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Kumoricon 2012
08-27-2012, 04:44 AM
It's this coming weekend, for those of you who didn't know, in Vancouver, WA.
Anybody here (who isn't me) planning to attend? Also, speaking of attending, this is my first 'con. What do I need to know?
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Listen to Security, bring a bottle of Febreeze & stay away from the ATM/Snack Bars at the Con - They'll RAPE you.
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Sleep enough to be well-rested before the con; you'll probably end up missing sleep during the con. Don't go completely without sleep during the con - you won't enjoy the last few hours.
Shower and scrub yourself every morning. Wear clean clothes every day - no wearing the same outfit twice. Don't bring smelly food. Don't wear cologne, perfume, or anything else with a scent. In short, don't add to the problem that you'll need that bottle of Febreeze to mitigate.
Go through the convention calendar very first thing - figure out where and when all the interesting stuff is taking place. You don't want to miss the only panel on your favourite part of the hobby because you were doing something else that you can do any time.
Ask permission before taking photos of cosplayers. (If you ask nicely, many of them will pose in-character for you.)
If there are two guests you want to meet and one of them is substantially more popular than the other, go see the other. (I've heard stories of ComicCons where the hotshot Marvel/DC artists of the day were so swamped they barely had time to say hello to each visitor, while artists like Mœbius had time to talk with each visitor for a quarter-hour. Which sounds like more fun, for you or for the guest?)
Bring your own food if you can. (One of my friends makes a habit of stopping by the asian grocery the evening he arrives at a con, and buying a bag of stuffed bread when it's on clearance-sale. He'd rather spend $1 on a melon-pan or ham-pan and eat it later at the con, than spend $5 on a hot dog at the con that doesn't taste as good as that day-old bread.)
Definitely bring a water bottle, and use it. It's going to get hot and humid in the popular panel rooms and the dealers' room; you'll need the water to keep yourself hydrated properly.
If you're going to the dealers' room, bring your own bag. (A sturdy canvas bag, by preference; you don't want it breaking because it was poked by other shoppers' bags too many times.) Budget, and hold yourself to that budget. Part of bringing your own bag is to aid the budget - when the bag's full, stop buying stuff. Remember: You have to take your purchases home with you.
If you like the convention, buy a T-shirt or something else at the convention's table in the dealers' room. Yes, it's expensive, but they need the money for next year's con. (No, I've never been to Kumoricon. All cons are like that.)
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Don't try and make it through the day on sugar and energy drinks. You will zombify.
The Staff are your friend. Most are unpaid volunteers with little training and minimum experience. Be nice to them and help as much as possible by following instructions.
Edit: Also. Take the Friday before and Monday after off work. This is killing me.
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Dartz Wrote:Don't try and make it through the day on sugar and energy drinks. You will zombify.
The Staff are your friend. Most are unpaid volunteers with little training and minimum experience. Be nice to them and help as much as possible by following instructions.
Edit: Also. Take the Friday before and Monday after off work. This is killing me. Having been helping to run a small local gaming con for the past ten years now... this is some damn good advice.
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ECSNorway Wrote:Having been helping to run a small local gaming con for the past ten years now... this is some damn good advice.
I wish I'd listened to it myself. I'm dying with tiredness all day at work and struggling to stay awake in my solitude in the office.
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I'll second bringing your own snacks. I usually get a 6-pack of popbottles (plastic) and toss one in my backpack. when I drain it, I refill it at a water fountain. Also a box of rice crispy squares or granola bars (something else you can store in your bag/backpack. I also tend to keep my camera in there.
If you are going with somebody, each of you buy some extra texting minutes, it'll be handy when you're separated and trying to meet up, rather than hoping to run into each other at the con or at your room.
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More advice, from my friend who'd rather eat a day-old melon-pan than an overpriced convention hot dog:
Whenever possible, eat food that's good for you. Even a sub sandwich with a lot more vegetables on it that you may normally have (in a place that allows you to choose what and how much you want on it) is an improvement over eating crap all the time. Your body will thank you.
Make a list of items you're specifically looking for from the dealer's room. Are you missing volumes from a series? Also, if what you see is easily available and the same price at the shop you normally go there, leave it there. If you have to have it, buy it at the shop (easier if they're also dealers) and support them.
If your con has a flea market/nominoichi and you're selling stuff in it, make sure to make and print out a list of what you're selling, the asking price, the lowest you'd go on an item if someone wants to haggle (don't go straight to that amount if it's significantly less), and a blank column for Sold. Put a mark there when you sell something. These things are high-pressure, and this takes a lot of it off. Remember to keep smiling as best as you can. Use a bit of patter, but don't yell it; the sellers near you will appreciate it.
Oh, and, resist the temptation to bellow internet memes all the time. They're really not that funny, and they're worse than not funny the 20th or so time around. If you want attention that badly, do something that earns it, like cosplaying or hosting a panel. Demanding it with stuff like this will just make thinking people (most con attendees) think you're an idiot and sometimes tell you so in no uncertain terms.
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All very useful information. I'm cursed (blessed?) with essentially no sense of smell, so I hope the Febreze will be less than necessary.
