The CCCC 2011 Adventures of Gertrude

I played CtheDay this year at CCCC 2011; this has been, by far, the most fun I've ever had at Cs.


I'm hypercompetitive. If you've met me, you know. If you were a part of my life during the 2 year span that I played Settlers of Catan, you really know this.  

Side note: we were so into Catan that 1) we created our own rules (numbers were placed face down and settlement placement occurred before numbers flipped, we changed the meanings of cards that sucked, we played Seafarers, Cities, and Settlers all at once--ALWAYS), 2) we had to replace our set, and 3) regular Catan no longer holds meaning for us.

I've gone to five previous Cs as an adjunct, and normally when I went, I attended sessions, learned a lot, hung out with others from my school who came along.  This year, in my second year of doctoral studies at Ball State, I made the decision to network more.  I wasn't too sure how I was going to do it until I saw mention of CstheDay on Twitter. PERFECT. KISMET. GEEENIUS.


Wednesday Night


The CstheDay Twitter feed reminded me that Norton's free booze party was going on as I was unpacking, so I grabbed my girlfriend and ran down.  While in line I spoke to Kenny, from Arizona State.  He didn't have his name tag, so I don't know his last name, and I never saw him again (not for lack of looking--he was nice). But I was proud of my talking to new people. 


I found a few beers and we met Stephen Lind, a 2nd year graduate student at Clemson University who's working on a rhetorical analysis of religious themes in Peanuts.  How AWESOME is that?!  Stephen introduced himself to us after hearing my girlfriend say, "I don't know anyone in this room."  I never saw him again, but I'm so going to stalk his work because it sounds awesome. 


Attending a free food and booze party was a quest, so I looked around for my stamp, but the CstheDay people had vanished!  I complained about my failure on Twitter and was promptly directed to Pulse.  While at Pulse, I was able to meet Wendi, Jill, Mary, and briefly Doug (though I had no idea Doug was Doug). Everyone was kind and I was excited to continue playing... 


SparklePony: Achieved!

Gertrude (before she was
so dubbed) at Sid
Dobrin's The Future
of Writing Studies session

Jill, Mary, and Cheryl invited me to join them at the Newcomer's Coffee (which I never attended my first Cs and only attended this time for the stamp).  I met more people and introduced myself awkwardly. No one knows that IPFW is Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne and it doesn't fit on the badge; I feel as IPFW paid for me to go to Cs (as opposed to Ball State, nothing against BSU, I have professional development monies to use from IPFW) my introduction loyalty lies there first. 




The allure of the SparklePony was taunting me. I had to immediately get one. The clearest and easiest way to achieve the SparklePony was to buy Atlanta swag. I had spent Wednesday evening walking around Hotlanta with friends looking for a souvenir shop: FAIL. I knew there was a gift shop in the hotel, but I didn't have time to get to it before the opening session. I contained my urge to ditch and shop and went to what was probably the best opening session I've heard. Between the Chair's address and Feature Session A, I sneaked down to the gift shop. I finally found a sparkly panda shirt for Ainsley and a Goodnight Atlanta book for Xander. 


I ran to get my SparklePony (ok, that's hyperbole, I don't run.). VICTORY!! SparklePony and I then headed over to Sid Dobrin's Feature Speaker session. Awesome.


Gertrude Tries to Meet Cindy EFFING Selfe


After Sid Dobrin, I happened by the Digital Archives of Literacy Narratives booth and who do I see? Cindy Selfe?! So I approach her and introduce myself...she already recognizes Gertrude (most likely via Jill).  It is at this point that my phone decides to die (I killed it tweeting Sid Dobrin's session. In my best Shatner, "DOBRIIIIIIN!!!" Actually, I should curse PalmPre for crap batteries, but Dobrin's name Kahns better.  Yeah, I just made "KAAAAHHHNNNN!" a verb. What?).  This is what makes Cindy Selfe awesome: she says, "It's ok! You can come back!"  I'm distraught.  She then HUGS ME!  I later learned that Cindy hugs--it's her thing. But I don't care. I love her brain, I love her smile, and I love her hugs.  

