I definitely have a little (actually a LOT) more to say on how awesome NEST was but since you guys are on the subject, Lily is indeed a great distraction player. She distracted me so much with the pre-question tickling that I didn't know what the question was. As it turned out I would have had no idea anyway. But I lost out on 30 seconds of being tickled, so still a bummer.
I have the same regret as Wolff80, that I had to leave tonight in order to go to work tomorrow. If it had been at all possible for me to stay, I would still be there.
I have been a member on this forum now for about 8 years but had never attended a gathering in that time until this weekend. Certainly it seems a big step to drive or fly to Philly and meet a huge number of strangers for a weekend of tickling. But without exception, the people I met this weekend were the some of the best people I have ever met and made me so comfortable that it was so easy to relax, be myself, and enjoy this wonderful shared interest we all have.
Avenger314 said it recently in a podcast and it is absolutely true that what you remember most about NEST is the fun moments, not necessarily tickling related, that you share. I'm compelled to list a few. I'll refrain from using names for the present time although I'm sure none of you would care if I did mention them. On Friday, I was playing poker with five other people in a hotel room. One of them, however, was being tortured by a female ler on an immobilizer device during the game, but he kept trying to play the hands. He never won a hand and went bust. Later, that night, the host of that party made a hysterical comment about a vibrator and then continued to stick his foot in his mouth deeper and deeper in talking about that vibrator, to which I replied that he was like Tobias from Arrested Development ("I just blew myself;" That btw is an awesome show for those of you who don't get the reference.) Also particularly memorable was drinking in the hotel hallway on Saturday, singing Avenue Q with one friend and learning later that he was upset his girlfriend told him I sing better than him. And one more for the road, at the main event itself, I was tickling a female lee unrestrained with another male ler's assistance, and the lee was moving around so much we began tickling her while making a circle, and then in turn, the two of us started doing a conga dance while continuing to tickle her.
I am so happy I got to make amazing friends this weekend like Avenger314, Chaneda, TickleEmperor, gabemonster, ASUtickler, and so so many others. Sorry to those I didn't list, but as you all know I left NEST at about a quarter past 11pm, its now about 1:30am and I'm damn exhausted but just had to post before I go to bed. For those of you like me that love tickling but haven't really met many other people with this interest, NEST is such a great first introduction, because you have so much opportunity to socialize and make friends with a great group of like minded people, while also getting a weekend full of opportunity to tickle.
Thank you to LeeAllure for all the work you put into coordinating this event. Thank you to all the DM's who were very helpful and patient with us newbies both before and during the event. I look forward to seeing you all around the forum soon. Can't wait for next year.