The food thing is especially easy to work with- I live ~30 minutes' drive from the venue, so I can go home and restock. Was planning to take homemade lunches with me, and drop by the local Subway et al for dinner. I'll have to steal that refilling bottle idea, too.
I've already scheduled my choice of events, complete with alternate options for if I lose a tourney/change my mind. I've got the locations for all those events figured out, and none of them are too far away from the rest. Was even planning to check in on Friday, just to make the process on Saturday easier.
Anybody got advice on how early to show up each morning? This is a medium-sized 'con, I'd say- not tiny, but not huge.
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Depends on how early events you give a damn about start. I'd say, unless there's something specific scheduled earlier, no sooner than 8:30 -- most morning slots start at 9.
Remember to take in your evening plans and figure out how long you can stay up and be coherent, you'll want to not be so tired you can't enjoy whatever late events you're in, or worse, dozing off on the drive home.
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robkelk Wrote:Sleep enough to be well-rested before the con; you'll probably end up missing sleep during the con. Don't go completely without sleep during the con - you won't enjoy the last few hours. Very much this. If it means not going all days, if it means missing morning or evening panels, do so. Don't count on catching a cat nap in a chair in the common areas, because they're too loud, and even if you manage to get that sleep, odds are you're going to oversleep in the process and miss something anyway.
Quote:Shower and scrub yourself every morning. Wear clean clothes every day - no wearing the same outfit twice. Don't bring smelly food. Don't wear cologne, perfume, or anything else with a scent. In short, don't add to the problem that you'll need that bottle of Febreeze to mitigate.
And remember, you're in a place that's overloaded with bodies, so it's going to get warm, and stuffy, and everyone's going to be sweaty. Bad enough to rewear something coated liberally in your own sweat, anything you've worn probably now has everyone's sweat on it.
Quote:Go through the convention calendar very first thing - figure out where and when all the interesting stuff is taking place. You don't want to miss the only panel on your favourite part of the hobby because you were doing something else that you can do any time.
Mark those, mark the ones that are particularly important (especially if you actually use the convention as an opportunity to network). And be sure to carve out blocks of time for self-maintenance, like eating.
Quote:Bring your own food if you can. (One of my friends makes a habit of stopping by the asian grocery the evening he arrives at a con, and buying a bag of stuffed bread when it's on clearance-sale. He'd rather spend $1 on a melon-pan or ham-pan and eat it later at the con, than spend $5 on a hot dog at the con that doesn't taste as good as that day-old bread.)
One of my family's older tricks was to pack a cooler in the trunk of the car with sandwich fixings and drinks. Later, we've tended towards eating out at places close-in to the venue. If you must eat out, and can manage it, stake out the area to identify any potential eateries within walking distance.
Quote:Definitely bring a water bottle, and use it. It's going to get hot and humid in the popular panel rooms and the dealers' room; you'll need the water to keep yourself hydrated properly.
I haven't had to do this since Denvention 3/WorldCon here (where part of the con swag was a "Fan Hydration Device" that I still use at work), and Mile Hi Con provides water stations in just about every room for the attendees to take care of their thirst without leaving a panel. If you're not sure of the local hydration solutions, take an empty bottle just in case.
Quote:If you're going to the dealers' room, bring your own bag. (A sturdy canvas bag, by preference; you don't want it breaking because it was poked by other shoppers' bags too many times.) Budget, and hold yourself to that budget. Part of bringing your own bag is to aid the budget - when the bag's full, stop buying stuff. Remember: You have to take your purchases home with you.
Said bag can also serve when there's additional con swag or excellent stuff at the freebies table. But, again, especially if you're not going home, when the bag's full, stop buying acquiring stuff.
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Of course, depending on the con, you may not be allowed to take your own bags in... Rules vary though.
-Morgan.
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Well, the 'con has ended, and it was a moderate success. Got one figurine, a bunch of card game stuff, and some cosplay pics. It taught me a few things, which should make next year go even better.
-Nothing important was scheduled before 10AM. I made a point of never showing before 9:30, and it worked wonderfully. Got ~7 hours a night, and didn't crash any time after Day 1.
-If you've not done this before, you don't need as much food as you think, and you'll pack less than half as much drink as you deserve.
-HYDRATE. More importantly, pay attention to how you hydrate, and what you do it with. Space it out, mix it up, and lay off the energy drinks 1-2 hours before the end of the night. I went with some flavored water, some juice drinks, and one coffee drink (The Monster coffee options are remarkably good) a day, and I was covered beautifully.
-Just because you *can* carry it with you, doesn't mean you *should*. I was wearing a backpack and a lunchbox to carry a handful of games and a day's food/snacks. What I should've done was carry a smaller bag with half that stuff, and refresh it from a cooler in my car. Too much bulk.
-It's not enough to plan where, when and how. You also need to plan the what- specifically, what you're doing, and what is required to do it. A bit more planning would've made the difference between me not going to the rave, and me in a rave with fancy lights and ear protectors, dancing away.
-Never visit an exhibition hall immediately. Wait for a few hours, and the lines will be much more manageable.
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All of those are excellent points. On the point of hydration, may I recommend a CamelBak backpack? Their military offerings are of superb quality and are useful beyond compare. My Urban Assault XL has yet to fail me.
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