You need to learn how to vibe and talk to people at conventions. If you're underage that's one thing. If you're old enough you should budget for a hotel room so you can party and party with strangers and make new friends. The best part about conventions is meeting people and subsequently running into them at other cons in other years and it's all so fucking beautiful. It's the only time you don't have to suppress your powerlevel because guess what? They know all the dumb memes you do and have a lot of overlap in interests and other things you enjoy. You can ask someone why they're green and actually learn something about Startrek because they fucking love star trek so much they painted themselves green! SO WHEN I ASK THEM THEY ARE MORE THAN WILLING TO GUSH ABOUT THE SHIT THEY LOVE! I FUCKING LOVE NERD CONVENTION SHIT HOLY FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I feel that one, anon. Both the male and female posters here seem to lose sight of this for their own reasons ("IT'S OVER" doomposting, getting up on their moral policing high horse) Thankfully the ones that actually come out for meetups are pretty much always cool, and sometimes they'll make the whole weekend>The best part about conventions is meeting people and subsequently running into them at other cons in other yearsYep, never gets old. Cheers.
I try that, but noone really likes meEspecially women...
>>10902658then stop being a bitch and/or sexpest.
>>10900752You get itSeeing people at other events you met at before and having catch-up drinks is THE BEST FEELING
EXACTLY i tend to be a bit of an autist at cons but seeing someone in the hall and going ...I KNOW YOU! will never lose its magic. listening to people talk about shit they're passionate about and vice versa, stupid drunk debates, having someone freak out over your cosplay and vice versa FUCK I LOVE CONVENTIONS. last con i went to a bunch of strangers in barbie cosplays shouted me down the hall and gave me a jello shot out of a cowboy hat because i was cosplaying a cowboy character. nowhere else bro
>>10902898This is that shit that makes it all so magical. Don't go to a convention for any reason other than to have fun and you will never be disappointed. I used to go thinking>oh I'll find that merch I can't get>oh I'll talk to some e-celeb>oh I'll go to that panelnowadays I just go eat a good meal get two drinks and ask people if they're supposed to be a gnome, then just like that stuff happens.
>>10900752Why would I want to do that?Most of these people are completly clueless about hygiene or social standards, why would I want to "party" with them? With "nerds"? What the fuck is wrong with you? lol
>>10904888lose weight + wasted trips
I just wanna get drunk with randos at the next con. Is it that much to ask for.
OP, I share your passion so much. Also, it's in the con floor where it's at. You never know when someone is going to gush all over your costume, when someone with 2 milion followers will ask you a picture and you'll only find out, or when a TV news station will interview you, or you'll find someone from the same franchise you're cosplaying.It's the best game of chance you can play, ever. Some people will never understand it. That's why I go to as much conventions as I can. It's a wonderful place to be.
>>10904949confirmedonly been to two conventions yet and also never cosplayed beforebut I want to get into cosplay (somehow... got no idea where and how to start)and I want to visit more conventions, I'll do that until im 35 haha
you are respressed because you're an introvert with unorthodox tasteI am repressed because I am insanewe are not the same
I would get a hotel IF IT DIDN"T GET BOOKED OUT IN 10mins!!! Some day I will get into colossalcon!
>>10905475Just room with somebody else. CC is the one and only con I know where absolutely no one stays by themselves
>>1090547510 minutes? More like 10 fucking seconds. People have bots that buy that shit up, and I've yet to see someone with rooms open for stragglers. Just get a nearby hotel, one can walk a mile hammered if they have to.
>>10905475You don't actually HAVE to stay at the hotel closest to the convention center, bro. Basically any good one is going to have hotels by the dozen within spitting distance.
>>10900752I'm scared I'll spill my spaghetti
>>10907226Under any other circumstance, I'd agree. With ColossalCon, it's non-negotiable. Sleeping in the parking lot is better than booking off site, especially when (not exaggerating) Holiday Inn is going for $400 a night that weekend
For those struggling to talk with people, I'd strongly recommend the YouTube channel Charisma on Command. This channel has helped me relax, understand social queues I wouldn't understand before, and make friends easier. https://www.youtube.com/@Charismaoncommand
>>10907319Start. Doing. THIS.
