Convocation: SUCCESS!

What a great pagan convention! This group is very well organized, the people are magnificent, and the hotel is nice, too.

Despite a mind-numbingly long travel day on the 22nd, I managed to find my way to the Hilton Detroit (Troy) fairly easily, although driving in the dark without glasses was quite tough — and I got lost and had to call the hotel a couple of times for directions (both times I was within 2 miles — embarrassing!). My room was very nice — king bed, cozy down blanket, and a really good (fast!) room service brought me an excellent hamburger and a glass of wine.Sadly, I was so tired, I was wired, and it wasn’t until 2am before I could fall asleep.

My first presentation was at 11:30am (MGD) and I was more than a little worried because the funny (and excellent) Dorothy Morrison was speaking next door. Nonetheless, I had 20 people there to hear me talk about the 3 Cs that cause dissension within groups. It was an excellent crowd, too. Lots of examples supporting my points, good conversation and information sharing as well. The one disconcerting note was the laughter from Ms. Morrison’s talk next door, punctuating our more serious discussion oddly. One of the best talks I’ve given, ever. Most of them followed me to my book signing at 1pm and I basically sold out. I even need to mail one person a copy because I needed to keep one of each to display at my next two presentations.

I left the signing a bit early to take a water break and get set up for my Creating Community in Cyberspace talk. Sadly, only 6 people. (I keep telling organizers that people *say* they want to hear about this, but never actually go to my talks.) But they were interesting folks with a nice disparity of backgrounds and experiences.  I almost ran over my allotted time, in fact. Nice to be able to do that with such a small group.

I was pleased to see a couple of offerings at 4pm, specifically “When Love is Gone: Divorce in the Pagan Community” and “Coven Craft,” the latter which is for those who are considering starting a coven, as well as the Candy Ritual for kids.

* * * A note on that: this is a VERY kid friendly convention. There were constant events and workshops for kids that I thought were well-thought-out, education, and interesting. Everytiem I saw children, they were in a group, with a tween or teen in attendance to wrangle them, and it was something the organizers CLEARLY had put thought into.

The classes I missed on Th and Fri (I couldn’t take *that* much time off of work) were: Morrison & Sellars’ Wingnuts, Bobbleheads, and Unconscious Magick; The Magickal Essenc: Oil Crafting; Sheya Temple (Shamanic self-Transformation); Interconnectedness: The Soul of the Web; Give a Reading, Get a Reading; and Jupiter/Saturn Dynamic Pattern.

Sunday morning I slept late and had to hurry to pack a bit and get to my 9:30 talk: Life Cycle of the Magickal Group. Only four people, but it looked like all the talks were small. I guess the Saturday night festivities were a tad too rambunctious! No matter. We had a great conversation and shared valuable insight with one another.

This is a con I will be attending next year — and I’ve told Daystar that it’s important enough that he attend that I will pay for his room. Yes, I’ve got money on the line. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

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