There is no where to eat that will not cost you an arm and a leg near the convention center. IF you tried to eat the food at the expo center, you most likely walked around with a stomach ache for the next 4 hours. The salads must have been on the shelf for at least a week, the chicken had freakin' bones it in. The packaged sandwiches were disgusting, Burgers were overpriced, precooked and looked like crap. GIVE US BETTER FOOD NEXT YEAR PLEASE. Can i just get a fresh ham sandwich or something? Geesh.
After the 50th time of an enforcer telling me to push in to keep an isle clear i had a freak out moment. There is no where else to stand. I understand the fire concern everyone kept talking about, but in reality, there was nowhere else to go. Spread shit out in the expo hall more, cut back the queue room, leave more room for walking... something.
Those were the two big ones for me. Overall the experience was awesome. We went to Morton steakhouse one night horribly under-dressed and got a seat for 2. Pretty funny.
Ah yes! BE MORE SOCIAL is definitely one of my rules for next year. I am horribly, awfully shy in real life -- even in the workplace I often speak at a whisper when I'm not dealing directly with my team. But everyone I talked to was really friendly. PAX is a GREAT place to just go and talk to people without being judged. Just go up and join a conversation, or ask about what someone's playing, or pull out a game and ask if they want to play -- even if they turn you down, they will practically never just SHUT you down. Don't be a dick and you'll be fine.
Themiscyra on
PAX EAST 2011 Omegathon Finalist - PAX East 2012 Omeganaut After time adrift among open stars
Among tides of light and to shoals of dust
I will return to where I began
What I Did Right
- Brought my own food to PAX. Luckily, I live within driving distance of the BCEC so I brought my own food and drinks. I splurged on a $5 pizza on Friday which was great but otherwise, I steered clear of the cafeteria food
- Finally got a scarf. There weren't many left when I got one but at least I didn't have to wait in a long line to get it
- Saw all the panels I wanted to see. I'm not a expo, tabletop, or freeplay person so I had the time to see the majority of panels on my list. Some I had to skip because they coincided too closely with other panels but they weren't on the top of my list
- Sat in the front row for almost every panel I saw. It didn't happen for me last PAX East since I saw everything with my fiance but this year, I went at it alone and managed to snag ones in the front. I'm a small person (5'1) so being able to see the panelists or the big screens without any obstructions was a big coup
What I Failed At
- Being social. I had a goal of making friends, especially female friends since I literally have none. I seem to get on better with guys and have a bunch of male friends but not girls. I went to the Girls Meetup on Sunday solely to see if could be successful but alas, I was not. I only interacted with the girls sitting around me and I was too socially awkward to walk around and talk to people. It didn't help that I didn't have much in common with the ones I did talk to but that's ok. They were nice and I had a good time anyway
- Not getting in the Nintendo 3DS line. I thought it would be insanely slow like most demo lines are but only today through the forums did I learn that they were quick. Should have just sucked it up and got on the line
What I Learned
- Do not expect tournaments to run smoothly. After hearing about problems that occurred last year, I thought things would be fixed but the Super Smash Brothers Brawl tournament was a disaster. It was very unorganized and we didn't even get through the first round until 11. It got so desperate that an Enforcer rounded up all the people who hadn't left/still wanted to play and randomly paired people up to play single matches. I heard they had a computer problem with the brackets (and therefore had to painstakingly go through each pairing by hand using a bullhorn) but no one told us anything. I just happened to overhear an Enforcer mention it to a fellow tournament attendee
What I Failed At
- Being social. I had a goal of making friends, especially female friends since I literally have none. I seem to get on better with guys and have a bunch of male friends but not girls. I went to the Girls Meetup on Sunday solely to see if could be successful but alas, I was not. I only interacted with the girls sitting around me and I was too socially awkward to walk around and talk to people. It didn't help that I didn't have much in common with the ones I did talk to but that's ok. They were nice and I had a good time anyway
Next time, we should find each other! Most of my friends have been guys as long as I can remember - not intentionally, just seem to get along better with them. I can be shy sometimes too, so I hear ya on that. I purposely tried to get out of my shy shell even when it made me uncomfortable, with limited success. I want some more practice
Got there early, was able to get ahead of some of the lines.
Picked one particular thing I REALLY wanted to see and made sure to get in line for that first thing
Went to a couple of panels with funny people (taking an hour or two out of the day to just laugh makes your day AMAZING)
Talking to people, just everyone I ran into.
Drafting Magic
Things I Could Have Done Better:
Get a handheld device, it's a great way to just meet people
Provided a way to stay in touch. I should have made business cards with my personal ccontact information so I can game with some of the people I met
Things I utterly failed at:
Moar panels, moar tabletop games. The lines for most video game things simply weren't worth it. I'd much prefer to just play tabletop games and listen to some of the excellent people that were present.
Understanding how freeplay tabletop works. I'd have loved to just play board games with some people.
I didn't get to a concert, which was a big time fail waffle on my part.
mistakes-
check what time the shuttles stop in advanced
check the tournaments no matter how bad you are at certain games they might have one that you're good at
keep good track of contest times
check out parties even if you think you might not get in
go to as many PA Q&A as you can (I only went to one)
sign up for the omegathon as soon as possible
lessons learned-
download the conventionist app to make a personal schedule
keep track of parties
check out parties even if you think you might not get in
Some games are at more than one booth so see which line is the shortest
Check out the console/ pc freeplay, arcade rooms, e.t.c after the floor closes
come in early (doors open at 8am) theres plenty to do
Find a balance between panels and other stuff. Trying to see every panel you're interested in is futile and will result in you waiting in assloads of lines. Decide which ones you really want to attend and get there early.
Pack LIGHT. The first day, I made the mistake of carrying my DS, a book, my jacket, and an assortment of other shit that I never ended up needing. My shoulder was killing me at the end of Friday. From then on, I was down to essentials: DS, water, easy on the shoulder and plenty of swag room.
Don't feel like downtime is time wasted! After running around the expo hall and waiting for various shit there, it was awesome to just kick back in tabletop/classic console freeplay and play a few games.
As long as your hotel's near a subway stop, going to the BCEC each morning isn't a pain at all, just a 15 minute subway ride from mine all the way out in Cambridge. The westin is super convenient, but if you're on a tight budget there are other options that are nearly as good.
Things I didn't get right:
Met a few cool people, but never got their contact info! Derp.
Ended up wasting a ton of money on shitty convention food.
Left mario kart at home.
Missed the awesome chiptune concerts in the Jamspace.
Take advantage more of the classic console and arcade freeplays! They have a huge array of sweet games at both areas which you shouldn't pass up, and I ended up spending far too little time there.
ALSO: Conventionist doesn't like changing timezones and will fuck up your reminders if you set them before you leave, do not depend on it for when to get to panels!
Next time, I'm only travelling with the clothes on my back and basic supplies; my entire wardrobe will be merch I buy at the show. I brought 4 changes of clothes, and it was a nightmare to hobble home from the airport with a nearly bursting suitcase and extra bags about to rip at the handles.
Did anyone complaining about the food go to the "overflow" food court on Level 0? It had a bunch of foodmobiles like you'd see at a county fair, and the pizza was actually really good. It was $5 for a fairly large slice. The whole area also tended to be way less crowded than the Level 1 food court, too.
