Top Ten Highlights of Convention 2003

10. Trying to match faces with handles...nobody looks like you'd expect them to...except Zoo - Salted and Roasted for some strange reason...must be the tail

9. MOO for President making sure convention goers "Got Milk" at every meal

8. The Campfire Creative sessions were insane. From around the room voices could be heard exclaiming...Clara did what? How did that happen? She was such a sweet girl in the beginning of the story! At my table we had 7 people participating in the campfire. Sherri started her story by placing Clara at her wedding. She set the scene beautifully and passed the story off to refan. He added a nice bit and it moved around the table. By the time I received the story, Clara was pregnant, her water broke and she was screaming at the minister! That was one of the more tame stories created during the four Campfire Creative sessions...others were too crazy to understand, you just had to be there!

7. The StoryMaster 's impromptu acrobatic act shocked the convention attendees. As he tumbled from the stage a collective gasp was heard from the tables surrounding the stage. He jumped to his feet and the crowd burst into applause and laughter. The act was so well received he graced the conventioneers with an encore performance the next day!

6. Andrea 's English accent drove the bids up, up, and away on her auction item. The auction attendees didn't want her to stop speaking so they bid higher and higher for her item.

5. The HighRoller 's reading of "FANCY FREE"  gave the crowd goosebumps. She drew us all into the drama so effectively we forgot to applaud at the end...later she confessed she thought she had flopped and couldn't wait to escape from the spotlight! The audience did redeem itself by giving her a standing ovation after the shock wore off.

4. Zoo - Salted and Roasted 's presentation of photo frames with the "flippy things make it better" marketing strategy during the auction. The crowd couldn't help but bid on these photo frames that could either be hung on the wall or, by using the "flippy thing", sit on a desk.

3. If you've been on scrolling IM at all since the Convention you've probably seen references to rickysgranny as Banana Granny. During the birthday celebration the DJ set up a banana race. The contestants were rickysgranny, Wannabe and Mark C Bradley . The each tied a banana on a string to the back of their pants. The DJ didn't tell them why they were doing this so each one tied their banana a little differently. Mark C Bradley tied his banana high off the ground so it swung freely behind him. Wannabe tied her banana so it dragged on the ground behind her. rickysgranny fell smack in the middle, tying her banana so it barely touched the ground. The objective of the race was to transport an audio tape across the dance floor using nothing but the banana. Wannabe was pretty good at moving the tape and quickly made for the other side. rickysgranny maneuvered her banana in a manner never seen before at a public event but she too managed to move her banana across the floor. Mark C Bradley was in a bind. He could only make his banana reach the tape by doing a modified duck walk across the floor...he struggled much to the crowds delight! In the end, Banana Granny was victorious...but left the crowd wondering...where did she learn to do that with a banana?!

2. Zoo - Salted and Roasted 's antics at the auction whipped the crowd into a tizzy. He started by prancing up and down the walkway in front of the crowd, one hand on his hip, showing off the merchandise....himself! He incited a bidding war between two very competitive groups of convention goers. We all wanted him! He threw the bidding into the hundreds by doing a striptease which stirred ladies and even some of the guys into a frenzy!

1. The ultimate highlight of Convention 2003 came during The StoryMaster 's magic act at the end of the Open Mic performances. His assistant, The StoryMistress , was unprepared and swore to the crowd she knew nothing about this act. This became all too evident when he proposed! The shock and delight on her face were priceless...only to be overshadowed by the look on her face when he announced the names of the individuals who had known the proposal was coming...I'm sure they got an earful for keeping their secret!