I met Alton Brown at one of his book signings years ago. Really nice guy. Gave a great address to a rather huge crowd and, from what I heard, stayed WAY into the early morning hours to ensure that everyone who got a ticket for an autograph got his autograph.
Mtnbkr's wife got us tickets in the 40s... I saw another of my friends there that evening who had a ticket near 500.
He laughed when I told him I had just put the finishing touches on 20 pounds of home cured and smoked bacon that I made using his instructions.