Also, you have got to try No Name seafood on one of the piers (the one across from Legal Test Kitchen). Really good food at reasonable prices. I had some of the best sauteed lobster ever there last night.
LukeF on
0
ProprietyPAX Pokemon League Leader!Registered Userregular
edited March 2011
Things I got right:
-Stayed nearby. I was at the Renaissance, and it was fantastic. A five minute walk in the morning and at night. Last year I stayed with a friend and had to take the green line for 20 minutes, and it was terrible. Definitely, DEFINITELY stay in a nearby hotel.
-Bring a water bottle. Absolute necessity.
-Power bars, granola bars, and home-made trail mix saved me. I don't think I actually ate lunch Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, but I didn't feel hungry, and felt pretty healthy, too, healthier than my friends who ate con food, at least.
-Flag down the cookie brigade EVERY CHANCE YOU GET. So many cookies. OM NOM NOM. So much for health!
-Be selective with panels. The PA panels and the concerts are the biggest time sucks of PAX. Unless you REALLY want to attend, consider skipping them; each will easily require 2 hours of queuing, 30 minutes-1 hour of being late, and an hour for the panels and 4+ for the concerts. I only went to the first Q&A, and skipped both concerts, and though I am sad I missed JoCo, my weekend felt a lot longer. I also stuck to only going to panels I knew I really wanted to see.
-PINS. This year was an epic win for pins. My lanyard was full, I had to move up to my hat and lapel for extra space.
-Washing hands. I probably shook too many hands this year (it's so hard to break the habit!) but I made a point of visiting the bathroom occasionally JUST to wash my hands, on top of my usual hand washing post-bathroom break. So far, I feel pretty good. Let's see if that holds out.
-Cash. Bringing sufficient cash just made life a lot easier.
-Pocket Pens. I brought two sharpies and a pen and kept them in my pocket at all times, which made asking PA employees for an autograph extremely convenient, no matter when they popped up. Caught Kiko in the handheld lounge, Erika and Jeff after one of the Q&As, Robert on Friday morning, and Josh that afternoon, and I was prepared every time.
-If you need to buy presents, do it early. Got my friend a Chibi Amaratsu pillow she wanted, one of the last ones before they sold out on Friday. Made sure my roomates got the PAX Scarves they wanted early on Friday, since I knew they'd sell out.
-PAX Train was just as good this year as last.
-Heading back on the train on Monday morning was DEFINITELY the right choice. Avoid leaving Sunday night, if you can, or you'll fall asleep and miss your stop and end up in... Delaware, ugh.
Things I could have done better:
-Tweet more. Kept forgetting to check twitter.
-A convenient camera. Found myself fumbling with my point-and-shoot a lot. The startup time is too long, and by the time I dug around in my bag for it and waited for it to turn on, I missed my opportunity.
-Have the world map memorized. I was late to a few of the PAX Pokemon League meetups because I underestimated the time it would take to get from one end of the convention center to the other. If you saw my ridiculous fourth doctor scarf flying past, I wasn't being chased by Daleks, I was just trying to avoid being late, and probably failing.
-Don't overdress just because it's going to be cold in the morning. I had a thermal on over a button up, under my sport coat and 4th doctor scarf. It was way, WAY too much. Though it was nice on the walk over, after a few hours running around I was nearly suffocating. Thankfully a friend recommended I take off the thermal, which made things very comfortable. That probably saved me from overheating.
-Don't try to keep the party together. I had several groups of friends at this PAX, and I ended up spending a lot of time trying to find them or moving from one group to another. I don't really know how to solve this problem, since I really enjoyed doing differing things with all of them, but it was tough to be everywhere I wanted to be at once.
Things I did wrong:
-Recursive bags. I brought a messenger bag, which allowed me easy access to most of my stuff, but when I bought a board game or, say, a chibi Okami-den pillow, and the booths were out of bags, I should have had a drawstring bag inside my bag to put it in.
-Should have brought hand sanitizer.
-Take lots of photos!!! I'm regretting this now.
Propriety on
That guy with the ridiculously long scarf at PAX. Say Hi!
Love Pokemon? Going to PAX Prime/East/Aus/South? Challenge the PAX Pokemon League!!!
Lesson Learned at Pax East:
- Don't wait until Day 2 to get your T-shirt -.- (I think the guys at the booth were getting tired of telling everyone they were sold out)
- Prepare to pay extra for food/drink in the main food courts of BCEC
- Hydrate (I slipped up this time while trying to compact everything into my schedule)
- Getting contact information from all the people I played/talked with
- Don't leave your bigger memory cards for your camera at home
Things I got right from the Past or from Pax East:
- Don't try to stick to your schedule to a T. Screw it have fun and do what you feel like doing that moment. It's a gamers dream vacation ffs
- Don't try to get all the swag from everywhere
- Go to more parties and win stuff while doing it
- Have more variety in the schedule. Don't just stick to the expo hall, free play console, or freeplay table top. Just switch it up throughout the day
- Help people that seemed lost
- Walk around a lot and run into (Not literally) random celebrates
Things I'm planning on for the next pax:
- Go to the concerts
- Try and go to more panels again
- Be an enforcer at some time in the future
- Don't try to wake up for the queue lines because It's just not going to happen if I plan on going to parties again.
(on the side note: I wouldn't blame the con crude on hand shakes and definitely on hugs unless you had some close face to face action going on. It's more to the effect of germs from people all around the world being airborne and people being in tight locations. Well unless you go licking your hands and rubbing your eyes then I would suggest bringing hand sanitizer and face mask... maybe even gloves. You would probably just be gambling on being sick like everyone else in the end.)
- Didn't cosplay Sunday. I was tired, and sore all over, and had a pleasant surprise trip to Fire and Ice for brunch. Either costume I wore during the weekend would have left me freezing and probably making others feel uncomfortable.
- Took the facebook names of people I felt close enough to by the end.
Things I did wrong:
- Didn't get pictures with my forum/PPL friends.
Insight:
- Day 1: running around like a chicken with its head chopped off.
- Day 2: getting shit done.
- Day 3: socializing
- Day 4: at home, realizing I should have spent the first 2 days socializing, too.
My major mistake/thing I could have done better, was meeting people.
I went with my buddy, and had the intention of making some friends at the show. But I just failed at it. Even brought contact cards with my information on them.
I think I may do Prime and will do East again next year, I think I will make more of an effort to take part in the social events going on in an effort to meet some new people and connect with some fellow gamers.
Things I learned from this PAX East (been to both so far)
1) As said repeatedly, Water .. I only had pop (soda for you crazy americans) 3 times throughout the weekend....everything else was water (about 20 bottles worth, huzzah for refils at the fountian) and orange juice in the morning for a bit of the vitamin (I followed this rule)
2) Snacks...having a little something something to nibble on while in line for a panel you really want to see or a game your almost into is essential. I found myself to be hungry all the time and very tired. I will be packing a bunch of snacks for PAXPrime and future PAX events (I did not follow this rule)
3) Wear Proper Footwear... OMG.. the walking.. it burns us!!!!.... Seriously, I work at an office, so I get the luxury(not really) of sitting all day, so walking isnt a huge part of my day. So I have a pair of thin soled shoes, which I found to be VERY PAINFULL to stand/walk in for 8-10 hours each day... Next year, bringing my Construction Boots (old job) with super massive insoles in them.. makes standing/walking for extended periods alot easier on the feet/back. (I did not follow this rule)
4) Fan/Cooling.... This is a kind of hit or miss for everyone obviously... I found that standing in line.. or getting stuck in the traffic jams of people really caused me to overheat, simply because airflow became super stagnant. Now, we obviously have a bunch of stuff from the Swag bag and other purchases to do make shift fans.. but I am seriously considering one of those little hand held battery fans...I think it could come in Handy.. and.. people who are near you will LOVE you for the breeze (I did not follow this rule)
Uriain on
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I actually played it smart this year, but a few things worth mentioning:
Food: I thought I was being smart by making pb&j sandwiches at home and brining them in, only to find, at one of the Munchkin tournaments, that someone was carrying around a bag with a large loaf of bread in it and the pb&j under it and making them as he waited for round 2.
