Apathy helps.

Low standards and 0 expectations.

I wanna give some advice or tell you you're wrong, they can be fun, but never been to one myself, so sorry. That, and this journal is very vague and cryptic. I don't even know what you disliked about it (even if I can make some educated guesses). I hope you feel better though.

How do people enjoy themselves? Doing stuff they like, as far as I can tell. From the looks of it, the convention failed to provide you with such a thing.

There is a certain set of things these conventions provide:
1. Meeting people (depends on population of convention--small in this case)
2. Buying stuff (depends on large number of vendors to choose from--small in this case)
3. Depravity (N/A to you)
4. Selling stuff (N/A to you, since you are not a vendor)

My 20/20 hindsight tells me that, in retrospect, it probably had nothing to offer you, particularly for the cost. I enjoyed it, but my reasons for being there were rather different from yours (1-3 were all applicable); in your case, I doubt more than the first was applicable. It really ought not to have surprised me, that in mind, that the event only served to bore you.

Some time later I would like to hear you elaborate on a couple of these things you have been reminded of, however. I might learn something.

You'd have to go into details, such as which con, what you felt sucked, what would have interested you...

For me, cons are a place to meet new people with interests relevant to my own, get art done, and get lots and lots of hugs (And since my record for cons is 0 for 5 for anything BUT hugs, despite offers...)

It helps to not be antisocial at a social convention. I go to cons so I can draw and trade art with furs that I don't normally get to. I get to play video games and board games with furs that I don't normally get to. I meet new furs there. I also get to meet furs that I've only seen online before like the big name artists. In general everything is better for me when I get to do stuff with other furs that I don't get to see regularly or have never met before. That's how I enjoy cons.

It was a small con, so there wasn't much in the way of programming for you to enjoy in an non-interactive way. I'm not sure what you were looking for or expecting out of the con. At the same time I'm also not sure what you get out of anime cons which you seem to enjoy.

I was being as social as I get, really; hell, the mere fact that I participated at all during the Rock Band competition is something I probably wouldn't have done if I weren't really trying.

Honestly, I'm not sure what I was expecting out of it either. I mean hell, any time I went down into the con area, I wasn't even sure there was a con going on save for the art room and the dealer room; there just wasn't *anything* to do.

The con was quite small compared to any other con I've been to. At the larger conventions there is about 2-3 times as much programming with better attendance at each event, the game rooms are more active and the number of people selling stuff is much larger. Besides that all the larger cons have is more furs hanging out in the hall and such plus more room parties.

If you think that might be more your thing you may want to try AC or FC some day.