I live in Orange County and was thinking about attending this Dopefest, but I was unsure about a few things.
Is there an unspoken rule that an attendee should have a certain number of posts before he or she can be considered “eligible”?
Do people bring their laptops to the “Fest” and talk to each other through SDMB? (not exclusively but, ya know, for fun)
Do people attending actually hold grudges due to their experiences with others on these boards and act “crabby” toward their fellow dopers at the party?
Has anyone ever had a “one night stand” with a fellow doper they met at one of the Fests?
If anyone has any “loose” guidelines for one of these functions, please post it here so us NOOBS can get an idea what to expect.
At my first one I had around 300 or so posts. At the second one I was the de facto host, with around 1100 posts at the time. Post counts aren’t a big deal.
No.
Being crabby is absolutely against the rules and not tolerated. I don’t think any of the people in attendance at Spiffle I or Spiffle II had exchanged nasties with one another on the boards before the meetings. If they had, they were quick to let bygones be bygones at the 'fest.
Case in point: I am a Bible-believing Christian who also is interested in studying ghosts and the paranormal. David B, professional atheist and contributor to skeptic publications, and I got along just swimmingly at both Springfield dopefests. [sub]Of course, we rarely cross paths on the boards, since I stay out of GD most of the time, but you get my drift.[/sub]
I can’t say for sure. Read old MPSIMS threads in which people post minutes from dopefests and you’ll see plenty of innuendo and snickers. I’m sure it’s happened, though.
My guidelines: be yourself, be polite to people with whom you have disagreements, and have a good time. Bring along some booze (and share it) and you’ll be hailed as a hero. Tip the host. And if you forget to tip him at the party, tip him retroactively.
Post count’s nothing but a number. And I’ve seen people with pretty big differences on the boards hang out IRL and get along just fine. Alcohol and sterling conversation seems to be a pretty good social lubricant!
The fests I’ve been to, there’s generally a computer in the general vicinity. Last night, we were at my place, so my laptop was there, so we kept you all updated on our goings-on that way. Heh, Dopefest-in-progress threads are usually only funny to the attendees, but it keeps us entertained.
As for Doper hookups, I wouldn’t say it’s the norm, but just like in any social situation, it happens here and there.
I think you’ll find that Dopers are an easy bunch to hang out with. If anyone had told me that when I moved cross-country, my best friends would be a bunch of people I met on a message board, I probably would have laughed. Funny how things turn out!
1.) You can attend even if you’ve never posted, although nobody will know who you are. You’ll still be welcome though. I remember somebody asking how to recognize the group and somebody responded, “Just look for the people who look like they don’t belong together.” We’ve used a table sign that’s acquired quite a few signatures by now.
If you’re concerned, post to the organizing thread.
2.) We tried to get that together once when we knew the Colorado and New York Dopers were meeting on the same night. Didn’t happen - had to settle for raising Colorado an a cell phone. I don’t recall seeing a laptop at a doper meeting, and I’ve been to 20+ meets.
3.) No, I’ve caroused with left-wingers and conservatives, Christians and atheists, etc. - the truly grumpy tend not to attend; and, well, I tend to stay away from the pit. Silodid attend one early on in his rehabilitation from trolldom that might have been a little ticklish.
4.) Dopers have hooked up, but I certainly wouldn’t go to a Dopefest cruising for action.
Yes. This is one reason my post count is so high. When you become a member of the clique you discover that if you multiply your post count by your penis size in inches*, and divide by the number of pit threads about you, you get a number. If that number is between, say, 1 and 1000, you can do the local stuff but nothing more than 10 miles away. handy, on the other hand, is an astronaut and will be testing for intelligent life on Mars in his next dopefest, which will come as soon as Bush approves funding (and we get about 750,000 banner ads).
One dopefest I went to . . . part of it was in a computer lab where a doper and I chatted on AIM instead of speaking. There’s a picture somewhere of a moderator at a dopefest who brought a laptop. And at least five people have posted to the SDMB from a dopefest, though clique rules preclude me from saying who.
Yes. For example, everyone kicks pldennison in the nuts upon meeting him (even Peta Tzunami). I don’t even want to imagine what some people did to Serlin for his first dopefest.
No, never. Nobody ever talks about sex or even engages in touching of any kind at dopefests. And flirting is restricted to MPSIMS at all times (that’s why people will post from a dopefest).
Absolutely and unequivocally. After all, I do have an incredibly large . . .
post count;)
[sub]Oh, shit, someone will take all this seriously. Better explain.[/sub]
No.
Sometimes.
Not usually. And you’re generally expected to be nice.
Yes.
I find that UNBELIVABLY AMAZING considering some of the exchanges I’ve seen on this board.
I guess if you’re interested in attending Dopefests you should choose your opponents wisely. As in: “Before we get into this debate on the death penalty, where exactly do you do live, and do you have a lot of frequent flyer miles?”
And if you forget to tip him at the party, tip him retroactively. 