Either way it beats the price of buying food at the con and it probably tasted a lot better too.
Walking: a tip to the cosplayers out there; check behind you once in a while, for there may be someone following you with their camera on. Saw this on Saturday as the best looking Morgan I have ever seen in my life was walking past tabletop gaming towards the food section and someone else had a camera out that I assume was on video as they never put it down and he was following her step for step.
Lines: There is a point to showing up late. I only waited about 20 minutes to get into the 3DS booth, but I didn't show up until almost noon. Granted, that was one of the shorter lines in the con.
Cash: Alas, I went on a shoostring budget, AKA, I got to look at all the toys I couldn't afford, and I can think of nothing worse to suffer through such a convention.
Sleep: Definitely need a full night's sleep before the con. Alas, this year, it didn't work out that way and I was already tired before I even got to the con on Friday.
In the end, though, getting the chance to show so many people how to play some games: priceless.
I actually played it smart this year, but a few things worth mentioning:
Food: I thought I was being smart by making pb&j sandwiches at home and brining them in, only to find, at one of the Munchkin tournaments, that someone was carrying around a bag with a large loaf of bread in it and the pb&j under it and making them as he waited for round 2.
Either way it beats the price of buying food at the con and it probably tasted a lot better too.
Walking: a tip to the cosplayers out there; check behind you once in a while, for there may be someone following you with their camera on. Saw this on Saturday as the best looking Morgan I have ever seen in my life was walking past tabletop gaming towards the food section and someone else had a camera out that I assume was on video as they never put it down and he was following her step for step.
Lines: There is a point to showing up late. I only waited about 20 minutes to get into the 3DS booth, but I didn't show up until almost noon. Granted, that was one of the shorter lines in the con.
Cash: Alas, I went on a shoostring budget, AKA, I got to look at all the toys I couldn't afford, and I can think of nothing worse to suffer through such a convention.
Sleep: Definitely need a full night's sleep before the con. Alas, this year, it didn't work out that way and I was already tired before I even got to the con on Friday.
In the end, though, getting the chance to show so many people how to play some games: priceless.
- Get a hotel room, dammit. I live about 30 min away, but I told myself all year I was going to get a hotel. Then the time came and I thought "no no, I'll save money." It was a folly on my part. By the time I dragged myself back home Saturday night, then the hour time change, then getting up early to drag myself back in for ladies brunch, it was pointless and I was ex-haus-ted. I paid for it by being half asleep all of Sunday. Granted, I would have stayed up late either way, but at least I could have gotten a few hours sleep.
- Bring food and a water bottle.
- Exercise like I'm training for a marathon to be fit to walk around that place.
I don't agree about the "Get the closest hotel possible" statement. I stayed at the John Hancock Conference Center near Back Bay station, about 1.5 miles away, and within 15min was there by T. If you're literate and can read a subway map then traveling to and from the Convention Center should not have been an issue.
Goodfella2487 on
0
King of MarsA freak among weirdosA city in my mindRegistered Userregular
edited March 2011
Seconding, thirding, whatever-ing the meet more people sentiment. I ended up having a panic attack on Friday and crashing at my hotel because I didn't know anybody and my phone was about to die. I felt better a few hours later after talking to the one person on the Pokecrawl that I got contact info from, but Friday sucked beyond words for me because of this. Going solo has its perks, I won't lie about that, but not knowing anyone in a building with thousands of people is shittier than I imagined it would be.
EDIT: On that note, if you're trying to meet up with people that you've never met IRL, be exact about where you are, what you're wearing, etc, and PAY ATTENTION to these descriptions when they're given to you. There were a couple of people that I couldn't find to save my life on Saturday and Sunday because I failed at both of these things.
Also, bring prescribed medication, even if you haven't had to use it in 3 years.
King of Mars on
Writhe your naked ass to the mindless groove. twitter //
3DS: 2492-5478-6311 // Steam & WiiU: kingofmars2099
I don't agree about the "Get the closest hotel possible" statement. I stayed at the John Hancock Conference Center near Back Bay station, about 1.5 miles away, and within 15min was there by T. If you're literate and can read a subway map then traveling to and from the Convention Center should not have been an issue.
I don't think that subtly insulting people about their literacy is a good way to get your point across.
There are advantages to staying extremely close that have nothing to do with public transportation. Namely, being able to shoot back and forth to one's hotel room within a very short work to drop things off, change what games you have on you, change clothes, take a quick nap, etc. is extremely valuable to many people and isn't something to just be "dismissed" as a "travel issue".
You were demostrating the munchkin, zombie dice, and cthulhu dice games at the Steve Jackson section?
Wasn't in the SJ booth. I was demoing for the tabletop arena people. I wound up setting up in front of their booth, behind their booth, and one time I was on the other side of the room by the D&D tables.
- bringing my own food. Seriously, DO THIS. I live in Boston so the day before I hit Trader Joes and just got a bunch of premade sandwiches and salads. Packed some ice packs to make a makeshift cooler, stuck them in my backpack, and never had to buy shitty expensive con food. Hell, I didn't even have to miss panels for lunch, I'd just plop down in line and nom.
Things that did not so much work:
- Staying at my house. I live WAY down on the Green line, so getting to PAX took fucking forever. I saved a lot of money, but I think next year I'm going to Enforce and then just shell out for a hotel room closer to the con because sitting for an hour and a half on the train each way = not fun, as does having to leave at 11:30 PM.
- Sleep? HAHA LOL WHAT NO. I didn't get enough of it, and usually I'm good about that sort of thing.
I don't agree about the "Get the closest hotel possible" statement. I stayed at the John Hancock Conference Center near Back Bay station, about 1.5 miles away, and within 15min was there by T. If you're literate and can read a subway map then traveling to and from the Convention Center should not have been an issue.
I don't think that subtly insulting people about their literacy is a good way to get your point across.
There are advantages to staying extremely close that have nothing to do with public transportation. Namely, being able to shoot back and forth to one's hotel room within a very short work to drop things off, change what games you have on you, change clothes, take a quick nap, etc. is extremely valuable to many people and isn't something to just be "dismissed" as a "travel issue".
Yes to this... and also...my concern would be the fact that the T closes early. If you wanted to stay through to 2 am, you would end up having to cab it back to the hotel... and that gets pricey. I also heard the line to get a cab at the end of the day was ridiculously long, too.
One thing I learned in advance from friends that paid off: getting the closest hotel possible.
It was so convenient to run over to the Westin *whenever* I wanted to either a) drop off swag, b) just relax for a half hour, or c) eat food that I brought which I didn't have to carry everywhere. A good decision.