>>10907319A lot of it is blatant PUA/self-help tier bullshit but he does make good points.
You can just smell the desperate lonely male energy in this thread. Good lord.
>>10902898yup one of the best parts of cons are the random interactions like that of everyone just having a great time together despite being total strangers. never felt more welcome than at a con and it was because con people were just so awesome to me
>>10904712I wish I could do this, but at this point I have too much of an age gap (31) between me and the average con goer
>>10908957That's never stopped met. turned 32 while at a con this last weekend
>>10908961Me neither another 32 year old.
>>10908957>>10908961>>10908994See, it's no problem if we all go together. Don't let zoomers take over.
>>10908997Zoomers are cool man, ever since I was 18 I partied with dude all the way up their 50s. I show the same respect down.
>>10908997As long as zoomers aren't virtue signalling wokescolds does it matter? There's at least one thirsty nigga who isn't exactly much younger than you doing the male feminist shtick. (ask in the ACEN thread)
>>10900752Every time I come home from a con my friend list gets a little bigger. Especially at photo shoots. I have friends that run con room parties, so that helps. Last con I went to, not only did I meet cool guys, but we might get a presidential suite at ALA so, that’s pretty cool. Joining an online cosplay group was the best way to meet new people.
>>10908957Lmao go to Dragoncon you'll be younger than the average con goer.Though that's also why it's super expensive, bunch of richie rich gen x/boomers coughing up thousands for a weekend trip.
>>10909026yeah i honestly don't understand the weird age segregation thing some people try to push at cons. we were all the 18 year old congoer at one point, and most of us on this board will be the 40-50 year old congoer in a few years. it's just life.though a lot of zoomers do seem to have a nastier attitude about 30+ year old congoers than i remember when i was young. as a teenager i looked up to older con and fandom veterans and wanted to be seen as cool enough to hang out with them. nowadays, too many zoomers act like you're geriatric once you turn 25, and it's frustrating when it bleeds into irl interactions.
>>10910679>though a lot of zoomers do seem to have a nastier attitude about 30+ year old congoers >nowadays, too many zoomers act like you're geriatric once you turn 25They do that with each other too, so I can give them points for consistency but none for being pathetic. It's obviously just an excuse not try anyway
>>10910679>>10909026i think the issue is that zoomers don't like older people. i look younger than i am, i'm only 29 and even older zoomers act like i am 50+ so i don't bother saying my age anymore.
>>10910681I've had a very opposite reaction so it probably just depends on who. One sub-21 zoom was shocked when I told him I was 29 at the con, he was fine with it but I had to block him when he wouldn't stop asking me for nudes. Another 20y/o later I told him I was 30 after he was climbing all over my lap at a rave said he had no idea but still asked me to hang out after con was over.
>>10910671Spoken like someone who knows how to live it up. I'll drink to that. There are so many cons where I'll be disappointed that I ONLY stayed out till 1, ONLY got X many photo ops, ONLY felt 6/10 tipsy. Then I read posts from people here, sometimes even at the same event, who wallow in regret about doing nothing. Is that a representative sample? No, but it does bring me back down to Earth. Even if things don't live up to my expectations, I always try and definitely take more chances than not
>>10900752You'll grow out of it once you hit 30. There's no one worth befriending at anime cons, trust me.
>>10909026Zoomers literally hate anyone above the age of 24 lol I met some in my early 20s like me and they made fun of my 28 year old friend before I told them to fuck off. ALA is the worst with this btw.
>>10910682i should have specified because that's my experience basically with zoomer guys, girls however seem to think they're all shining beauties even though they don't know how the fuck to do makeup.
>>10910751In general, women at cons aren't worth interacting with to befriend or even have friendly conversation with, even as another women. They literally all have superiority complexes, and to be fair, it's not hard to have one when you consider that 95% of the men there are tripping over themselves to find their precious congoing gf. Sometimes you can find normal, funny dudes though.
>>10910671>but we might get a presidential suite at ALA so, that’s pretty cool. Yo, I was planning on trying to hit ALA for the first time this year and I would kill to get that kind of party there, as someone who direly needs more friends and especially more confriends.When you say friend list do you mean like Facebook, Discord, what?
