StarFest 2013 Day Three

Written by:  John Edward Betancourt 

Truth be told, I don't like Sundays at conventions.  It is not because there is less items on my agenda for the day, quite the contrary.  Sunday is in a way, worse when it comes to working a checklist since you often have until five or six o' clock to get everything done.   

No the fact of the matter is, I don't want the convention to end.  But not for the obvious reasons.  No this weekend I learned a valuable lesson as to why I feel the need for StarFest to keep going.  Because truly, StarFest holds a greater meaning. 

Now we here at Girls of Geek did the usual on Sunday, we spent wads of cash in the vendor room, we checked out all the panels we could, watched the big names at Main Events, and like everyone else does late in the day, just hung out.  We took the opportunity during the downtime to record an interview as one of the last pieces we need for the upcoming season finale of Beyond the Stars and during that interview with a fan, a word came up that caught me off guard; friendship.  

Now that may sound silly and sappy, but the gentleman we interviewed, Carl, let us know he comes to StarFest year after year because he wants to see his friends, many of whom he has met over the years at StarFest.  Pretty simple I know, but Girls of Geek has now covered two StarFests consecutively, and I realized after that interview, just how many new friends I have because of this convention.  Carl is a great example.  I met him last year and had breakfast with him and we agreed to make that first meal of the day tradition.  We held ourselves to that, having bacon and eggs this year after MediaFest on Friday.  

But it doesn't end with Carl.  I spent so much time this weekend saying hello to so many people that I had not seen in some time, all because of this convention.  Now I get why I don't like the end of a convention, because all of these awesome people who share in the endless amounts of joy this celebration brings will go home and I don't get to see all of them on a regular basis.   

That's what StarFest is about, an endless joy that we all share with one another, and one that we share with the world when we walk out of those doors for the final time.  A joy that fades just a little bit, until we realize we need to recharge it and when that moment arrives, we are thankful because it's time to reunite once again.  

Until next year my friends.  I'll miss you all dearly until then.  

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