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Booze + Weed = …Bees?
Dec. 3rd, 2023 09:55 pmSunday night, the con is over except for the dead dog(s), and the lobby and elevator smell powerfully of booze and weed. Behind me, some kid is bragging about the fact that he’s drunk so much vodka that he can’t taste alcohol any more. I feel like I’m in the margin of a triptych by Hieronomous Bosch. >.>
Nothing new about any of that, except for the prominence and vehemence. I feel like being in a “post-COVID”* environment has cranked the PARTY YOUR BRAINS OUT tendencies inherent to people in the 16-25 range up to 11, and I just keep having visions of the “roaring ‘20s.”
So how was the con? I haven’t done an actual breakdown of the numbers, but my gut instinct is that I pretty much broke even on the financial front. But being here has had more intangible benefits, in the form of getting attention to my work (and at least one new Patreon subscriber), giving me ideas for how to boost my visibility (and hopefully sales) at Anthrocon, and of course networking with friends and fans.
Socially, more of a mixed bag. I did get to have some nice chats with old friends, and to share a little more connection with newer friends, but I still ended up spending quite a lot of time lurking alone. Without a cohesive “crowd” to hang with, it’s a matter of catching who you can, when you can—in a convention of 15,000 people spread across five hotels and a convention center. Many of the people I would once hang out with have just stopped coming, or are on the staff and are generally on their way somewhere in the odd moments you bump into them. XD
So? Not the best MFF by far, but not the worst, either. I need to work on cultivating friends (as always) and finding where the communities are—people have got to be connecting SOMEWHERE!
In the meantime, for all the noise and activity still going on, I’ve been working all weekend and I’m pretty tired; I think I may head for dreamland. G’nite world, and have an awesome tomorrow.
-TG
-TG
*We are not post-COVID. But lots of people want to believe we are, and lots of other people are happy to let them believe that to keep the money flowing.
Nothing new about any of that, except for the prominence and vehemence. I feel like being in a “post-COVID”* environment has cranked the PARTY YOUR BRAINS OUT tendencies inherent to people in the 16-25 range up to 11, and I just keep having visions of the “roaring ‘20s.”
So how was the con? I haven’t done an actual breakdown of the numbers, but my gut instinct is that I pretty much broke even on the financial front. But being here has had more intangible benefits, in the form of getting attention to my work (and at least one new Patreon subscriber), giving me ideas for how to boost my visibility (and hopefully sales) at Anthrocon, and of course networking with friends and fans.
Socially, more of a mixed bag. I did get to have some nice chats with old friends, and to share a little more connection with newer friends, but I still ended up spending quite a lot of time lurking alone. Without a cohesive “crowd” to hang with, it’s a matter of catching who you can, when you can—in a convention of 15,000 people spread across five hotels and a convention center. Many of the people I would once hang out with have just stopped coming, or are on the staff and are generally on their way somewhere in the odd moments you bump into them. XD
So? Not the best MFF by far, but not the worst, either. I need to work on cultivating friends (as always) and finding where the communities are—people have got to be connecting SOMEWHERE!
In the meantime, for all the noise and activity still going on, I’ve been working all weekend and I’m pretty tired; I think I may head for dreamland. G’nite world, and have an awesome tomorrow.
-TG
-TG
*We are not post-COVID. But lots of people want to believe we are, and lots of other people are happy to let them believe that to keep the money flowing.
