Social Events
I arrived in Portland for PyCascades 2025 earlier today. There was a pre conference social at Hawthorne Asylum Food Cart Pod where we could pick up our badges and register and just get to meet some of the other attendees. There was exactly one person I knew for sure that I would know at the conference (Hi Velda!) and I was hoping that I'd run into her so I would have someone I knew. I'm terrible at social events where I don't know anyone.
I got to the venue a few minutes before the start time (because if you're not early you're late!) and I didn't really see anything that appeared to be related to the conference. I checked the site a few more times to make sure I was in the right place, and then resigned myself to just sit on a bench and play on my phone for a while.
And then, after about 10 minutes, I heard Velda call my name out. I saw her smiling with her contagious smile and knew that my night was going to be alright.
It was a good time, and I got to meet a few people.
It's funny ... sometimes you just need 1 person that you know at a social event to immediately make you feel a little more at home.