Over the weekend I attended the North Coast Gathering for vloggers in Sandusky Ohio where I met the popular vloggers Zen Archer and Tara916. Fortunately I did not get lost during the 6 hour drive and I did not get pulled over for any traffic violations. I found it surprisingly easy to reach Cleveland OH because you only need to follow Interstate 80 West the entire way.
Unfortunately there were no other vloggers there except for an undergraduate student who was there to conduct interviews for his college paper. He interviewed Zen and Tara and then left. Since Zen and Tara organized the event and were already close friends, that really just left me as the only person from YouTube or Stickam to show up. This actually worked to my advantage because it made me the center of attention. Being a very quiet person, I pretty much need to be the only person there to be the center of attention.
The gathering took place at Camp Sandusky which is a campground with a lot of Amish cabins. Unfortunately it was cold that night and my blanket was too small to cover me so I was very uncomfortable. On Sunday the campground was completely deserted and all of the planned events were canceled because Tara was not feeling well. We were supposed to go to Cedar Point, a big amusement park and see a show or something. Zen wanted to carry on and fulfill his obligations but I don’t blame Tara for wanting to go home right away because it was just becoming a big waste of time. She was feeling faint and did not want to drive. I could have gone to Cedar Point by myself but I preferred to start home before it became dark. I think this was a good idea because I could have got lost driving in the dark.
The North Coast Gathering was not a huge success like the SouthTube gathering but I was thrilled to meet Zen and Tara because I frequently catch the Zen Live show on Stickam. I appreciate the intelligent conversations they encourage on their show. It is better than the mindless flirting that goes on in every other Stickam chat room. Zen Archer is not a Zen Master but he is wise and compassionate and there certainly aren’t many people who possess those qualities in our culture.