On the negative side, I learned to always check your receipts. Always.
I decided that I needed to pick up the two PA books I didn't have, and to start my brother on them as well so I decided to get the bundle of six, and splendid magic for the super combo of $79. That, plus two shirts, Reality is Broken, and the scarf, should have been 154.
Sadly for me and my failure at math I paid 177, and only realized later after my receipt was gone (also totally my fault, I'm blaming no one but me). So I ended up paying not 75 (2 shirts, scarf, Reality) + 79 (big combo), but 75 + 102 ( 13 * 6, + 24). Whoops.
DudeWithThePants on
0
zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
edited March 2011
Do not shop after hitting the local bars. That is a sober only activity.
Also I should have flown. With the tolls gas and lunch it cost me 100 bucks to drive up.
Meeting people is the best lesson, unless you really hate people, in which case conventions must be a real bummer.
I met and made a small group of friends, all of which I am looking forward to seeing again. They made the experience amazing for me, far more than playing any exclusive game could.
1.) Get a good carrying bag for the random shit you pick up at the convention. I mean something relatively small and unobtrusive but capable of fitting random swag - you can dump it out at your hotel every night and bring the next day.
2.) Get a bigass waterbottle.
3.) I might consider actually pre-making three days worth of lunch/dinner or bringing the mats to do so with me and storing in the hotel fridge.
4.) Book even earlier and get the Westin. Waiting at 4AM for a bus after a concert SUCKS. Even if the bus ride then hast he most epic impromptu song singing ever...
5.) Buy new shoes entirely for PAX? I feel like I walked my hiking boots into their grave...
Some things I feel like I did very very right:
I avoided the expo hall lines for the most part. I didn't go to many panels either. However, I did hang out in the tabletop area for a while. Whatever multi-hour line-waiting I did was for big events, and I usually made friends with the people around me. I didn't really try to spend much time with a single group and went and did what I wanted - everyone is so awesome at PAX East that I didnt' really need to rely on one group of friends... I had a whole convention full of them!
I also avoided the freeplay/arcade areas - they seemed rather crowded and I felt more like interacting with people and meeting them than playing games I can always play on my own. Perhaps this was a mistake? I'm not sure, I'll have to find out next year!
I must have been one of the only people to not have a cell phone issue in the expo hall. I was able to text and tweet all the time. But anyway, definitely follow the PAX twitters if you can. For example, I got my scarf early, but later on Friday, I saw that the Store Lite was taking orders of the scarves for shipping out in about a month, for only $25.
@ArmyKnife, buy your new shoes at least two weeks before PAX. Breaking in new shoes for ANY marathon-like event is a necessity.
The good:
* Having plenty of physical cash handy - especially small bills for the vending machines.
* Bringing spare phone batteries - I had three batteries that I swapped around for my phone and it was extremely nice especially given how much time I spent using the web browser, Pax assistant, and Twitter
* Bringing my laptop was worth the extra weight, but that was mostly due to the fact that I was forced into a long stay at the airport on the last night.
* Bringing paper to jot down quick ideas especially after some of the more engaging industry panels
* Bag Check - This was probably one of the greatest things about the convention center, especially for people who had to carry the entirety of their luggage on the last day
The bad:
*Not getting a goods night sleep beforehand really hit me hard, and as a result I missed most the panels I wanted to attend and some meetups on Friday after passing out in my hotel room. I did at least make it back for the concert.
*Bringing to much clothing, theres way more than enough swag at the center.
*I really regretted not bringing something like a hand-towel or sanitary wipes, being able to wipe off my forehead with something clean would of been nice.
*Finding something to actually see at the Exhibition Hell and going for it, I wasted far too much time wandering like an idiot, and navigating that crowd was a pain in the ass (mostly due to the people stopping in the middle of intersections and the like)
*Being more open to chatting with celebrities and the likes, I saw people like day9, jonathan coulton and the likes but avoiding saying anything. The ones I did meet like The Protomen were completely awesome and from what I've heard there weren't really people being that bad about meeting their fans.
The Ugly:
* Try to book a return flight after the convention ends or get a hotel room for the last night, spending 10 hours in an airport terminal isn't the best thing.
* DS chargers seem to be stolen by mysterious gnomes or something, because its about a 100% chance that I will lose mine and never figure out where the hell it went
* Eating bad and overpriced food for 3 days straight will make the first decent meal you get seem like the best thing in the world
Walking: a tip to the cosplayers out there; check behind you once in a while, for there may be someone following you with their camera on. Saw this on Saturday as the best looking Morgan I have ever seen in my life was walking past tabletop gaming towards the food section and someone else had a camera out that I assume was on video as they never put it down and he was following her step for step.
Hoping that wasn't me. I was wondering around with a camera out a lot of the time, having missed cosplayers (notably RainbowTunnel amongst others) a few times earlier on because my camera was in the bag...
I learnt fairly quickly to try getting infront of the cosplayers where possible, and get their that way. Just going for opportunistic shots was not working out at all well (given I spent a fairly sizable chunk of my time at PAX looking for photos, and managed only about 100 total, definitely room for improvement).
*Finding something to actually see at the Exhibition Hell and going for it, I wasted far too much time wandering like an idiot, and navigating that crowd was a pain in the ass (mostly due to the people stopping in the middle of intersections and the like)
I also found I spent far too much time worrying whether I was making best use of my time, don't know if that was just me...
* Try to book a return flight after the convention ends or get a hotel room for the last night, spending 10 hours in an airport terminal isn't the best thing.
Would definitely recommend a hotel overnight. There's plenty of PAX-related stuff on the Sunday while people come down slowly, and you'll be well rested for the trip back.
There are advantages to staying extremely close that have nothing to do with public transportation. Namely, being able to shoot back and forth to one's hotel room within a very short work to drop things off, change what games you have on you, change clothes, take a quick nap, etc. is extremely valuable to many people and isn't something to just be "dismissed" as a "travel issue".
I would absolutely agree with this. For both times I've been to PAX (first time was Prime 2010), being able to get back to the room and just chill for a while was brilliant. I admire those who can PAX-hard from start to finish, but that's not everyone.
I cant stress enough the importance of bringing comfortable sneakers. Hell I was only there a day, wore sneakers, brought an extra pair of socks and I still have a couple of blisters. I saw men and women there who were wearing sandals, I can only imagine how many blisters they got
Bring PLENTY of bottled water and snacks well unless you want to pay $3.00 for bottled water and $5.00 for a single SH*TTY slice of Pizza
Things I got Right
Did research ahead of time to get a lay of the land.
Downloaded the Conventionist App. (Seriously, this thing was a Godsend).
Joined Twitter and subscribed to the PAX Feed (They gave some damn good estimates on crowd sizes for the panels).
Did the PAX XP Scavenger Hunt (I never felt so satisfied to get such an epic zipper pull!).
Things I Got Wrong
Brought too much crap to the Center (my should was killing me because I was dragging a laptop that I didn't need along with all the swag and I think I lost my copy of Pokemon Soul Silver as well).
Not being as sociable.
Missing out on the concerts in the Jamspace.
Relying on just my duffel bag to carry most of the swag. Next time, I'm bringing my small rolling suitcase.
Bring more money (definitely starting to save for PAX East 2012 this week)!!
