The First Convention

In a little less than a week, Flat Earth Hobbies will be heading to Wichita for our first convention. The table is almost finished, but it's another last minute situation. I have been so busy this semester between classes, the GA position, the Enactus officer position, and dealing with Flat Earth Hobbies, that I have not posted about any of the amazing things that have been going on this semester.

Because I am an insane person, I am going to attempt to do the NaNoWriMo thing. Most of my writing will probably be done after the con is finished, but I still think I can manage the 50K with as much as I have been able to do with planning and everything else. A few good word sprints will do me some good to getting back in the writing habit. Even if I do wind up working in corporate IT after graduation next year, I would rather not lose my writing. 

Anyway, I hope everyone had a good Halloween and/or is having a blessed Samhain and that your next week goes swimmingly. I will "see" you all after the con. 

After Spring Break

The Monday after spring break meant snow for Kansas. It started blowing in and sticking shortly after lunchtime. Most of the snow had melted after five p.m. that day, but there were still a few patches when I was walking to campus yesterday. Spring is always a bit of a loose term around here. At least the weather is being unseasonal in early spring instead of in May or June when we should be getting summer weather. I want the apartment pool to open on time this year, please and thank you.

My team for the 3D competition meets with the Dean of the business college on Thursday (tomorrow) to get raked over the coals to assist with improving the presentation. We present to the judges in a week. We've successfully met with two judges which has improved our pitch already but we need to try to meet with the third judge which might also happen tomorrow.

Most of my Tuesday was devoured by a meeting, finding more relevant data, and constructing the power point. I have to say, though, conventions are being somewhat ridiculous by not tracking their demographics every year. Gen Con, the original, seems to the be the only one out of all 400+ gaming conventions in the U.S. that knows exactly how many visitors they've had since inception and from where these convention-goers hail. I keep thinking there's a potential job position with that for tracking visitor data and putting it into meaningful visual forms for data analysis for organizers. Someone should hire me to do this, don't you think?

This morning, though, I need to make my coffee and finish up my required reading for the week. My goal is to get my exam for international marketing out of the way as well. I have a feeling that Thursday is going to be another time sink of a day especially with one, possibly two, meetings and more work on the presentation to follow. Don't plan on being an entrepreneur if you aren't prepared to work crazy-hard every day. That's the real lesson of this competition, I suppose. That's just it, though, I have never minded working hard so long as there was a purpose to it.

My goal is that by the time I have finished my master's degree next year, our little business is more than capable of standing on its own merit. Or, at the very least, I might have something worthwhile to make my resume standout to Wizards of the Coast or a few other companies I was considering. 

The Next Step

I mentioned in last week's blog post about the 3D competition for the entrepreneurial business idea. My team (#20) was one of the top 20 selected for the semi-finals. Amusingly, I found out about it from a professor yesterday morning. It was several hours after the announcement hit the radio stations and the local paper before teams were notified by the college. After all, the university needs the good publicity. I'm feeling a bit better about our business venture which do intend to start this summer, whether or not we win prize money from the competition. We have a couple of dice trays in process at the moment, although I don't anticipate that we'll get into table or larger furniture construction until summer. Anyway, I think we stand a really good shot of getting first place then going on to compete against winning Kansas State University teams from the K-State Learn competition. (3D and K-State Learn are essentially the same competition.) 

In other related news, I've got another 2, possibly 3, semesters before I am done with my MBA. I'm not looking forward to repayment, but I'm definitely excited about the prospect of getting back to work at a more full-time basis. I like the funeral home, but I suspect my time there is going to be limited to another year at most.

 Here's what my entrepreneurial team watched last night while we celebrated with spicy fish tacos, grilled pineapple, chips and salsa, with some Apothic White. Enjoy your weekend! May it be full of happiness, laughter, and enough sarcasm to mess with the weak minded as you go about your day. 

Man Runs Back Into His Burning House To Rescue… His Xbox [Video]

Man Runs Back Into His Burning House To Rescue… His Xbox [Video]



This happened in Kansas maybe an hour or so from where I live. While I consider myself a gamer, there's no reason to return back into a burning building for a video game console. He's lucky he only suffered smoke inhalation.



The Kansas City Star wrote a short piece on this as well, but it seems as if anything that makes Kansans look ridiculous, selfish, or just plain stupid is what makes news outside the state.

Back to the Grind Spring 2013 Edition

I have been so busy with getting back to the school that I've hardly been maintaining the blog. Working at the funeral home has become far less stressful with our new funeral director. But my time has become crunched between the business classes, work, and the normal every day things that just suck the life out of 12+ hours of my day. I'm going to try to get back on a regular blog schedule in the upcoming months as I make the transition into an MBA program and try to figure out where I am going with my thirty-first (31) year on the planet.

Next week is all about apartment gutting. Goodwill is going to have an enriched inventory by next Friday. On next Thursday, I get to welcome a good friend back to the area (Roadtrip to KC! Woo hoo!) and then go straight to a training meeting at work that evening.

But I just have to say: playing an evil Dungeons & Dragons campaign with my friends is an event to be witnessed. I think I laughed so hard, I almost started crying at one point. Here is an interesting video I watched this week about people who play D&D that looks at some of the (possible) psychological benefits from playing the game.

Heavy Metal Thunder

According to Weather.com, we are only under a heat advisory and they fail in noticing the huge thunderstorm that has just descended upon the area. Someone has failed a will save somewhere. I am currently in the midst of banter before the start of a Dungeons and Dragons game. Clearly it's going to be a good night for gaming. Part of me is contemplating a quick dance in the rain.

There's going to be a rowdy party of crazed writers on Tuesday night / Wednesday wee hours of the morning as the August Camp NaNo kicks off in full swing. We just need to decide on the location, but I can't think of a better way to kick off Lughnasadh than with artistic endeavors. Except maybe with beer, both of which may be a possibility.