We "attended" the last big district/regional convention in our area prior to covid. It was held at a large rented convention center in the nearby major city. I got a hotel room directly across the street as I was really concerned about my elderly mother who would also be attending though she was riding with friends from her congregation.
We skipped the morning session and went over for the intermission. By then I was refusing to ever wear a tie again and had a beard (I'd be right in style now), so the attendants at the main entrance saw me as suspicious until a young guy (now an elder) from our former congregation saw us and greeted us with a very warm hello. Very genuine young guy who grew up with our kids. His dad was a real shaker and mover so his greeting meant we were OK and didn't have to be followed all day.
We enjoyed meeting old friends as we walked around prior to the start up of the afternoon session, but when the music started we headed back to the hotel and stopped and had lunch at a nice cafe.
Yeah. We could endure that again.
