Some of PAX's cutesy advertising this year declared "Welcome Home" and shots of people playing hand-held games in one of PAX's now notorious bean bag chairs. It certainly sums up some of my feelings of PAX.
PAX has been something of an anchor for me in the last few years. My first PAX was the last one in the Meydenbauer Convention Center in Bellevue and I went on a last minute whim, because it was "just down the street" that year. PAX that year reignited my flame of love for all things gaming and particularly a long love of wanting to develop games that I had almost forgotten.
In graduate studies and in my own independent projects PAX has become a yearly trip home, a reminder of why I keep working so hard to get a job in the field or to build something cool myself. Each year brings new friends and great opportunities to meet old ones.
I spoke more this weekend that in the last few months combined it feels. I passed out a couple of resumes with good hope for a nibble or two and hopefully strong leads to follow up on once I get home. There were some great discussions and I felt extremely privileged to have been invited to add what I could to what was an awesome panel discussion.
Tomorrow I take my hard won sore throat and what seems to be jet-related allergies, or perhaps post-convention head cold, on the road. I'll wave goodbye to Bellevue again and then do the old airplane travel dance back to Louisville... There will be lots to think about on that ride home.