That’s right folks, another handy guide by Dr_Teng. I’ve been to dozens upon dozens of conventions, some awesome, some utterly terrible. Comic cons, anime cons, sci-Fi cons, even a professional con or two, and I was in Vegas one year when they had a massive cowboy con. A sea of cowboy hats taking all the $5 blackjack tables. My con cred is THROUGH THE ROOF.
Let’s cover the practical concerns first, I always see people screw these up. Is the convention within driving/transit distance? If not, you need :
1) A hotel room. One of the cons I was at, my planning was shit and I ended up screwed out of a hotel room. I had to wander a Walmart parking lot and a nearby park during the AM hours, then I slept in the hotel lobby. This sucks, don’t do this ever. Convention rooms sell out quickly for large conventions, so call in early and reserve one! They rarely charge you a deposit, which means there’s no harm in doing it.
2) Transportation. Does the city have an airport, bus station, public transit…? If it’s a nearby convention, I’ll just take Megabus for $15. If it’s long distance? You’ll want to fly. Make sure you know how to get from whatever gets you into the city to your final destination. You’d be surprised how many times people end up at the bus station, or the airport, and have no clue how to arrive at the con center/hotel, then they get a taxi and it costs them $60 since the airport is in the middle of nowhere.
3) Make sure to pack your essentials like toothbrush/cleaning stuff. I think everyone that’s been to a convention knows how damn stinky they can get. It’s not that hard to bring some shampoo, deodorant, and other basic cleaning supplies. Or you could buy them at CVS/Walgreens/whatever.
There you go, the absolute basics. If you don’t cover those, you’ll have to beg around for a hotel room, or be stuck at the airport, or you’ll stink and no one will want to be around you. All very bad! Most reasonable people should be able to handle those, on to the con itself!
Most people reading this blog will be heading over to some of the bigger cons, meaning SDCC, NYCC, Dragoncon, whatever. Here’s the deal. They’re loud, they’re busy, they’re crowded. You’re going to run into weird people, you’re going to run into cool people, you’re going to run into costumed people, and you’ll probably run into annoying volunteer security that’re power tripping because they now have authority over other nerds (although at larger conventions they sometimes have real police forces).
You’ll need to grab your badge. Some larger cons mail you your badge early. This is fantastic. Others force you to line up. This sucks. Try and get into line during off hours when people aren’t around so you aren’t stuck for 6 hours (or more) in line (seriously, I’ve seen 10 hour+ lines). Waiting in line just to get a badge just so you can get into a convention? WASTE OF TIME.
Depending on the day, if you’ve already got your badge and the convention hasn’t really started? Take a walk around the place. Scope out the food areas, for the adults, scope out where to get some booze. If you’re allowed in the convention center, walk around with your buddies and the guidebook, so you have an idea where you can find the guests or artists you want to see. Trust me, it’s a lot harder when the place is full.
I don’t do many convention events, but if you want to see some panels, screenings, or whatever else, plan ahead. The popular ones usually have a large line 30-60 minutes before they open up. So if this is your only chance to see your favourite actor from Star Trek or whatever, don’t screw it up. Same with getting commissions, if you’re dead set on getting some art drawn, find the artist you’re most looking forward to and get that stuff in on Friday!
There’s not much more to it. The evenings can be obnoxious if you’re not into partying or drinking, they’re basically big geeky parties past a certain point of the evening. Which I’m totally down with, but not everyone is. A lot of conventions are a sensory overload for people, you get used to it quickly. Make some pals, take lots of photos, whatever. They’re a good time as long as you’re not too serious about it and freak out because some fat dude walked in front of you dressed as slave leia, because let me tell you, it’s gonna happen.
