What's it like at Bronycon? · 6:38am Feb 26th, 2019
With Season 9 wrapping up G4 and 2019's being the last Bronycon, it looks like it's as good a time as any to actually go to one of these.
However, given that flying all the way to that side of the planet is going to be a pretty heavy investment, not to mention all the potential on-site spending that's going to occur, I'm left wondering whether it's going to be worthwhile. I'd be going alone, so I won't have pre-made friends with me to automatically make it a better experience.
Is there like a Fimfic subsection of Bronycon? I figure that'd probably be a good starting point, at least. Would be cool to put faces to all the names around here.
The last thing I want to do is end up wandering around aimlessly and alone for a couple of days. On the other hoof, it doesn't help that I'm also not the most outgoing kind of guy, so I have no idea how I'm going to fare in an environment full Friendship is Magic fans who may or may not take the show's message very seriously.
Heck, there's probably a 50-50 chance I'd be standing around all day looking like this:
On another note, do people typically put their real names or their internet names on their badges? Do they actually refer to one another by their online names most of the time?
This will also be my first and only trip to Bronycon, although the trip will only be across the country. If you need a person to hang out with I volunteer, I also don't have any friends on the east coast. From my experience going to Everfree Northwest most people put their internet names on their badges, as far as the names for referring to one another it depends.
There's a writer's den known as Quills and Sofas, a modest conference room with a bunch of roundtables and chairs. In the two BronyCons I've been at, RobCakeran or Admiral Biscuit have brought these ancient half-broken-down typewriters for people to make like Jack Kerouac with and furiously pound away at. And usually a half-dozen or more fan writing centric panels scattered through the program.
Have not been to the any of the PonyCons but at most cons I have been involved with, folks use the name that most other attendees will recognise and I would expect that for you that will most likely be your online handle. If you are not going with prepackaged friends then I guess most people there will most likely know you as Raugos, the writer of That Changeling is a Pony/Bad OC or for those who have been around longer, The One Who Writes About Durians and Night Guards. At the Cons I have been to, most attendees will have badges with their online names and refer to each other by online names unless they know each other personally and then they may mix it up between online and real life names.
If you decide to go, I hope you have a good time and don't be afraid to say "Hi" to the other authors and attendees you recognise by name, most will be friendly as long as you don't try to monopolise their time or butt in on personal conversations. Look for the sessions/panels that some of the folks you'd like to catch up with might be a part of and then you'll know what they look like in case you see them out and about later. MitchH has also mentioned a good spot to bump into some of the real 'character' type authors, the Quills and Sofas space. That is an area where the common denominator of being a writer will be a bit of an icebreaker.
As one who is also not that outgoing it can be a little daunting but remember to circulate, attend panels and gather up your courage when you see one of the names you recognise... you may be surprised to find that they may be just as nervous about meeting people they do not know.
I sort of ended up volunteering at the first Con I went to. It was a new Con that I quickly saw needed some help and, as I had experience in a few fields, I just said "It looks like you are having a couple issues, do you want a hand?"... 9 Cons later, I still more or less am the Reg Desk every year. You never know what can happen. ;-)
Quills and Sofas is where you want to be. It's nothing mind-blowing, but it's a space for the fanfic folk to call their own, and is often host to impromptu discussions, writing challenges, or board games like Secret Hitler.
As somebody who fit into your shoes all too well a short time ago, let me pass a few quick pieces of advice.
- Take a cab from the airport to the hotel and back. The train is an... experience. Baltimore is not the nicest place. Cab fare is capped, and can be charged to a credit card while en route, including a tip. Give the guy a couple bucks cash anyway. He's got a tough job.
-Baltimore airport sucks. Get there early.
-If you have a smartphone, get the Adblock browser and hit the Flightaware.com website. it tells you when your plane is going to show, where it is right now, all the wonderful things you need to know, only with enough popups to drive you nuts if you don't run Adblock.
- Introduce yourself to just about everybody. With luck, you'll get at least one "It's you! We're not worthy! We're not worthy!" moment.
- Use your Fimfiction name. Honestly, I only know *one* of you guys by your real name.
-Don't shake hands very often (con crud avoidance) Wash your hands every chance you get.
-Feel free to geek out over the guests, other writers, artists you love, and make sure you have space to take back all the swag you buy. The *hardest* part to pack for me was the sticks in the wall hangings. They don't fit inside any luggage, and the airport peeps look at them funny if you carry them. You may consider just leaving the sticks with the artists and buying new sticks through Amazon.
