WORLD OF RAWR

Last year around this time was my second Wrestlefest (technically) and during that one, there was a lot to do. Like, an overwhelming amount of things. My third one in Canada went a lot smoother and I'm gonna take a moment to explain what I did differently to make it that way. Especially since, if you're going, you got less than a month of prep time.

Now mind you, some of this I learned vicariously because why step on a rake you just saw someone step on.

• Put your plans on a calendar. If you or the person you're meeting up with has a hard time remembering things, put them on a calendar and share an invite. You both have smart phones probably, so you can get reminders of where you need to be and when.
• Plan for social time and rest. I promise you will be too tired to have that time if you don't plan to have that time. By the eighth match by 2PM when your day started at like 8:30AM and you had neither breakfast nor lunch, you're going to be super tired. You don't have to do that. Put some space in your schedule to have lunch, get coffee, catch a bite to eat with your new wrestling friends. Saying no to a few things so you have some time to recover will make sure you have the energy to have fun for the whole weekend. Trust me on this.
• Plan for travel time. Unless all of your matches are in the exact same building (which more than a few of them might be!), consider the time it will take to do things like walk, take the train, uber, etc.
• Give yourself some "do nothing" time. Just a little bit of time you have set to do anything or nothing or whatever catches your interest at the time so you can have those spontaneous moments that make for great stories or pictures.
• Don't take changes or cancellations personally. Unless you have a reason to assume bad intent, don't. People are going to just indulge and whatnot in the spirit of fun and that might mean things will be missed. Be prepared to adjust as necessary.

OK, but like... what's with all of this planning stuff for? Where is the fun in that? I'm here for spontaneous rumbles, sir!

True enough! You are definitely here for the spontaneous stuff. You are also definitely here for matches and the audience of people that you are here for are:

1. People who are also here for as many matches are possible
2. People who are here for a combination of matches and sight-seeing
3. People who make underground wrestling content

And for at least two out of those three options, you're going to need to plan things or the likelihood of those things happening drops pretty hard.

Matches don't just fall out of the sky and it is a good idea to assume that people (a) don't have infinite free time (even tho they'd really like to) and (b) have infinite energy (because people are going to be worn tf out. happy, but worn tf out.)

If you need to change or adjust times after for whatever reason, by all means do that and remember not to take things personally. While there's not an infinite amount of time or energy, there are damn near 600 people going and if you do miss one match with a particular person or people you were hoping for, there's something to be said about the magic of making the best of the moment with a stranger that could very well become a new friend.

See you at the fest! I don't mind hugs most of the time! 👋🏾