i have been seriously considering going. i've never been and i hear it's really great. Things have been klind of weird in my neck of the woods lately, but i think this could cheer me up a bit. have you been before?
I've been to all of them, actually - including the first one. This will be the 18th. There have been a lot of changes over the years.
Arisia was the first convention I ever went to, and it's the only one I attend regularly. I've done so many things at the con; participated in the amateur video contest (and won a few prizes), helped stairflight with a costume in the Masquerade (which is the big costume contest on Saturday night), danced (and bought a full set of formal wear just to dance at the con, once a year), run roleplaying games, played LARPs, done a seminar or two, been on well over a hundred panels...
The con itself is extremely varied. There's an amazing variety of stuff, things to appeal to almost anyone. There's costuming, of course; panels on any subject you can imagine, including LiveJournal itself; an art show, a huge dealer's room, 24-hour movies, video, and anime, filking, games (RPG, LARP, card, and other), dances, music...it's a round-the-clock convention running (this year) over 72 hours straight. Usually one or two floors of the hotel itself are rented out room by room to dealers, who sell books, tapes, DVDs, weapons, posters, CDs, costumes, corsets, leatherwear, jewelry, and all sorts of cool science-fiction toys. Of course guests of the con include science fiction and fantasy authors, scientists, game designers, etc.
Unlike some cons, Arisia is fan-run - that is, it's not put on by a big for-profit corporation. It's chaotic at times, because it's not "professional". But it's very friendly, open, and fun.
The downside: the current hotel is simply too small. The previous hotel - where the majority of Arisias were held - was much better-suited to the con. But for some reason they refused to allow the con back, and it's hard to find a Boston hotel large enough to host the con. There are usually 2,000 or more attendees, by the way.
Another downside is cost. If you want to get a pass for the whole con - Friday through Monday - the cost now is $60! And there's no guarantee that there will be any weekend memberships available when the con starts next week. There may be single-day passes sold at the door which are cheaper, but even those may sell out quickly, or not be available at all if the hotel is too crowded.
If you do go for one day only, I'd suggest going on Saturday - that's the high point of the con. But go early in the day, because there may not be any passes available.
In my experience, the best way to experience the con is by getting a hotel room. But that's quite expensive. Con-goers get a discount rate, but the cost is around $120 per night for three nights - and there are hefty taxes and fees on top of that. Add on the cost of parking and food, and you're probably looking at $500 or so.
On the other hand, there's nothing like dressing up in fancy dress or a really cool-looking costume and having the hotel breakfast buffet. I remember in the old hotel regular (i.e. non-Arisia) hotel guests would just stare in amazement, which was part of the fun.
I think that if you need to be distracted, you probably couldn't do better than to go to Arisia. If you do, make sure you look me up! I'm going to post my cell phone number in a friends-only post here tomorrow, so that people can find me at the con.
wow! thank you for the excellent response. I definitley want to go and i think i have someone to sit for Wee One, so i;ll look for your contact info and make sure to say hi while there. :) Thank you!
Great! You might want to see if you can sign up for a membership now, if you're planning to be there the whole weekend (which is, of course, actually Friday afternoon through early Monday evening).
As for the baby, she might not be too young to go - although of course she'd limit you, particularly without a hotel room. But there are definitely kids in abundance at Arisia, and there is a Fast Track of fun activities for them throughout the con. Sebastian has gone most years.
Kids-in-tow are free up to a certain age (11? I can't remember), but must be constantly with an adult. Even though they're free, it's probably necessary to sign them up for a K-I-T membership. Babysitting is available for the cost of a normal membership, as I recall, but they recently announced that babysitting was full this year - no more openings.
I'd suggest bringing extra shopping money just in case, because you'll probably find things being sold there that you wouldn't find elsewhere.
Um, I should also note that there are parts of the con which are not kid-appropriate. Some of the panels deal with sexuality; they'll be clearly labeled, though. A few of the room parties will probably have sexual themes; they're usually reasonably discrete. You may see a few men in drag. And you're sure to see some women in corsets and exotic costumes (nothing R-rated, though). There's an adult store that has often rented a suite on Dealer's Row, too.
I hope that none of that will scare you off! It's merely one aspect of a very diverse and fun convention, and it doesn't impinge on con-goers unless they seek it out. Although I could tell you a funny story or two...
Hmm. Here's a link to an extensive writeup I did of Arisia 2005 (http://bobquasit.livejournal.com/125054.html). I've done a bunch of other writeups, but most of them are for my old zine; they're on my RuneQuest website somewhere.
I should be there. I might be late because of a snow-rain mix that's supposed to occur on Friday.
