My not so exciting first day in MN: Sooo… after discovering I had the dumb yesterday and left way too fucking early for my flight (i thought we were on the 12:15, we were on the 1:00 actually) being more than concerned about traveling on a holiday and worrying if my colleague and I would be able to board, [We bought her ticket under her middle name and the assholes at UAL wouldn’t do anything but say oh well see what happens at the airport!] we wound up with two hours to kill at O’Hare.

We found a Chili’s, had a Marguerita’s and then wandered to the correct gate. Short flight, made me wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to drive… but considering that an hr flight versus a 7 – 8 hr drive plus the parking, gas, etc clearly made the flight the winner. After a couple of thumps during descent we got off, found our other colleague and headed over to the hotel.

Our room wasnt ready, since the conference housing people had decided to change JD’s hotel to a single room without notifying him, considering he’d said a 2 bdrm suite for 3 adults. *huff* it did give us a chance to find a good sushi place, eat and catch up with each other. We checked in at the conference, got our buttload of materials, and then finally got checked into the hotel.

Tis a lovely suite, and it has free wi-fi, a kitchen, and even a full dining area. *squee* I conked out early, actually at the conference hotel where we went for some cocktails in the evening. I didn’t snore thankfully but I did nod off at the table and was entirely out of it on the way back to the hotel.

I hope I’m not omfg sick, like I could sleep all day sick today because it would suck, and I’ve got a full day planned ahead. There’s a first timers session that takes up a good chunk of the day, and then we have a little time for lunch and then concurrent sessions run from 2:30 till about 4:00.

The opening plenary speaker is Colin Powell this evening. Should be interesting to hear him speak.. I just hope I don’t start the Chris Rock skit in my head and laugh out loud during his speech.

Now, off for some coffee and then maybe a shower to clear my head.

Published by cypheroftyr

Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a non-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. I Need Diverse Games serves the community by supporting marginalized developers attend the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives. Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming, #INeedDiverseGames spawn point, and wants to make it better and more inclusive for everyone. She founded and was the EIC of Fresh Out of Tokens podcast where games culture was discussed and viewed through a lense of feminism, intersectionality and diversity. Now she’s a co-host on Spawn on Me Podcast. Along with all of that, she’s the Programming Coordinator for OrcaCon, she often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at multiple conventions throughout the year. Her writing about games and games critique appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Wiscon Chronicles, Vice Gaming, Paste Games, Mic, and other publications.