May 13, 2010
You've watched hours of your favorite anime. You've subscribed to manga magazines and invested in buying the volumes. You've ordered posters online of your favorite characters. And now you're ready to attend an anime convention. So how do you make sure that your dream vacation doesn't turn into a nightmare from hell?
STEPS
Research different anime conventions in your general area. Find out where the nearest cons take place, and when. A good place to research this is animecons.com, which lists almost every anime convention in the world by region, country, and state. Do you want to attend a huge con, or would you rather start out with something smaller? Large cons can have anywhere between 15 and 40 thousand people attending, so make sure you're up to it. At a large convention, there is no way you'll be able to attend every event, so keep this in mind. On the flip side, big cons always have the most famous bands and guest artists. Some cons have a higher cover fee than others, and you may want to take this into consideration. Make sure that your con takes place at a time when you will be able to vacation for 3 - 5 days.
Decide how you're going to get there. If it's far away, are you going to fly? If you're planning on a road trip, will you rent a car? Who will drive it? How much will gas cost? Make sure you have more than one person who can drive, and that the car you've chosen is reliable and has enough room in it for the passengers and luggage. Figure out who are you going to take with you, if anyone.
Register early. The price of con registration goes up the closer you get to the day of, with usually a difference of $15-$20 between the early price and the at-con price. If you pre-register, all you have to do is pick up your badge the night before or the morning of con, and it saves everyone a lot of stress. At-con registration is expensive, stressful, and usually involves getting up at 5:30 am to avoid standing in a long line of other people who also forgot to pre-register. Usually registration for a con opens up about three months before it occurs, so be ready.
Bring enough spending money. Remember to bring spending money too! You can easily spend more than $200 dollars at con on clothing, posters, DVDs, books, and other merchandise. You will be very sad if you get to the con with your $25 and want to buy some souvenirs, but don't have enough money. So come prepared! Books and DVDs are often discounted, so there's incentive to buy them there.
Know if you are you going to cosplay.Know if you are you going to cosplay. If so, plan in advance. Buy or start making your costume at least two months in advance. That way it's sure to be shipped on time if you're ordering it, or you'll have plenty of time to sew it. Even if you sew every day for hours, it still takes two or three weeks to make even a simple costume, so give yourself enough time.
Take cosplay into consideration when packing, too. Think of how much space your costume and accessories need, and make sure you have that space. Are any of your travel mates doing large, bulky cosplays? Find out!
Bring a sewing kit, duct tape, permanent markers, and/or whatever else you need to make emergency costume repairs. If your costume tears or breaks you'll be very sad if you can't fix it!
If you're cosplaying, practice poses in costume beforehand. That way you'll be ready to strut your stuff when people ask to photograph you - and they will if your cosplay is halfway decent!
Make sure your costume is appropriate for a potentially crowded con. Try to avoid long trailing pieces of clothing that could easily be stepped on or large accessories on your back that could hit people as you turn around. Your costume should allow you to move around easily and see reasonably well. If your costume does limit your vision, recruit a friend to escort you around the con or just try to stay in one place while you're wearing it.
Give yourself plenty of time to get there if you live more than a couple hours away. You don't want to get there at midnight the night before, or even worse, 6 am the morning of! Make sure you have time to settle into your hotel room and get a good night's sleep the night before. You'll need your energy!
Read the guide to con before you go. At registration, you are given a packet containing con rules, as well as a detailed schedule of events. Take a couple minutes to run through this with a highlighter pen and mark anything that catches your eye. This way you won't miss any of your favorite anime screenings, autograph sessions, or band performances. Don't worry about planning every minute. Just find out what interests you beforehand and make your decisions as you go. Do not try to attend everything that interests you! It isn't possible, and rushing around all day to catch five minutes of everything will just make you feel tired and dissatisfied.
Do not be afraid to split up. If you're at con with friends, don't feel pressured to spend every minute with them. Set up a designated time and place to meet, then go off to explore on your own or in pair if you're part of a large group. Con has something for everyone, and no matter how much you and your friends have in common, you won't all want to do the same thing all of the time!
Remember to eat, sleep,drink water,shower,and brush your teeth. Don't get so caught up running around that you forget to take care of yourself. Eat lunch, even if it's just grabbing a quick bite at the con's hotel or convention center. Staying till midnight to catch a late night anime showing can be fun, but don't stay into the wee hours every night and wake up groggy and exhausted in the morning, and don't forget to shower and brush your teeth because nobody likes a smelly convention go-er with bad breath.
Line up early for big-name events. For band performances, cosplay and AMV contests, and awards ceremonies, make sure you get there early. Lines can grow to epic proportions, and although chatting with fellow attendees in line can be fun, waiting 45 minutes is not.
Don't spend the entire time at con doing the same thing. Although you may be captivated by the RPG room, ready to fork over all of your cash in the dealer's room, or just stuck on those old AMVs in the 24-hour AMV theater, if you only do that, you'll regret it later. Get out and try things that you don't know anything about! You may find some new anime, manga, or friends in the process!
Learn that socializing at con can be a tricky business. Friendships are made and broken, and love sometimes found. Don't get too attached to someone you don't know. Although you may be both avid fans of Death Note - maybe you're even both cosplaying Light! - that doesn't mean you should exchange emails and be best friends forever. Get to know somebody before you give out personal information, if at all.