Mind you, I pretty much always go in to these things with depression and low expectations and borderline ready to not go at all. There's a saying that does something like "Expect nothing and you won't be disappointed"; the intended meaning I'm sure is "If you don't think anything good will happen nothing will because you're a LOSER!!" However, for me it means "Don't get your hopes up too high and when things go better than you expect it's much better than if you expect too much and get disappointed."
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Things have been klind of weird in my neck of the woods lately, but i think this could cheer me up a bit.
have you been before?
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Arisia was the first convention I ever went to, and it's the only one I attend regularly. I've done so many things at the con; participated in the amateur video contest (and won a few prizes), helped stairflight with a costume in the Masquerade (which is the big costume contest on Saturday night), danced (and bought a full set of formal wear just to dance at the con, once a year), run roleplaying games, played LARPs, done a seminar or two, been on well over a hundred panels...
The con itself is extremely varied. There's an amazing variety of stuff, things to appeal to almost anyone. There's costuming, of course; panels on any subject you can imagine, including LiveJournal itself; an art show, a huge dealer's room, 24-hour movies, video, and anime, filking, games (RPG, LARP, card, and other), dances, music...it's a round-the-clock convention running (this year) over 72 hours straight. Usually one or two floors of the hotel itself are rented out room by room to dealers, who sell books, tapes, DVDs, weapons, posters, CDs, costumes, corsets, leatherwear, jewelry, and all sorts of cool science-fiction toys. Of course guests of the con include science fiction and fantasy authors, scientists, game designers, etc.
Unlike some cons, Arisia is fan-run - that is, it's not put on by a big for-profit corporation. It's chaotic at times, because it's not "professional". But it's very friendly, open, and fun.
The downside: the current hotel is simply too small. The previous hotel - where the majority of Arisias were held - was much better-suited to the con. But for some reason they refused to allow the con back, and it's hard to find a Boston hotel large enough to host the con. There are usually 2,000 or more attendees, by the way.
Another downside is cost. If you want to get a pass for the whole con - Friday through Monday - the cost now is $60! And there's no guarantee that there will be any weekend memberships available when the con starts next week. There may be single-day passes sold at the door which are cheaper, but even those may sell out quickly, or not be available at all if the hotel is too crowded.
If you do go for one day only, I'd suggest going on Saturday - that's the high point of the con. But go early in the day, because there may not be any passes available.
In my experience, the best way to experience the con is by getting a hotel room. But that's quite expensive. Con-goers get a discount rate, but the cost is around $120 per night for three nights - and there are hefty taxes and fees on top of that. Add on the cost of parking and food, and you're probably looking at $500 or so.
On the other hand, there's nothing like dressing up in fancy dress or a really cool-looking costume and having the hotel breakfast buffet. I remember in the old hotel regular (i.e. non-Arisia) hotel guests would just stare in amazement, which was part of the fun.
I think that if you need to be distracted, you probably couldn't do better than to go to Arisia. If you do, make sure you look me up! I'm going to post my cell phone number in a friends-only post here tomorrow, so that people can find me at the con.
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As for the baby, she might not be too young to go - although of course she'd limit you, particularly without a hotel room. But there are definitely kids in abundance at Arisia, and there is a Fast Track of fun activities for them throughout the con. Sebastian has gone most years.
Kids-in-tow are free up to a certain age (11? I can't remember), but must be constantly with an adult. Even though they're free, it's probably necessary to sign them up for a K-I-T membership. Babysitting is available for the cost of a normal membership, as I recall, but they recently announced that babysitting was full this year - no more openings.
I'd suggest bringing extra shopping money just in case, because you'll probably find things being sold there that you wouldn't find elsewhere.
Um, I should also note that there are parts of the con which are not kid-appropriate. Some of the panels deal with sexuality; they'll be clearly labeled, though. A few of the room parties will probably have sexual themes; they're usually reasonably discrete. You may see a few men in drag. And you're sure to see some women in corsets and exotic costumes (nothing R-rated, though). There's an adult store that has often rented a suite on Dealer's Row, too.
I hope that none of that will scare you off! It's merely one aspect of a very diverse and fun convention, and it doesn't impinge on con-goers unless they seek it out. Although I could tell you a funny story or two...
Hmm. Here's a link to an extensive writeup I did of Arisia 2005 (http://bobquasit.livejournal.com/125054.html). I've done a bunch of other writeups, but most of them are for my old zine; they're on my RuneQuest website somewhere.
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Mind you, I pretty much always go in to these things with depression and low expectations and borderline ready to not go at all. There's a saying that does something like "Expect nothing and you won't be disappointed"; the intended meaning I'm sure is "If you don't think anything good will happen nothing will because you're a LOSER!!" However, for me it means "Don't get your hopes up too high and when things go better than you expect it's much better than if you expect too much and get disappointed."