First time animecon noob here, what to expect?

[JohnnyAR]

If he does, hang out with me! I got tons of people so far! go to http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,9533.0.html

whoa, a square like me being invited to hang out with the cool kids? Im all in XD
Im always up for a good and if anyone see's a cameraman with an expensive camera, smile and let me take a photo =D
All pictures I take will be posted on these forums and I will be there for Friday nite, All Day Saturday and Im leaving Sunday afternoon.

Cool another person to hang out with!

[Nick Zebra]

my forces grow steadily. I kid, I kid, in all reality, I am enthused to have another person coming along with me. Look forward to seeing all of you!

[Kaura117]

The great thing about cons are your fellow geeks.
The worst- absolute worst- thing about cons are your fellow geeks.

This is not a contradiction.

What you are about to experience, noob, is what happens when you take people that are passionate about the same thing and cram them into the same room. You'll have the "normals," folks that are interested in anime, interested in the scene, and are just here for the fun and games. You'll have the "batshit insane," who will hurt you if you diss their favorite character, series, voice actor/actress, flavor of Pocky, ect. You'll also have the most interesting part of the convention- the folks that waver somewhere in between, who are quirky, who are eccentric, who may be like me and consumed about fifteen different forms of stimulants in an effort to stay up long enough to really get into the vibes of this here scene.

It's a convention. It's a gathering of vaguely likeminded individuals- or not likeminded at all, except in this sharing of a common subcultural identity. It's the kinda geeky, the supergeeky, and the just plain weird. There will be games. There will be shows. There will be absolute lunacy. There'll also be a lot of scantily clad girls around, most of which will be painfully underaged.

In other words, it'll be fun.

Enjoy.

[BrightHeart76]

the kinda geeky, the supergeeky, and the just plain weird.

I think I'm all three...

[TC X0 Lt 0X]

the kinda geeky, the supergeeky, and the just plain weird.

I think I'm all three...

ditto

[Nyxyin]

Expect a lot of walking around, so plan to wear comfortable clothing and shoes.  In previous years, I got very painful blisters on my feet from all walking back and forth from event to event.  The San Jose Convention Center is HUGE, and it's a long way from the video rooms at Marriott end to the panels at the Hilton end, and then there's the Masquerade all the way across the street.  Also, bring a backpack.  It's useful carry supplies and such (food, water, sewing kit for cosplay, any merchandise you might buy or win) because it seems like such a waste of time to keep visiting the hotel room (because the elevators get crowded and slow).  Who knows, you might even suddenly win goodies that you'll want to keep safe.  One year, I scored three DVDs, two T-shirts, several posters, and a strip of film from Daichi!  All for FREE!  (I still can't believe he just took a roll of anime film and cut pieces up and hand strips to each and every attendee during his panel.)  Years ago, the industry panels used to be very good for giveaways.  These days, it's been more miss than hit.

Also, no matter how hard you try, expect to not be prepared.  Expect to not have enough energy.  No matter how much I try to prepare ahead of time, there's always stuff I miss and wish I went to.  I've come to accept that the con just has too much to do, and I'm just always going to miss stuff no matter how hard I try.

But that's what makes it so much fun!

[nf33]

this thread has been very helpfull as it will be my first time as well so all the feedback that has been posted here has made me looking foward to this quite a lot

[Taka86]

wow, the Fanime community is a real friendly and helpful community! had it been any other forum, I would have been eatin alive.  THanks for all the info and invites guys/gals. I hope that I do get to meet some of you in person. 

[TC X0 Lt 0X]

wow, the Fanime community is a real friendly and helpful community! had it been any other forum, I would have been eatin alive.  THanks for all the info and invites guys/gals. I hope that I do get to meet some of you in person. 

No we aren't.
Were just acting nice so we you get FanimeCon, you'll be unsuspecting of are true goals (stealing your soul, feasting on your bone marrow, etc).
But don't worry, you won't feel a thing...

[Nick Zebra]

Actually the only unfriendly forum is ... well... I can't say it's name aloud but it has something to do with stairs (member of this place) anyways, of course we're friendly! and I look forward to hanging out with you on Friday!

[Haruka]

thanks for the positive feedback guys.  I was kinda gettin scared of gettin noob bashed on these forums for some reason.

We'd never do that!  The more the merrier. Besides, we were all n00bs once.  The three things you will almost always experience at a Con are:

1. Leaving broke. (this always happens to me)
2. Sleep Deprivation (the self-imposed, and if your lucky, mind-altering kind)
3. Having the time of your life!

