Convention Attention: Tips For Con-Goers

[Storm17]

Try to keep your Hotel room decent: This is even more important when your rooming with 6 other people. Keep your stuff together even if your stuff just in a huge pile as long as it's together and it out of the way your more likely not to forget things (I almost lost my ear tips by not putting things together). Also the nicer you keep your room the less time you have to spend cleaning and packing! You may have more time to make your last minute Dealer and Artist Alley purchases.

Bathing: Although others have said so, maybe you don't want to take a shower everyday, that is okay, as long as you take soap and water clean you face, you armpits and any other area that you sweat a lot at. Remember deodorant is your friend! But then the next day take a shower!

Plan way ahead: Make sure everyone knows who is riding with who on both the ride to and from the con. Also make sure everyone knows where they are staying!! Be kind to the person paying for your room, they may need the money soon so don't blow it all at the con and make them wait until you can pay them back. They may not want you in their room next year or might start demanding the money in advanced.

Make back-up plans: Sometimes your plans fall thorough or you had a misunderstanding with some and thought you had a ride but you actually do not. Just have people who will be willing to take you if all else fails. Saying you'll give them gas money is always a good bribe.
 

[Aetherfall]

These are all very good tips. I learned quickly to keep a bag on me at all times. It's good to know you have your camera/cell/cash all in one place.  

[Sith Faced]

Make a List:
I cannot stress how important it is to make a list even a month before the con. When it comes to be a week before, start to gather everything. The night before you leave, pack, and go through your list one more time to make sure you have everything.

Eat/Drink!:
Too many people forget to eat or keep themselves hydrated at cons. I always bring water bottles with me before I go, and start seriously hydrating at least 48 hours before the con. I make sure to drink water constantly.
Bring food to your hotel room! Most hotels supply you with a coffee maker. I use the one at my hotel to make Cup-o-Noodles. It's quick, easy, and tasty. I also bring energy bars and fruits to snack on.

Bring a Bag:
Or at least, have a friend carry one. You can go find a bag that goes with your costume. When I cosplay as a Cyber-Goth, I have both a pink Hello Kitty backpack and a Gloomy Bear backpack that are small and fuzzy, but hold everything I need and go with my costume.

Ration Your Money:
I make sure I have a designated amount of money to spend each day. For example, $40 Friday, $80 Saturday, and $30 Sunday.

Buddy System:
Always plan to go to a Con with at least one friend. I go in groups. You don't always have to stay with them the entire con, but having someone to meet up with for lunch or when things have slowed down is nice. Also, if you run into a creeper then you have numbers to back you up and protect you.

Hope this helped 3nodding  

[Son Goshi-kun]

-If you've made a homemade cosplay, it's a good idea to bring a little bag filled with sewing equipment, extra buttons and superglue. You never know when something might break.

-It's not a good idea to make a cosplay outfit out of denim (blue jean fabric), no matter how good it looks. Not only is it hot, it's expensive!! (I know this from experience).

-Also, always make sure you check your props in with the con staff. You don't want them to think you're carrying something you shouldn't be.

-If you're like me and you like to buy weapons at cons, it's a good idea to have a bit of money that's seperate from your normal con money to buy them with. That way, 1) you don't go overboard and 2) you still have enough money to buy other non-weapon related items at the cons.

-Also, if you do buy weapons, DO NOT walk around the con with them. The staff WILL get mad at you.  

[MystRivin]

Lunch/Dinner:
Eat during the off hours or bring your own food.
Lots of people at the con, and everyone will get hungry around lunch/dinner time and then crowd into the nearest food places. So its good to eat before or after the rush. It helps if you know what's going on at the con before you get there. That way you can at least have a vague idea of when you have a break.

Artist Alley:
If you think you might want to have a picture commisioned, make sure to bring a reference pircture. Also bring plenty of money as commisions can get pricey.

Keep an eye on your money:
Not just how much your spending, but physically. Dealer's rooms are packed with people and if your not paying attention... well makes it easy for the pickpockets. (happened to me after I had just made a purchase crying )

Photoshoot:
If your cosplaying and want to go to your series' photoshoot, then I recommend checking out the con's forum to see if anyone has started a photoshoot thread. That way you can say hi and people who are going will know around how many people will be there and what characters are going to be present.

Weather/daylight:
If you drove to the convention, keep an eye on the weather (my first con it snowed towards the end of the day and my dad and I had to leave before the freeway got icey)
If your hotel is more than a block away, it might be a good idea to pay attention to the amount of light outside. Especially in a city. The buddy and group system is your friend.  

[XDZenLeeDX]

Now I've only been to one con, and it was pretty tiny (only about two rooms.) I've learned small-scale but still important things!

1) Wear shoes, preferably with arch support! Since it was a small con me and my friend went bare-footed virtually the whole time, and ended up not being able to walk the next few days because our legs hurt so bad!
I may be common sense but it's important!
2) KNOW WHERE THE CON IS LOCATED. And make sure there isn't road construction! If there is find ways to avoid it AHEAD of time so you aren't lost for about an hour! AGain, basic, but just as important as everything else.
3) If you want to go to a panel or something like that, make sure you have someone with you, and weigh your want for he panel and running around. I went to one and it turned out I missed some excellent goof-off you-tube worthy moments with my friends!
4) Know exactly when the con is and factor in school and sometimes holidays or even birthdays! Our Sakura-con plan fell through last year because it was on easter weekend and our ride, including the rest of us, realised our families had plans.
5) Videos and pictures! There are so many moments i wish i had captured on tape!
6) Obviously, don't leave stuff lying around it could get stolen and/or misplaced! This is true for everywhere, including cons! Just because your with your fellow geeks doesn't mean someone won't figure out that there's something worth stealing!