Joining the crowd boosting Quills and Sofas. It's a fanfic convention-within-a-convention, with probably about … 150 to 200? … people to meet total (maybe 30-50 at any given time) instead of the 8000+ outside. It's VERY easy to spend your entire weekend in there and still have a great time! Just plan to park yourself there and wander out into the wider world when you want food, souvenirs, concerts, or panels. Usually, you can join roving packs of authors to go do those things and still be hanging out with people whose names you recognize.
Hello; Georg asked people to come encourage you to go (that's why I'm here), so hopefully that's already helping with the being alone part. :)
"Is there like a Fimfic subsection of Bronycon? I figure that'd probably be a good starting point, at least. Would be cool to put faces to all the names around here."
There's Quills and Sofas, a hangout room in the convention center that probably fits that pretty well, aye. :)
"On the other hoof, it doesn't help that I'm also not the most outgoing kind of guy, so I have no idea how I'm going to fare in an environment full Friendship is Magic fans who may or may not take the show's message very seriously."
Hm. Well, on the one hand, my personal experience has been that those differences and problems seem to mostly fall away for the convention, and there's a great feeling of togetherness. And last year, I actually ended up attending a wedding held at the convention, for instance.
However, I know that there have been incidents, and that my personal experience is only a limited slice of the whole of the con. So I'd say that it's quite possible for you to avoid those sorts of issues, if I'm understanding you correctly, but also not guaranteed.
(Though it sounds like you might be able to get off to a good start just by finding Georg, who was already interested enough in you having a good time to point people at this blog post. :))
"On another note, do people typically put their real names or their internet names on their badges? Do they actually refer to one another by their online names most of the time?"
It varies a bit, I think, but I believe I recall online names predominating.
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Yeah, the typewriters are neat (though I still feel a bit guilty for accidentally hitting one of the levers too hard last year while trying one out, even though I don't think it was damaged).
I usually have my online name along with my actual name . And definitely come to Sofas and Quills! All the really cool kids hang out there. Still haven't figured out why they let me stay. And if you need someone to show you around or team up with, you can always talk to me, if you don't mind hanging out with someone in a kilt!
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Quills and Sofas, got it, thanks! Probably gonna make that my anchor point in the con if I go.
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I'll keep that in mind. Also, kilts are cool. Literally, too, I imagine.
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Thanks for the info. I'm still not totally sold on going to the con, but I'll keep that in mind.
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Yeah, I figured. I don't see myself going quite as far as volunteering for the con, but I'll definitely try to get out of my comfort zone.
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That much of an issue, huh? Okay, duly noted.
How early are we talking? I'm used to reaching airports at least 3-4 hours before the advertised flight time.
Are we talking the poop on seats or getting harassed by strangers kind of experience? I'm also not white, so now I'm concerned if foreigners are more likely to be targeted for whatever reason.
I was planning on flying to JFK Airport and taking Amtrak to Baltimore. If I didn't miscalculate, it'll save me something like 350 USD as opposed to flying directly to Baltimore, and potentially more than that depending on how much a cab ride costs.
Any idea what the typical cab fare is? It'll help with my calculations. Is it metered or an agreed-upon fare at pickup?
Do I have to worry about distinguishing between airport-sanctioned cabs and outsider cabs? In some countries, getting into the 'wrong' cab can get you gouged for ridiculous rates.
Duly noted with the tip advice. US tipping etiquette in general scares me, though. Gonna be deathly afraid of making a faux pas in public.
5020533 (squint) It looks like $35 from BWI airport to the Inner Harbor area where the convention is, but since you're coming in by Amtrak, that shouldn't be a thing. As far as I know from my vast experience of only one taxi ride on the East coast in my life, any of the taxis at the airport stand should be real taxis. I have no idea about Ubers, since I've never used one. I live in Kansas. I own a car. I think Amtrak to the convention center is going to be better that what we went through. I'll go post that on my blog. it's worth the worst case laugh-at-Georg experience.
Con crud is a thing. Thousands of bacterial cultures from all over the world get together at conventions to have wild and crazy whoopie with their hosts. Simply washing your hands and trying not to touch your face (as you should anyway) helps, but there's no guarantee. Lemmie go post on my blog.