Brought extra socks each day and wore comfortable sneakers
Brought snacks and bottle water
Used a back pack
kept an deodorant stick in the back pack
brought my laptop charger
used conventionist app plus twitter to plan out the day
completely disregard my plans at a moments notice (much less stressful than trying to stick to an idealistic plan!)
Things I did wrong:
stayed at the mariott long wharf. it's a nice place for sure, but I'm booking the westin as soon as it's available for next year
wasn't sociable enough in lines - I talked to some people but next year I'm going to bring uno or apples to apples or something to pass the time with others
buy tshirts and other booth items the first day since my size always runs out >:[
1. Always triple check hotel price,
2. Be sure to quadrouple the amount of access I have to money to give to ppl to stay
3. if a pax atendee offers a room for a cheaper price than a hotel, it is a much better buy!
4. Pika Puff from the forums is an awesome individual who took in myself and two other lost souls from Pax to his room and gave us a place to crash. Me because priceline had overcharged me by 300$ and the others for similar reasons. Not only did he refuse a money-order/a western unioned offer of money when I came up unexpectedly woefully short, but also he offered us amazing food and stuff from a nearby 7-11 that he got for only 8$.
All in all he may also have saved my life judging by how bad my cold was. Pika puff, you are an awesome forumite and if I ever do a convention again I am forwarding you money in advance, even if I don't come.
Now that my praise for the one who helped salvage this and keep this an awesome con is done,
5. Be prepared for the old republic lines, they were waaaay too long. but well worth staying in.
6. battlefield 3 required a signup the day before?? ouch.
7. participating in the largest beachball game on record is an epic win!
Did right:
Brought a 40oz water bottle
Ate breakfast at home (I'm local)
Drove in and parked in South lot. ($10 a day)
I was able to stay later than I did last year, as I could just drive home, plus I could walk stuff out to the car.
Had my camera at the ready always.(I bought a couple of extra batteries)
Do better next year:
Get to more panels, especially PA Q&A and make a strip
I went to one Q&A and was late for Make a strip
Got in line too late for the PA signing, but they were so cool, and came by and shook everyone's hand that they couldn't get to, then literally ran away to get to the Omegathon final.
It's funny how everyone is saying they wish they were more social. I was the same way.
I am definitely going to participate more in the tabletop area.
I think I'll make up cards with my info, to give to cosplayers I took pics of, so they can find what I put online.
1) Avoid the Q room, because unfortunately some gamers have failed to learn basic Hygiene.
2) Use twitter more often to communicate with others, a really good tool.
3) STAY AT THE WESTIN! I heard so many people complaining about shuttle service, the Westin is great because you can just walk right in.
4) Budget Budget Buget. One of the people who stayed with us was basically broke, and my other friend and I wanted to eat at some high end restaurants. This didn't kill the experience for us, but I would have liked to have seen a little of what Boston had at night, but we were prevented because we didn't want to exclude our friend.
5) Try to figure out the non PAX tournaments ahead of time (i.e. Alienware Arena). Had I known they had a Black Ops tournament I would have competed. Oh well, not a big deal.
Overall great convention, unfortunately next year its on Easter. There is no possible way I can attend that.
Posts
There is no where to eat that will not cost you an arm and a leg near the convention center. IF you tried to eat the food at the expo center, you most likely walked around with a stomach ache for the next 4 hours. The salads must have been on the shelf for at least a week, the chicken had freakin' bones it in. The packaged sandwiches were disgusting, Burgers were overpriced, precooked and looked like crap. GIVE US BETTER FOOD NEXT YEAR PLEASE. Can i just get a fresh ham sandwich or something? Geesh.
After the 50th time of an enforcer telling me to push in to keep an isle clear i had a freak out moment. There is no where else to stand. I understand the fire concern everyone kept talking about, but in reality, there was nowhere else to go. Spread shit out in the expo hall more, cut back the queue room, leave more room for walking... something.
Those were the two big ones for me. Overall the experience was awesome. We went to Morton steakhouse one night horribly under-dressed and got a seat for 2. Pretty funny.
After time adrift among open stars
Among tides of light and to shoals of dust
I will return to where I began
- Brought my own food to PAX. Luckily, I live within driving distance of the BCEC so I brought my own food and drinks. I splurged on a $5 pizza on Friday which was great but otherwise, I steered clear of the cafeteria food
- Finally got a scarf. There weren't many left when I got one but at least I didn't have to wait in a long line to get it
- Saw all the panels I wanted to see. I'm not a expo, tabletop, or freeplay person so I had the time to see the majority of panels on my list. Some I had to skip because they coincided too closely with other panels but they weren't on the top of my list
- Sat in the front row for almost every panel I saw. It didn't happen for me last PAX East since I saw everything with my fiance but this year, I went at it alone and managed to snag ones in the front. I'm a small person (5'1) so being able to see the panelists or the big screens without any obstructions was a big coup
What I Failed At
- Being social. I had a goal of making friends, especially female friends since I literally have none. I seem to get on better with guys and have a bunch of male friends but not girls. I went to the Girls Meetup on Sunday solely to see if could be successful but alas, I was not. I only interacted with the girls sitting around me and I was too socially awkward to walk around and talk to people. It didn't help that I didn't have much in common with the ones I did talk to but that's ok. They were nice and I had a good time anyway
- Not getting in the Nintendo 3DS line. I thought it would be insanely slow like most demo lines are but only today through the forums did I learn that they were quick. Should have just sucked it up and got on the line
What I Learned
- Do not expect tournaments to run smoothly. After hearing about problems that occurred last year, I thought things would be fixed but the Super Smash Brothers Brawl tournament was a disaster. It was very unorganized and we didn't even get through the first round until 11. It got so desperate that an Enforcer rounded up all the people who hadn't left/still wanted to play and randomly paired people up to play single matches. I heard they had a computer problem with the brackets (and therefore had to painstakingly go through each pairing by hand using a bullhorn) but no one told us anything. I just happened to overhear an Enforcer mention it to a fellow tournament attendee
Next time, we should find each other! Most of my friends have been guys as long as I can remember - not intentionally, just seem to get along better with them. I can be shy sometimes too, so I hear ya on that. I purposely tried to get out of my shy shell even when it made me uncomfortable, with limited success. I want some more practice
Got there early, was able to get ahead of some of the lines.
Picked one particular thing I REALLY wanted to see and made sure to get in line for that first thing
Went to a couple of panels with funny people (taking an hour or two out of the day to just laugh makes your day AMAZING)
Talking to people, just everyone I ran into.
Drafting Magic
Things I Could Have Done Better:
Get a handheld device, it's a great way to just meet people
Provided a way to stay in touch. I should have made business cards with my personal ccontact information so I can game with some of the people I met
Things I utterly failed at:
Moar panels, moar tabletop games. The lines for most video game things simply weren't worth it. I'd much prefer to just play tabletop games and listen to some of the excellent people that were present.
Understanding how freeplay tabletop works. I'd have loved to just play board games with some people.
I didn't get to a concert, which was a big time fail waffle on my part.
