Anecdotes. Hmm. She's done this a couple of times, but it got the audience all excited when she came out with a bunch of Hershey Kisses and "shared" it with us. Of course, she shared it by throwing handfuls at the crowd. And she has a good arm too -- pegged a couple of people good. :-) No harm done and everyone enjoyed the moment.

I also remember that Ms Leick remembers people and calls out to them when she sees them, especially when she's up on stage addressing the audience. For a few seconds you get to listen in to one side of a conversation (she's got a mike and they don't) before she looks up at the crowd and says "Oh! I should be talking to you people!" That gets a wild cheer.

The best experiences were the charity breakfasts that Anita Ellis ran at a few conventions. The one I went to (at the Palo Alto Xena Convention) had like ten tables with eight or so people per table. We had thirty minutes or so to eat while Anita talked to us and made us do silly things like get up and sing for the others in the room. And then Ms Leick came in, along with Ebonie Smith and her mom and Willa O'Neill, and it's a good thing we ate first because everybody just watches them eat breakfast, or talks about how excited they are -- you're just too busy anticipating to be hungry.

A woman came up and talked about how the James W. Ellis Scholarship Foundation helped her when her father was sick with cancer. It was a moving moment and showed that the money collected goes to a good cause (and there are lots of good causes out there).

After the guests eat, they go from table to table spending a few minutes at each table talking to people. The problem with having Ms Leick in the room is that even when you're chatting with, say Willa O'Neill, something happens that distracts you. In this case it was Ms Leick standing on one of the tables posing -- makes you wonder what *they* were talking about. And then Ms Leick sat on the table (well, more like squatted as she had a short dress on) and continued chatting while people tried not to look in the, err, wrong places. :-) And of course whereever she is, that table is sorrounded by people taking photographs.

Still, Willa O'Neill, Ebonie Smith, and Ebonie's mother were all interesting. But there is just a higher level of excitement with Ms Leick. She has the kind of charisma that makes people want to believe. I've only met a couple of other people who have the personality to say day is night and have people totally agree. And unfortunately I don't even remember what Ms Leick said when she came to our table because it gets all hazy about then...

Autograph lines are long and if you're stuck in the back it can take a good couple of hours to get up there. Ms Leick is one of those people who will stay as long as she needs to and she doesn't hurry. She'll smile and say a few words to you as you mumble something incomprehensible because your mouth shifts into some heretofore unknown gear. And of course she'll take photographs with you, doing something different each time to make each photograph unique for each person. And if there's music she'll even dance during the breaks. :-)