>>1090895734 year old male emergency room nurse checking in. I make 85k a year and also have my side hustles. The older I get the more money and power and experience. I do cheat on my wife sometimes by paying for BJs outside the con but I go solo to cons to be FREE
>>10908957>>10908961>>10908994>>10908997>>10913608>turned 42 this year>still go to cons, dgaf>no plans to stop
>>10913608>I do cheat on my wife sometimeskill yourself
>>10913608paying to who, the streetwalkers that just so happen to be there?
Bumping this thread cause we're getting a bunch of self-pitying /r9k/ type posts again and I'm sick of it>>10913609Exactly.
I got into conventions because my kid. Since she's shy, I have to be that bridge of communication so she can get photos or talk to ppl at booths. Met some cool people tho in the process. I'm finally going to cosplay for this upcoming one we're going to.
>>10914182What cosplay?
How the fuck do you find people who split hotel rooms? I’ve been thinking about going to AX, but I don’t wanna walk around LA at night.
>>10914183She likes Welcome to Demon School, so I'm dressing as Iruma. She's going as some character from a show I've never see
>>10907319>For those struggling to talk with people>This channel has helped me>>10907321>it's blatant self help! what bullshit!
>>10907321just to clarify if you're againt self help you are the worst of the worst.pua stuff is kinda scummy, will give you that, but it does help you understand people and how to talk to people.
>>10914182parent-child cosplays are the cutest most heart-warming things ever.gandalf and hobbits is a good one. i've seen a few people do ash and misty (parents) and pikachu (child).edward elric and alphonse elric would be a good one too.
>>10914203>just to clarify if you're againt self help you are the worst of the worst.This is the kind of shit that gets you obsessed with mewing 24/7
>>10914204I wish she was into pokemon and her mom isn't into cosplay!
>>10900752Such a girl comment. I'm sure guys and other girls will gush to you about their cosplay. For guys striking up conversation it is simply not the same.
>>10914255time to get your kid into pokemon.>her mom isn't into cosplay!i don't understand this, like, it's basically a costume party, dress up, have fun ???? profit.anyways you should have the attitude of doing it for this kid, surely she'd do something fun like that for her own child, right?
>>10914228>>10914228>deriding self help and trolling on an anonymous mongolian basket weaving forumthis is the kind of shit that gets you a successful life and a gf.
>>10914350Please seek legitimate help instead of life advice from tiktoks, anon
>>10914351>fake sympathy and compassionhow very psychopathic of you.I've never used tiktok let alone a smart phone if i can avoid it.
>>10914355Yeah see, this sort of bizarre sensitivity and immediate lashing out demonstrates my point well
>>10914356wow, there's so many degrees of manipulation in there;>"you're just being sensitive, how bizarre, what a crazy random thing to be, there's just like, no reason for your feelings">desperately trying to frame me as the aggressor and yourself as the victimsorry, i was wrong; narcissistic sociopath. I could go on but unlike you i never claimed or pretended to have any sympathy for you. I'm done being trolled now. also my replies aren't really for you btw, they are for other people to see, so they can begin to understand what's wrong with people who deride self help.
>>10914364Get well soon!
>>10914364This reads like something I'd have written years ago. People who refuse to help themselves come in lots of annoying flavors but the malicious ones are easily the worst. It's like being positive is a threat and they have to stamp it out. Sometimes I resist the urge to tell they can suck a shotgun, sometimes not. Either way, better to lead by example than giving these clowns a second thought. The irony isn't lost on me, so best cut myself off there
>>10914364I'm gonna be honest, I don't think "Don't base your life choices around what you hear from youtubers and clickbait articles" is a particularly harsh or exotic sentiment.
>>10910723I'm ((OP) gargling cock btw no homo) almost 40 the fuck are you talking about?
>>10914182>I'm finally going to cosplay for this upcoming one we're going to.based. who you going as. You should work on your costume with your daughter so she can be autistic about making it look good and you can focus more on wearing it and looking like a sick fuark.
>>10914302I'm an nearly 40 yo boomer the fuck are you talking about?