Food from the food court. Enough said.
check what time the shuttles stop in advanced
check the tournaments no matter how bad you are at certain games they might have one that you're good at
keep good track of contest times
check out parties even if you think you might not get in
go to as many PA Q&A as you can (I only went to one)
sign up for the omegathon as soon as possible
lessons learned-
download the conventionist app to make a personal schedule
keep track of parties
check out parties even if you think you might not get in
Some games are at more than one booth so see which line is the shortest
Check out the console/ pc freeplay, arcade rooms, e.t.c after the floor closes
come in early (doors open at 8am) theres plenty to do
Find a balance between panels and other stuff. Trying to see every panel you're interested in is futile and will result in you waiting in assloads of lines. Decide which ones you really want to attend and get there early.
Pack LIGHT. The first day, I made the mistake of carrying my DS, a book, my jacket, and an assortment of other shit that I never ended up needing. My shoulder was killing me at the end of Friday. From then on, I was down to essentials: DS, water, easy on the shoulder and plenty of swag room.
Don't feel like downtime is time wasted! After running around the expo hall and waiting for various shit there, it was awesome to just kick back in tabletop/classic console freeplay and play a few games.
As long as your hotel's near a subway stop, going to the BCEC each morning isn't a pain at all, just a 15 minute subway ride from mine all the way out in Cambridge. The westin is super convenient, but if you're on a tight budget there are other options that are nearly as good.
Things I didn't get right:
Met a few cool people, but never got their contact info! Derp.
Ended up wasting a ton of money on shitty convention food.
Left mario kart at home.
Missed the awesome chiptune concerts in the Jamspace.
Take advantage more of the classic console and arcade freeplays! They have a huge array of sweet games at both areas which you shouldn't pass up, and I ended up spending far too little time there.
ALSO: Conventionist doesn't like changing timezones and will fuck up your reminders if you set them before you leave, do not depend on it for when to get to panels!
For future PAX events, PA swag all over!
Also, you have got to try No Name seafood on one of the piers (the one across from Legal Test Kitchen). Really good food at reasonable prices. I had some of the best sauteed lobster ever there last night.
-Stayed nearby. I was at the Renaissance, and it was fantastic. A five minute walk in the morning and at night. Last year I stayed with a friend and had to take the green line for 20 minutes, and it was terrible. Definitely, DEFINITELY stay in a nearby hotel.
-Bring a water bottle. Absolute necessity.
-Power bars, granola bars, and home-made trail mix saved me. I don't think I actually ate lunch Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, but I didn't feel hungry, and felt pretty healthy, too, healthier than my friends who ate con food, at least.
-Flag down the cookie brigade EVERY CHANCE YOU GET. So many cookies. OM NOM NOM. So much for health!
-Be selective with panels. The PA panels and the concerts are the biggest time sucks of PAX. Unless you REALLY want to attend, consider skipping them; each will easily require 2 hours of queuing, 30 minutes-1 hour of being late, and an hour for the panels and 4+ for the concerts. I only went to the first Q&A, and skipped both concerts, and though I am sad I missed JoCo, my weekend felt a lot longer. I also stuck to only going to panels I knew I really wanted to see.
-PINS. This year was an epic win for pins. My lanyard was full, I had to move up to my hat and lapel for extra space.
-Washing hands. I probably shook too many hands this year (it's so hard to break the habit!) but I made a point of visiting the bathroom occasionally JUST to wash my hands, on top of my usual hand washing post-bathroom break. So far, I feel pretty good. Let's see if that holds out.
-Cash. Bringing sufficient cash just made life a lot easier.
-Pocket Pens. I brought two sharpies and a pen and kept them in my pocket at all times, which made asking PA employees for an autograph extremely convenient, no matter when they popped up. Caught Kiko in the handheld lounge, Erika and Jeff after one of the Q&As, Robert on Friday morning, and Josh that afternoon, and I was prepared every time.
-If you need to buy presents, do it early. Got my friend a Chibi Amaratsu pillow she wanted, one of the last ones before they sold out on Friday. Made sure my roomates got the PAX Scarves they wanted early on Friday, since I knew they'd sell out.
-PAX Train was just as good this year as last.
-Heading back on the train on Monday morning was DEFINITELY the right choice. Avoid leaving Sunday night, if you can, or you'll fall asleep and miss your stop and end up in... Delaware, ugh.
Things I could have done better:
-Tweet more. Kept forgetting to check twitter.
-A convenient camera. Found myself fumbling with my point-and-shoot a lot. The startup time is too long, and by the time I dug around in my bag for it and waited for it to turn on, I missed my opportunity.
-Have the world map memorized. I was late to a few of the PAX Pokemon League meetups because I underestimated the time it would take to get from one end of the convention center to the other. If you saw my ridiculous fourth doctor scarf flying past, I wasn't being chased by Daleks, I was just trying to avoid being late, and probably failing.
-Don't overdress just because it's going to be cold in the morning. I had a thermal on over a button up, under my sport coat and 4th doctor scarf. It was way, WAY too much. Though it was nice on the walk over, after a few hours running around I was nearly suffocating. Thankfully a friend recommended I take off the thermal, which made things very comfortable. That probably saved me from overheating.
-Don't try to keep the party together. I had several groups of friends at this PAX, and I ended up spending a lot of time trying to find them or moving from one group to another. I don't really know how to solve this problem, since I really enjoyed doing differing things with all of them, but it was tough to be everywhere I wanted to be at once.
Things I did wrong:
-Recursive bags. I brought a messenger bag, which allowed me easy access to most of my stuff, but when I bought a board game or, say, a chibi Okami-den pillow, and the booths were out of bags, I should have had a drawstring bag inside my bag to put it in.
-Should have brought hand sanitizer.
-Take lots of photos!!! I'm regretting this now.
Love Pokemon? Going to PAX Prime/East/Aus/South? Challenge the PAX Pokemon League!!!
- Don't wait until Day 2 to get your T-shirt -.- (I think the guys at the booth were getting tired of telling everyone they were sold out)
- Prepare to pay extra for food/drink in the main food courts of BCEC
- Hydrate (I slipped up this time while trying to compact everything into my schedule)
- Getting contact information from all the people I played/talked with
- Don't leave your bigger memory cards for your camera at home
Things I got right from the Past or from Pax East:
- Don't try to stick to your schedule to a T. Screw it have fun and do what you feel like doing that moment. It's a gamers dream vacation ffs
- Don't try to get all the swag from everywhere
- Go to more parties and win stuff while doing it
- Have more variety in the schedule. Don't just stick to the expo hall, free play console, or freeplay table top. Just switch it up throughout the day
- Help people that seemed lost
- Walk around a lot and run into (Not literally) random celebrates
Things I'm planning on for the next pax:
- Go to the concerts
- Try and go to more panels again
- Be an enforcer at some time in the future
- Don't try to wake up for the queue lines because It's just not going to happen if I plan on going to parties again.
(on the side note: I wouldn't blame the con crude on hand shakes and definitely on hugs unless you had some close face to face action going on. It's more to the effect of germs from people all around the world being airborne and people being in tight locations. Well unless you go licking your hands and rubbing your eyes then I would suggest bringing hand sanitizer and face mask... maybe even gloves. You would probably just be gambling on being sick like everyone else in the end.)
- Didn't cosplay Sunday. I was tired, and sore all over, and had a pleasant surprise trip to Fire and Ice for brunch. Either costume I wore during the weekend would have left me freezing and probably making others feel uncomfortable.
- Took the facebook names of people I felt close enough to by the end.
