Good news about the Expo

This is me at a party:

Me: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Other People: Blah?
Me: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
Other People: Blah.
Me: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

So the point is, I talk a lot. I have a lot to say. I feel like I have so many thoughts that if I don't talk about them they'll build up in my brain and then I'll have to burn a safety pin and pop it into my skull to release the pressure in my head like you do when you have a blister. It's probably safer just to talk.

I just wanted you to know in case you ever meet me, like at the Expo or something. Come up and say hi, but only if you're okay with competing for conversation time because I will talk to you. Unless I'm feeling quiet that day which usually happens at 7 am or after I've watched a depressing movie.

And speaking of the Expo, I have news. Last night I met Bill Donovan, the owner of Creative Screenwriting, who is a delightful man and did not appear to mind my constant blathering. Unless he was just being polite.

Also, he makes the best tasting salmon the world has ever seen.

Anyway, if you're on the CS mailing list you got info on the Expo this week. The website is up. There's not much information yet because they're still recruiting speakers, but there are some early details.

The first thing you'll notice is that we're back at the Convention Center. So no more traveling between hotels, cramming into tiny rooms, navigating the bizarre layout of the building, getting trapped in the elevator.

And for those of you who don't live in the LA area, there is public transportation available. The blue metro line stops immediately in front of the Convention Center and there are hotels within walking distance. Parking is expensive - $10-15 a day I think - so this is good news. I'll probably ride my bike to the station and then take the train from there.

And if you went last year, which the numbers suggest you didn't, you may have noticed the volunteers. Or rather, you may not have noticed the volunteers since hardly any showed up. That's because while in the past volunteers showed up and worked one day, then got the rest of the Expo free, last year volunteers worked two days and still had to pay $5 a class like everybody else. Why the hell would anybody volunteer for that?

People with the Gold Pass are allowed in any class they want but everybody else is supposed to buy tickets. Since there were no volunteers, anybody with or without tickets or Gold Passes could walk into whatever class they wanted, rendering the Gold Pass useless.

That won't happen this year. The company that handled the volunteers has been replaced. I don't know what will happen, but I do know that volunteers won't be treated like indentured servants.

One of the other things Bill mentioned is how a lot of people stopped coming to the Expo because it tended to be the same presenters and the same presentations every year so there was nothing new on the table. He's working to offer something new this year because thankfully, he is really open to input from others. I really feel like he respected what I had to say.

So really, it's all good news. The only downside of the Convention Center is that there aren't a whole lot of places to go for lunch, but I'll do a post when we get closer of where to go if you don't want to buy the boxed lunch or go to the expensive cafeteria. If you don't mind hopping on the train for a minute, finding food is actually really easy.

I think the Expo this year might be worth the money. I still won't be paying because I'll be volunteering somehow for somebody. Because I don't actually like sitting in classes nearly as much as I love running around talking. And talking. And talking.