Call for submissions: What makes BlizzCon worth the trip?

You stalked the Blizzard store page like a pro, refreshing constantly starting several minutes before the ticket sales opening, and you actually snagged the grand prize -- you nabbed a ticket to BlizzCon 2010! Now comes the hard part: justifying the time off school or work plus travel, hotel and expenses. What makes a fan event like BlizzCon worth all that time and money? What are you most looking forward to? What are you hoping to see or learn? Are there people you hope to meet there?

We're looking for an article that explains what makes a con like BlizzCon worth its weight in purples. Is this event strictly for Blizzard fanbois? What type of player will get the most out of attending? Have you attended a past BlizzCon -- and what was your experience then? Your article should clearly explain why a trip to BlizzCon is worthwhile. We're not looking for unbridled cheerleading but rather for clear, rational reasons why BlizzCon is worth the time, money and effort for a dedicated World of Warcraft player. We'll only be accepting the very best article.

Submissions should be between 500 and 1,000 words. Artwork is not mandatory, but any you choose to include must be your own work or from creative commons. We will not accept articles submitted under player names or pen names; please use your real name and email.

Ready to submit? Read up about our guest post program, then sign up for Seed and submit your article here. (You can't see the article page unless you have a Seed account.) Unfortunately, we are currently only able to take submissions from individuals living in the United States; we hope to be able to accept international submissions in the future. We'll accept submissions for this assignment until 11:59 p.m. EST on Thurs., June 10. Good luck and good writing!