Mike,
I was in your spot about a year ago, and this place helped tremendously. If I could offer any suggestion, it would be to keep it simple and not over-think things too much. It will take you a cook or two to get settled, then you'll realize it's not THAT much different than cooking on your gas grill. You'll just have to get to know your grill. If you can cook on a grill, you can cook on a grill. Once you get comfortable doing everyday stuff, you'll want to start playing with all kinds of techniques, and the photo forum is a great place for inspiration.
In the year I've had my OTG, I've grilled countless times, I've smoked a few things, tried a lot of new techniques, and feel like I'm still just scratching the surface. I'm even thinking i may need to add a second kettle to the family.
I typically will spread my lit coals over about 2/3 of the grill, just to keep a safe cooler spot if things get hectic. Very rarely do I spread them over the entire grate. I also got the charcoal baskets, but I've found they don't offer a large enough hot zone when I use them, so I really only utilize them for strictly indirect cooks (chicken, large meat, etc.). I've also found the prep time for gas vs charcoal isn't much different, except I can't grill much under my covered patio due to the smoke when lighting the charcoal.
One other little bit of advice is to not use paper when lighting your chimney. Maybe it's just me, but the burned paper tends to flake up and fly all over the place, getting in my food and grill surface since I have to light it on the grill itself (charcoal grate). I use the weber wax squares to light, or some folks use a free side burner they may have on their gassers. Just my two cents, for what it's worth.
Have fun!
