Originally posted by Fyord
I wish I could go, but I don't live anywhere near the area.
Let the record stand that there are quite a few people I'd be down to hang out with from SMWC on the eastern side of North America. But, meet-ups can have so many logistical issues that can really make it almost too complicated to do. Such as:
- Where are you going to stay if coming from out of town? Are you okay crashing on a couch with someone you probably just met in real life?
- Food is expensive. I mean, look, it has to be said. Do you have the budget to buy meals out?
- And I mean...what are you going to do if you meet up with someone? Talk about that one time you posted in a discussion thread? Play Super Mario World (I mean you have to, right? We're SMW Central!)? What if you meet someone and you don't get along (people's personalities could be different in real life, maybe more awkward, more introverted, etc.)?
I really don't want to come across as the negative cynic. I would love to travel and meet new people (within some degree of limits, obviously). I just feel like there could be so many issues with meet-ups.
Let the record stand that there are quite a few people I'd be down to hang out with from SMWC on the eastern side of North America. But, meet-ups can have so many logistical issues that can really make it almost too complicated to do. Such as:
- Where are you going to stay if coming from out of town? Are you okay crashing on a couch with someone you probably just met in real life?
- Food is expensive. I mean, look, it has to be said. Do you have the budget to buy meals out?
- And I mean...what are you going to do if you meet up with someone? Talk about that one time you posted in a discussion thread? Play Super Mario World (I mean you have to, right? We're SMW Central!)? What if you meet someone and you don't get along (people's personalities could be different in real life, maybe more awkward, more introverted, etc.)?
I really don't want to come across as the negative cynic. I would love to travel and meet new people (within some degree of limits, obviously). I just feel like there could be so many issues with meet-ups.
These are good points.
Another idea might be to meetup at a gaming/media convention or event. That way, you have other stuff to do incase you're unable to meet up with fellow SMWC members. For example, a friend of mine has been wanting me to go to PAX East with him for a while. I'd definitely be up to meeting SMWC members if they happened to be there, and if for some reason it didn't work out, at least we're at a big event and I've still got my friend to hang out with.
It is a fun idea. Now that I think about it, though, there could be issues as others have mentioned, especially when meeting people you don't even really know. I've met one SMWC member but we had talked for several years outside of the site, including Skype video chatting and texting on a semi-regular basis, so we really got to know each other, and that helped make things much easier when we finally met face to face.