I agree, I found that I needed to make friends outside of the Con environment before I really started getting the most out of a Con.
rwrylsin and I have seen this twice, when we moved to Melbourne, and then when we moved to Glasgow - our first con after each move was basically spent hanging around with each other and doing random program items.
Once we joined the MSFC in Melbourne, or found the local fen in Glasgow, we started getting more fun out of cons.