An open letter

Dear ________,
I know you weren't able to get registered for a spot in some or all of the classes you wanted at Sock Summit. Maybe you didn't get tickets for anything, including the three special events. I know you're disappointed. I know you were frustrated when the server crashed and frustrated when you finally did get through and saw that almost everything was sold out.

I feel your pain. I was frustrated, too. I didn't get everything I wanted, either.

Perhaps you're one of the people who bought non-refundable plane tickets to come to Portland for the event before registration even opened. Heck some people bought them before the classes were even announced. Was that you? While I applaud your willingness to plan ahead in the interest of trying to get low-cost airfare, I hope you did it with the understanding that you were essentially gambling. You threw the dice, believing that you would get your point. Some folks got lucky and won. Others, perhaps you, crapped out when they couldn't get registered for what they wanted.

So what now? Did you plan to take those four or more days as vacation? Did you already have it arranged with your employer, your childcare provider, your spouse? Then come anyway! Heck, Portland is a great place to visit and August is a great month to be here. There is so much to do and see in the surrounding area that even if you don't want to spend four days hanging around the convention center, you can certainly find entertainment. Drive through the Columbia River Gorge. Go hiking. Head to the coast and explore the beaches and tidepools. Go up to Mt. Hood and ride a ski lift for the view or walk on a glacier. Take a wine tour through the Willamette Valley. Go to The Bite at Waterfront Park and sample Northwest cuisine and music. My goodness, the list goes on and on of things to do here.

Of course, if you want to hang out at the convention center with me and a couple thousand other like-minded fiber-fiends, that's okay, too!

The exactly WRONG thing to do is gripe. Posting vitriolic things on Ravelry about the Sock Summit, its organizers, or anything else won't help. All it does is make you look bad -- really bad. Remember the kid on the playground who would throw a tantrum if s/he didn't get the ball? That's you.

The Sock Summit is big. It's BIGGER than big. It's bigger than ANYONE, including Tina and Stephanie, ever imagined. We're talking 30,000-hits-to-the-server-in-the-first-minute-it-went-online big. We're talking Portlandia knitting a cozy for the Art Museum big.

And my dear? If it's you who sent one of the many hate mails to Stephanie or Tina, then shame, shame, SHAME on you! Find a mirror. Take a good, long look at yourself. Do you really want to be that kind of person? Do you REALLY want to have your blood pressure rise, make frown lines grow on your face, and hurt other people over a knitting conference? REALLY? Is this really the most important thing you have going on in all of your life? You've just banked a ton of bad karma points. Hope you're okay with that.

In closing, I'd just like to say that the thousands of knitters who will descent on Portland for August 6 thru 9 won't miss you one whit. We'll be too busy grinning from ear to ear, feasting on fiber, learning in classes and out, and committing random acts of knitting all over the city.

If you'd like to join us, great. But leave your bad attitude at home. Bring with you an air of positivity, a feeling of wonder, and some flexibility. Don't worry, the airlines won't charge you extra for any of that.

All the best,
Cindy

P.S. Stephanie and Tina, if you should happen to read this (I'd be highly flattered, btw), please know that there are more of us who are in awe and wonder of you managing to pull this thing off at all than there are those who would spew venom because it didn't go the way they wanted it to. This is going to be the. best. thing. ever! I cannot begin to tell you how much I'm looking forward to August! Thank you, thank you, thank you!