Expo Icrontic 2012 Wrap-up
primesuspect
Beepin n' BoopinDetroit, MI Icrontian
Tomorrow morning I'm driving the Dragons to the airport and then it's officially over. Expo Icrontic 2012 was a resounding success and, as always, the highlight of my year.
We did a lot of things very right, a few things wrong, and overall had the best Expo ever. I know I say that every year, but the fact that I mean it must prove that we, as a community, are doin' it right.
One of the things that I get asked almost constantly before, during, and after the events is, "What can I do to help? How can I be a bigger part of Icrontic? What do you need from me?" and I love you guys and gals for that.
Here are some immediate action items, while things are still fresh in our minds, that will honestly help Icrontic.
1) SOCIAL MEDIA
Share your stories! Facebook and Twitter—they help us, a lot. Facebook especially is a huge traffic referrer to us and because of the inherent community/friend/trust nature of the network, people who come to Icrontic from Facebook tend to actually gel with it. Tweeting about the experiences you had really helps as well. If you use Twitter, mentioning the restaurants we visited and (especially) our sponsors is indescribably helpful. It lets people know that we, a huge online community, have influence. It helps to secure prizes, just as one example. See, for example, what @QCH did here:
That stuff helps tremendously.
Like Icrontic on Facebook
Follow Icrontic on Twitter
Follow Icrontic on G+
If you Tweet about Icrontic, please consider mentioning our sponsor #VZWMidwest if you talk about their devices or tech visit, for example. If you want to thank a sponsor for a prize you won, find their Twitter account and say something like "Oh man, I won an awesome Golden Board from @ECSUSA at #ExpoIC2012. Thank you!". A quick rundown of some of our sponsor Twitter accounts:
ECSUSA
Seagate
AMDRadeon
THQ
ADATA_USA
OCZTechnology
ROCCAT
SLAPPA
Noctua_AT
GX_GamingSeries
ThermalTake
VZWMichelle
Raidmax_EU
Futuremark
YelpMichigan
2) YELP THE RESTAURANTS
Yelp is an awesome sponsor of ours, and it helps a lot if you guys sign up and write brief and honest reviews of the food tour stops and other venues you utilized during your trip, like the hotels and the coffee shop. Feel free also to sign up for the Yelp newsletter. It's not spammy, it comes once a week or so, and it can help introduce you to cool new places in your area. I've actually found future food tour destinations from being introduced to them through the Yelp newsletter.
Cafe Sushi Troy
Tamaleria Nuevo Leon
Amar Pizza
Luca's Coney Island
La Quinta
Tracey's Corner Cafe
3) READ OUR STUFF!
It was disheartening to hear so many people say this week, "I never read Icrontic, I just visit the forums." or "I only play TF2, I haven't visited Icrontic in days." or "I didn't see that discussion." Give us honest feedback; if you think the site is too difficult to use or finding things is confusing or a chore, we need to know that. We want to give you guys the best experience possible, and we can only do that if you tell us what could make it better. Creative criticism is always appreciated.
4) SHARE OUR STUFF!
Following the last point; on every article there is a drop-down menu that has Google+, Twitter, and Reddit links. Submitting our content to appropriate subreddits (usually /r/hardware, /r/buildapc, /r/gamingpc, /r/games, and /r/technology) is indescribably appreciated. Seriously, it's a very big deal. G+ is fantastic for us as well. Nobody ever, ever uses the share buttons unless it's me or unless I specifically ask people to. I was blown away to find out how many people who attended Expo are Redditors, for example.... yet very, very few of them has ever submitted our content to Reddit.
5) STAY INVOLVED!
We love you guys and want everybody to stay involved. I'm always looking for new writers and reviewers especially (but only if you can really truly commit to delivering content on time and in a professional manner, because we do have to maintain a reputation). If you don't feel confident as a writer, we have all kinds of other ways for those who want to step up to get involved. Icrontic has always been a community of go-getters and those who take initiative. See BobbyDigi's bull-by-the-horns Minecraft community approach, or Bandrik's "I'm gonna make vinyl stickers!" project, Fatcat's "I'm gonna start an Icrontic TOR guild", or Preacher and GnomeQueen's TF2 server efforts just as a few examples. There are all kinds of ways to get involved and make this community even more awesome than it already is.
See you guys at the next event, and Expo Icrontic 2013 as well!
