Dallas - QuakeCon 1

Today I'm in Dallas, Texas. I'm here to attend a conference called QuakeCon. It's a combination of videogame tournaments, gaming expo, fan clubs and press conferences. There is a giant ballroom where you can bring your own computer to play games. Let's just say that there aren't many women here. The name is derived from the word "Quake" and "Conference". Quake is the name of a videogame from a company called "id". They are famous for Quake, as well as a game called "Doom" and "Wolfenstein". Don't worry if this makes no sense to you. However, just understand that these games are legendary in the industry and have sold millions upon millions of copies.

I started my journey to Dallas by flying through Atlanta. The Atlanta airport is now among the most-busy in the entire world. While there, I stumbled upon a little slice-of-heaven called Nathan's Hot Dogs:

I don't care if it was 9:30am in the morning...

I had about 30 minutes to spare and spent them savoring a delicious hot dog. This is one of the few times I wish that my flight would have been delayed...

In Dallas, QuakeCon is being held at a H-U-G-E resort called the Gaylord Texan. This is a massive hotel and conference center located near the Dallas airport:

This next picture is the view from my room. This place is ridiculous...

Yeah, it's pretty big. If any of you have visited Nashville, this is a sister hotel to the Grand Ole Opry complex.

The best part about this conference taking place in Dallas, is that my son and his wife live here. I get a chance to visit with them and just hang out. I asked my son to help me prove that I was actually here, so this is a picture from the entrance to the conference:

QuakeCon + NASA shirt = High marks on the geek-o-meter

The conference officially started today. I spent a large amount of my company's money to build a booth at this conference (pictures in the next post). There are quite a few people here, even on the first day:

This is just one of the "small" tournaments taking place over the next 4 days

The crowd loves it when you're giving away prizes...

In another booth - not mine - id is proving that they understand their target demographic with laser-like precision:

Too...many...comments....must...hold...back....

Coming up tomorrow - pictures from my company's booth. Just be glad I can't upload the body odor that thousands of young videogame-playing men create in an enclosed space...