It’s impossible to share all the awesome memories I have from RingCon last weekend. Maybe some of the pictures I took will do the job as well…

I didn’t get a lot of photos from the actors, mainly because my zoom is really really crap, so even sitting first row (well, actually right beneath the stage, craning my neck to look upwards) didn’t really help. Click the thumbs to get to the bigger pictures (which are also resized and cropped – let me know if you need the original for some reason).

I took some at Billy Boyd’s first panel on Friday evening, where he’d come rushing in straight from the airport. To top things off they’d lost his luggage – but luckily he got it back. He was very charming and almost knocked me off my feet (luckily I was already sitting *g*), although he seemed a bit tense at times. Not surprising, he must have been terribly stressed! But it just showed the strange dynamics of con life – often it’s the ‘small names’ that become instant favorites, because of their enthusiasm. They feel closer for some reason… But still, it was simply amazing to experience Billy from up close – I never thought I’d get the chance!

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You do notice the nice upper arms he’s got, right? I know I sure did! 😉

I got another chance to take photos of Billy during the autograph session:

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The latter I took after he signed my autograph. “But I look terr…” *click* 🙂 And then there was IT – my favorite photo of all times, for which I gladly paid:

Don’t we look good together? *g* The best thing was that, after the photo was taken, I told him that I’d heard he was the world’s best hugger. To which he replied something like: “Yeah, I’ve heard that, too…” So I asked if I could get a hug – and he smiled hugely, opened his arms and said “Sure, come here!”. Needless to say, I floated out of the room… lol

Actually, I also managed to get my picture taken with the other hobbit actor present – the adorable and charming Thomas Robbins (Deagol), who stole our hearts and who I hope very much will be attending again next year:

And then there were Craig Parker and Mark Ferguson, the dynamic duo no con guest would want to miss – and a photo of the closing ceremony, with all guests in attendance, except for Bernard Hill (who I didn’t manage to get a good shot off):

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Some of the con guests wore awesome costumes – unfortunately we were so busy working that we missed the opportunity to take photos quite often. But I did take some…

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The last couple was from Switzerland and we’d been trying to get a shot of his gorgeous armour all through the con – he had problems getting his sword into the con area.

But actually another thing that made this weekend special for me was the time spent with my fellow staff members – you grow amazingly close in the short time, and it was awesome to be able to just sit and chat with some of them. I actually spent quite some time during the autograph session sitting in the hall (something a regular con guest couldn’t have done), not mainly watching Billy, Bernard and the others in action, but just relaxing with some of the staff. But that’s not to say that I didn’t squee internally when Billy passed me on his way from the bathroom and gave me the most adorable grin, brandishing a stolen cookie when I asked him if he was hungry… *g*

Anyway, here are some pics of myself, Marrie, Melanie (who got us the jobs in the first place), as well as Nurina and Barbara, who worked the same shifts as us:

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I’ve already applied for next year’s con in Fulda – sadly, Märrie won’t be with me then, because she’ll be in the middle of her final law exams. But we’ve also applied for FedCon next May, where Leonard Nimoy will attend. Crossing my fingers that it works out, because this has been a great experience, which I very much would like to repeat!