Top 10 Reasons to attend SLCC in 2009!

there was a time I would have liked to go to a SLCC event

but after seeing the info from the past ones, I decided that it is not for me

even though my SL and RL are merged, I just do not wish to merge it to that degree

*shrug*

Will people have to wear name tags with their stupid online names?

Ill go if someone pays my air fair and accommodation

I mentioned this discussion to my spouse and child. They said if I DID go, they would expect to go in the trip too, and would be spending money like rabid, out of control tourists the whole time. They agreed it would be a horridly expensive waste of money.

Since it's in vogue to post zingers.. I'll add my take on this one...
There's nothing personal in my answers... nothing directed at the OP directly.. and I have nothing in particular against the SLCC group, any Lindens in particular, or the event itself.



I'm one of those people who won't be there. So if someone is reading, and feeling like you're not into it.. take heart. Lots of people won't be attending. Many will, many won't. Sometimes I wish these events could have a corresponding inworld "un-con" running at the same time.

Below are some of my reasons for not going. I'm sure everyone who isn't going has their reasons too. Some will be different, some might be the same. Money is going to be a big factor for everyone. Those who want to go, will surely have their reasons for going too, and their reasons why the cost isn't a deterrent to them.

I think it's germane to the discussion, to explain some of my reasons for not attending. They're not really open for discussion, you're not going to change my mind or anything.. but there are many reasons people make decisions, and sometimes they're surprisingly personal.

And unfortunately, only 45 minutes away from the town I grew up in.. and only 45 minutes away from the ashes of my dead family members, the houses I used to live in, and the places where my friends used to live a long time ago, before they all moved far-far away.

The only thing that San Francisco still has going for it, for me, is "The Power Exchange Substation".. assuming they're still in operation.... and I'm old, and tired. I'd only be going there for memories sake. (Edit: turns out.. no, they're not. Shut down by the city zoning types again.. so even if they do manage to open a new location, it won't be the TPE I remember).

Fine, I'll grant you, the food is good.. best pizza I ever had was in San Francisco. But I make really wonderful spaghetti.. and I don't have to endure a plane ride to get it.

And if you pre-register today, you can reserve a room with no view, for a single person in a double bed.. for only $204.29 per night. (High-Speed internet is extra).

The Motel 6 is a nice venue. (and in the heart of San Francisco, even that's going to cost you an arm and a leg.)

135$ is roughly L$34,965. Imagine the weekend you could have in SL, blowing that kind of cash.

Let's take a look here.
204.29 per night.. 3 nights.. plus 135 for a ticket.. that's $747.87.
Priceline can get me a nonstop from my hometown to SFO, for only $232 round trip.
$979.87

And we haven't even begun to ask questions like the cost of getting from the airport in South San Francisco (technically another city, in a different county) to the hotel in San Francisco. Then of course there's the costs of food to be considered.

What economy are you living in?

Not to mention the relatively insane amounts of "security" requirements one will be forced to endure, just to to engage in air travel within or to the United States. I'm sure there's no one with an expired ID... right? I know that my identity documents aren't all in order at the moment... and I am not sure that they will be straightened out before August.

My SL friends and collegues are pretty unlikely to be there. Well I'm sure some of them will, but the ones I actually want to see are too poor to attend, or on the wrong side of a US Border.

I'm not really interested in "meeting Lindens". Frankly, over the last few years, I've felt somewhat jerked-around by their sweeping policy decisions. I'm not sure I want to meet any of the people who make those decisions, or those who gloss over them. Aside from Lindens, I know there are a number of SL personalities I have absolutely NO interest in seeing or speaking to (in one case, restraining-order levels of disinterest).

Contrary to popular beleif, Second Life isn't "make beleive" for everyone. While it's nice that you view SL as "pretend" or "unreal".. the fact for many of us, particularly business owners.. is that we do real work here.. have real conversations.. and real experiences here. My "Real Life" is sitting in front of the computer for hours a day, every day.. trying to make the best stuff I know how.

