The strangest "event" like that for me was PAX East. I turned on Pokemon White, closed my DS, and my husband made fun of me, saying that no one would connect to me. By the time just the Keynote was done I had connected to over 150 people...it was wild.
I really want to go this next year too, since now the 3DS is out and I might finally finish my StreetPass games (after my trip to Vegas, I'm only missing like 9 puzzle pieces, but the thing keeps giving me the ones I already have.)