Engagement LAN: The Aftermath

The weekend just gone was our Engagement LAN, which finally happened, years after the idea was initially suggested. I had an event imagined in my mind, but the real thing was not like I imagined. I feel like this is a dry run for the actual wedding, since we got to experience a lot of wedding-like hiccups, and had to deal with similar things that would have come up during a wedding. I was even joking with MrMan5.5 that I was going to be a Bridezilla since this was one of the few days that I could make all about me.

There were so many things that went wrong: we left the spare batteries at home - and also the BBQ equipment (although that didn't matter in the end, as there was a total fire ban that day); the day was due to be 40 degrees, and I think someone said it hit 44 at some point; we had a cockroach infestation in the building; all the tournaments were behind; the late RSVP; sound not working for the PS3 and XBox 360; multiplayer hadn't been unlocked for WarioWare; conversations were being recorded in the stream; losing at Dota 2 to MrMan5.5; someone not sitting in their allocated seating; fridge was broken and unable to cool the drinks before arrival; Magic draft taking up more people than planned; the university's confusing road layout.

I have a whole new outlook on RSVPs now. I was actually pretty terrified that nobody would show up when I found out that there were a couple of birthday parties that were on the same weekend that a large group of people who were invited to ELAN were also invited to. Many people were listed as "maybes" or hadn't responded at all, and chasing them up was a headache. I am going to be far more diligent about responding to invitations from now on - and actually following through on my response (i.e. if I say that I'm going to go, I will actually go, instead of bailing on the day).

Someone accepted the invitation 1 hour before the event was due to start. To be honest, I was so angry when that happened. I know it wasn't a real wedding, but who RSVPs to a wedding 1 hour before?! I had already set out the seat plan, but luckily someone said they didn't need a seat as they just planned to play games, so there was a spare seat close to that person's other friends.

Speaking of the seating plans, the reason why I wanted to do it was because I found out about all this drama between various people. There were all these people who secretly didn't like X, or had some UST between them, etc., it felt a bit like a Professor Layton puzzle, trying to keep people with their friends, but avoiding seating people who hate each other near each other. There were no big arguments, at least not that I was aware of, or not due to gaming, so I think the seating went OK - despite one person not sitting in their assigned seat. -_-

Tournament-wise, I knew the schedule was a bit ambitious, but I didn't think it'd be 5 hours behind ambitious. I feel bad for people who showed up because I asked them to play in a particular tournament for me, but the game didn't end up running because we were too busy with other things.

I think that's another thing that I really need to learn: to delegate tasks to others. I just wanted everyone to have fun, so I didn't want someone to feel like they were "working" at the event, but I think that some of the people who were there would have been happy to help out if they were asked. I guess it also didn't help that a large subset of my friends did not know anyone other than that small niche (or only knew a few others), i.e. my Wow friends, my work magic friends, my work LoL friends, my work grad friends, my 440 friends, my chess club friends, my CSSE uni friends, my anime club friends, my second floor friends. I didn't want anyone to feel left out, so I tried to make sure I spent time with all of them. Meshu was really great though, introducing himself to others, and making friends. Rangers as well.

I really felt like the entire event was a disaster, and I wanted to just run away from it all, but MrMan5.5 pulled me aside told me that people were enjoying themselves despite all of the problems. Definitely one of the reasons I'm marrying the guy.

Overall, the event wasn't what I expected, but in hindsight, and without all the sleep deprivation, I have to say it ended up being much better than I expected. I really wish there hadn't been cockroaches though, as they were the main reason I didn't get any sleep.

Edit: The event going so well is also a testament to how great the friends we have are.