Yeah I know what you mean Steve, it was good from that point of view, like you say for you to be taking photos of Mark with the trophy etc must have been special. Not to mention sit down with John Higgins, I bet you felt like pinching yourself, as would I. Indeed it's still very surreal for someone like me from a fan point of view to be getting to know a few of the players etc and I'm grateful for everything that people like those at the SWSA have done to make things accessible.
As for a comparison with the Crucible, I enjoyed both in very different ways, though I would say that I felt a lot more comfortable at this event than I did in Sheffield.
Don't get me wrong though, I loved my six days behind the scenes in Sheffield and some of the experiences such as being able to watch from the commentary box, sit in the media seats, be on the floor for the presentation of the trophy etc are things that I never thought that I would be in a position to do and will stay with me for a long time (see
here.) The way I look at it, even if I can never do those things again, I've done them once at least and have a pretty good perspective of how the tournament is run both from a fan viewpoint and a media viewpoint which can't be a bad thing.
Back to this event though, I say this over and over again but the one thing that strikes you about the SWSA is that it's a purpose built snooker Academy, run by snooker people and that is very much reflected in the Pink Ribbon, from top to bottom.