I am going to be there and don't really know many people...

[chelona.livejournal.com]

I am headed to Arisia this year, and am going without my husband. This will be pretty strange, as I haven't been to a con without him in many years. He is staying home to watch our kiddo.

Anyway, since I don't have anyone I know really well there, I will be looking to meet people / find people to hang out with while I am there. Is there an LJ meetup happening at some point? Anyone in a similar boat? Anyone want to show this "newbie" around? :)

Comments

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

What kind of stuff that occurs at cons are you interested in? That might be a starting point for you. Also, volunteering for the con can be an excellent way to meet people. That's what I used to do when I didn't know a lot of people.

[chelona.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that is a good idea. I will think about doing that. :) I have known other people to use that as a way of meeting people as well.

[cos]

I'm going to be at Arisia, and your username looks very familiar.

Ahh, looked at overlap in our friends list, and you seem to know a few DC area people I know. I think I've seen your name because you comment in fireandearth's LJ.

I'm curious to meet you.

[chelona.livejournal.com]

Yep, you know me from fireandearth's LJ. :) We kinda knew each other early last year. She and her posse came to our Games Nights for a little while.

I am curious to meet you too. :)

[unquietsoul5.livejournal.com]

There will be panels at Arisia on Journaling/Blogging, and you can probably find a number of the LJ folks in attendence at those or on the panel (I know I'm speaking on at least one of these myself).

[chelona.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I will be putting my LJ ID on my badge as well, and attending those panels.

[fireheart.livejournal.com]

I will be there. Unless something goes wrong, my Store Phoenix Games will have a room on Dealer's Row. Feel free to come by and say hi. We are friendly folks.

[chelona.livejournal.com]

I will, thanks. :)

[auntiemisha.livejournal.com]

I have met your husband and your kiddo (although she was much much smaller then), last at a Lunacon I believe. It would be great to meet you as well!

Arisia is a great con with all sorts of panels / events / games. What are you interested in?

There usually is a public "message board" for people to write and try to meet up.

Ditto on the volunteering is a good idea. I'd recommend against volunteering throughout the entire con, though. :-)

[chelona.livejournal.com]

Cool! Hubby (voltbang, but I guess you already knew that) says he met you a long time ago at a little con in NYC, and then again ran into you while we were leaving LunaCon. I am sorry I didn't get a chance to say hi then. He wanted ot be able to make this Arisia, but he decided that since we didn't have babysitting, he would rather stay home than have Maddie with us this time. As a three year old, she is much less "easily portable" than she was when you last saw her. :)

[cogitationitis.livejournal.com]

Arisia offers babysitting for 3-year-olds.

I plan to put my LJ name on my badge, too. Perhaps next year I'll get them to make a LJ ribbon.

[chelona.livejournal.com]

An LJ ribbon would be cool. :) Great idea!

[dda.livejournal.com]

I suspect there will be significant resistance to an LJ ribbon; they went through a short phase of "mega-ribbons" and don't want to do that anymore. Getting the LJ name on the badge is far more likely and something I fully expect to see happen soon.

[dda.livejournal.com]

As others have pointed out, there are journaling (and LJ-specific) panels; I expect a number of people will have their LJ name on their badge at those panels. :-) And yes, volunteering gets you in contact with lots of people, depending on what you do; I've found that out! I started volunteering at the Masquerade; this might appeal to you if you like costuming as these folks are good.

I'll be there, as I said, and would love to meet you. We can set up some time to meet if you want; I expect to be somewhat busy so it might be necessary too.

And don't forget the parties, of course. There are lots of parties, especially on Saturday night, and they do act as "mixers"; not everyone goes to cons with a crowd of friends.

Another thing to remember is the con Suite. It's always open and can be a good place to just hang out and you never know who will walk in next.

Let me know if you want to get together. I assume your room situation has been taken care of, right?

[chelona.livejournal.com]

Yes, I would like to arrange meeting sometime. So far my schedule is open. :) And no, I haven't officially arranged for a room. I am going to be reserving one for myself, since I have noone interested in sharing.

[dda.livejournal.com]

I think I've got my room situation set now (they are doing Staff room stuff now); I have a Queen room since I was only planning on myself when I registered. If you're interested in crash space, I might be able to help, although I will need to know ASAP to get a cot. You can send me mail at the accounts on my LJ user info page if you're interested.

Given that you don't know me as anything other than some bits on a web page, I won't be offended if you decline. On the other hand, given the amount of staff work I'll be doing, I'm also not sure how much I will even get to use the room!

Anyway, let me know and definitely check in with the message boards so we can set up a time to meet!

[chelona.livejournal.com]

I don't have my own room yet, so I might be interested in crash space. Problem is, with some medical problems I have, I am not too comfortable in a cot. So I will probably just be getting my own room. I appreciate the offer though! I will certainly be checking/posting the message boards when I get there.

[dda.livejournal.com]

Problem is, with some medical problems I have, I am not too comfortable in a cot.

Ah, understood. While I try to be a gentleman, I can't really offer to give you the bed and take the cot. :-( They might have some rooms with two single beds available but I'm not sure. I think the "Doubles" are the most in-demand rooms; they were moving staff onto another floor due to running out of doubles on the regular staff floor.

If you are going to get your own room, I would urge you do so immediately; I know they were doing room blocking. I reserved my room late last year and, oddly enough, ended up in the staff block because that was all that was left.

[chelona.livejournal.com]

I will be making my reservation tonight when I get home. I checked the availability on Friday, and there still seemed to be rooms availble. I just kinda forgot to make the reservation this weekend, which is when I was going to do it.

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

One way to meet people at a con is to volunteer.  If you're interested, you can send email to gophers@arisia.org (mailto:gophers@arisia.org) or drop by the Gopher Hole on the Mezz.

And don't forget to check the message board for LJ dinner gatherings.

[chelona.livejournal.com]

I am sure I will be volunteering some. An old friend of mine does so every year, so I will certainly be doing some of that this year in an attempt to meet people. Thanks for the idea of checking the message boards for an LJ dinner.

[doobie42.livejournal.com]

I'll be at the Con in and I should be easy to recognize... I'll be wearing a Great Kilt. Think security would let me carry a claymore (j/k I know they wouldn't since they are illegal in the arse backward state of MA).

Anyone have crash space available I'd rather not commute home every night....

[chelona.livejournal.com]

I might have crash space. :) I will look for you when I get there.

[tk7602.livejournal.com]

i'll be easy to find. well. relatively.

i'll be there with the 501st legion of stormtroopers (http://www.501st.com)

so the group of us will be easy to find. just look for the stormtroopers. as for me in particular... well... we do all look alike ;)