Make sure you give yourself enough time to leave and get home. You may be tempted to stay until late into the night on the last day of con, but if it's a Sunday and you have school or work tomorrow, you may want to reconsider. By the last day, the important events are usually over, so don't feel bad about skipping out on the last half-day if you have to get home.
TIPS
Bring a bottle of water, especially if it's summer and especially if you're wearing a costume that is heavy or thick.
Find out where the bathrooms are on each floor. You will need to use them later.
Be patient and polite when asking to take someone’s picture. Ask first and then wait your turn.
If you are taking a picture with a cosplayer or having your picture taken with a fan of your costume, try to move out of the way as much as possible so that people can easily pass by you and check out the booths without interrupting your photo.
Cell phones are a must at larger cons, and even some smaller ones. There's nothing more frustrating than having to spend time tracking down a friend instead of attending events or having fun. If you don't have a cell phone already, consider picking up a cheap, prepaid phone before the con. Make sure you have phone numbers for everyone in your group and people you plan to meet at the con.
Don't just get into a long line assuming that it's the place to be if you want to be "with it". Find out what the line is for and if it's something that you are truly interested in. That being said, don't assume that an event or panel with no line or only few attendees is not worth going to. Not all guests are the "hot item" or "flavor of the moment". They might appeal more to the mature, cerebral crowd.
Check out the workshops. Some of them are very hands-on, "how to do it". Be sure to read ahead and note whether you should bring your own supplies. For artist workshops, you usually supply your own drawing materials and paper. Also note any workshop fees as these usually cover supplies which are provided.
TIPS
Bring a bottle of water, especially if it's summer and especially if you're wearing a costume that is heavy or thick.
Find out where the bathrooms are on each floor. You will need to use them later.
Be patient and polite when asking to take someone’s picture. Ask first and then wait your turn.
If you are taking a picture with a cosplayer or having your picture taken with a fan of your costume, try to move out of the way as much as possible so that people can easily pass by you and check out the booths without interrupting your photo.
Cell phones are a must at larger cons, and even some smaller ones. There's nothing more frustrating than having to spend time tracking down a friend instead of attending events or having fun. If you don't have a cell phone already, consider picking up a cheap, prepaid phone before the con. Make sure you have phone numbers for everyone in your group and people you plan to meet at the con.
Don't just get into a long line assuming that it's the place to be if you want to be "with it". Find out what the line is for and if it's something that you are truly interested in. That being said, don't assume that an event or panel with no line or only few attendees is not worth going to. Not all guests are the "hot item" or "flavor of the moment". They might appeal more to the mature, cerebral crowd.
Check out the workshops. Some of them are very hands-on, "how to do it". Be sure to read ahead and note whether you should bring your own supplies. For artist workshops, you usually supply your own drawing materials and paper. Also note any workshop fees as these usually cover supplies which are provided.
Warnings
Don't lose your con guide and map. They tell you when things are and where you are!
Make sure to get tickets if you want to attend a tickets-only event, such as some costume balls.
Pack band-aids and emergency medicine for colds, headaches, etc., so you'll be prepared if anyone gets sick or hurt.
Whether you are cosplaying yourself or interacting with cosplayers, keep your behavior polite. The fact that your character is obnoxious or challenges everyone he sees to a fight does not give you the right to annoy or harass other con attendees. Similarly, your personal feelings about a character should not be acted out on someone cosplaying as that character. Some cosplayers like to behave exactly like the characters they dress as, but others merely enjoy dressing up. Different individuals may or may not be OK with you hugging them or showing your affection in other ways. It is never alright to physically or verbally harass a person who is cosplaying as a character you hate. Remember that this is a real person, not the fictional character walking around.
Attending con with 5 buddies can be great, but make sure you're all on the same page. You don't want to discover that one of your friends brought six suitcases, or that the other one snores and kicks when you share a bed. DO NOT bring more people than seat in your car or beds in your hotel room. Before you make any reservations, make sure that the other travelers are serious about attending, and willing to pay their way. Make sure everyone contributes evenly. Costs for gas, hotel, and a rental car (if necessary) should be split equally. Talk to everyone beforehand about costs, and make sure you all know how much money to bring.
Avoid being long winded when asking a panel guest a question. Try to keep it short and simple and your question clear. Avoid going off on tangents to show off your esoteric fanboy/fangirl knowledge. Panel guests are happy to answer questions but don't put them in the precarious position of having to ask you "...So what's your question?" On a related note, if you ask a voice actor "Who would win in a fight between the character he played and another character", do you actually expect him not to name his own character, no matter who the other character was?
For many of the actors, you'll probably know more about the mythology of the show than they do, unless they were writers on the show. They may not necessarily be familiar with the details of the expanded universe of franchises such as Evangelion, DragonballZ or Tenchi Muyo beyond their immediate involvement in the series. Some of them have done thousands of roles for different companies. Keep in mind that many of them who have been in the business for decades may be a little fuzzy on roles they played 10 or 20 or more years ago, even if the show has a cult following. So don't be too surprised or disappointed if your favorite voice actor doesn't remember a voice role they did for a show back in, oh say, 1979. They may not actually remember it.
My Nakama Shin Kyouketsuki Tuxedo cosplaying as luffy in gear second
