Aspie festival

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With all deference to Autreat/Autscape and Alex's proposed larger-scale event, I was wondering if there was any interest in discussing a smaller-scaled Aspie cultural event.

It's 2013, and even assuming the more conservative estimates of Aspies (1/200) in the United States, there are 1.5 Million aspies. Despite our numbers, there is not a signature cultural event for aspies.

Is this something that could be set up, maybe for 2014?

A one-day festival (with less formal events the day before or after) could be set up with far less complexity than longer events.

Speaking as a hypothetical, I would think that a location in a populated area with easy access to long distance transporation could be set up with enough lead time to allow scheduling.
Any thoughts?

Okay, 4 votes in favor, and 4 asking if we'll have ice cream, and only in an hour.

I was reading previous discussions of this concept, and I notice that there is some discussion of what would be included. Here are the questions I would have about an event.

1. What would be included? If there is sufficient interest, there could be more than one hall, so we'd be able to have Aspie-provided music, demonostrations, and other things of a more.....vocal...nature. Presumably, the "main" hall would be for registration, discussions, exhibits, and quieter demonstrations.

2. Since the event would presumably be for at least 9 hours, we would need to have food. Is this something we would want to leave to fundraising groups, catered food, off-site food (probably not), or some other combination?

3. Wherever the hypothetical event woud be, we would almost surely need a local hotel room block. If properly selected, this might be fairly inexpensive for visitors.

4. Perhaps smaller rooms or halls could be used for those who want to have their own events.

5. I'm fairly sure there will be ice cream.....in fact...I'm sure of it.

What would a convention of the Literal Minded be like?

ruveyn

I would like to go but if it was very crowded and/or had fluorescent lighting that would be a recipe for a meltdown.

also have a quiet room away from activity in case someone gets overloaded and needs to get away from noise or light or being overwhelmed-maybe speakers who are on the spectrum speaking and addressing issues and relating experiences on the spectrum

What are festival-goers going to be doing at the festival?

If people are gathering I'm turning myself in the other direction.

There is likely to be far more participation if it is also online : stream the events, and provide a way for folk to chime in via text or voice.

you mean that we wouldn't do at a Star Trek or Blizzard convention? O:-)

Pretty much this. Anyone want to guess which part I'm stopping by?



Eh, fluorescent lighting might be a problem, because of the cost/location tradeoffs. I don't think anyone really wants a crowded or noisy event, at least outside of any music performances.



I would agree completely with a quiet room, even through it might not be attended.

Speakers and presenters on the spectrum are pretty much a given. While I don't think the focus such be only on presentations, they definitely should be included.



I agree in theory, I think we would have to work out some system where those attending online might have to pay for at least some content. An event like this should be run as much as possible to break even, and also you don't want to have a situation where those attending in person feel like they are subsidizing those attending by internet.

I might drop in if the festival were held somewhere between Los Angeles and Anaheim. Alex lists his current residence as Beverly Hills, so it would be worth it just to meet him.

I haven't been to a convention, so I don't know what people do there. What do people do there?

^ It depends on the nature of the convention. Business conventions are held to inform, educate, demonstrate products, make sales, and provide opportunities for future "networking". Gaming conventions are opportunities to dress up ("cosplay"), buy and play games, and gape at the booth babes. Comic conventions are similar to gaming conventions, with the opportunity meet celebrities in the comic, TV, and movie industries.

Most of the time, though, it's just an excuse to meet people and party.

I would totally love to go to something like this, I went to a Star Trek convention last year, and even in spite of all the lights, noise, long hours on your feet and crowds, I had a great time. I have always wanted to meet other aspies and commune in a large gathering, I've only ever met one other aspie in person, and only once, I'd love the opportunity to meet some more, being surrounded by neurotypicals all the time can get lonely. Oh, but of course the ice cream is an automatic requirement; who wants to go to a festival with no ice cream?

Its going to have to be sensory friendly....
I don't think just providing a quiet room would be enough. The whole festival needs to take sensory issues into affect.
Since the range of autistic sensory problems is large, it's best to be general.
- No or few fluorescent lights.
- If music, nothing loud or over-bearing.
- Set up and organized so that people don't congregate all in one place
- More than one designated quiet space....a space quickly loses its quietness when a bunch of people use it.

I suggest having it at a hotel. Usually there are conference rooms (more than one) for events, and the people attending could stay at or close to the hotel...
And having it at a hotel means that if someone gets overwhelmed they can go find solace in their room for a bit.

My 23 cents.

I only attended one sci-fi convention in my life, and I was too young to appreciate it.

I'm not sure what food arrangements I'd recommend. Even if there was a convention under the stars of Arizona, there's still McDonalds. If it's at some sort of banquet hall or stage, I'd expect the food to be a la carte, if it was at a hotel, presumably it would be one collective set of food for the event.

Either way, we are most surely having ice cream. I can't imagine an Aspie festival without food that melts....:cough cough:

One major issue is that you pay a high premium for putting your event close to the major transportion corridors. If it could be moved back a little bit, say to a city still on a major road and/or rail line, it would be much cheaper, but I think attendance would start dropping off.