EVE Fanfest 2011: An Experience Like No Other

The Fanfest 2011 has been in full swing for the last few days and though my first experience here, back in 2008, was memorable, this year's Fanfest is something beyond my expectations. No, I'm not talking about the CCP panels, round tables and awesome content and announcements that have been made over the last 2 days, or later today - looking forward to the CCP Presents keynote.

In this picture: Roc Wieler (by himself, of course!) Back row: Boris Hotch, Manasi, Song Li, GigaerPrano,
Mandrill, DavidKMagnus. Front row: Quivering Palms, Seismic Stan & Luminous Aardokay

What makes this particular Fanfest special for me, as opposed to the previous, is meeting all these amazing people that I've been interacting with over the last 2 and a half years.

I mean, just look at the happy faces on these folks above - for a picture of me with them taken by the Roc, see here! Though blogging, the TweetFleet and our podcasts are amazing ways of interacting and building a community of like minded folks who are passionate about the world of New Eden, nothing beats getting together in "meat space" and sharing good laughs and a few pints! Hell, meeting the Roc in person is worth the travel alone!

I've finished uploading the photos I've taken so far and will be adding descriptions and more photos over the next few days. With all these folks here, I haven't had the time and opportunity to provide daily reports like I did during my previous Fanfest. I know that some of the EVE Bloggers here have done, and I'll be putting a list in a later post.

For now though, I've got to head over to the venue as the third and final day of EVE Fanfest is already in full swing! And then there's that little get together called the "Party at the Top of the World"

Links:

• EVE Fanfest 2011 Flickr Set
• PC Gamer coverage of the keynote
• Massively's coverage: Day 1, Keynote, Day 2

Friday Video: CCP is inspired by Iceland [VIDEO]

CCP was founded in the summer of 1997 with the goal of becoming a leading massively multiplayer game company. With the launch of EVE Online in May 2003, CCP has established itself as one of the leading companies in the field, winning numerous awards and receiving critical acclaim worldwide.

The Drone Bay: Episode 21 - Fanfest 2009 Preview Special

Recorded earlier this week, the latest Drone Bay podcast was released today. Though I couldn't join Crovan and Alsedrech as the show was recorded during my work day, my podcast mates did a good job torturing the 3 devs present to get the most information from them on the next EVE Online Fanfest! Well, seducing might be a better term than torture.

Having been at Fanfest myself, I highly recommend that you attend if not this year, at least once! Have a listen and you'll get a brief idea of the amount of fun, facts and friends you'll discover if you decided to attend the Party at the top of the world!

Here's a few links to my account of the fanfest last year!

• EVE Fanfest Day 1 - Recap and more
• EVE Fanfest Day 2 - Lots more goodies!
• EVE Fanfest Day 3 - Highlights

Good to hear you guys again!

Back from Fanfest and asking for more

It's been 3 days since my return from Iceland, and a bit longer since the end of the 5th EVE Fanfest. Quantum Rise has been deployed and from all accounts, all has gone smoothly. Life is slowly returning to normal for me, though I'm still very much busy with the job hunt and taking care of the little family.

This last Fanfest was my first and, as I've been telling everyone and their mothers, hopefully not my last. Though the whole event was short, and I didn't get to enjoy the Icelandic scenery, the whole experience was a blast. I finally met face to face with folks I'd been chatting and emailing for over a year. And I also met with folks who were complete strangers, leaving with new friendships which are likely to last. Never mind 3 days of EVE Online news and discussions!

I still have got loads of notes and subject matter that came out of the Fanfest for about a dozen future posts. So expect more over the next two weeks. I just need a bit of time to wrap my head around a few ideas and get my facts together.

This Friday's Speedlinking post is likely to be one of the lengthiest, as I've put together the news of the last 2 weeks, which as you know, has been quite extensive. This one should go live early Friday morning. YoMma and I are scheduled to record the 4th installment of MicroWarpCast also on Friday morning, and with some luck, I should have the editing done by the end of the week-end.

I leave you with these two photos of me and some lovely Icelandic ladies with whom I had a bit of fun on Saturday night, during the Fanfest Party. Should convince a few of you boys out there to definitely make it to Fanfest next year!




All innocent fun, of course. I mean, I'm an honorable Canadian of course!

Cheers!

Some great photos of the EVE Fanfest 2006!

Before you start hating me for having had the chance to attend this year's fanfest, let it be known that the following pictures are not from me. This lucky son of a gun had the chance of flying in to Iceland and took some great photos of the fan festival. Additionally, he took some videos and you can watch them also.

And of course, here are the official fanfest photos from CCP, courtesy of MMORPG.com.

Hopefully by this time next year I'll have my own photos and videos, and memories! I just have to plan for it, and convince my better-half that I deserve to go. This shouldn't be too hard right? I mean I did convince her to go to Vegas earlier this year. But then again, Celine Dion and O were on our agenda and last time I checked neither offer venues in Iceland. Damn!

Anyways, until that happens, I'll just have to read about it. Which reminds me, MMORPG.com has got some great articles on the fan fest, here, here, and some amazing ship comparison here.