Ali ------> E3
Donation protected
HEY HEY HEY
You may know me as that one Etsy-obsessed Game Informer intern (alum), as the girl who played all of Ocarina of Time in one sitting without cheats for charity, or that weird person on Twitter who very clearly has a Garrus Vakarian fetish. Like, for reals. Not just a pretend fetish.
I also play games, write about games, and research games and then present that research at totally swanky (see: actually pretty casual) academic research conferences where smart people gather and talk smart to each other. In my spare time, I volunteer as an Xbox Community Ambassador, which means I answer people's Xbox-related questions for free. FOR FREE. It's great, though.
Anyway, I just found out that I've been given an INCREDIBLE opportunity to help cover E3 for Extra Life, the gaming charity organization that donates all money raised during thousands of participant gamers' gaming marathons to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. It's an amazing organization doing great work not only for kids, but also for the gaming community as a whole.
Here's the rub, though. I'm still making grad student money for the next month or so, and after that, I won't be getting paid "real" money for another few weeks, putting any weighty income coming way too late for me to order a plane ticket or save up for E3. Grad student money puts me and my awesome husband who does video work just above the poverty line. We do all right as long as there aren't any surprise things we have to buy "“ we have a cool apartment, a couple old "“ but functional "“ cars, a great kitty, and we pay a TON toward our student loans each month (not because we want to, of course). So, we make do, but there's just not enough coming in for us to budget for a plane ticket and other things I'll need for E3.
I'm from Minnesota, and nobody from Minnesota likes asking people for things (Have you ever heard of "Minnesota nice?" It's real. Very real.), but I'm sure I don't need to stress to you how amazing of an opportunity this is. I helped cover E3 for Game Informer last year, but since I was an intern, I did it remotely from GI's office in Minneapolis. It was an amazing experience (in total, the GI team published over 200 articles that week), and I'm excited to take another step and cover E3 on-site for a great organization doing good in the world.
SO:
Plane tickets from Minneapolis to LA cost between $400 and $800, depending on what time the plane departs (butt crack of dawn, or super freakin' late? - take your pick). Thus, I'm budgeting $600 for a ticket, including all fees and whatever else airplanes charge people for these days (bathrooms? chairs?). I think this is doable. Also, can we talk about how expensive it is to fly from Minneapolis to anywhere cool?
I'm very lucky to have paid vacation time through the job I'll be starting in late May, so I won't need to make up lost wages. I'm also EXTREMELY lucky to have lodgings while I'm there (HUGE shootout to my former fellow Game Informer intern, Jack Gardner "“ who does amazing freelance work "“ for hooking me up with wherever he's staying). However, I will need to eat while I'm there (derp), and I'll need to take a taxi to and from the airport. I'll also need little things to keep me alive, such as emergency sugary things (I have blood sugar issues). I'll be in LA between 3-5 days. For these things, I figure a budget of $300 will suffice.
Total, that comes to $900. I feel dirty and gross and sleazy for asking, but I've also seen the internet do AMAZING things for people, so I figured I'd give my dumb request a shot. All amounts are awesome (I have been the person who gives $5 more times than you know). No matter what, know that I love you all so much. If there's any money left over after everything's said and done (I'm great at budgeting "“ JUST YOU WAIT), I'll apply it toward things like finally getting myself a membership in the IGDA (International Game Developers Association).
If I reach the $900 goal, I will memorize the original Poke Rap and post a video of me performing it on YouTube. I'M COOL, RIGHT
<3
You may know me as that one Etsy-obsessed Game Informer intern (alum), as the girl who played all of Ocarina of Time in one sitting without cheats for charity, or that weird person on Twitter who very clearly has a Garrus Vakarian fetish. Like, for reals. Not just a pretend fetish.
I also play games, write about games, and research games and then present that research at totally swanky (see: actually pretty casual) academic research conferences where smart people gather and talk smart to each other. In my spare time, I volunteer as an Xbox Community Ambassador, which means I answer people's Xbox-related questions for free. FOR FREE. It's great, though.
Anyway, I just found out that I've been given an INCREDIBLE opportunity to help cover E3 for Extra Life, the gaming charity organization that donates all money raised during thousands of participant gamers' gaming marathons to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. It's an amazing organization doing great work not only for kids, but also for the gaming community as a whole.
Here's the rub, though. I'm still making grad student money for the next month or so, and after that, I won't be getting paid "real" money for another few weeks, putting any weighty income coming way too late for me to order a plane ticket or save up for E3. Grad student money puts me and my awesome husband who does video work just above the poverty line. We do all right as long as there aren't any surprise things we have to buy "“ we have a cool apartment, a couple old "“ but functional "“ cars, a great kitty, and we pay a TON toward our student loans each month (not because we want to, of course). So, we make do, but there's just not enough coming in for us to budget for a plane ticket and other things I'll need for E3.
I'm from Minnesota, and nobody from Minnesota likes asking people for things (Have you ever heard of "Minnesota nice?" It's real. Very real.), but I'm sure I don't need to stress to you how amazing of an opportunity this is. I helped cover E3 for Game Informer last year, but since I was an intern, I did it remotely from GI's office in Minneapolis. It was an amazing experience (in total, the GI team published over 200 articles that week), and I'm excited to take another step and cover E3 on-site for a great organization doing good in the world.
SO:
Plane tickets from Minneapolis to LA cost between $400 and $800, depending on what time the plane departs (butt crack of dawn, or super freakin' late? - take your pick). Thus, I'm budgeting $600 for a ticket, including all fees and whatever else airplanes charge people for these days (bathrooms? chairs?). I think this is doable. Also, can we talk about how expensive it is to fly from Minneapolis to anywhere cool?
I'm very lucky to have paid vacation time through the job I'll be starting in late May, so I won't need to make up lost wages. I'm also EXTREMELY lucky to have lodgings while I'm there (HUGE shootout to my former fellow Game Informer intern, Jack Gardner "“ who does amazing freelance work "“ for hooking me up with wherever he's staying). However, I will need to eat while I'm there (derp), and I'll need to take a taxi to and from the airport. I'll also need little things to keep me alive, such as emergency sugary things (I have blood sugar issues). I'll be in LA between 3-5 days. For these things, I figure a budget of $300 will suffice.
Total, that comes to $900. I feel dirty and gross and sleazy for asking, but I've also seen the internet do AMAZING things for people, so I figured I'd give my dumb request a shot. All amounts are awesome (I have been the person who gives $5 more times than you know). No matter what, know that I love you all so much. If there's any money left over after everything's said and done (I'm great at budgeting "“ JUST YOU WAIT), I'll apply it toward things like finally getting myself a membership in the IGDA (International Game Developers Association).
If I reach the $900 goal, I will memorize the original Poke Rap and post a video of me performing it on YouTube. I'M COOL, RIGHT
<3
Organizer
Alison Rapp
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN