Here's a recap of the 2009 SWG Vegas SOE Fan Faire experience:

Thursday, June 25
Many of us at SOE started our Fan Faire journey on Thursday, others started even sooner. Unfortunately, we didn't know how much of an adventure was ahead of us. I started my trip to Vegas around 5:00AM to be at the airport in time for my 7:15AM flight. When I arrived at the Austin airport the security lines were the longest I had seen. The "now boarding" light was flashing before I was even halfway through the line. So I finally made it on board and got settled in for take off to my first Fan Faire. I arrived in Devner to catch my next plane to Vegas only ten minutes before it started boarding. I sensed that this fast pace and long lines was a hint of what was yet to come.

I finally land in Las Vegas to cooler temperatures than when I left Austin. That was a nice surprise to say the least and the lack of humidity was nice. I grabbed up my bags from the baggage claim, took a few pics like a good tourist, and headed off to catch my ride to the hotel. I arrived at the hotel to find, yes, another long line. I get to the counter and the nice person informs me that I don't have a room. I was a little worried at first but after a few minutes they figured out the situation and I was on my way to drop off my bags. I met up with my team soon after and began helping them setup so we could open to the public.

It didn't take too long before the line started forming down the hallway at the hotel. Longer and longer the line grew and as I went down the hall I met one nice person after another. Everyone was very excited to see what we had planned for them and what cool things they could see let along snatch up as keepsakes of the event.

The first night I didn't do too much after the welcome reception and Community Address and went to bed the earliest of the evenings which was around 2:00AM. The rest of the Fan Faire I don't believe I went to bed before 5:00AM. I was having a great time hanging out with the friends I was meeting from SWG. We did share several conversations regarding the upcoming update inspired by the new novel coming out later this year from Random House publishing called "Death Troopers". It was my first time to Vegas as well and I had so many things I wanted to see. The SWG fans that had been there before were happy to show me around. Now many of you will not be too surprised to find out that Dalbok found me at Fan Faire first. I guess he was hoping I had a badge in my pocket to hand him. I was able to meet several of the Senators and other long time veterans of SWG. It is not hard to see how you can become life long friends with SWG fans. I have to say that our fans are some of the most fun out of all the people I met and there were close to 2,000 people at the event.

Friday, June 26
Another day full of fun and time for fans to be with the SWG team!

The day started of with the first of several panels. Topics covered throughout the day's panels included SWG Trading Card Game, The Chronicles System, the Galactic Civil War, Events, and Collections & Quests. The rooms were full with people that had many great questions for the panelists. After each panel SWG Fans were able to spend some one on one time with members of the development team. The evening was capped off with the Community Address and Birthday Bash. We had live entertainment, light snacks and a complimentary bar until midnight. The band was great but the players singing along and trying to level up their karaoke skills was even better. Not to be outdone, Smed joined in on the jam session. You can see a picture of Smed rockin' the mic below.

After the party I went back and did some late night gaming with a few of the night owls like myself. After the gaming we took off to have a walk around Vegas and catch the sites. That was the first of my two longest nights up with all my new friends. Lots of laughs and even more talking about SWG. I was really glad to spend so much time with the players because I was able to learn so much about SWG and never once did they treat me like the level 35 noob I am. I took plenty of pictures to remember the evening by. I have to say that my first Friday at a Fan Faire finished off great.

Saturday, June 27
On Saturday morning, I got up nice and early to meet up with my team. I made may way to the hotel shop to pick up my energy drink and bought a round of Amp's for a few of the players. The rest of the morning was prep for Live Quest events and setup for the day's activities that followed. The Live Quest was fun and I had a great time watching everyone hurry around and completing the tasks. Everyone was having a great time and the actors that helped were awesome. One of the guilds came with a live event of their own. So we worked that into the weekend festivities and that was just one more fun thing to do. The people that finished their quest were given t-shirts made by their members that had the quest information, along with their guild information, printed on them. That was a fun addition and I look forward to doing something like that again next year.

Live Quest Winners:

Team Badge Collectors Dalbok FOAD Bloodfin Ate Obi SHC Starsider Wa'Fle SHC Starsider Boog SHC Starsider Warlorn SHC Starsider Thornos SHC Starsider Bad boy CE-WS Bloodfin Sam'wize CE-WS Bloodfin MoyaWookiee Wook Starsider Jess Youngster CIA Ahazi

Saturday's panels and discussions covered Rewards and how they are added to the game, the making of SWG and what goes on behind the scenes, and was finished up with the Galactic Gathering. We were happy to have another great discussion by the players and our panelists which included prominent team members from both SOE and LucasArts. The LucarsArts team members brought some really nice prizes that we awarded for various contests during the Galactic Gathering. I lost track of how many pictures I took with the fans and their new keepsakes. Then we all shared in the amazing birthday cakes to celebrate the 6th Anniversary of Star Wars Galaxies.

The day's events ended with the Grand Banquet that had a full buffet dinner provided by SOE for attendees. During the banquet awards were given out for the various events that took place over the last two days. The much anticipated costume contest kicked off another great time with my new friends and fans of SWG. All of our tables cheered until we lost our voices to pull off the win at the contest. See the picture below of our contest winner. He had the crowd rolling with the disabled Clone War Veteran signs.

After the festivities ended I took off with some of the great people I had met and we headed out to see Vegas. I knew this was my last night there and I wanted to make sure I took plenty of pictures and had plenty of laughs with my friends. Around 5:00AM I finally decided to try my hand at Black Jack. I was joined at the table with Dalbok and Lasod. I was glad to have the New Player Senator there to show me the ropes and Dalbok swore the chips would make a great in-game badge. Dalbok and those badges. So I set out to loose some money and say I did the "Vegas thing" but in an hours time I had won quite a bit and my new friends convinced me to cash out. I bid my new friends a fond farewell and headed back to my room to pack up.

Soon after I packed up I was down for our clean up at 8:00AM. I did what I could before I had to go check out and head to the airport. I hopped in a cab and left for the airport but this time without any delays or issues. I have to say that Fan Faire was an amazing event and one of the best times I have had in a long while even though I was working. The people were great, the events were fun, and I learned so many things from the great fans of SWG. I arrived back in Austin to hotter temperatures than Vegas and I forgot where I parked my car. We located my car eventually and I headed up to see my dog, take a shower, and go to sleep. All I can say is I can't wait for Fan Faire 2010 because 2009 was surely a time I will never forget.

Here's a gallery of the fun: