“Ready, get set… talk!” And so began the most interesting entry I’ve ever seen in the schedule grid: “Buffy/Angel Speed Dating.”

More than 50 voices fill the room with the cacophony of more than 25 separate conversations. Each person talks to the person across from them. It’s a way to overcome the inevitable impersonalization that has occurred as Dragon*Con became larger and larger. Nothing suggests more that using the speed dating concept has worked to break the ice than the fact that when the director yells that the two minutes are up and it’s time to move, no one does. They are so engrossed in their conversations that it takes several tries to get them to move to the next chair and begin talking to someone new.

The smiles, the bright eyes, and the laughter make me wish that I had had time to jump in, rather than having to rush off to file this story, but the work of your humble reporter is never done, and there is always next year.