My very first f2f meeting of people I met online was when my then boyfriend went to pick up an Amiga he was buying from a couple that ran a local bbs. The next thing I did was fly to Alaska to see a guy I met through yahoo personals, and after that I went to DC to meet with someone women from an now defunct web community. The web community imploded when the woman who started it decided to take her toys and go play somewhere else, but since she ran the place she shut it down, kicked us all out and started over. (the site looked a lot like Table Talk so I was very comfortable when I found that, better than the ubb format which always confused me). I was worried about the Buffistas when TT went to pay because of what happened there -- everyone knew the site was going to be shut down and everyone talked about starting a community elsewhere but no one did anything. I met the women after people migrated to a different site.
The first buffista I met was Hec, when I went to SF -- I met Hec, JZ (and Emmett), Deb, and beth. Then the DC F2F and last year I went to DRagonCon and met Shrift and Dana.
Of the three, Buffistas has lasted the longest by several years.
I think I'm about tied with M-Net for now, but there's no question it's B.org for the long haul.
Between this, shrift's attitude and Theresa's driving, I probably wouldn't have been a successful axe murderer.
Haaa.
I'd already met ita when I drove to your apartment. I was planning to run away screaming while she took you down if you turned out to be a superfreak.
My first meeting of f2f people I met on-line was ... at a convention I was sent to by WotC, where I met people I knew from alt.gothic and alt.gothic.fashion. That was one of the perks of working for the crazy game company: lots of travel.
My first F2F was 4 days after I started posting for good. I'd done a bit -- a very little bit -- on TT before it went pay. Then joined the Buffistas for good 9/11/01.
CaBil suggested a weekend F2F to see Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was playing in the DC area. Hubs and I were the only ones to accept, so we got to meet both CaBil and Ms. H for the movie and dinner at a Mexican restaurant (whose name escapes me) afterward.
jengod! I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!
Oh. And I met jengod at that first F2F at JZ's house too.
when have you met an online friend in face-space for the first time? In what circumstances?
The first online friends I met were players from a MUSE in... 1995, I think. There was a teeny tiny con-ish thing in Chicago; I'd joined the game with some friends, and they wanted to go, so I went along for the road-trip. I definitely knew some people there at the time, but the main thing I remember now is that one of the RL friends was an ass. Oh, and a few months later I ran into another guy on the MUSE who was local, so we met up a few times but didn't really click in person.
And then I got a job and stopped hanging out on the MUSE till all hours. The end.
...That's not a very good story, really. How disappointing.
Let's see, since then I met some people from a Hissyfit offshoot a few times. I went to Vegas and Toronto and NYC, and met most of the TWoP staff. I met a bunch of TWoP posters in DC and NYC. I went to the DC Journalcon because I knew 3 people there. I met Montykins in Vegas, and Allyson in LA. Yay me.
How did it work out? Did you keep in touch later?
I don't think it's ever failed to be a good time. Some online friendships are like the ones you make at work, where there are only a few overlapping interests, and when that's gone you don't stay in touch anymore. I can't recall any examples where meeting in person changed the relationship; it usually confirmed it. Which might mean "Hooray, I like you as much as I thought I would!" or, "Gosh, we have as little in common as I suspected." If we were in touch regularly before meeting, we stayed in touch afterwards. If it was more casusal, it stayed that way.
Ooh, and I think that technically, the first Buffista I met was meara, but that was just a wacky coincidence so it probably doesn't count.