We did a lot of things very right, a few things wrong, and overall had the best Expo ever. I know I say that every year, but the fact that I mean it must prove that we, as a community, are doin' it right.
One of the things that I get asked almost constantly before, during, and after the events is, "What can I do to help? How can I be a bigger part of Icrontic? What do you need from me?" and I love you guys and gals for that.
Here are some immediate action items, while things are still fresh in our minds, that will honestly help Icrontic.
1) SOCIAL MEDIA
Share your stories! Facebook and Twitter—they help us, a lot. Facebook especially is a huge traffic referrer to us and because of the inherent community/friend/trust nature of the network, people who come to Icrontic from Facebook tend to actually gel with it. Tweeting about the experiences you had really helps as well. If you use Twitter, mentioning the restaurants we visited and (especially) our sponsors is indescribably helpful. It lets people know that we, a huge online community, have influence. It helps to secure prizes, just as one example. See, for example, what @QCH did here:
ROCCATicrontic #expoic2012. I Won your awesome Taito Mousepad!!!
— Quinton Healy (@qch2002) June 24, 2012
That stuff helps tremendously.
Like Icrontic on Facebook
Follow Icrontic on Twitter
Follow Icrontic on G+
If you Tweet about Icrontic, please consider mentioning our sponsor #VZWMidwest if you talk about their devices or tech visit, for example. If you want to thank a sponsor for a prize you won, find their Twitter account and say something like "Oh man, I won an awesome Golden Board from @ECSUSA at #ExpoIC2012. Thank you!". A quick rundown of some of our sponsor Twitter accounts:
ECSUSA
Seagate
AMDRadeon
THQ
ADATA_USA
OCZTechnology
ROCCAT
SLAPPA
Noctua_AT
GX_GamingSeries
ThermalTake
VZWMichelle
Raidmax_EU
Futuremark
YelpMichigan
2) YELP THE RESTAURANTS
Yelp is an awesome sponsor of ours, and it helps a lot if you guys sign up and write brief and honest reviews of the food tour stops and other venues you utilized during your trip, like the hotels and the coffee shop. Feel free also to sign up for the Yelp newsletter. It's not spammy, it comes once a week or so, and it can help introduce you to cool new places in your area. I've actually found future food tour destinations from being introduced to them through the Yelp newsletter.
Cafe Sushi Troy
Tamaleria Nuevo Leon
Amar Pizza
Luca's Coney Island
La Quinta
Tracey's Corner Cafe
3) READ OUR STUFF!
It was disheartening to hear so many people say this week, "I never read Icrontic, I just visit the forums." or "I only play TF2, I haven't visited Icrontic in days." or "I didn't see that discussion." Give us honest feedback; if you think the site is too difficult to use or finding things is confusing or a chore, we need to know that. We want to give you guys the best experience possible, and we can only do that if you tell us what could make it better. Creative criticism is always appreciated.
4) SHARE OUR STUFF!
Following the last point; on every article there is a drop-down menu that has Google+, Twitter, and Reddit links. Submitting our content to appropriate subreddits (usually /r/hardware, /r/buildapc, /r/gamingpc, /r/games, and /r/technology) is indescribably appreciated. Seriously, it's a very big deal. G+ is fantastic for us as well. Nobody ever, ever uses the share buttons unless it's me or unless I specifically ask people to. I was blown away to find out how many people who attended Expo are Redditors, for example.... yet very, very few of them has ever submitted our content to Reddit.
5) STAY INVOLVED!
We love you guys and want everybody to stay involved. I'm always looking for new writers and reviewers especially (but only if you can really truly commit to delivering content on time and in a professional manner, because we do have to maintain a reputation). If you don't feel confident as a writer, we have all kinds of other ways for those who want to step up to get involved. Icrontic has always been a community of go-getters and those who take initiative. See BobbyDigi's bull-by-the-horns Minecraft community approach, or Bandrik's "I'm gonna make vinyl stickers!" project, Fatcat's "I'm gonna start an Icrontic TOR guild", or Preacher and GnomeQueen's TF2 server efforts just as a few examples. There are all kinds of ways to get involved and make this community even more awesome than it already is.
See you guys at the next event, and Expo Icrontic 2013 as well!
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Comments
Also, I tweeted about my prize.
My only complaint about this year was that the schedule felt overwhelming. This was definitely the most packed-to-the-brim Expo I've experienced in my five years. All of the things going on were effing AWESOME, but there was rarely time to catch my breath, and in some cases, I had to miss things I wanted to do because of something else going on at the same time.