Don't sweat tipping. You should tip, you're not going to get dissed by not tipping, and some of these people really, really need it. (Serving staff positions get paid sub-minimum wage, and should make it up on tips) Ten percent is good, fifteen is nice. I always pay my tab with a credit card and leave cash for the tip, but that's just me. I'm a horrible house-mouse. Until about two years ago, I didn't even know you're supposed to tip the hotel staff by leaving some money in the hotel room when you leave. (and a thank-you note on the stationary)
I only attended once in 2014, and I spent most of my time with the gophers (volunteer staff) as theyvd become my friends by the end of it (even though I'd gone with friends).
I live near B-more and will be staying in the area for the con. If you see me around I'll pretend to be extraverted to help you meet people.
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Thanks for the offer, I'll keep that in mind.
I'm not sure what "experience" Georg had on the train, but my experience of the light rail from BWI to the convention center was quite smooth and uneventful every time I've taken it.
You're definitely a name I'd like to put a face to. I hope you decide to come.
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I'll say the Light Rail IMO is fine, I've used it for years going to/from BC, and it will save you a ton of money. Mostly if you aren't used to using public transit it's kinda disorienting the first 1-2 times, but if you are the only real challenge is just figuring out how to get tickets the first time.
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I'd say a couple bits for this as I travel a lot:
1. If you care about money, use the Light Rail, cause it's like $2-3 instead of 10 times that. If you really want the private ride, download and use Lyft - it should save you money relative to a cab and you can probably split fare with other people going to the con if you time it right.
2. This may be different areas but I've always heard tipping is '10% if eh, 15% normal, 20%+ good' in regards to how you feel. 15% is always a safe number.
Anyways I dunno, I kinda sorta am one of the people in charge of this crazy thing so if you have any questions feel free to PM me though I'm bad about checking fimfic constantly these days - finding me on Discord is a safer bet :>
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I'm not too sure if my potential travel plan will involve the light rail, since I might be landing at a different airport, but thanks for the pointers.
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Since the light rail makes many stops other than the airport and the convention center, I would not be surprised if there's a stop near the Amtrak station. Your best bet would be visiting the website for the light rail and finding a map of its routes. Also, yes, Quills and Sofas is an absolutely amazing room to hang out in, and I'm not even a writer, though I didn't get to spend hardly any time there last year. Most of my time was spent in Hall of the Sun since, well, that was my job. Also, hi! I'm Eagle, BC staffer, one of the Hall of the Sun room managers, and host of Stable Geniuses, the official BC podcast. I highly, highly recommend attending the Grand Galloping Gala, as it is so much more than just a dance, it's also a show in and of itself that the crew works so hard to put on. As for getting from the Amtrak station to the BCC, let me know if you decide to use the light rail and what time you're coming in, and I'd be glad to ride out to meet you and get you to the BCC. Or, I can shanghai a friend with a car and pick you up, though both would depend on what time you end up arriving. And, as Morning Sun said, feel free to ask me questions! I can also be found under this same username on Discord. And, by the by, have you joined the official BronyCon server over there? It's a great place filled with attendees, staff, and other fans, and has a room for ridesharing where you could possibly arrange to meet with a group ahead of time.
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I'm not completely sold on it yet, but I suppose it won't hurt to take a look anyway if I'm there.
Oh wow, thank you for the generosity. I don't have any solid plans yet, but I'll keep you in mind if I do need assistance.
Didn't know there was such a thing. Can't say for sure if I'll join in, that'll depend on how my plans looks once I start booking stuff.
Thank you for the tips!
My personal advice is to play it safe and spend your wealth on something low risk you know will pay off. Travelling halfway around the world isn’t cheap, much less for something like this.
And meeting your heroes removes the mystique. That’s not something I am for. Keeping some elements such as what they look like is something I won’t encourage.
I hope this doesn’t come off as an order. Of course, if you’re loaded, do what you will.
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Fair enough. These are all things worth considering.
Not sure if this is still helpful, but I went to my first Bronycon 2 years ago, and it was a blast, despite me not being all that sociable IRL or on this site. It is really easy to slide your way into whatever group of fimfictioners happen to be around, and it is a great opportunity to strike up interesting conversations with random people.
Also, try to do a room share. Not only for the sake of saving money, but it is also a great way of having at least one point of contact in the con.
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Thanks for the encouragement and tips. It's much appreciated.