not sure never heard of a mini convention
so just played a game and i hate my area
link says bad gateway when i try to load it lol
it's WoTC's store locator
Scrantonis 2.5 hours away from Lancaster. They hold two large gaming conventions there every year, you can find xwing at both of them being played.
really whats the name of that convention
We just had Fall In! November 6-9 and Cold wars is coming up in March 2015.
http://www.hmgs.org/eastcons.htm
The events are primarily historical related however you can find just about anything there, except for maybe Magic and similar card games. We ran a few different x-wing games in open gaming plus they had more xwing games scheduled, to include a Death Star trench run. No tournaments though if that is all you are interested in.
If you are not into historical gaming, you might be after you visit 
Its a shame you are on the Eastern end of the state man, I am in Western PA and I would love to help you learn the game correctly. That being said there are ways to help build a community in your local area...
Why not start by talking to the local game stores in your area. Find out what nights they play games, 40K or what not, play X-Wing for that matter. If you find a store in your area that sells the game, talk to the owner. Have him post a sign in his store letting people know you are looking for more X-Wing players. Showing up to the store each week is also a good idea, with your stuff. It will be slow and hard at first, and it is always good to have a buddy go with you so you are not playing by yourself.
But slowly but surely if people are buying the game in your area, then chances are it will take just a little bit of work to find them and expand your player base.
I hope that helps... and as a side note, it sounds like the guy didn't know how R2-D2 worked but in the future I would recommend he announce that he is using R2-D2 and see what he is doing. I always pull my shield tokens off to the side so they do not get mixed up with active shields, so recommend he place them in a 'discard' pile somewhere.
All of these are common in X-Wing to avoid confusion.
thanks everyone it really sucks we all dont live in the same community how sick would that be