I am new to socialising with the sax community although I have had a passing interest in saxophone music since my teenage years (I'm 62 now). My immediate reaction to my first encounters with both real-world sax and the online sax communities might be interesting. I've found the online sax community inspiring and the real world sax community profoundly alienating.
I recently attended my first real-world saxophone seminar, hosted by one of Australia's best players. I was shocked at everyone's appearance. All, including the host, looked like loser nerds: skinny as if they've never exercised a day in their life, poor posture, unfashionable clothes, anti-social demeanor, unkempt hair and general appearance. I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone but this was not at all inviting for a newcomer.
In contrast, the online sax community, at, for example, BetterSax on YouTube has in excess of 175,000 subscribers and is growing rapidly. There are numerous Instagram accounts, for example, weare2saxy, that, every day, post fun sax clips. The image is of everyday people having fun.
I'm drawn to be part of the online sax community. I don't want anything to do with what I've seen of the real world sax community.