[Here's the last post of my PAX East series. Hope you enjoyed it!]
Conclusion
Leaving the convention center I still felt that I had missed doing some things, but all in all I was satisfied. Although we didn't partake in any of the console or PC games in the freeplay rooms and didn't stop by a lot of the booths, we did have a great time overall. It seems that we spent a lot of time at the Nintendo and Pokémon booths and the handheld lounge, but I was able to attend the majority of the panels I wanted to. We also were able to accomplish our main goals like play the 3DS, get a bunch of people on our C-Gear, and talk with some industry folk.
One thing I would have liked to do is network with more people. During the weekend I only talked with people I had already met and didn't put the effort into talking with new people. I rushed to put together some shoddy business cards on Wednesday night for the Made in MA party on Thursday night, but I only ended up giving one away at PAX and getting one in return. Next year I want to purchase real cards rather than procrastinating and making some cheap ones at home and I'd like to actually do some serious networking.
As for things I learned this year, I think getting in line early is a key thing to know. We assumed that we could show up 15-30 minutes early to a panel and be able to get a seat. It turned out that we had to wait an hour or more and were just able to get in. Having 65,000 people trying to attend 4 or 5 panels running at the same time can cause some traffic. Looking at the schedule ahead of time and planning what panels you want to see is a great thing to do. Ultimately, you need at least 2 hours between panels if you want to see it all and not have to leave halfway through to get in line for the next.
Along the lines of making plans ahead of time, looking at the expo map and getting oriented early is important. Although we glanced at the map beforehand, we were really confused all day Friday because the map didn't properly reflect the layout of the convention center. If we had stopped and studied the map a little better I think we would have been oriented better. What we did right was make a mental list of the booths we wanted to see in the expo hall which prevented wandering and getting lost. It also gave us a goal of where to go when, when to get in line for panels, when to eat, etc.
And on the topic of eating, don't plan on eating at the convention center. It's not that there isn't food, it's that it's unsurprisingly expensive. We learned not to buy $3.00 bags of chips and brought our own, but we could have prepared and brought sandwiches or something instead of spending $10-$15 a day on food. I mean, it was delicious food, but we could have saved a lot of money by bringing more snacks.
So, having learned these lessons we should be able to plan better for next year! As my second PAX East experience it wasn't as good as the first but I learned more about playing the convention game. To summarize, this is what we should do next year:
- Make a panel schedule; allow wait-in-line time
- Learn convention hall layout/map
- Make an expo hall schedule
- Bring food! Don't buy!
- Try out new things (console freeplay, tournaments, etc.)
- Network with industry people
- Have fun!
And to conclude, here are some weekend Pokémon stats:
-Number of Pokéwalker Steps:
- Day 1: 11,792 Steps
- Day 2: 10,403 Steps
- Day 3: 8,658 Steps
- Total: 30,853 Steps (About 15.42 miles of walking)
-Number of people encountered on the C-Gear: 365*
*Includes multiple encounters with the same people
