The first ever IRL RPadTV Invitational was this past weekend. It featured copious amounts of Johnny Walker Blue, a thrilling victory by Manchester City, medianachos medianoches, a silly amount of Pokemon Go, and so much more. It was one of the best weekends I’ve had in years and even better than I was expecting, all thanks to you RPadholics.
You’d think that seeing Man City live for the first time, watching my second-favorite player Bernardo Silva (the second-best Silva on the team!) score two goals, and experiencing a come-from-behind victory over the evil Bayern Munich would’ve been the highlights of the trip, but they weren’t. The game was phenomenal, don’t get me wrong, but my favorite part of the trip was spending time with RPadholics Iceman, Tokz, and BSUkenyan. As far as I know, this was the first time that more than two of us have met up…and it was frickin’ awesome!
We all started connecting about 10 years ago in the comments section of G4tv’s The Feed. Amazingly, we’ve keep in touch since then and usually pester each other through chat on a daily basis. From the old Google Hangouts to today’s Slack, we’ve been a part of each other’s lives for a long time. Even though RPadholic Smartguy likes to say we’re “Internet friends”, I interact with “you people” a lot more than folks that I’m allegedly closer with. It’s a remarkable thing.
What’s even more remarkable was how naturally our Slack interactions translated into the real world. Even though this was the first time we’ve met in person, everything felt comfortable. We made the same jokes (albeit turned down to a six or seven). We enjoyed the same dynamics. And we did the same nerdy things. Yes, we drank a bunch, enjoyed some fantastic food, caught a fun movie, and got in some beach time, but we also spent hours catching heracross and making trades in Pokemon Go.
I’ll treasure the three Pokemon above, not just because they’re lucky, but because they represent our friendship and the magnificent time we had in Miami. It really was extraordinary.
Special thanks has to go to RPadholic Iceman. His hospitality and generosity were spectacular. He set up a brilliant weekend that none of us will ever forget.
You know, of course, that we’ll have to do it again. Hopefully RPadholics Smartguy and N8R can join in the fun too. So where next? New Orleans, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or Miami again?!?