The Minecraft creative time slot was a perfect example of this. There was Minecraft, the film viewing, and @Magic's beer demo. I wanted to do all three, especially the beer demo, but I was committed to the creative competition.
Wait, I do have another complaint: the headroom in the cafe
Some of my highlights:
-Minecraft Hunger Games was effing fantastic.
-Cola hugging Ilriyas upon meeting him and trying to pick him up, only to collapse on the ground
-The nerd rave with @DJMeph spinning the beats
-Duct Tape Challenge. It always rules.
-Waking up to GG Allin's 'Die when you Die' in the hotel
-Not getting one, but TWO White Castle 100-burger Crave Cases
-Surprise happy birthday singing to me right at midnight on Friday (you guys rule)
-CAPITAINE CROUNCHE
-Buying toys with Digi, K, Bandrik, Crazy Joe, Drasnor, and Midga
-Prime talking smack about my mom
-The fact that Hitman was ACTUALLY AT EXPO
-Escaping the madness for a short hour and a half with Thrax, Fooman, Hitman, Ryokyo, and Kingpin to have beers at K-brew
-Warpath. That match was an absolute blast, and we need to play it more. It's still my favorite.
-Bandrik getting crashed into by a drunk driver 3 times, damaging his truck, and him not giving a single f*k moments after it happened.
-BobbyDigi and PirateNinja silently walking up to me in the hotel, handing me two doritos locos tacos, and walking away without saying a word.
-IC Flash mob in the hotel room of Digi and Ninja in the middle of the night.
-Watching Midga open up a bunch of MLP blind bags and uncovering three rares like a boss.
-Fatcat and his Brony test.
-Being classy with Annes drinking box wine from styrofoam cups in her hotel room with a bunch of people.
-Getting threatened by the hotel to call the cops if we didn't kill off our after party. #worthit
-Tushon's wine tasting (even though I was a late arrival)
-Family reunion with Ghoosdum
-Watching a shirtless Cola fight a shirtless FreshyP in MvC3
-FreshyP coining the line "You're not small time, you're TALL time!"
...I think that covers most of it.
Fail of the week goes to the La Quinta for completely sucking balls as a business. One day they didn't bring us any new towels (with five people in there) because 'they didn't have anymore clean ones', and on another day they completely failed to clean up our room at all. Worse yet, Thursday night Hitman and I went down to ask the front desk for towels just to find an empty desk with a sign that read "attendant will BRB". Koresh was down there laying on the couch. He was waiting on the attendant to get his key so he could get into his room. After we waited for 30 minutes, Hitman and I gave up, and Koresh decided to sleep on the couch until they showed up. Apparently he was there until 5AM when a worker showed up and found him, waking him up. What an awful experience. Worst hotel I've stayed in since the Historic Mayfair in LA.
That being said:
- Flash mob .. Lynx and company .. you guys made my night
- Nerd rave, awesome
- Bike tour -- SO good
- Uncontrollable TF2 mic shenz
- Ily's shocked face after I spanked him in arm wrestling
- Mooping with Midga
- Tushon's wine tasting was amazing
...so man good things, I know I'm forgetting stuff.
My favorite thing: being far more social this year and actually getting to know some of you better. You guys are seriously all awesome.
Anyways my highlights.
Showing up at midnight at Tracey's and placing my EXPO ticket against the window only to have everyone inside look at me like I was crazy until one of them walked closer to examine it.
Meeting everyone upstairs and walking around the cafe floor with Cola tucked sideways under my right arm just before having him try to pick me up and falling over pitching me across the room.
Our duct tape 'dick clown mobile' actually being able to move down the ramp despite more or less sliding.
Playing Catan and having @QCH making a wood joke only after going through an hour without any being made.
@CB's reading that was absolutely awesome and @midga giving up his copy right there just so that I wouldn't have to deal with international shipping, seriously dude that was awesome I'll try to find a way to repay you.
Talking with @Dogdragon about hunting, jobs, and the relative sizes of various cities in North America. Also hearing his explanation on the difference between cooks and chefs that was hilarious.
@Bandrik giving out those awesome Vinyl decals
Kicking @Cola's arse in his 'Chinese rules arm-wrestling' only to have @Pirateninja slam my arm down to the table the minute Digi said go
Fatcat's brony test I really wasn't expecting that.
