This morning I woke up at 11am, threw on some clothes, and went down to say goodbye to all the old and new friends from the convention. Within 10 minutes, 7 people told me I looked like crap, which I indeed did, so I came back upstairs and am now sitting in the wonderful nothingness that is my hotel room. Nothing but the whir of the air conditioner disturbs the silence. Everyone is gone on the Sunday trip, which I skipped, and for the first time all weekend, I have no responsibility.
This convention really seemed to go well from all directions. All totaled, we had between 500 and 600 attendees, which is great. We had a “funny sandwich”, which means we started and ended with laughs, but in the middle supplied substantial meat.
Brother Harry Hardwick of the Landover Baptist Church started us with his, um, “Sermon” on Thursday night and we were off and running. Then on Friday we introduced everyone, and Ed Buckner gave a speech about the future and the Helen Mitzman donation matching. I’m going to skip giving a blow-by-blow report, and get right to my personal favorite moments:
1) Herb Silverman came to talk about the Secular Coalition for America, which was great, considering (I can now announce) that American Atheists WILL be applying for membership to the SCA.
2) Dawkins was fun and brilliant as usual, but my favorite Dawkinsian moments were his interview that he granted me (and Dennis) for the Atheist Viewpoint, and a short speech about our mutual friend Douglas Adams at our life members dinner. He was touching and stirring. I would like to personally thank Dr. Dawkins for doing all he did at this convention FOR US. He went well above and beyond.
3) Nate Phelps was nervous going into this convention, and he had practiced with John Lombard (also a great speaker) so that he would have the confidence to get through it. Without a doubt, his speech was the best received of the convention. He was interrupted 4 times by applause, and received not one, but two standing ovations (once after the speech, another after Q&A). As he was leaving the stage I insisted he look back and the cheering crowd on their feet, so he could appreciate how well he’d touched their hearts.
4) Jim Morrow began the top-bun of our funny sandwich with enough quips and anecdotes to get us started and then…
5) The Mass debaptism and BlaspheME event was just over the top silly, with holy hairdryers, holy guacamole, and a whole hell of a lot of fun. By the way, communion wafers taste terrible.
6) At the Awards Banquet, I accepted the award of appreciation for Jared for re-building this site, but was then very surprised and humbled to win Atheist of the Year (which I dedicated to Madalyn Murray O’hair).
7) Of course, no convention is complete without hitting a nightspot with about 25 of your atheist friends, getting back at 3am, and looking like crap the next morning.
Tomorrow is my first in-person board meeting, which will last all day and I am sure I’ll have a lot to talk about afterwards. In the mean time, it’s 75 outside, and I’m going to the pool to enjoy a whole afternoon of doing absolutely nothing. Later!
