The PAX East Chronicles: Day 0

I promised I would write about my PAX experiences, as this is my first time going to East, my first con as press, and the first time I feel generally professional heading into something like this. So let’s get this party started.

Unread Inbox: Yes

As I mentioned, I’m going as press for the first time so this is a whole new realm of talking to companies and devs, making sure I’m sending the right things to the right people by the right times, and reviewing in a larger capacity that my normal “I’ll play this whenever I get a free minute”. The first thing I noticed, after PAX released their press/content creator list to the attending companies, was the sheer daily volume of emails. In the words of Illidan, I was not prepared. At all.

My schedule rapidly filled up with demo appointments, parties, and meet ups until I realized I’d forgotten to give myself time to eat, let alone get to all of these things. It’s still a hot mess but it’s more manageable now. I’ll probably remember to eat every day. Probably…

But on that note, I noticed some things about a few of the emails I got. Here’s a quick list, not naming any names (because I likely don’t remember them):

• That’s not my name, actually: This only happened once but BOY did it make my blood boil. My first name is long as hell and I know it. It didn’t fit on a single standardized test form when I was a kid and I got a lot of mail for me but addressed to Alexander from colleges for a while. So I’ve shortened it to Allie for most of my life. It’s pretty common too. Apparently not common enough for one PR person, who decided to was Alice then Alex. As all my emails are signed and no one else had made that mistake , I was justifiably upset. Since the game wasn’t really my cup of tea and I needed to trim down my appointment list to make room for things like food, off it went. It got weird when the PR person then tried to correct their mistake (without acknowledging it at all) in dogged pursuit. Don’t do that, friends. Don’t be that guy. I also didn’t point it out but, at that point, I just want them to leave me alone.
• Bring no one: So one thing I’ve always been very wary of is being invited alone somewhere during a con. Especially off the con’s premises. It spooks me something fierce when you consider how many people talk about their experiences with abuses of power. So when you email me a single invite to an exclusive party and don’t give me a +1? That puts me on edge. When you do that and I find that invite was a one time only use? That just makes it worse. +1s aren’t just for bringing friends and SOs along on an adventure. Sometimes, it’s for safety and comfort as well. To just ignore that aspect tells me a lot about who you have planning.
• Let’s do lunch: This one bothers me for the same reasons as the above. It makes me uncomfortable and makes me feel like I’m not allowed to have someone I know and trust around which makes me question motives.
• GAME: This also happened once that I remember but it definitely stuck. One game just had two attachments, a title (probably), and that’s it. It was likely a mistake but it looked so much like potential spam that I just marked it read and kept going. If you think a game speaks for itself, then tell me and link a trailer. I’m so much more likely to look if there at least appears to be a human behind it.

On the whole though, this has already been a pretty pleasant experience. Well, pleasant aside from flight delays but that’s no one’s fault.

Now Entering: Boston

So, uhhh, I guess the first lesson I had about PAX East is that, if I come next year, I will definitely consider flying in later on Tuesday rather than earlier Wednesday. Not only does it give me more time to adjust to being in a different city and maybe explore a bit, but the sheer amount of weather related delays put me so far behind my schedule that it jam packed my Thursday morning. So, if you’re doing PAX as press and can afford it, definitely go in at least 1 but maybe 2 days early.

I think my only real complaint about the city is the traffic and the wind but I always knew it would a problem. Most of the cities I’ve lived in have had similar issues just due to them being designed around horse and buggy rather than high volume car traffic. The same thing that makes the traffic horrendous also makes walking terrible. There’s been a lot of Lyfts, friends…

The “hotel” we ended up in was a super amazing rental apartment that I’m honestly really proud of. It had plenty of space, amenities, and a full kitchen. I’m not revealing the name to the internet at large because, when I come back, I’m staying here again if I can. I will fight anyone who takes my room.

And that, I think, is a wrap on Day 0 of my PAX East experience. Day 1 coming soon!