DJmephs set and watching everyone trying to dance to dubstep
Getting hit by a car while riding with Bandrik and Cola only to have the first thing I say be 'Where the hell is my hat?'
EVERYTHING ELSE
The worst part of the entire weekend:
Having to go home...
I really do think that team mmm..BANANAS needs "NOT LAST!" shirts.
-Nightly cigar smoking with Abby and/or Jackie and/or Greg
-Having an easier crop of phones to hack this year
-Bandrik's awesome Beagle flag
-SWINGSETS!
-Causin' trouble
-200 White Castle
-100 of those White Castle accompanied by 50 chicken McNuggets and a box of tacos
-Five separate trips to Taco Bell
-KBrew with Andy, Sonny, Bobby, Abby, and Ryokyo (sorry I don't remember your name, I'm really bad with names)
-Having a Rainbow Dash delivered to me on Sunday
-The look of joy on Midga's face when I handed Ice Cream Sandwich back to him
-The multiple La Quinta flashmobs
-Getting wrecked by EN Turnip (and the Hunger Games)
-Coming home with the Noctua fans I desperately wanted for my Corsair H-100. Thanks Noctua & IC!
-Bandrik's sweet vinyl EXPO 2012 stickers
-Happy Meals with Spencer (PIKA PI!)
-Playing bartender and/or enabler with Jimmy and Anne, as we popped a squat on the coolers and distributed drinks
-Nick's (Mertesn) incredible home-brewed farmhouse ale
-Bandrik's AIN'TEVENMAD when some drunken bitch badtouched his car's rear fender
-Bud Light Lime and Limearita. If you know, you know.
-Being consulted by ~a dozen people about what prize they should put in for. Aww, shucks, guys!
-Kbrew again with Greg and Meghann
-SUSHI MOUNTAIN, CHARLIE
-The excellent food at Bostaan with Eric, Meghann, Greg and the man who is now exclusively known as Juan Thatguy
-Personally delivering Le Capitaine Crounchie to a very deserving Californian
-<DeckardCain>HEEEEEEEELP</DeckardCain>
-The random outbursts of the Skyrim overture
-Being asked to sign Terin's shirt
-The trip to Champane's with Dan/Anne/Greg, aka "I don't know shit about cigars."
-The fact that an event like this exists at all. Thank you to everyone who makes it possible.
- The random outbursts of the Skyrim overture
- Bartending with Thrax and Annes
- Taking a lot of time away from the bigger groups and having chats with smaller groups of people (including a lot of one on ones)
- Finally getting the Hunger Games up and running and then seeing and hearing everyone have an awesome time
- Watching drama unfold and then seeing people make up
- 6 trips to Luca's for 1st meal
- Devouring dat Luca's Country Fried Steak with Annes and Prag
- Star Wars Kinect with Cannon at MicroCenter
- GMing random Werewolf with Cannon and Prag
- Mert's homebrews
- Finally meeting das Turnips
- Seeing a random game of dominion expand from 4 people wanting to play, to 7, to 12 with 3 full boards going
- Rune tourney
- Meeting all of the noobs as well as seeing all of the vets that hadn't been seen in a while
- CB's reading
In conclusion: Epic is dick. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
- Switching my skirt for Daffy's cargo shorts.
- Clapping for the winner of the headset for a good five seconds before being told it was actually me.
- Ghoosdum drunkenly informing me that I was officially a gamer because I actually really wanted to win Nexus Opps.
- Playing in the TF2 tournament on the last night, and actually causing some damage.
- Meeting Jackie's laugh for the first time.
- Not being the first to die in Hunger Games.
- People actually agreeing to sign my shirt was pretty damn awesome.
- Everything ever all week long.
Seriously, you guys are amazing. Thank you for a great time and some of my best memories ever. Aaaaaalso, if you would like to see the pictures I took this week, here they are: https://facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150913586483285.428275.621138284&type=3
The album is set to public, so if you're in any of the photos, please feel free to tag yourself!
some of the history. Just it needs a little more time for it,But I saw things and learn things
I would have never found out if not for the bike tour. Great Time
This was probably my favorite expo yet. Sure, there was some drama, and the La Quinta hotel was a bit of a bust this year for my group. But having the entire UPS crew together, as well as meeting some first-timers like Ilriyas made it a total blast.
Here's my highlights. Photos sprinkled in via links.
