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JEB writes...

Since Greg B. suggested I do so, posting my Gathering 2002 journal here. :)

Day 1 - Friday, June 28, 2002

After a four-hour road trip, we arrived at the Gathering around 4:30 PM. We'd planned ahead, purchasing two adjacent
rooms- Mom and Dad would have one, and would tourist around Williamsburg, while me and Jack would have the other,
allowing us a greater degree of freedom at the Gathering than at the last one the family shared (G98). However, our room was not yet ready, so we kept our stuff in the parents' room. Me and Jack went downstairs and registered, then headed back up and waited for Opening Ceremonies. Our room was also ready, so we moved in, but it was badly cooled and a tad malodorous. (It never really improved from that state. We suspect it was used by a pet owner previously, and the cleaning crew did a poor job of cleaning it up.)

We headed down to Opening Ceremonies (Jack's first!). I saw Mandolin as I waited in line, as Jack asked me a pile of
questions to cover his nervousness. After we arrived, Siryn tried to entertain us while things were getting ready with items like the Top 10 questions asked at a Gathering (including the now-famous "Mommy, what's a con virgin?"). We had two guests this time- Greg Weisman (thereafter referred to as "Greg W.") and Greg Guler (thereafter referred to as "Greg G."). After the opening began, Greg W. gave a speech about the show and the fandom, and how it's still vital (with many people making this their first Gathering) and how the people who'd attended all six Gatherings are our heroes, people who all Gargoyles fans owe a debt for their devotion. He also announced two surprising bits. Firstly, Toon Disney sent a bunch of stuff- Gargoyles baseball caps and sweatshirts, along with an advertisement that they wanted read- but it was all free! Then, Greg W. dropped the major bombshell- Gargoyles is getting on DVD! Our requests over the years have been heard, and this is also a significant event for one simple reason- Disney, on a hey-we-can-make-money-off-these-people level, realizes our fandom exists. And that is a GOOD thing for the show.

We also heard about G2K3, which will return to Manhattan (of course, I knew about it already, what with my loose
association with the Con Staff- that said, I kinda hid when I realized there was a risk of being dragged on-stage). Then, Greg W. went into his presentation. It was the same as since G99, but it was still as entertaining as ever- and Jack was seeing it for the first time, which made it cooler. After the presentation ended, everyone lined up with their tickets (handed to them at registration) to get either a cap or a sweatshift (I got the former, Jack the latter). I met with Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky briefly (thereafter referred to as Greg B.), then headed back to the room with our stuff. Jack stayed there, and we got dinner (Ledo's Pizza); after finishing, I left and wandered... about 30 seconds, before I ran into Greg B. again. I'd brought the Blockbuster-exclusive Gargoyles video he won in one of my eBay auctions, followed him back to his room (trying to sell him my extra copy of Gargoyles #1 along the way), and got him to finally pay for it. We also chatted about G2K, Lord of the Rings and other random topics.

He wanted to hit the adult fanfic panel, but I didn't, so I went into the Video Room and watched Tenchi Muyo! movie #2,
"Daughter of Darkness." Entertaining enough, if a little disturbing in parts. After that ended, I waited to go into the Fandom Address/Hudson's Rant; as the attendees gathered (though some preferred the MST3K session next door), I met with Zaius (under some new alias- Kaelynn, I think?) and Greg B. Hudson (and Chris Rogers) had a lot to say about server troubles, and also laid out their plans for the fandom- to remake Gargoyles-Fans into a site more akin to "Planet Quake" (or the late "Planet Namek"), regularly updated by a crew of people and including a wide variety of topics. The two Gregs stopped by for a bit and listened in. Hudson went on to mention my Gargoyles Fan Registry as one thing he wanted to pull in- I was very gratified when he recognized the work I did on the rather sizable site, and rightly pointed out that automating the process would make things much easier. When Hudson mentioned a rather crude scenario involving Bill Gates and the Manhattan clan, the Gregs high-tailed it out- whether it was coincidence, offense, or a need to avoid fanfic ideas (as the conversation was moving in that direction). Hudson's Rant, following the illustration of his and Chris' plans, was very funny; Hudson could make a good living as a stand-up comedian. Eventually, however, the show ended, and we all left; before I went back to my room, Hudson gave me his e-mail (after my cumbersome address caught him off-guard) to contact him later. I headed upstairs, and quickly went to sleep.

Greg responds...

JEB - I seem to recall that Greg G. and I ate dinner with you and Jack one night at that con? Maybe that's coming in a later entry.

Hope to see you in Montreal.

Response recorded on May 07, 2004