That said.. this would be an opportunity to be shy, and awkward, self-concious, and withdrawn, surrounded by people I don't know.

I don't want to meet, say, Marianne McCann. While I consider her a good friend, and someone I can confide in personally.. part of my image of her would be lost forever if I met the person at the keyboard. I've been through this experience before, and to be honest, I don't enjoy having my mental image of people destroyed. I don't like the feeling of "never seeing the person the same way" again.

Not saying we couldn't be friends in RL.. just.. it would be different after that. I don't like different.

To be honest, no.. it's not. It's a great way for "solution providers" to kiss up to the lindens, corporate interests and the media. It's a great way for big operations to show off how big they are.

You'd be surprised, how many "successful businesses" in SL are actually poor people living below the poverty line, just trying to scratch out a living.

San Francisco makes me tense.. in fact the whole Bay Area makes me tense. There's a reason I moved away back in 1998.

As a long-time convention-goer, I can safely assure one and all, that I will learn nothing, and gain nothing, from participating in community-run panels and workshops.

At best, I could hope to run into some gamers, and start up a roleplaying game. (the lack of a dealer's room will make this con an especially boring one, and I can't imagine that the nightly parties I'm used to at Bay area cons, will take place at this one.).

And that's the real kicker for me. If I had $1000+ to blow on attending a convention in the Bay Area, SLCC would be my LAST choice of a con. Given my druthers, I'd much rather attend BayCon. ( http://baycon.org/2009/ )... but I haven't been back since 2004 or so.. And to be honest, there's only even one person there I'd really want to see, and knowing her, she'll be busy and preoccupied.

Heck, even FURther CONfusion ( http://www.furtherconfusion.org/fc2010/ ) and CONspiracy CON ( http://conspiracycon.com/ ) rank higher on my list than SLCC. Not that there's anything wrong with those cons, or with SLCC, or the people who choose to attend any or all of them.

But if I had to choose...

Stay out of CA Argent or you might end up living with me. I used to rescue those sweet little critters out of CA.

Shades of conventions past....my my, how does the past tend to repeat itself so well?

Yet another example of how the SLC (notice there's no 'community' in the 'correct' acronym) is not paying attention. Then again, I gave up any hope on the SLC being worthwhile back in year 2, after being bold-face lied to in year 1.

(For those who are wondering what I'm talking about, please feel free to read the forum archives under my name.)



- Newfie

This.

Also, Agoraphobic FTW.

I can't tell if that's a threat or a promise.

The original post was really just an attempt to let people know that SLCC is happening, and when and where it is. Many residents will be interested in going (most especially the ones that use it as a way of making business connections); many will not; many might like to go but can't justify the expense or the time or the hassle of crossing the US border or some combination of those things.

But... I think the tone of the "no thanks" responses is excessive. "It's not for me" is fine; "you'd have to be crazy to want to do that", not so much.

I'm in the "like to go but can't justify the expense" category. The real killer is the accomodations, which won't be cheap anywhere in SF. (The entry fee to the convention is high but not impossible and I could fly there with miles; I've got enough from a couple of airlines.) If one is ever held here in Boston I'll be there.

And high speed internet is EXTRA in the convention hotel?? The SLCC organizers couldn't manage to negotiate having it be free for attendees? Not that it will be high speed anyway unless the hotel gets an OC-12 (for the non-geeks among you, that's a 600Mbps connection) put in specially for the convention -- the bandwidth demands of SLCC must be through the roof. Just imagine what would happen if 1000 attendees all tried to log into SL at once...

Agreed. Some have been awfully defensive and bitter in their responses. I'm in the "not interested and wouldn't go even if it were in my hometown " category, but otherwise, I have no real feelings towards it in any negative way.

/me spoils them rotten. They pretty much own the house and everything in it. After all, it's all about them.

i can't go..it's on the other side of the country..also i'm not sure if i am armed enough for an RL griefer

I do think it would be kind of neat just to see it but just don't have the time..