YearlyKos has already been praised, criticized and dissected by numerous excellent diaries, so this one won't retread the same ground. What follows instead is a more personal story of the YK experience.
I don't often post comments here, let alone full diaries--I'm primarily a lurker. My wife Gina, however, is a different story.
Gina is a voracious reader and since her discovery of DailyKos about two years ago there have been very few--VERY few--days that she hasn't spent at least an hour or two combing through the site. She doesn't post diaries much, but she does comment and isn't afraid to put the shrill or insulting Kossack in his or her place (politely, of course).
As gregarious as my love is online, she is a true introvert when it comes to the offline world. Though we made our plans to attend YearlyKos months in advance, there were a number of times when she expressed great apprehension about going. Would she feel out of place among the high profile contributors? Could she deal with the crowds? Would Vegas itself overwhelm her?
Neither of us really knew what to expect. The conference agenda was packed with big-time names (I mean, my god, has there been a more qualified panel on the Plame affair anywhere?) and the schedule would be grueling if we did everything we wanted to do. I'm used to the work hard/play hard atmosphere of industry trade shows, but this was different. More personal, more intense--and more fun.
Still, I expected there to be at least one or two occasions when Gina would turn to me with a look that said, "get me out of here" if only for a brief time-out away from the noise and the smoke. I figured she would head back to the room for a while, disengage, maybe take a nap, and come back later. Only that didn't happen. Ever.
On the contrary, my chronically shy wife was drawn out by a steady stream of enthusiastic hugs and hellos from this or that person who, until then, she had known only as an abstract intelligence behind a screen name. At Wes Clark's party we had just met OrangeClouds115 when she said she had someone who wanted to meet Gina. Moments later Cedwyn rushed up and pretty much engulfed her, shouting Gina's screen name: "highacidity!"
That moment played out again and again over the four days as we ran into more of Gina's online acquaintances. By the time Sunday rolled around, her voice had taken on a rasp because she'd been talking so much. My wife, the introvert, hoarse from talking. Go figure.
YearlyKos was informative, inspiring and a busload of fun. I got a lot out of it, but the greatest thing I saw in Las Vegas was my wife, among friends, opening up like a rare and beautiful flower.
Thanks to (the other) Gina and all the volunteers for delivering a great event, and thanks to my Gina for stepping up to receive the love and recognition she so rightly deserves. You all can now refer to me as Mr. Acidity or the Lurker Formerly (un)Known as Ukiyo.