting her fate of waiting her phone rang and, answering it in front of us, she told us it was her son and proceeded to berate him down the phone. The first words out of her mouth were “YOU ARE SOOOO GROUNDED”. The whole booth started rolling around laughing and I grabbed a few sheets of paper and asked the lady to get him to come to the booth. This was the result when he walked around the corner. I have never seen a kid turn so red. Good times, good times.
Setup and tear down were real eye openers and in a moment of inspired genius while tearing apart left over swag bags we came up with the idea to collect up the LOTR:Online games and create a domino design. 3 hours and 1351 DVD cases later we came up with this.
Probably the best thing I take away from PAX is the great feeling of satisfaction I received in being part of something so great and all the friends I made along the way. I feel I have been truly accepted into “The Black” and I will be trying my damnedest to be back to help in 2010.
Also: Giant Connect Four FTW.
Seattle
People look at me strange sometimes when I say I love the states, but damn it: it’s true. I have had nothing but good experiences here. The people are lovely, and everyone that I have met from the states, save a few obnoxious hangover exacerbating types, have been great, honest, confident and friendly. So it was nice to step off the boat from Victoria to be greeted by Seattle on a warm October afternoon.
Seattle, home of Grunge music, dot com darlings Amazon, Boeing and other cool businesses, is a beautiful city. Teeming with life and coffee shops the city stretches out from the west coast, up and over it’s many hills. I am staying in Capital Hill, a pretty cool district with some interesting characters and great nightlife.
I haven’t done all that much exploring as yet, haven’t even checked out the Space Needle, but I plan to remedy this after Penny Arcade Expo is all done. I did get a moment to wander around downtown though, where I met some locals in a bar who graciously offered to take me bar hopping around the town. As it was midday this was great as I got to see and take note of some cool bars to check out later. I also had a bit of a gander at the famous Pike Place Markets, but I wasn’t in the mood to deal with crowds so I just stuck my head in for a bit of a sticky beak.
I got to go to “The Central” on my impromptu little tour. This bar is pretty famous for having rock 365 nights of the year and has played host to some of the greatest bands ever when they were just starting out. They also have some pretty awesome graffiti in the toilets. “The New Orleans” on the other hand had the creepiest graffiti in theirs, with thousands of little faces staring you down while trying to do a slash. Damn weird.
I am liking Seattle. I can’t wait to see more of the town.