Beyond 300vM: Perfect Friday

I sprang out of bed faster than Jack could even think of popping out of his box. I couldn't say the same for Aaron, but I knew he was excited for me. While performing my typical morning ritual, I turned on Beyond 200. The "BEYOND!" from the audience boomed through my little iPhone speakers filled me with exhilaration. I put on my eyeliner extra carefully that morning.

We took to the streets after I finally dragged Aaron out of bed. A little light shopping was the perfect way to kill a few hours. I expected San Francisco to be a little cold, but a little cold ended up being a huge understatement. Since my body had already adjusted to the 100 degree Texas heat, the cool 65 degrees in San Francisco chilled me to the bone. I used this little shopping excursion to find a cute new jacket. All the while I kept checking my Facebook to make sure a scheduled meeting would go according to plan. In addition to meeting all the Beyonders, I had arranged a meeting for before the podcast to team up with some Locksmiths - Podcast Unlocked fans - and head over to IGN together.

We met at a classy bar called Louie's, just 15 minutes away from IGN's office. Aaron and I met the bar's owner, Tony, a fellow locksmith and Beyond fan who volunteered his bar as the group's rendezvous. Soon we were joined by Brett, John and Robert. After a some small talk, we made our way towards IGN. Aaron, not having much of an interest in PlayStation, left our group to go watch Pacific Rim in IMAX 3D by himself.

We had one last street to cross to get to the Beyond 300 line when I saw Jimmy coming my way. I felt a little nervous for a split second - I mean this was just some guy I met on the Internet who became one of my best friends in a matter of weeks. For those of you who don’t know, Jimmy and I met over Twitter. Guys, he's really, really tall. (As a matter of fact, a lot of the people I met were really, really tall.) We hugged and exchanged a few words before going our separate ways. He had to retrieve something from his car. While waiting in line to get into the building, my group met IGN Community Managers Sean Allen and Eriq Martin. As we were walking in, I managed to steal a hug from both Colin Moriarty and Greg Miller. Needless to say, I was freaking out.

After buying my Beyond 300 shirt, I stepped into the elevator with my new friend Vanessa. Having gone to Beyond 200, she understood why I completely lost it when we stepped out of the elevator. IGN's office is magnificent. From the pile of Spartan helmets to the Fallout 3 power armor statues that guarded a door, my brain was melting. My group wondered around the office for a bit, meeting IGN editors and taking pictures before getting ready for the show. I found Jimmy and his dad, we took our seats and waited for the show to begin.

Jimmy and I weren't sitting for long. Quite a few people decided to stand in front of us, blocking our view of the stage, so we ended up standing with them. The show was amazing. From the musical performances to the surprise guest appearances - oh hello Shuhei Yoshida - I couldn't wipe the stupid smile off my face as I listened. Most of the show I had to stand on my tiptoes to see anything, but I got a break when I was called up to be on the podcast! I don't think I was actually supposed to go up, but it was one of those 'I'm pointing at you but not you' moments and everyone around me was pushing me to go, so I went. Mildly embarrassed, I offered to sit back down, but the guys were kind enough to let me stay. (See me awkwardly stand aside then share my love for Persona here. I pop up around the 1:46:00 mark.) I even got a rare Twisted Metal Sweet Tooth statue! 

The rest of the show was absolutely fantastic. Jimmy got to go up to play Colin’s insanely difficult trivia game and Panda Musk’s newest animated work was debuted. After our final Beyond! of the show, Life in 24 Frames brought the show to a close though the party had just begun.

Sometime during the show Aaron managed to get into the building. Once we reunited, Aaron and I met up with the other locksmiths and found Mitch Dyer. He took a picture with our group then took us on a little tour of the office. To make the tour even better, I flipped fan girl shit when I met Brian Altano and Anthony Gallegos. Aside from their work at IGN, Brian and Anthony are both on the podcast The Comedy Button. (If you haven’t listened to it, do it right now.) I also got to meet Christine Cain on her last day at IGN. If you haven’t seen her MyIGN blog, she’s reworked a lot of male XL tees into awesome dresses and form-fitting shirts. 

One of the most memorable things I did was have a short conversation Greg and Jimmy. Because of Podcast Beyond and Greg, this website exists. If Jimmy hadn’t asked for a birthday shout out on the podcast and if Greg wouldn’t have called Jimmy and tweeted about it, Jimmy and I probably wouldn’t have met. I especially wanted to thank Greg for that. Being able to stand with the both of them made everything I had worked on with Jimmy feel so real.

The crowd in the IGN office dwindled as we all made our way to a bar for the after party. I finally got to meet Ty Root, who appeared as a guest on our Podcast. Andrew Goldfarb accidently spilled Aaron’s nearly empty cup of coke, bought him a new one and made him a Twitter. (@spilledcoke – appropriate.) I bonded with Scott Lowe, Anthony and Mitch. This is where I began to feel like the people I had met were not just casual acquaintances, but friends.

Aaron and I ended the night at a little Korean restaurant that was right across from our hostel. While I ate my kimchi pancake, I kept asking Aaron if I were awake, if this day had really happened. When I curled up in my bed that night, I looked at all the Polaroid pictures I had taken that day carefully. Each of them served as evidence that Beyond 300 had actually happened. I knew nothing would ever top that day, but Saturday came pretty close.