Things I did wrong:
- Didn't get pictures with my forum/PPL friends.
Insight:
- Day 1: running around like a chicken with its head chopped off.
- Day 2: getting shit done.
- Day 3: socializing
- Day 4: at home, realizing I should have spent the first 2 days socializing, too.
I went with my buddy, and had the intention of making some friends at the show. But I just failed at it. Even brought contact cards with my information on them.
I think I may do Prime and will do East again next year, I think I will make more of an effort to take part in the social events going on in an effort to meet some new people and connect with some fellow gamers.
[ XBL: NemesisFuzz | PSN: Deefuzz ]
1) As said repeatedly, Water .. I only had pop (soda for you crazy americans) 3 times throughout the weekend....everything else was water (about 20 bottles worth, huzzah for refils at the fountian) and orange juice in the morning for a bit of the vitamin (I followed this rule)
2) Snacks...having a little something something to nibble on while in line for a panel you really want to see or a game your almost into is essential. I found myself to be hungry all the time and very tired. I will be packing a bunch of snacks for PAXPrime and future PAX events (I did not follow this rule)
3) Wear Proper Footwear... OMG.. the walking.. it burns us!!!!.... Seriously, I work at an office, so I get the luxury(not really) of sitting all day, so walking isnt a huge part of my day. So I have a pair of thin soled shoes, which I found to be VERY PAINFULL to stand/walk in for 8-10 hours each day... Next year, bringing my Construction Boots (old job) with super massive insoles in them.. makes standing/walking for extended periods alot easier on the feet/back. (I did not follow this rule)
4) Fan/Cooling.... This is a kind of hit or miss for everyone obviously... I found that standing in line.. or getting stuck in the traffic jams of people really caused me to overheat, simply because airflow became super stagnant. Now, we obviously have a bunch of stuff from the Swag bag and other purchases to do make shift fans.. but I am seriously considering one of those little hand held battery fans...I think it could come in Handy.. and.. people who are near you will LOVE you for the breeze (I did not follow this rule)
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Food: I thought I was being smart by making pb&j sandwiches at home and brining them in, only to find, at one of the Munchkin tournaments, that someone was carrying around a bag with a large loaf of bread in it and the pb&j under it and making them as he waited for round 2.
Either way it beats the price of buying food at the con and it probably tasted a lot better too.
Walking: a tip to the cosplayers out there; check behind you once in a while, for there may be someone following you with their camera on. Saw this on Saturday as the best looking Morgan I have ever seen in my life was walking past tabletop gaming towards the food section and someone else had a camera out that I assume was on video as they never put it down and he was following her step for step.
Lines: There is a point to showing up late. I only waited about 20 minutes to get into the 3DS booth, but I didn't show up until almost noon. Granted, that was one of the shorter lines in the con.
Cash: Alas, I went on a shoostring budget, AKA, I got to look at all the toys I couldn't afford, and I can think of nothing worse to suffer through such a convention.
Sleep: Definitely need a full night's sleep before the con. Alas, this year, it didn't work out that way and I was already tired before I even got to the con on Friday.
In the end, though, getting the chance to show so many people how to play some games: priceless.
Yahoo group GCIACST
- Get a hotel room, dammit. I live about 30 min away, but I told myself all year I was going to get a hotel. Then the time came and I thought "no no, I'll save money." It was a folly on my part. By the time I dragged myself back home Saturday night, then the hour time change, then getting up early to drag myself back in for ladies brunch, it was pointless and I was ex-haus-ted. I paid for it by being half asleep all of Sunday. Granted, I would have stayed up late either way, but at least I could have gotten a few hours sleep.
- Bring food and a water bottle.
- Exercise like I'm training for a marathon to be fit to walk around that place.
EDIT: On that note, if you're trying to meet up with people that you've never met IRL, be exact about where you are, what you're wearing, etc, and PAY ATTENTION to these descriptions when they're given to you. There were a couple of people that I couldn't find to save my life on Saturday and Sunday because I failed at both of these things.
Also, bring prescribed medication, even if you haven't had to use it in 3 years.
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I don't think that subtly insulting people about their literacy is a good way to get your point across.
There are advantages to staying extremely close that have nothing to do with public transportation. Namely, being able to shoot back and forth to one's hotel room within a very short work to drop things off, change what games you have on you, change clothes, take a quick nap, etc. is extremely valuable to many people and isn't something to just be "dismissed" as a "travel issue".
Yahoo group GCIACST
- bringing my own food. Seriously, DO THIS. I live in Boston so the day before I hit Trader Joes and just got a bunch of premade sandwiches and salads. Packed some ice packs to make a makeshift cooler, stuck them in my backpack, and never had to buy shitty expensive con food. Hell, I didn't even have to miss panels for lunch, I'd just plop down in line and nom.
Things that did not so much work:
- Staying at my house. I live WAY down on the Green line, so getting to PAX took fucking forever. I saved a lot of money, but I think next year I'm going to Enforce and then just shell out for a hotel room closer to the con because sitting for an hour and a half on the train each way = not fun, as does having to leave at 11:30 PM.
- Sleep? HAHA LOL WHAT NO. I didn't get enough of it, and usually I'm good about that sort of thing.
Yes to this... and also...my concern would be the fact that the T closes early. If you wanted to stay through to 2 am, you would end up having to cab it back to the hotel... and that gets pricey. I also heard the line to get a cab at the end of the day was ridiculously long, too.
It was so convenient to run over to the Westin *whenever* I wanted to either a) drop off swag, b) just relax for a half hour, or c) eat food that I brought which I didn't have to carry everywhere. A good decision.
On the negative side, I learned to always check your receipts. Always.
I decided that I needed to pick up the two PA books I didn't have, and to start my brother on them as well so I decided to get the bundle of six, and splendid magic for the super combo of $79. That, plus two shirts, Reality is Broken, and the scarf, should have been 154.
Sadly for me and my failure at math I paid 177, and only realized later after my receipt was gone (also totally my fault, I'm blaming no one but me). So I ended up paying not 75 (2 shirts, scarf, Reality) + 79 (big combo), but 75 + 102 ( 13 * 6, + 24). Whoops.
Also I should have flown. With the tolls gas and lunch it cost me 100 bucks to drive up.
I heard the scarfs were completely sold out the first two hours of the show.
Don't think, "Oh, I'll buy it later." When it comes to buying that really cool thing, there is no later.
I met and made a small group of friends, all of which I am looking forward to seeing again. They made the experience amazing for me, far more than playing any exclusive game could.
Gaming blog
@lamournumerique
1.) Get a good carrying bag for the random shit you pick up at the convention. I mean something relatively small and unobtrusive but capable of fitting random swag - you can dump it out at your hotel every night and bring the next day.
2.) Get a bigass waterbottle.
3.) I might consider actually pre-making three days worth of lunch/dinner or bringing the mats to do so with me and storing in the hotel fridge.
4.) Book even earlier and get the Westin. Waiting at 4AM for a bus after a concert SUCKS. Even if the bus ride then hast he most epic impromptu song singing ever...
5.) Buy new shoes entirely for PAX? I feel like I walked my hiking boots into their grave...
Some things I feel like I did very very right:
I avoided the expo hall lines for the most part. I didn't go to many panels either. However, I did hang out in the tabletop area for a while. Whatever multi-hour line-waiting I did was for big events, and I usually made friends with the people around me. I didn't really try to spend much time with a single group and went and did what I wanted - everyone is so awesome at PAX East that I didnt' really need to rely on one group of friends... I had a whole convention full of them!
