Arizona Brony Meetup: Gamers Inn

I was a bit skeptical of the whole meetup thing a few months ago.  Being bombarded with pictures/stories from various groups around the USA sort of converted me to the idea of it.

Story after the break!


I decided to treat this one covert-ops style, and capture the brony in it's natural habitat, much like a wild-life documentary.  My hair has grown a lot since I last took that picture for Wired, so I figured I could pull it off. Aside from a few people recognizing me, things went pretty smooth!

I'm not the best at large social gatherings with complete strangers, especially when walking into one an hour and a half late.  I also have that "Micheal Cera" voice that everyone here has labeled me with, which doesn't travel AT ALL in loud environments.  My best tip to anyone considering joining one of these;  find someone who looks bored and ask them who their favorite pony is.  That is a guaranteed conversation starter, and this tried and true formula worked for me throughout the night.

Smash bros group!

I started primarily at the Super Smash Brothers table, won my first game, then proceeded to lose in the next 10. I'm pretty sure some version of this game is required for ANY meetup. 

Boast Busters

There was also a marathon of sorts going on.  I couldn't resist watching Boast Busters.   A few of the people from that remix war I posted a few hours ago were there, including Pinkie Pie Swear and Agiledash.  Having listened to Trixie's Good Side way too much,  it was pretty easy to get a conversation going about that.

Eventually a small group of us went across the street to a burger place.  "Small group" meaning a line out the door, but I'm sure the employees didn't mind making 20 root beer floats.

I learned a bit more about the bronies from /b/.  I didn't realize how many there actually were.  It's not the first board I usually visit for specific reasons.  We debated about different topics on the show, and tried to figure out why people enjoyed dubstep (sorry guys), then returned to the meetup. 

By this time, my phone was hangin at around 10% battery life.  The idea of an hour long drive without GPS sounded like a terrible idea, so I watched Twilight lose her mind in Swarm of the Century, and left for the night. 

Overall, Puzzle Plate definitely did an awesome job of organizing everything.  If Gamer's Inn wasn't across the state for me, I'd probably hit that place up more often. 

If you are still on the fence about meetups, I'd suggest giving it a shot.  I kind of wish I brought some of my old Magic the Gathering decks though...