sudanglo:

Introverts, like me, dread the thought of going to an event where people just mingle with no organized structure

You'll find plenty of organized structure at a UK.

Sounds good. Maybe, I will consider it then. How many of these UKs have you gone to?

My biggest "problem" in Lille was that so many things that I wanted to experience were happening at the same time. At a UK there are lots of interesting round tables, lectures, events, etc. No worry if you are not an extrovert. You will find plenty to do.
Seoul would be delightful if I weren't retired and on a small, fixed salary. I just can't affort it.

Alkanadi:

Tempodivalse:Cliques tend to form and it's hard to break into them, though this may be true of most large gatherings.

To make things more appealing to introverts, the events can be structured with a solid schedule. Introverts seem to be more action orientated. Introverts, like me, dread the thought of going to an event where people just mingle with no organized structure.

Also, they could have volunteers to go around and chat with people who are by themselves.

Or, maybe if people check the box that says they are coming alone, they could be automatically paired up with someone else in the same boat. Maybe, part of the fun would be trying to find your partner based on some clues.

Smaller events like SES offer "angxeloj" (marked on their badges) who have agreed in advance to be of special help to beginners and newbies.

The UK does indeed have many organized events like lectures, discussions, plays, etc. I am a person who does not find it easy to go up to random people and talk to them. If I went to UK by myself as a beginner, I could imagine spending all day going to the structured activities - lectures, round tables, etc. - and then feeling a bit lonely and left out at lunchtime and during the evenings (which offer a few activities but generally a lot less structure). I do not recommend going to UK alone as a first Esperanto event if you aren't an extrovert and if you aren't travelling with a friend. I know at least one person who tried that and had a very difficult time -- and he knew at least one person (me), and it was very certainly not his first Esperanto event. I ran into him mid-UK, I knew him from my home city and he was clearly not having fun and didn't have a group of friends to go from event to event with. I think things improved for him late in the week when he was a able to make a few friends but it was clear to me when I ran into him that he had been having a really rough time of it. I was there, I was with a group of friends, and I spent a good deal of time in a visible location staffing a booth, but I barely saw him, and my presence was essentially of no help to him at all except insofar as I was able to provide a sympathetic ear on how hard he was finding it.

It is easy to get lost in the crowd at a big event. It's harder to meet people at a big event than a smaller event because things are so big that even nice people would find it hard to notice that there is this person who seems to be alone all the time and not having a good time.

And being on the other side of the world in that situation would likely be doubly miserable. Perhaps the sort of person who wouldn't couch surf or indulge in travelling outside organised trips ought to go to a large conference with a few friends.

Haven't been to a UK, but this strikes me as a good idea, worth forwarding to the UK committee at UEA. Maybe not 1:1 pairing, but possibly have a booth/table/notice board where people who are alone can put up an ad for a partner or group of people, possibly based around similar interests: Gamers groups, writers groups, poets groups, military veterans, ktp ktp. Call it something like "Kunliga angulo".

Alkanadi:

Tempodivalse:
Or, maybe if people check the box that says they are coming alone, they could be automatically paired up with someone else in the same boat. Maybe, part of the fun would be trying to find your partner based on some clues.

jdawdy:this strikes me as a good idea, worth forwarding to the UK committee at UEA. Maybe not 1:1 pairing, but possibly have a booth/table/notice board

when I was in the military, they had one to one pairing and it really boasts your confidence. you will be in big trouble if you don't know where your partner is. also, you need to know a lot of info about them, like their full name and serial number.

it was a really good way to bond! it increased moral because you didn't feel alone among thousand of other troops.

this is why police and EMS workers travel in pairs also. even if they don't like their partner, they eventually bond with them anyway

maybe, there could be a checkbox that asks if you want to be paired based on you interests. i would certainly check that box

jdawdy:Haven't been to a UK, but this strikes me as a good idea, worth forwarding to the UK committee at UEA. Maybe not 1:1 pairing, but possibly have a booth/table/notice board where people who are alone can put up an ad for a partner or group of people, possibly based around similar interests: Gamers groups, writers groups, poets groups, military veterans, ktp ktp. Call it something like "Kunliga angulo".

