Confusion vs Arisia

[dagibbs]

I had a really awesome time at Confusion this year. This is in marked contrast to Arisia, which was ok.

I don't know very many people at Arisia, and I found it difficult to meet people. It is a big convention -- 2000+ people. I might meet someone at a party on Friday night, chat for 5-10 minutes, and never see them again. Not enough contact, and recontact to build up a connection.

At Confusion, I already know a lot of people. But, also, I am able to meet people. That is, I can see someone on Friday evening, then maybe again later in the evening, then another two or three times through the weekend, and through the repeated contacts start to build familiarity, acquaintanceship, and maybe friendship.

At Arisia, I often found myself wandering around wondering what to do with myself. Often, I'd go to gaming and play some games because there was nothing better to do. At Confusion, I did go and game on Saturday afternoon, not because there was nothing else, but because I wanted to go and play a game of something.

Comments

[beable]

Interesting. I enjoy Arisia but I get the same feeling of not finding it easy to meet people, and I've always figured it was just me.

Although on reflection, I do think it is at least half still is me - I do much better being introduced to people by shared friends/acquaintances than I do left to my own devices.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I think most people do better if introduced, too. And again that is a place where knowing a bunch of people at Confusion helps vs Arisia.

[foms.livejournal.com]

I have the same trouble at conventions that are new to me, especially in regions where I don't already know people. I have the advantage of knowing a lot of people in fandom. The Worldcon circuit gives contact with a broad variety of fans. Also, I'm very likely to know people who are travel to different regions for cons.

I've been to Confusion twice, several years apart. It's not a local group who are very familiar to me but I know a couple of people through travelling sf fandom and through you. Add to that that I try to volunteer at least a bit for every convention that I attend and I got a fair bit of repeated contact with people. Still, I felt at loose ends a few times during the conventions, even the one where I was busy with bid stuff.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I think when I was younger, and hit more conventions, this was easier. Or, maybe, fandom wasn't quite as set into its cliques back then. It may, also, be that hitting so many conventions I actually did get more of the people overlap between cons that you're talking about. Hm... and I did make it a policy to volunteer at any new convention I hit. I probably should have volunteered at Arisia. I just had a bad taste from last time -- I registered to run a couple games and was told I'd get a membership refund, but that never happened.