I've never regretted attending Fanime and I've been going for some time.  Just remember to have fun, enjoy the company of the people you are with and try not to overload your schedule.  Pick the events and programs that you'd most like to see and prioritize from there.  I hope to see you there.  I will be dressed as Suiseiseki from Rozen Maiden (aka my Avatar) and will have a blue tote bag!  Say hi if you happen to see me.  I would like to impart one more important bit of wisdom that has been passed down from fan to fan, convention to convention, all the world over.
             BATHE- I know this seems like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised.

[Sora]

Oh, yeah, has anyone mentioned rapid screaming fangirls? They can be scary.

[Kaura117]

Oh, yeah, has anyone mentioned rapid screaming fangirls? They can be scary.

I got tackled by a few when I went as Sagara Sannosuke one year. ._.; One of them even stole my headband for a while! She was a friend, though, so I got it back- eventually. >_>

[Taka86]

thanks for the positive feedback guys.  I was kinda gettin scared of gettin noob bashed on these forums for some reason.

We'd never do that!  The more the merrier. Besides, we were all n00bs once.  The three things you will almost always experience at a Con are:

1. Leaving broke. (this always happens to me)
2. Sleep Deprivation (the self-imposed, and if your lucky, mind-altering kind)
3. Having the time of your life!

I've never regretted attending Fanime and I've been going for some time.  Just remember to have fun, enjoy the company of the people you are with and try not to overload your schedule.  Pick the events and programs that you'd most like to see and prioritize from there.  I hope to see you there.  I will be dressed as Suiseiseki from Rozen Maiden (aka my Avatar) and will have a blue tote bag!  Say hi if you happen to see me.  I would like to impart one more important bit of wisdom that has been passed down from fan to fan, convention to convention, all the world over.
             BATHE- I know this seems like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised.

I think the bathing part isnt a problem for me LOL.  I'll def keep an eye out for ya and snap a few pics.

[Sora]

I got tackled by a few when I went as Sagara Sannosuke one year. ._.; One of them even stole my headband for a while! She was a friend, though, so I got it back- eventually. >_>

I only have been fangirled once at Fanime before, back in 05. Ever since then, I don't think I've met any fangirls.

[Nick Zebra]

One time, while cosplaying as Sōsuke Aizen a gaggle of girls attacked me, and managed to steal my sash, and my glasses, which weren't part of the costume... I needed those, I eventually got them back, but man what an annoyance. Usually I don't mind girls trouncing me... but.. hey if you're taking my stuff, go bother a rock star.

[quantbits]

The great thing about cons are your fellow geeks.
The worst- absolute worst- thing about cons are your fellow geeks.

This is not a contradiction.

What you are about to experience, noob, is what happens when you take people that are passionate about the same thing and cram them into the same room. You'll have the "normals," folks that are interested in anime, interested in the scene, and are just here for the fun and games. You'll have the "batshit insane," who will hurt you if you diss their favorite character, series, voice actor/actress, flavor of Pocky, ect. You'll also have the most interesting part of the convention- the folks that waver somewhere in between, who are quirky, who are eccentric, who may be like me and consumed about fifteen different forms of stimulants in an effort to stay up long enough to really get into the vibes of this here scene.

It's a convention. It's a gathering of vaguely likeminded individuals- or not likeminded at all, except in this sharing of a common subcultural identity. It's the kinda geeky, the supergeeky, and the just plain weird. There will be games. There will be shows. There will be absolute lunacy. There'll also be a lot of scantily clad girls around, most of which will be painfully underaged.

In other words, it'll be fun.

Enjoy.

This needs to go on a con wiki. Best response in this thread.

Also, beware of glomps. I got glomped 10 times just walking into the con my first year in my first seconds.

[Yunri-Chan]

This will only be my third Fanime (seventeenth convention/gathering!) so I'm not as experienced as the other people giving you advice on this thread, but I'll still give my two cents.

Group > Individual. I can't emphasize this enough; at least for me, the experience is SO much funner when you've got friends and other people to hang out with. I've never attended a convention without bringing at least three of my friends, almost always more. And fun aside, it's just safer--occasionally I roam around conventions alone while my friends are elsewhere, and I immediately start getting hit on by guys. I couldn't have said it any better than Kaura117--yes, there are "batshit insane" folks at conventions, which include stalkers and just plain creeps. I don't know what age/gender you are, but if you're a teenage Asian girl like me, you should definitely watch out for that kind of thing! (It's admittingly flattering at first but it gets old and annoying. Really quickly.)

That being said, conventions, especially Fanime, have generally family-friendly atmospheres; you'll find that almost everyone is really nice and all that! Yes, it's an anime-centric event that revolves around geekery, but Fanime is kind of amazing. I haven't met anyone who's regretted attending. xD

Oh and ALSO, Fanime's like the sixth biggest convention in North America or something; it's really, really big. So brace yourself for that. Cx

Have fun! <333