Gargoyle

I've been to a number of small lunches/dinners around Chicago, typically 3 to 12 FT'ers, plus one wonderful get together in MCO with a dozen or more. Mrs. Gargoyle has been with to a number of these, and her opinion is that she's always interested in going with me to the smaller gatherings, no more than about 8 people, but she's not interested in a big DO... simply because there will be too many new people at once, too much confusion to be able to get good conversations and you'll only get to know 5 or 6 people anyway... so why not just meet 5 or 6 at a time. I can see the appeal of a big DO, but I see her point too. Of course, she doesn't participate in FT, so she won't be familiar with any of the handles or the characters behind the handles.

I think the big gatherings will by nature have some folk who are ill at ease with a first meeting of people they don't know, and with the surreal shift from virtual space to physical space, so awkwardness, social faux pas, and things that appear like dissing will be par for the course. All of that can be worked through if it's recognized for what it is.

I thought you have to kiss Prince a lot before you find Michael Jackson