survival tips

[lil_mouse]

anybody have any good tips/ideas/advice for a fanime virgin?

I've only been to a couple sac-comic-cons so this is a bit of a jump and i don't wanna get blind sided

everything helps,

oh, and if you wanna share some anecdotes (<- is that even how i spell that?) i'd love to here em!

^_^ Thankies!

[Eri]

If you're staying overnight, bring food.

There's so much to do that leaving the convention center even for a meal can be... hard.

Also, this is slightly random but related all the same. The San Jose Mercury newspaper is planning to run an article on survival guides on the local conventions (us, Kubla, and Baycon). So, if you guys don't mind, I'll be collecting tips (not the anecdotes) and sending them off to the newspaper.

[FanFicGuru]

A couple tips that are good in  general:

1) Always keep a small emergency fund in your sock/other obscure place: Sure, conventions are meant to be safe, fun environments. However, that doesn't mean that you can't get your purse stolen or something happens that leaves you in dire financial straits. In case that happens, it's great to have anywhere between 40-100 dollars tucked away in your sock or some place separate from the rest of your money to handle emergency transportation/food, etc.

2) If you have a hotel room, COLLECT MONEY THE DAY YOU ARRIVE!: If you have the hotel under your card, make sure that your roommates pay you the day they arrive and make it PERFECTLY clear long before the day of the convention. If the roomie can't cough it up, especially if you connected via internet, tell them they can't stay. It sucks, but people have to be willing to do that or else they get totally reamed. I had a friend who put the room down on his card with three other guys and didn't collect the cash the first day. These guys made calls out of the room, ran up the bill, and late the night before took all their stuff and split. My friend was left with a 900 dollar hotel bill...and no way to contact the people who ripped him off. So, always ALWAYS collect the day you arrive. And if you are not the person with the room on your card, be prepared to fork out the money the day you arrive.

3) Bring cash to the dealers room, only what you want to spend: Much like people with gambling problems, when you're faced with a dealers room, whether it be 2,000 square feet or 50,000 square feet, chances are you may be tempted to dip into funds that weren't meant for the convention. To help avoid this, it's always best to bring a set amount of cash into the dealers room daily. Sure, it's no fun to shop on a 25 dollar a day budget, for those of you in more dire financial straits, however, you can also lump money from one day to another. For example, if you're busy all day Saturday with panels, etc...then save that money for Monday when there are a lot of sales going on. Nab a few wall scrolls for 20 bucks, and some figures or whatever. Make your money last.

That's about all for now, I'll try to think of more.

[Lizchan33]

Sleep is one of the most important things.... sleep at lease 4-6 hours because no one likes a grumpy otaku!

Have back-up clothing, accidents do happen so if you tear or stain an outfit having back-up clothing assures you that you won't wear stinky clothing.

And on the subject of smells, BATHE, no one should have to smell another person like that. ^o^;;;;

[heeroyuy135]

Here's a tip:

Drinks lots of water or Gatorade. Anything else (soda, energy drinks) will slow you down and your rate of crashing will increase.

[lil_mouse]

i'm only gonna be there saturday, so all the overnight stuff is sorta moot

[LordKefka]

food, water... bring those. They go crazy with the price for something to eat and stuff. Although they did have some free water last year as I remember...=\

Buy rare stuff that would otherwise cost you a lot for shipping or hard to find such as art books, cels, figures, MEGAMI mags (WEE), and be sure to wait for the swap meet. You can't go wrong with that.

Don't bother with DVDs unless it's from the swap meet. The dealers charge up the rear end for those (like $30 for Gankutsou or Princess Tutu wtf bbq?) or Manga.

Also, posters, pencil boards, and anything rare. But if you are there to buy DVDs, might as well go to DDD or your Bestbuy for the deals =D.

What else.. hmm... and get as many free things as you can. Hopefully it'll be better than last year with more ANime companies showing up. 2004 was the good time when FUNI and CPM was there. Hopefully they will appear again to give free posters *hugs the DNA^2 poster*.

Well... that's all I can think of for now.

[LordKefka]

Oh yea.. and most importantly... doujins... though I don't know how much you are into that stuff...

[otakuya]

Sometimes, money just makes things harder. You can enjoy the convention even without some extra cash (although it does help).

Fanime is much more than the dealers room. The badge (pre-reg or paper on-site) allows you to explore every part of what the convention has to offer, often with no extra fee. You can attend panels, watch an anime marathon, or just simply sit in one area and watch people in costume pass by. The main events of Fanime: Cosplay Spectacular (<--is it called that this year?), Karaoke, Anime Music Videos, MusicFest, Midnight Marathons/Madness, Stage Zero, etc... are all free with the badge.

Some events do cost of money, but it's reasonable, such as quarters to use at the video arcade, but that's all I can think of.