>>10915185Oh so you're delusional. You make people uncomfortable when you speak to them and they're too nice or awkward to tell you to go away
>>10915185imagine being 40 and needing alcohol to interact with people.
>>10915228this is why I don't talk to you and yours. it's also why people let me into the party rooms when I just knock at the door>>10915251need? You know how nerds are usually shy and stuff? by lowering inhibition it makes them less restrictive towards an old fat bald man coming up and saying >wazaaaaaaaaaaaaaahInstead recoiling into a fetal position while blowing their rape whistle, they in turn respond>WAZAAAAAAAPPPP~
>>10910679It's superficial. I'm in my early 30s and just due to looking like I could pass for one of them I've never encountered this type of attitude. I've people who are in their early 20s who get the shoulder though because they look like, well, adults.
>>10910679you can see in real time that zoomers are scared of turning old and take this frustration out on older people
>>10919457Things that definately happened, yea you definately just knocked on doors and were allowed in there with a 25 year age gap between you and everyone else, totally normal thing that happens and is never awkward. Lol.
>>10919617Have you never gone to a multi-fandom convention? Or a science-fiction convention? Or any con but a few weeb cons? Yea that's pretty plausible especially if as the other anon says,*he looks much younger than he actually is*
>>10900752OP must have been druk when he posted this if you know what i mean hehaheh
>interact with con people >realize just how less autistic you are than the average person there
Best thread on the board. Fuck this /r9k/ bullshit. Recently, I tried to escape this r9k mentality by attending cons, and boy, that was a blast. Even though I didn't make a lot of connections due to my lack of experience, I did make some, and that's a huge motivation boost. I'm looking forward to going to the next ones!
>>10920541Hell yeah anon great job! Did you have a cosplay for it?
>>10920562No, not this time. But I'm planning to pick someone from my titlelist for the next small local con!
>>10920541I'm proud of you, anon. I was the same way and all it took was my first con for me to realize I can actually socialization and can improve what I didn't like about myself. A year and a half and several cons and cosplays later and I'm the happiest I've ever been, not entirely thanks to that but definitely in part.
>>10920541I'm in the same boat dude, they have such an insane crabs in a bucket mentality, if I was still listening to them I'd still be alone with no friends but I said fuck it, made my own cosplay, and had the time of my life! I even got invited and went to an afterparty too. /r9k/ users think you need to be some gigachad superhuman to be able to enjoy life and that mindset can be incredibly soul crushing if you're insecure about your appearance, yet if you take even remotely any amount of your appearance as a guy you're easily in the top 20% of men at the con. It's honestly so surreal to actually be approached by people who want to talk to you and take pictures with you
Age is a limiting factor. As someone who has tried to put himself out there in cons for years, the cliques are *very* hard to break into. Maybe it's just worse in Canada like everything else idk
>>10920945yeah it kinda is, especially with the enclaves that people form. example: chinese people usually only hang out within their group
>>10920945>the cliques are *very* hard to break intoI want to hear it straight from people who were going to cons in the 00s-early 10s, were there cliques back then too? This shit feels like I'm in high school again in a bad way
>>10920971They did but they were much looser and more open. The onslaught of social media whoring has made cosplay since the 2020s (socially at least). It's like nowadays people see "asking for a photo" as an admission of submission, it's weird.Plus with the rise of e-whoring (for men and women) the need to actually be social is considerably lowered.
Anyone going to HazardCon in PA?
Something that can really make or break a con for me is the balancing act between with tismos and "normal" interactions (quotation marks since they're weird for the standards of true normalfags). Too much tism, I'm annoyed and drained. Too much neurotypical behavior, I get bored. Get some of both, I'm hype from start to finish. The best experiences have some of each but rarely hit the sweet spot
austin comic con coming up in a month so i'm in this mood again LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO>>10921205oh shit i hadn't heard about it until now but am in pa, would you recommend?
