I posted this in a different thread but it was suggested that I make it its own topic...

This year will be my first SG101 convention and I want to make the best of it. I'll be coming from out of town and I'm not at all familiar with the area. If any of you experienced convention goers have advice you'd like to share for the good of all the first timers it would be much appreciated.

-John

The Seatopians 2017-
The Seatopians on bandcamp

zunrj5 wrote:

I posted this in a different thread but it was suggested that I make it its own topic...

This year will be my first SG101 convention and I want to make the best of it. I'll be coming from out of town and I'm not at all familiar with the area. If any of you experienced convention goers have advice you'd like to share for the good of all the first timers it would be much appreciated.

Hey there, John! Very glad you are joining the fray this year! My best advice is kinda silly: make friends with some regulars and puppy dog them around. This is pretty much EXACTLY what I did my first couple of times. This is a wonderful collection of people, and many of us have been to all of these (I only missed the first one), so you will likely be able to put many faces to names, hang out with some fun folks AND not miss anything you shouldn't! Being a driver is also a great help, so rent a car! People are always happy to share rides around. Smart phones (and Waze!) are definitely your friends. Look forward to meeting you!

• Jamie
  SSS Agent #181
  Cartoons drenched in reverb!
  The Mystery Men?
  El Capitan & The Reluctant Sadists

Ha! That's funny!
Because the biggest guy is my Dad.

Tip for driving,
Leave early, always give time for driving.
Especially long distances on the freeway.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Last edited: May 18, 2017 10:54:33

Since there is no show at the Huntington Beach pier,
I suggest people maybe check out the South Bay beaches.
And or the Light House at the Park at the point of San Pedro.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

That's awesome you are attending your first convention!!!

This will be the 2nd time the convention has been at its current location. Before we always recommended staying at Don's Turf Motel. That might be a bit far this time. The place I stayed at last year I'm not sure I could recommend.

I'd say try to stay a few days before and maybe a day or two after the convention as your schedule allows. Be sure to catch any pre and post shows. Give yourself time for driving as these are sometimes quite spread out and traffic is unpredictable.

Be sure to introduce yourself and latch on to a group like Jamie said. Looking forward to meeting you as well!

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

Hey guys, thank you so much for the replies! This has definitley given me a few new things to think about in planning. Looks like I'm going to have a lot of introductions!

I was planning on coming in early Fri and going straight to the Fender tour, but now I might have to see about Thursday evening now. Especially if it means catching the Kilaueas (3x in a week!).

Thanks again for the pointers everyone! I hope this is helpful to other's as well.

-John

The Seatopians 2017-
The Seatopians on bandcamp

The tour on Friday is a special one that Dave W. set up just for the SG101 crew. Looks like it's going to a great time!

-John

The Seatopians 2017-
The Seatopians on bandcamp

My first convention was in 2009, which was the 2nd convention overall and the 1st convention at The Starting Gate. I didn't know ANYBODY. In fact, I hadn't heard of most of the bands either. I was there mostly because the Ghastly Ones were playing, and I was hoping to find come cool MoAM stuff in the vendor room.

Although some might not believe it, I'm actually a pretty shy guy (until I get to know you, then you're stuck with me!) so I mostly sat in the back and drank. But I did meet a few really nice folks and introduced myself to a few "key players" like Jeff BTD. I remember The TomorrowMen and the Sand Devils blowing my mind, so I made sure to introduce myself to the bands. I did have to resist the urge to follow around the Ghastly Ones like some lovesick puppy, though

I went to some shows during the next year, and kept in touch with folks via sg101, and the next year I introduced myself to more. And I did the same the next year after that, and so on and so forth. Now its like a big family reunion, with familiar faces in nearly every section of the venue!

Just show up and don't be shy like I was. You'll meet a lot of fantastic folks right away. And definitely go to the pre-shows as well. You really get a chance to bond with people after a few days of getting soaked in reverb and getting faces melted off.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Last edited: May 22, 2017 11:01:04

Corrected. Thanks Ivan

I really need to make a wiki page for all the conventions. Just a brief summary: when, where, what bands, flyer, etc. It's getting so hard to keep track of them!

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea