Con Tips

I'm bored have some convention tips!

This year's AnimeNEXT is still months away but the earlier you prepare the less issues you should have later on. The convention moved to the Atlantic City Convention Center, so we'll be staying somewhere so we can stay all three days. These tips don't apply to AnimeNEXT only, but to other conventions as well. These tips are in no particular order.

1) Bring Batteries. You don't want your camera to die. Bring your phone charger if you're using that as a camera.

2) Ask before posting people's pictures. If you don't have permission, you could block out their face until the person says who they are, unless of course they deny you posting at all. It's technically illegal to post a picture of someone without their permission, which is why I'll block out their faces/eyes until they comment saying, "It's me, you don't have to cover me up!"

3) Photograph your hotel room as soon as you arrive. This can apply to more than just conventions. Even if you don't want to write a review, photos of your hotel room/other will be convenient for if you are sued for whatever reason. For this convention, and until it moves again, we'll be staying in this one place, and it could be a bunch of late high-school to early college-aged kids, so if anything goes wrong the owners are going to blame us first. This probably won't happen, but worst-case scenario.

4) Review the rules of where you're staying. A convention trip can be ruined if you violate the rules of where you're staying and get kicked out.

5) Bring tools to fix your costume. Have you ever been about to go out, say to dinner, and your pants rip? Avoid this by bringing a sewing kit, extra dye, or a spare costume altogether. Just make sure it's small enough to fit in your bag.

6) Bring a buddy but keep your group small. If you're unfamiliar with the area or don't know who will be there, it's good to have a friend. Bring multiple friends, but not too many or you'll all get lost or get slowed down because everyone wants to do something different. If you bring many buddies and split up, have a designated rendez-vous point and time so y'all know when and where to regroup. Make sure you have your cellphone fully charged and turned up so you know when it's time to go. Or bring walkie-talkies. That works, too. Messenger pigeons and faxes may be inefficient. Nobody uses telegraphs anymore.

7) Bring extra cash but don't drain your bank account. You may find something you want for more than you have. Or you may run out of food and have to go out. Either way, having extra cash on hand is a good idea.

8) Make sure your costume is good with the rules. Sometimes, certain parts of a costume are the whole costume, like Daryl's crossbow and vest for instance. How unfortunate would it be if you forgot to make it painfully obvious your crossbow is a prop so you couldn't bring it? Honestly the prop code for some conventions is a pain but considering the modern world it makes sense. Sometimes your costume itself is an issue, but not always. For your sake, make sure your costume is appropriate, and that includes the props.

9) Lay your costume out the night before. Or the week before. Either way put it somewhere where you can find it and not like step on it or have to worry about pets or little kids ruining it. I ran into this disaster a year ago when I couldn't find my necklace and flipped out.

10) CHECK YOUR POCKETS CONSTANTLY. Stuff falls out of pockets and some people have sticky fingers. The better you keep track of your stuff, the less likely you are to lose any of it. Plus if you lose your wallet you lose your money and possibly credit cards which we all know is bad news.