>>10900752I've been going to conventions, 4chan meetups, arcades, dances, and all that for over 15 years. I've never talked to a soul outside of a terse conversation or request for a photo. Someone in a chatroom told me that wasn't what all these were intended for a couple months ago. I was shocked, but I don't think I'm going to change anything since I'm still very awkward with initiating conversations, and I generally annoy people in my age group because my knowledge is so far removed from theirs
>>10920541I hope you start to budget for the big cons near you so you can have a room to be cozy in and go visit strangers and add them on shit for the next con just to hang out and be chill with frens. Love this shit. Otakon is coming up and I always consider getting a hotel room but there are rarely big room parties like some other conventions it's usually some lame sponsored party at a nearby bar where people don't even drink and just go for an hour to sit before leaving.
>>10920971Not that I noticed. There were people who went as groups and stuff but that was when there was JUST ACEN. Or whatever area had one or 2 anime cons per year. When people were saving for just those few cons.It was easier to move around and stuff and people weren't going around in groups. Well *I* wasn't.
I love hanging at cons alone. Like meet up with friend for a short while but than disband after a while to stroll alone. Its just more relaxing that way and u can focus on your own interests.
For anyone wondering "Why should I talk to people when I won't see them more than a couple times a year?", go to the area of vendor hall where people are shilling other cons in the area. There's almost a 100% chance one or two will also run weekly / monthly anime related events
>>10922777>"Why should I talk to people when I won't see them more than a couple times a year?"agree with your post, but also this is a positive imo. you can have friends to go back to and catch up with at cons, and most of the time you don't even have to keep in contact the rest of the year. a lot of people don't really care about "friendship maintenance," you can just show up and be best friends for 72 hours
You're all based, so fucking based. Hope all of you are still going strong,Hope the best for all of you, see you at AX24
Music is the great uniting force, it's an instant way to show who is or isn't feeling the mood. And to that end, is my trusty JBL speaker. Put out the call, watch how everyone reacts>Heads bob in passing>That one's really cool, I like it>Hanging around to participate>If you like X song, how bout similar Y song next?Hell, even the normans who aren't there for a con at all want in on it sometimes. Not everyone takes to this of course>TURN THAT SHIT DOWNUnfortunately they're always above healthy body weights, and I can only see that pattern so many times before putting two and two together. Either way...it saves me a lot of time in knowing who is or isn't worth talking to>Making noise is rudeI practice what i preach. If you've got your own speaker, and it's playing stuff I hate but other people like it, go right on with your bad self
>It's the only time you don't have to suppress your powerlevelYes and no. There are times when I feel real good about not being an autistic double agent, and I don't have to hide my interest and it's great a feeling to be amongst like minded people, however. Not a lot of people these days hide their powerlevel and proudly have their anime stickers everywhere and always wear animu clothing. However that is not a bad thing. Just a sign of the times changing. Godspeed OP
>>10907390im sure someone will love you femcel-chan
>>10908957I'm 31 and I only started going to cons in the last 4 years or so.Plenty of zoomers asked for pictures of my costume at the last con I went to. It's not weird unless you make it weird.
i don't cosplay and i go to cons will people start conversations with me or the other way around?
>>10928088You need to have a reason for people to talk to you or be interested in you. Cosplay is a good way to do that. Or be a photographer as an in to initiate conversation.
>>10914182I've been considering taking my daughter to her first convention at the end of the month. It'd be less cosplaying on our part and more just letting her look at other people dressed up - she's 2 years old and loves people watching and well behaved in crowds (obviously if I did this I'd stick to wandering the halls with her by me/in my arms at all times, no panels or anything). Is this a bad idea? I'm on the fence about it so it's not a big deal if so.
>>10928088You must initiate if you have no cosplay.If you have a cosplay, and if its good, you can walk around saying nothing while people tell you how good you look.
Something necessary if a bit hypocritical: when you see any of the following posts DO NOT engage or take at face value>No one makes friends at conventions anymore>You have no chance of ever getting laid / with anyone who isn't ugly>People are always so cold / only wanna talk for a minute>Everyone will avoid you unless you're with a groupAll either demoralizing types who never go outside, or more likely, a total skill issue that's being cast as some hard universal truth
>>10928769Most of these things seem like universal truths in the Canadian cons that I've went to. People are just cold to me. Guess its the autism, noone wants to add a socially retarded male to the group. I do try though