Sidenote: I never saw Cindy again. I am considering bringing Gertrude to future Cs just to get my picture. It may be a lifelong Cs quest.

Gertrude Meets Andrea EFFING Lunsford

Gertrude's finest moment

So, after charging my phone post-Selfe debachle, I returned down to the convention. I was getting off the elevators and there, all by her lonesome, was Andrea Lunsford.  This was it: I had my SparkPony, my camera was charged, and I was going to make this happen.  


I introduced myself, explained CstheDay, and snapped my photo.  Andrea (I actually just had a moment of pause here--I had no qualms writing about Cynthia Selfe as Cindy, but I paused as to whether I should refer to Andrea Lunsford as Andrea.  Interesting.) was exceptionally gracious.  She loved it. She asked what the grand prize was...I actually paused.  I wasn't sure. I was mostly playing this game as a way to network and have fun. I totally couldn't remember the prize (more on this later).


Gertrude Goes to Turner Field

Suzy is unclear of
Gertrude's intentions

Getting some love
from Karol

The Bedford Party was at Turner Field this year. Food was fail. I understand they were going for a theme, but every year Bedford's about doing it big. Hot dogs, nachos, and breaded fried everything is not "doing it big." Gertrude was less than impressed.


She did, however, enjoy hanging out in the bleachers. I didn't really do too much networking at Bedford.  Sure, I had an awesome talk with Beth Keller from MSU, but I knew her from IPFW and FB so it doesn't really count.  She was, however, impressed by Gertrude.


I should note it was Suzy Rumsey who named Gertrude.  She coveted Gertrude a lot and wished she'd had time to play.

Who is this handsome guy?

Gertrude Goes to the Fountainhead Party


I finally got to meet Scott, Jan, and Cynthia at the Fountainhead Party.  I also became a full professor there too!  I was given a seat at the table and really started to feel awesome about playing the game. I got to talk to Scott about his work in Athens; Jan, Cynthia, and Jill about WoW; and Mary about her studies. I met Guiseppe Getto from MSU and talked about the social dynamics of being on a Cs panel. 


Gertrude didn't really pay attention to my exciting conversations. She became obsessed with the white SparklePony she met by the lemon/lime centerpiece.

 Gertrude at the Jam

Karol, Sara, and Tim
with Sara's Pony

I spent a lot of time at the Jam (apparently calling it the Rock N Roll Party dates me) talking to tons of people. I met more people and danced my butt off.  You'll notice that Gertrude didn't really make much of an appearance at the Jam.  Part of it is I think she was pretty hung over from her Fountainhead experience.


The bigger part, I think, is that I didn't need Gertrude anymore.  Gertrude, and the game, was my gateway into conversation. She was awesome, and I appreciate her work.  I'm going to print and frame the picture of Gertrude and Andrea Lunsford and display it in my office. (I'm not giving her to my 2 year old daughter, Ainsley. As a matter of fact, I had to put her in a bag in my car because if Ainsley even sees Gertrude, I'll lose her forever.)  Maybe I actually will bring Gertrude along to future Cs and get her picture with luminaries.  It could be a fun thing in my office--right next to the Catwoman pictures and the Wonder Woman Barbie.


Grand Prize Winners

So, all of my competitive efforts paid off: I was one of the grand prize winners of Cstheday.  I wasn't the winner. As Max Smart would say, I missed it by that much. But I take solace in the fact that Tim, who earned a few extra points than I did, got started playing because I reminded him about the game and earned many of his stamps with me. We teamed up!


My prize was two-fold.  I will co-author an article with one (or more?) of the game co-founders that will appear in either Kairos, CCCs Online, or Enculturation. I didn't really realize it until 3/4 of the way through the game what an awesome grand prize it is! This is a profoundly awesome grand prize; I've presented a ton, but I have no publications...yet. So, thanks guys, I really enjoyed playing and will equally enjoy writing about it.


My second prize was the SuperSparklePony.  I've started tracking his progress too (he's not been named yet because Suzy hasn't seen him); he's hanging out in my car with Gertrude waiting to go to the office. I'm pretty certain if Ainsley saw him, she'd punch me in the knees to have him.

Going...              Going...            Gone.