Back From Ciderfest and YouTube Reading!?

Hey everypony! It's CountDerpy.

Well I am back from Ciderfest and I have to say: pony conventions get so much better when you work them. Just getting to experience things from a different angle is a fresh experience, and with this being my second pony convention, it was so great to be on that side.

So for a quick recap of what I did:

Thursday:

Left for the airport at around 8 am. Plane left Rapid City around 10, Minneapolis around 12 and got into Milwaukee around 2:30. A friend picked me up from the airport and we made a couple of runs before coming to our hotel: The Hyatt Regency Milwaukee. Oh my god, this hotel is beautiful. My room was on the 10th floor and you could see the entire convention space from there.

Friday:

Got up around 9 and went down to start my shift at the Charity Room, answering a few questions and taking people's charity items. Also did a bit of overseeing of the Sponsor Lounge that was next door. Around 1 went to go get some lunch and came back to get some swag from the convention table and the vendor hall after going to a Source Filmmaker panel held by Adamtheamazing64 and Argodaemon.

Got a Mug, some pins, an art commission, a signed ink rose print from the Fiery Joker, a mug, a Twilight/Intelligence ribbon, a Boulder from Tao of Maud, Shipfic Folder cards and my copy of Friendship Games signed by Rebecca herself. So awesome!

Here is my Staff T-shirt from the front and back along with the Convention T-shirt that I picked up. I really need to find who does their 2XL shirts because they get the sizing perfect.

Get into my room later that night and my roommate (the head of VIPR) had a musician and then three VA's all in there talking, drinking and having fun. Got to meet and talk with some of them and OMG they are some of the nicest people ever. Rebecca and Maryke were just phenomenally cool people, Ashleigh was just pure fun, didn't get to talk to Peter or Jen Blake at all, but I heard they are nice. Then there was Tabitha herself. God bless her heart she is basically Fluttershy incarnate. You talk to her for a while and you realize how soft her voice is and how much of a sweetheart she is, I thought I would get diabetus just from standing near her.

Later that night I had to work the Grand Galloping Gala and learned that I really hate bow ties. Like hate them with a passion. I ended up working the whole event until my boss said that if I didn't find someone to dance with, then she would force me to dance with her...and to her credit she is a woman of her word.

Saturday:

Got up and went down for the Tao of Maud panel, explaining the Taoist nature of Equestria's most centered pony Maud Pie and the Tao of Maud movement. It was really and enlightening panel with some great tips on how to meditate and some great advice on how to live straight from the mouth of Maud.

After that it was to the VA panel for a special surprise from Tabitha in the form of a script reading between the VA's and it was probably the most hilarious thing ever. Afterwords was the episode screening and it has moved into top 3 episodes ever and the song finally beat out This Day Aria to take the #1 spot for the series.

Then it was a 2 hour wait in the autograph line to get to talk to Rebecca again and get her to sign something. Once again I love her, love everything about her, she is just a cool woman all around.

After that it was a 4 hours shift in the cider lounge on the 17th floor. And by shift I mean sitting around refilling cider and chips, eating chips and drinking cider while watching season 1 episodes. All in all a great job to have, especially when we had freshly squeezed cider just for this event, it was so amazing!

Then that night it was concert time and OMG i am still deaf from that shit! Cyril can belt it out and d.notive was awesome as ever. The rest literally blew my eardrums out including The Shake Ups who were awesome as always.

But unfortunately all good things must come to an end, as I did not get to stay Sunday because of an early flight. Left the hotel around 5 am and got back to Rapid City around noon. It's weird that I really didn't end up with any post con depression. Maybe it's because I came back having made some great new friends and have the knowledge that I will be able to do this again, unlike with MLP-MSP last year and not thinking I would ever be able to do a pony convention again. I was glad to have been able to work such a great convention and I hope I get to do so again next year, October 28-30th.

Things I have learned:

-NEVER EVER EAT AT THE HOTEL
-Bring about $1000 dollars instead of $200 in cash
-Carry-on bags are a must
-Never eat Papa John's for dinner 4 nights in a row.
-Always have fun

On another note a great person by the name of Jason_LeCrown did a YouTube reading of Final Hours: Night of the Final Day during my time at Ciderfest and I was so happy to see that. Go check it out in the video below and I will also put it with the story.