I truly want to go to NEST this year . . . Tickets are still 70$ so waiting isn't helping
Actually, as reported by @porcelaindoll2 in
another thread, the tickets are already sold out, but it still might be possible for you to get one through the "
Ticket Exchange"; if you're not on FetLife, you can also trying posting in this NEST subforum here about your interest in acquiring a ticket, as well as finding a room(mate) at the event's hotel.
Too shy . . . I don't know how to ask a random person to session after such a short time of knowing them. Any prior experiences or advice to help me?
If you are able to go, one thing that might be very helpful is the "
Break the ICE the NEST Meet and Greet" (a.k.a. the "
Friday Night Ice Breaker") held on the first night after most people arrive. And also, don't be discouraged if you don't "score" right then and there; my own paralyzing social anxiety wrapped around a core of extreme introversion prevented me from having success not just during the preliminaries but also through the whole of both the NESTs I've ever been to, but certainly not due to any lack of welcome, warmth and attention from the great majority of the other attendees (at my first I was even drafted to participate in a scene during the Sunday open play party, apparently because I was looking so forlorn that pity was taken on me). The relatively large size of the NEST gathering can be intimidating and thus an obstacle to the socially challenged of us, but then again you can look at it as the more the people, the greater the opportunities to find a compatible partner.
At the moment, I'm trying to start by participating more in discussions - like this one, for example? By putting something into the community, however small, it builds. Between now and May you could probably get to know a couple of people reasonably well, and vice versa. If some of those folks are going to NEST, you might have better luck hooking up with them.
Agreed. Just recognizing some people by their online handles, which are put on the name tags you get at registration, could be one way to make you feel a little more comfortable. And you may come out of the event adding more people to your friends list than you had ever had on it before, as I did.
establishing a rapport with someone you want to session with is important
Yes, also crucial, especially for us shy folk. Indeed, I hear there was a problem at the last NEST with some people acting inappropriately, which is why they've now made the orientation session, which @raslebe also mentioned, mandatory for all attendees and not just newbies as it was in the past. The orientation is also a good way to acclimate yourself to the event and possibly build up some rapport with others too.