• Running around with a real life Blood Eagle flag (I've been dreaming of doing that since first playing Tribes Ascend)
• UPSHitman being, well, UPSHitman. Or UP Shitman. Or "Big Nasty". Any way you look at it, the guy's hilarious.
• Winning my first game of Carcasonne (finally starting to get the hang of it)
• Speaking of board games, CB'S GIANT SETTLERS OF CATAN. It kicked ass. Now I want a little sheep plushie.
• Getting better with people's names, and getting to know people more (@PirateNinja, @Midga, Katie, @BobbyDigi, @QCH, @FreshyP, MasterBuilder K, and many more)
• Minecraft Hunger Games (breaking the rules, trololol) and making Cloudsdale for the Creative Building Contest. Loved Digi's real-life Minecraft block trophies, and proud to have snagged 3rd place!
• Cola's "Epic Clown" in the Minecraft contest. It's still cracking me up. DAT CLOWN OP!!!
• Finally meeting Ilriyas in person. Brohoof! (also, dat fatcat brony test, LOL)
• Making and passing out those vinyl decals. It was thoroughly enjoyable to see everyone's delightment.
• @Tushon's wine tasting
• Finally playing Unreal Tournament 2004 for the first time EVAR... and did decently well (for a noob).
• Making a vagina on wheels for the Duct Tape Challenge 2012... and coming in last place. =P
• Defeating a blue PT Cruiser in a battle to the death. (rear-ended by drunk lady; she totaled her car on my bumper, LOL) (pic!)
• Trying a slice of ghost pepper pizza. Not bad, but hot!
• Speaking of hot, trying two of @DogDragon's moonshine cherries at the same time was intense, but AWESOME!!
• CHEESY GORDITA CRUNCH WITH A DORITOS LOS TACOS SHELL OMG MMMM
• @CB's reading from the First Contact book. Fantastic work, my friend.
• Pushing and fucking hard under Captain @PirateNinja's leadership during the TF2 tourney. We in turn were fucked hard during Round 2. =P
• Late-night shenanigans at the La Quinta hotel, including TWO CRAVE CRATES and being yelled at by Earring (the manager).
• PONY RUN 2012!!! 8 of us braved our Man Cards to get ponies, including @UPSLynx, @FreshyP, @Midga, @Drasnor, @CrazyJoe, and @BobbyDigi.
• Seeing @FreshyP's art. That kid sure loves to draw! I wish I drew that much when I was younger...
• NERD DANCE!!! Thanks DJ Meph for the beats!
• Seeing the progress on ICHQ II, and dining at the pub that's down the road.
• And finally... holy piles of loot, Batman! I was practically speechless at the mountain of swag I made off with from the prize drawing. HUGE thank-you to everyone that helped round up the prizes, and the companies that contributed (ECS, Thermaltake, and Roccat in particular). I'm going to use the parts to build a bitchin' workstation computer for my graphic design projects.
Once again, a huge THANK YOU to ALL that helped make this happen, especially @primesuspect, @lincoln, and @CB. These will be good memories for years to come, and I shall re-visit this thread to remind myself when I need a nostalgia trip.
On that note if any of you got blindbags and happened to get a Trixie I'll forward you money to ship it to me, even if it will end up costing more in the end.
- 1st all of the amazing hugs I got when arriving late and flustered due to car troubles on Thursday night, especially @Tushon who literally ran across a parking lot, picked me up and spun me around
- SWINGING!
- Bostaan with Ryder, Greg, Rob, and Jason
- @Tushon's AMAZING wine tasting, although I am partial as I got to be his "vanna white" of all the wine
- Winning the duck tape challenge with Andrew, Spence, and Nick ---> too bad Paul the ball failed to survive
- Kbrew with Rob and Greg
- Cigar smoking and chatting with Jackie, Abby, Greg, Rob and Nick
- Won a sweet OCZ mouse pad
- @Djmeph's phemonial dance party + Bud Light lime and Limearitas...
- @Bandrick's sweet stickers
- Overall, just getting to see everyone, catch up on conversation face to face, plus all the joking. Man you guys/gals are all just simply amazing... can't wait to do it again next year <333
- Dick high fives
Oktoberfest and St. Patty's day are very similar. You'll come very close to the EPIC experience with either of those, even if you're "just" a gamer. Plenty of people play games all weekend at these events!
Oktoberfest is personally my favorite event, mostly because I LOVE COSTUMES.
I was sold on IC events from that night on.
I didn't even go to the costume party or anything.