And here I thought it was just Anthrocon.
http://unconventional.trhonline.com/2010/08/the-early-bird-stands-in-line/
To note, we had someone in line for On-Site Registration at 9am on Thursday when registration began at 2pm. Five hours early.
this was my first con ever and my badge was my primary concern. i got in line 2 hours before on site reg opened on thursday, and i'm glad i did. by the time on site opened the line was four times longer, my line wait was just an hour. not too bad in my opinion
If you are coming again in 2011, by all means Pre-register! And then, wait...spend a little time walking around Pittsburgh, or familiarising yourself with the locations of the event space in the DLCC and the Westin, or get yourself a nice, leisurely lunch at a sit-down place, where you don't have to unwrap the food...
...And after Registration has been up and running for about 2 hours, then come back and get in the pre-registered badge-pickup line. Even if you just register for a simple "attending" membership rather than a premium one (the Sponsor or SuperSponsor level), the waiting line of people who are pre-reg should by then be sustantially reduced, especially compared to the on-site registration line, so you may wait for upwards of 15 minutes or so - and this beats wasting time as immobile as a paperweight for two hours, followed by another hour of tedium, time which you could spend looking up old friends, and making new ones, and exploring.
Vulpes indeed speaks it accurately. There are, generally speaking, more enjoyable things to do in Pittsburgh before 2pm (noon for Pre-reg) than stand in an unmoving line. There are museums within walking distance, people you can have a good lunch with at local fine restaurants, it's a grand city to explore.
Once registration opens, the line starts getting shorter, until eventually there are no lines. The 'head start' you get by being ahead in line is more than lost by the time you spend waiting for opening. Anthrocon programming starts fairly late Thursday, and in Pittsburgh, we've never failed to empty the Pre-reg lines before any events begin, nor to have reduced the wait to under a half-hour in the On-site line by that time.
Unless you really enjoying standing in lines that do not move, it's best to not arrive until Registration opens, and a little bit after the initial push makes for a shorter waiting time.
well, that's the thing, i didn't have anything better to do. i had just gotten there about a half hour before and the people i was rooming with weren't going to get there until sometime around five. that and i know next to nothing about pittsburgh so if there was something more interesting to do i wasn't aware of it
...i didn't have anything better to do...i know next to nothing about pittsburgh so if there was something more interesting to do i wasn't aware of it
Okay, this explains things - after a fashion - and I suspect that a whole lotta furry fans would probably concede the same thing, if asked.
Perhaps I should write up a Con Report - or, more importantly, a topic about "What to do if you've NEVER BEEN HERE before; or, How to Explore a New Place from your hotel", though I suspect too many would see it as a "Wall O' Text" and not bother reading it.
Still - in your case, FangFox, I'm compelled to ask - was it native timidity? A lack of understanding about Convention Procedures, and thus a fear of Doing the Wrong Thing, and willing to endure wasted time to ensure success at Doing The Right Thing? Or were you not the least bit curious about the strange city surrounding you?
This isn't a personal criticism, rather I'd just like to know; I suspect a few hundred other people probably reacted (or will react) the same way, for the same reasons, and if there are steps that we can take to correct it, it would make the whole experience that much more pleasant (and for Pittsburgh, more profitable) for everyone involved.
Maybe just a list of "Things to do on Thursday before Registration opens". We should alert the Toonseum to expect a crowd!
I remember when I first started going to SF cons -- I attended Worldcons in Boston, Chicago and Orlando and didn't explore those cities, partially because there was so much to do at the Worldcon itself. A few years ago I went to the Worldcon in Toronto and arrived a day early, so I took a tour of the CN Tower, which was within walking distance of the hotel.
Pittsburgh has plenty of cool attractions, maybe we can get some volunteers to organize meetups to go to the Toonseum, the zoo, Point State Park, the inclined railways, etc.
(BTW Vulpes, the trick with walls-o-text is to break it up into bite-sized pieces. Frankly, anyone who's rude enough to comment "tl;dr" is being a jerk, and I'll just make a mental note that they're not worth helping any more. If someone takes the time to write a detailed reply to your question, you owe them the courtesy of your attention for a few minutes to read it.)
well, this was the first time i had been anywhere by myself. i knew about the con procedures and when everything started, i had roughly planned everything out before i even left my house (i say roughly because i didn't want to be real anal about my time management). i have absolutely no social life, no license, and no car. so i don't really go anywhere for any particular reason. soooo i didn't really know what to do and am super afraid of awkward situations, so much that i couldn't even bring myself to hug the suiters.
well, this was the first time i had been anywhere by myself...i have absolutely no social life, no license, and no car. so i don't really go anywhere for any particular reason. soooo i didn't really know what to do and am super afraid of awkward situations, so much that i couldn't even bring myself to hug the suiters.
Ahh - I think I finally begin to understand the situation.
This was very much uncharted ground for you; an endeavour rather full of uncertainties, so much so that they threatened to overwhelm the adventure of the thing, perhaps wondering how you would feel and react, and how others would react to you. This situation I can understand well.
It took some courage for you to make the trip.
...And you are so outgoing and seemingly self-assured here in the forums, yet for every one like you, there are probably a couple (or several) dozen who are not so poised and willing to take risks. I begin to realise just how large a problem this must be, and how many convention attendees must face it each year.
Well...I hope that the aftermath of the AnthroCon experience was rewarding enough for you to attempt to repeat the experiment - perhaps even attend other Conventions in far-away places?
*****
And again - I apologise if it seemed like I was singling you out, focusing on your particular -and apparently not unique - situation. I faced sort of the same thing last year, when I made a trip to a small town in what was until 20 years ago, Soviet-occupied Germany, and didn't even have the benefit of being able to communicate with anyone, until I actually got to the convention - and even then, felt terribly out-of-place, wondering for the first whole day if I hadn't made a horrible mistake - but was reassured by the friendly convention staff, the warm and accomdating hotel staff, even the townsfolk who suddenly became enthusiastic when I showed them my Con Badge and they realised that I was one of those "Furries" from up at the Ringberg - and a few hours of pleasant conversation and reassuring wisdom from a couple of parents who made the trip from America, with their son...And in a couple weeks, I will repeat the trip and the experience, but this time, I'll be truly looking forward to it.
For my first Anthrocon, wayyyy back in the olden days of 2001, I just found people and started blithering on like I always do! 
However, unlike Kage's blithering, mine tends to involve meteorology, microbiology, genetics, and other sorts of boring science things that resulting in people getting glassy-eyed and slumping unconscious to the floor after about 4 hours on my non-stop nerd banter!
After which I use their bodies for experiments... >:3
These are most likely to be first-timers, or local people with nothing else to do; but everyone, even total convention neophytes, realises that sooner or later, they will have to get that badge, which means waiting in line - and 'tis better to miss lunch (or breakfast) than to miss dinner or a dance.