I also avoided the freeplay/arcade areas - they seemed rather crowded and I felt more like interacting with people and meeting them than playing games I can always play on my own. Perhaps this was a mistake? I'm not sure, I'll have to find out next year!
@ArmyKnife, buy your new shoes at least two weeks before PAX. Breaking in new shoes for ANY marathon-like event is a necessity.
* Having plenty of physical cash handy - especially small bills for the vending machines.
* Bringing spare phone batteries - I had three batteries that I swapped around for my phone and it was extremely nice especially given how much time I spent using the web browser, Pax assistant, and Twitter
* Bringing my laptop was worth the extra weight, but that was mostly due to the fact that I was forced into a long stay at the airport on the last night.
* Bringing paper to jot down quick ideas especially after some of the more engaging industry panels
* Bag Check - This was probably one of the greatest things about the convention center, especially for people who had to carry the entirety of their luggage on the last day
The bad:
*Not getting a goods night sleep beforehand really hit me hard, and as a result I missed most the panels I wanted to attend and some meetups on Friday after passing out in my hotel room. I did at least make it back for the concert.
*Bringing to much clothing, theres way more than enough swag at the center.
*I really regretted not bringing something like a hand-towel or sanitary wipes, being able to wipe off my forehead with something clean would of been nice.
*Finding something to actually see at the Exhibition Hell and going for it, I wasted far too much time wandering like an idiot, and navigating that crowd was a pain in the ass (mostly due to the people stopping in the middle of intersections and the like)
*Being more open to chatting with celebrities and the likes, I saw people like day9, jonathan coulton and the likes but avoiding saying anything. The ones I did meet like The Protomen were completely awesome and from what I've heard there weren't really people being that bad about meeting their fans.
The Ugly:
* Try to book a return flight after the convention ends or get a hotel room for the last night, spending 10 hours in an airport terminal isn't the best thing.
* DS chargers seem to be stolen by mysterious gnomes or something, because its about a 100% chance that I will lose mine and never figure out where the hell it went
* Eating bad and overpriced food for 3 days straight will make the first decent meal you get seem like the best thing in the world
Hoping that wasn't me. I was wondering around with a camera out a lot of the time, having missed cosplayers (notably RainbowTunnel amongst others) a few times earlier on because my camera was in the bag...
I learnt fairly quickly to try getting infront of the cosplayers where possible, and get their that way. Just going for opportunistic shots was not working out at all well (given I spent a fairly sizable chunk of my time at PAX looking for photos, and managed only about 100 total, definitely room for improvement).
I also found I spent far too much time worrying whether I was making best use of my time, don't know if that was just me...
Would definitely recommend a hotel overnight. There's plenty of PAX-related stuff on the Sunday while people come down slowly, and you'll be well rested for the trip back.
HELL YES!
I ate sensibly for a lot of meals (most breakfasts were purely fruit, for example), and even then getting back to more normal food was a nice change.
I would absolutely agree with this. For both times I've been to PAX (first time was Prime 2010), being able to get back to the room and just chill for a while was brilliant. I admire those who can PAX-hard from start to finish, but that's not everyone.
Bring PLENTY of bottled water and snacks well unless you want to pay $3.00 for bottled water and $5.00 for a single SH*TTY slice of Pizza
Did research ahead of time to get a lay of the land.
Downloaded the Conventionist App. (Seriously, this thing was a Godsend).
Joined Twitter and subscribed to the PAX Feed (They gave some damn good estimates on crowd sizes for the panels).
Did the PAX XP Scavenger Hunt (I never felt so satisfied to get such an epic zipper pull!).
Things I Got Wrong
Brought too much crap to the Center (my should was killing me because I was dragging a laptop that I didn't need along with all the swag and I think I lost my copy of Pokemon Soul Silver as well).
Not being as sociable.
Missing out on the concerts in the Jamspace.
Relying on just my duffel bag to carry most of the swag. Next time, I'm bringing my small rolling suitcase.
Bring more money (definitely starting to save for PAX East 2012 this week)!!
Brought extra socks each day and wore comfortable sneakers
Brought snacks and bottle water
Used a back pack
kept an deodorant stick in the back pack
brought my laptop charger
used conventionist app plus twitter to plan out the day
completely disregard my plans at a moments notice (much less stressful than trying to stick to an idealistic plan!)
Things I did wrong:
stayed at the mariott long wharf. it's a nice place for sure, but I'm booking the westin as soon as it's available for next year
wasn't sociable enough in lines - I talked to some people but next year I'm going to bring uno or apples to apples or something to pass the time with others
buy tshirts and other booth items the first day since my size always runs out >:[
1. Always triple check hotel price,
2. Be sure to quadrouple the amount of access I have to money to give to ppl to stay
3. if a pax atendee offers a room for a cheaper price than a hotel, it is a much better buy!
4. Pika Puff from the forums is an awesome individual who took in myself and two other lost souls from Pax to his room and gave us a place to crash. Me because priceline had overcharged me by 300$ and the others for similar reasons. Not only did he refuse a money-order/a western unioned offer of money when I came up unexpectedly woefully short, but also he offered us amazing food and stuff from a nearby 7-11 that he got for only 8$.
All in all he may also have saved my life judging by how bad my cold was. Pika puff, you are an awesome forumite and if I ever do a convention again I am forwarding you money in advance, even if I don't come.
Now that my praise for the one who helped salvage this and keep this an awesome con is done,
5. Be prepared for the old republic lines, they were waaaay too long. but well worth staying in.
6. battlefield 3 required a signup the day before?? ouch.
7. participating in the largest beachball game on record is an epic win!
Brought a 40oz water bottle
Ate breakfast at home (I'm local)
Drove in and parked in South lot. ($10 a day)
I was able to stay later than I did last year, as I could just drive home, plus I could walk stuff out to the car.
Had my camera at the ready always.(I bought a couple of extra batteries)
Do better next year:
Get to more panels, especially PA Q&A and make a strip
I went to one Q&A and was late for Make a strip
Got in line too late for the PA signing, but they were so cool, and came by and shook everyone's hand that they couldn't get to, then literally ran away to get to the Omegathon final.
It's funny how everyone is saying they wish they were more social. I was the same way.
I am definitely going to participate more in the tabletop area.
I think I'll make up cards with my info, to give to cosplayers I took pics of, so they can find what I put online.
1) Avoid the Q room, because unfortunately some gamers have failed to learn basic Hygiene.
2) Use twitter more often to communicate with others, a really good tool.
3) STAY AT THE WESTIN! I heard so many people complaining about shuttle service, the Westin is great because you can just walk right in.
4) Budget Budget Buget. One of the people who stayed with us was basically broke, and my other friend and I wanted to eat at some high end restaurants. This didn't kill the experience for us, but I would have liked to have seen a little of what Boston had at night, but we were prevented because we didn't want to exclude our friend.
5) Try to figure out the non PAX tournaments ahead of time (i.e. Alienware Arena). Had I known they had a Black Ops tournament I would have competed. Oh well, not a big deal.
Overall great convention, unfortunately next year its on Easter. There is no possible way I can attend that.
Good luck to those who do though.