Heading over tomorrow for the weekend. First time going, expectations are tempered since it isn't a party con but looking forward to it. Will be doing Touhou cos.

Attending for the first time. How does everyone like it? Cosplaying with gf, Steins Gate then The Witch and the Beast later Friday.

Also first time going, I'll be Corazon from One Piece.

Do any of you plan on going to any events or panels in particular? I have been to this convention several times before, but I always feel that I go to less panels than I should, and as a result I do not really speak to anybody and just walk around the convention for several hours before leaving.

>>10969282
I'm here now by myself. A friend bailed on me and left my backup cosplay shit high and dry and couldn't get my Grey knight armor finished. I wanted to try to find a girlfriend. Instead I am here alone and have no cosplay as a conversation starter. Shit sucks. I'm just walking around and doing random shit. Might leave early.

>>10969234
Going tomorrow with a couple of my buddies as Kamille Bidan from Zeta Gundam.
This is my second time. The masquerade was pretty fun last time so I’ll probably be going to that again.

>>10969288
That is unfortunate to hear. Did the friend give any reason for why they left or never went to the convention to begin with? I do not cosplay at all and have no desire to, but you had props you could still as a conversation starter? I assume by "Grey Knights", you are referring to the space Marines from Warhammer: 40k, that seems as though that armor would be rather involved to actually make. I don't really know what would help in this circumstance.

>I wanted to try to find a girlfriend.

I gave up on that sort of thing when it comes to conventions a while ago. I understand the concept behind it fairly well, but it seems to be a case wherein to be successful on that front the common advice seems to be both actively look for that kind of relationship but also refrain from making any active effort to intentionally pursue a relationship at all. It seems rather contradictory, but I have no experience there at all.

>Shit sucks. I'm just walking around and doing random shit. Might leave early.

That's been the pattern for me at conventions generally. Again, there seems to two sets of advice people give out about social gatherings, which both seem to immediately contradict each other. You both need to have friends beforehand to make the convention worthwhile, but also a convention is a place for meeting friends if you do not have any. For my part, I usually walk around for several hours and then leave, and I will do this for both days I attend the convention.

>>10969298
Yeah either go with friends or have a cool cosplay. And desu the gf thing is a stab in the dark. Dating apps are a shit show so figured might as well try to go.

>>10969267
Following up: having fun so far even if I passed out early last night. Tellus was too packed for my liking though. Doing Touhou today so uhhh say hi I guess.

>>10969311
Yukari?

>>10969315
Nah, Meiling. Is there a Yukari around?

>>10969234
This is the thing in Lancaster PA right? I always forget about it and this time I ended up remembering and checking it out today. It seems cool, but I guess I need to dress up to get more out of it since I end up going solo.

>>10969234
>>10969288
Update:didn't get a girlfriend, was miserable by myself entire time. Didn't even bother to go Today.

>>10969234

It's a small cheap con. Really good bang for buck.

It plays well to get there on Thursday and then start talking to people early/mid Friday. They typically will have a formal dance (ball), informal dance (rave), and a networking event on Friday. So you can make plans with people to go to those events. Saturday also has a informal dance (rave) but by this time a lot of people have already formed their clique for the weekend.

For a small con it has a decent party scene. The bunny girls do come out at night and want to party.

>>10969316
Did you have a bag with a pin featuring Yuki from Mayonaka Punch on it? If that is the case, then I saw you at the convention. If I you were in fact the person that I saw, then I must admit being surprised that I actually witnessed somebody else that posted here in the real world.

>>10969353

>It plays well to get there on Thursday and then start talking to people early/mid Friday.

This sounds as though it is good advice. This has been my fourth time going to this convention, and although I enjoy the time I spend at the convention, I have only had one instance where I had a conversation with anyone that lasted more than perhaps one to three minutes at the absolute maximum. Zenkaikon was my first anime convention, and I distinctly remember feeling very anxious about going to the convention even after driving all the way to the convention center. I was anxious to the degree that I stayed in my car for probably thirty minutes just trying to build up the courage to walk into the convention center because I was afraid of how "weird" it might be, despite being an anime fan my entire life.

After the first time I made it into the convention, the anxiety around attending conventions dissipated, but I still feel a latent anxiety and discomfort around actually maintaining or initiating conversations with people. It often does not manifest itself as actual nervousness or trepidation, although sometimes that is still the case. At this point, I think I often dismiss opportunities to speak to people entirely if I feel that I do not have a chance of maintaining a conversation with them, and so as a result I perhaps feel less directly anxious than I was initially, but only because I already dismissed many social interactions that could cause anxiety. Because of that tendency to dismiss potential chances to interact with others at a convention in the first place, the conversations that I do have with others never really go beyond one to three questions about somebody's cosplay at the absolute most.

Perhaps I should go to this networking event the next time I go to Zenkaikon, as my current strategy for talking to people always turns into walking around the convention by myself for hours until I leave, and that does not appear to be working.

>>10969356
Oh shit yeah that was me, sup.
>If I you were in fact the person that I saw, then I must admit being surprised that I actually witnessed somebody else that posted here in the real world.
Desu I'm more surprised at someone recognizing MayoPan in the wild, haha. I have a Fu pin on that bag too.

>>10969359
start drinking (doesn't have to be alcohol) and hang out at the hotel bars adjacent to the convention center at night