There is a notice board near the UK registration desk at every UK and certainly it is common to plan an event and post a notice (i.e. "pub crawl around downtown, meet here at 19:00 on Tuesday, contact person is L. Zamenhof). If you were an introvert you'd have to feel courageous enough to post such a notice for an activity that interests you, if the posted notices aren't things you care to participate in.

Each attendee also has a number and there is a messaging system where you can leave a message for another attendee, filed by "kongreso-numero".

Tempodivalse:Maybe, part of the fun would be trying to find your partner based on some clues.

This would be astonishingly difficult in an event of 1000 people, held in a large convention center. It could happen with a small organized group event in a single room, though.

Ah, bone. Sounds like people just need to keep in mind the first-timers and solo visitors and organize get togethers for the less-extroverted. I'd certainly do so at a kongreso.

erinja:

jdawdy:Haven't been to a UK, but this strikes me as a good idea, worth forwarding to the UK committee at UEA. Maybe not 1:1 pairing, but possibly have a booth/table/notice board where people who are alone can put up an ad for a partner or group of people, possibly based around similar interests: Gamers groups, writers groups, poets groups, military veterans, ktp ktp. Call it something like "Kunliga angulo".

There is a notice board near the UK registration desk at every UK and certainly it is common to plan an event and post a notice (i.e. "pub crawl around downtown, meet here at 19:00 on Tuesday, contact person is L. Zamenhof). If you were an introvert you'd have to feel courageous enough to post such a notice for an activity that interests you, if the posted notices aren't things you care to participate in.

Each attendee also has a number and there is a messaging system where you can leave a message for another attendee, filed by "kongreso-numero".

Tempodivalse:Maybe, part of the fun would be trying to find your partner based on some clues.

This would be astonishingly difficult in an event of 1000 people, held in a large convention center. It could happen with a small organized group event in a single room, though.

I met a lot of people at the UK whom I had met here on lernu.net and in other Esperanto chats. That for me was one of the big pluses of the UK. There is a communications pin board system. Every participant has a congress number and is listed either in the congress book or, as new attendees arrive, in the daily newsletter. You simply write a message on one of the note pads at the board and write the congress number of the attendee on the back and paste it to the board under the appropriate numbered column. You should indicate how and/or where to contact you. Then you have to check the board for an answer (or if you have just given you email, check your email box). I was able to "put a face" on so many friends from around the world.

Universala Kongreso is a wonderful place. The whole town is ours. Anywhere you run into people wearing congress badges -- and you can speak to them in Esperanto, with confidence that you will be understood.

My first UK was in Zagreb, 2001, and while I wasn't exactly a komencanto then (I spoke the language more or less fluently), it was my first big international event (I had gone to some regional meetups in my country with its share of Esperantophone environment and its share of crocodiling).

The key is -- to book the accommodation through UEA, but not so that you would be staying with your country-fellows. I was on budget and would have liked to stay in the amasloĝejo, but unfortunately I wasn't properly informed about it so I booked a youth hostel. My roommates were esperantists from different countries -- so they were the first friends I easily made there

I do consider myself an introvert but somehow I never found myself alone in the congress (a friend of mine who organises events is saying that calling them "congresses" is actually an anachronism as they actually are more of festivals). Exactly as Robb says, my biggest problem was to choose from all the options and possibilities where to go!

One thing to look for is the Junulara Programo, which usually has a plenty of fun an enjoyable programeroj, but often is not very visible so you better go and ask around (at the TEJO budo or similar), otherwise you might as well not find out.

This is because Junulara Programo (similarly as amasloĝejo) is prepared often at the last moment and almost never makes the deadline to enter the official congress print.