Thats all I have, most of it common sense, but I hoped it helped in some way.  

[Arephiel]

- Keep your hotel room clean. If you leave your room in a mess, chances are that the hotel is going to be more expensive the next year because they expect a large mess from the people going to the convention, thus requiring more hours to clean it up.

- Don't automatically assume that every cosplayers are fond of you hugging them out of nowhere. Please. Some people have the ability to see who'll allow it and who doesn't, but some cosplayers aren't fond of people touching them without them knowing the other (myself included).  

[RyanJakobi]

The tip of having cash money for the Artist Alley is gold. Also, if you want commissions done, maybe you should have a sheet with the pertinent info and references ready on hand as well?  

[faelixir]

-Just some things I'd like to reiterate:

-Wear comfy shoes! Heck, bring an extra pair of comfy shoes along with you just in case. I know those knee-high, white go-go boots for your Haruhara Haruko cosplay look great, but if there's loads of walking to be done (oh say, you're staying at a hotel some blocks away or you're in a rush to get to the next panel room), then you will feel the pain!

-Bring snacks! I know some places won't let you eat in them, but if you can sneak in a few bags of gummies it helps a lot if you're stuck waiting in line.

-Try to make sure all your props are weight/size-appropriate. Big weapons don't have to weigh a ton to look good...transportation is key. Especially when you have to tote something down the stairs because of cramped or busted elevators...ugh. Also, you don't won't to whack anyone in the head and knock them out cold, or get whacked. (<-personal experience)  

[inky_T.A.E.]

Look at the cons website if it has one, plan ahead.
Look at the con schedule first thing when you get there, sometimes times change.
Show up for autographs early! They often cut off the line at a certain number.
Make sure all of you cosplay/stuff is secure, if you lose something at a con, especially something small, it’s probably gone for good.  

[TigerLilyChick]

I have some pre-convention and during convention advice.

arrow If someone's making a costume for you, make sure you try it on when the person is there. That way, if something needs to be fixed, the person can take it home and fix it. Then, try it on again and again until all problems are fixed.

arrow If you are picking up your badge during the pre-registration badge pickup, leave afterwards. There are no activities going on during that time. The lines will also be super long. When my parents took sakuragirl9393 and I to pick up our Otakon badges, the line wrapped around half of the outside of the Baltimore Convention Center. The lines moved quickly though.

arrow Bring something to carry your items in. This has been said before so I won't say anything else about it.

arrow Don't be afraid to talk to people in line. At Otakon 2008 when sakuragirl9393 and I were waiting in line for Derek Stephen Prince's autograph, we were conversing with an L crossplayer (a girl dressed as L), a Ryuk crossplayer (a girl dressed as Ryuk), and a girl with a hat that was designed like a Pokemon's head.

arrow Eating is important. My friend sakuragirl9393 and I were eating Dippin' Dots at Otakon 2008. We were also sitting down eating pizza while waiting in line to get Kappei Yamaguchi's autograph.

arrow Hygiene is important! Now I was only at Otakon 2008 on Saturday (the day that Bernie Mac died and I was the only one who didn't know about it since I was having fun) so I didn't have that problem.

arrow Don't be afraid to plan out cosplays for future anime conventions. It makes things easier. Also, it's okay to change your cosplaying plans.

Hopefully these tips will be of help.  

[Goddess of Manga]

Food- Bring money for food. Although the convention hotel or center will be extrememly over priced so try to find alternaitive food sorces. Before going to the con check out the area and see if there is any food near by. Have more than one place in mind to eat because other people from the con will want to eat there also. It helps to bring some snacks too, since that ziplock bag of crackers from the grochery store is probably alot cheaper than buying tons of Pocky at the con.

Hydrate- Drink water at the convention. Most con's have water around the hotel/convention center but some do not. It never hurts to have a water bottle with you.

Communicate- If your in a group then get everyone's phone numbers. Also stay with at least one other person in your group at all times. It also isn't bad to know were the majority of your group is so that it is easier to meet eachother when you know were your going.

Oh also, be curtious to cosplayers. If you love Sasuke more than anything else on this earth and you see an epic cosplay of him, restrain yourself. You wouldn't want to accidentaly hurt the cosplayer. Also, it's polite to ask permission before hunging/gloming a person.  

[Extreme Cuddler]

Carry a snack bag.

Separate ur things from ur friends things in the hotel room.

Shower with soap.

Ask 4 permission 4 pics or glomps.

Don't start doing things that might get u kicked out.

Oh and I never though I would have 2 say this don't hump ppls legs during raves especially if u don't know them. (Had that happen 2 me once during my 1st Con)

Oh and if u plan on meeting some1 there that u met online take a friend with u because u don't really know what they are like in person (but don't take a hoard of friends either because they don't know if ur a creeper or not) I don't know if I should mention this here or not.  

[inky_T.A.E.]

This only applies to hotel/multi floor cons ( like Youmacon) do NOT for the love of all that is good overload the elevators! It's dangerous and breaks them so no one can use them and angers the staff!