Other "survival" tips:
-save money, spend wisely, be a smart shopper (like what everyone in this thread was talking about)
-stay hydrated and eat right
-bring a backpack or a heavy duty bag to carry stuff with you (you WILL need it)
-try not to be like an "otaku" for your first con. Sleep, shower, rest your eyes, and explore
-plan ahead: study the schedule of events and video programs and plan your day out so you won't be surprised or disappointed you had to miss something
-know where the key areas of Fanime are: info desks and con-ops. They are there to help attendants with any information about the convention, any schedule/location changes, and overall customer service
-talk to people and make new friends. The theme of anime conventions is to gather people of the same interest and interact with each other in a common way. Many would like to be friends with you and spend time with you at the con and maybe even after the con is over (example, I know some people I've met at my 1st Fanime in 2000 and still am friends with them). Some people have also found their significant other this way, too.
-have fun! FanimeCon is "By Fans, For Fans" (like you!)

[zoupzuop2]

*BATHE. I cannot find any individuals that can stress this enough, myself included. NOBODY likes walking down the hall, smiling and giggling/chuckling, then turning around and facing a blaring wall of UNGODLY WANK. Please, take a shower in your hotel room about twice a day (noonish and nightish), or when you get home.
*BRING FOOD, OR AT LEAST WATER. Even if you do have money to spend on food, you will do very well for yourself if you can carry around a good snack or two each day, so as to save money and stay happy during the con. Water is an absolute must, given that the average con-goer does a lot of walking.
*HAVE A SET BUDGET. Nothing saps the joy of a con-goer after the con quite like realizing they spent their whole life-savings, college funds, and secret hoardes, or that they sold their firstborns before they knew they had them. Setting aside a relatively larger budget than one expects (meaning, leaving room for a little excess spending) will leave no room for unpleasant surprises. I spent WAY too much on the arcades last year, but was still satisfied (even on a life-savings budget of $200 before I spent a cent on the con)...
*IF YOU'RE GOING TO COSPLAY THE OPPOSITE SEX, SHAVE. Sailor Moon never had a beard. If you're trying to look like her, neither should you. Not fun.
*BE NICE TO THE ROVERS, SECURITY AND STAFF. These people make the con possible and safe. Pissing the wrong people off will either have you torn apart by a very angry Sailor Beefcake as Security watches nearby, or taken away from the con Naruto-cosplayer style. Neither is fun.
*IF YOU RUN OUT OF MONEY, DRAW STUFF AND/OR GO HOBO. Oddly enough, sitting alongside the walls of the convention hall is a nice way to relax and make some money back. However, you can't just sit with a cup in front of you and expect nice people to fill it; in my case, I had signs with slogans appropriate to my costume/cosplay, such as "Anything-Goes-Martial-Artist, needs money to start dojo. Will accept money, Visa, Mastercard, or NES Cartridges" and whatnot. If you feel hardpressed and don't mind dropping your dignity for a second, by all means, enjoy it (and employ all your sales tactics). Offering to draw for people also generates nice revenue every once in a while.
*HAVE FUN. This one is vital. There's no point of going to this if you're not having fun.

[phoenixphire24]

I assume you'll be waiting in line to get a badge since you say you're only going Saturday. The line can get long, so if there's something you know you want to see, get to the convention center early!

I think everyone else has it covered.

[lil_mouse]

aww man these are awsome!
A few responses

to LordKefka:
Yay, Doujinshi and free stuff, i am a godess of free stuff ^_^
to Otakuya:
do you know if they have lockers or somesuch where i could stash a backpack with my 'survival gear'?
to zoupzuop2
no worries on the cosplaying for i am a girl cos-ing a girl character^_^
to phoenixphire24
i have so lucked out, our anime club is heading down there on saturday and our chaperone is gonna be there the whole weekend so he's gonna get our badges the day before ^_^

thanks for all your advice, keep it commin!

[zoupzuop2]

aww man these are awsome!
A few responses

to LordKefka:
Yay, Doujinshi and free stuff, i am a godess of free stuff ^_^
to Otakuya:
do you know if they have lockers or somesuch where i could stash a backpack with my 'survival gear'?
to zoupzuop2
no worries on the cosplaying for i am a girl cos-ing a girl character^_^
to phoenixphire24
i have so lucked out, our anime club is heading down there on saturday and our chaperone is gonna be there the whole weekend so he's gonna get our badges the day before ^_^

thanks for all your advice, keep it commin!

Oh! Ah, actually, my advices were more for the newspaper write-up... I'm sorry! If you'd like I could put up more specific advice.

[lil_mouse]

no worries, wether it was directed at me or the article your tips still help a lot

[phoenixphire24]

I don't think there are any lockers in the convention center. You might want to ask the person whose going to be there all weekend if you (and your club) can stash your stuff in a car or hotel room.

[otakuya]

To lil_mouse: There's no real "lockers" available. The ultimate "locker" is your hotel room. It's safe to put stuff in and only people you know can have access to it. If you don't have a hotel room, then you may have to carry it with you. I think there is a thread about storage somewhere.

But do not leave bags unattended. 1) you run the risk of something being stolen, lost, or broken, which is unfortunately common. and 2) like airports, y'know, don't want to raise suspicion....

As for more tips, several Fanimecon program guides already have "survival" tips (2002's guide had a small manga about it).

[BlueOracle]

No matter what...do NOT be this person.  Make good decisions about what you do, and leave situations that might be getting out of hand.  Fanime is a safe place, but you're still responsible for your actions.

[LadyKaren]

*IF YOU'RE GOING TO COSPLAY THE OPPOSITE SEX, SHAVE. Sailor Moon never had a beard. If you're trying to look like her, neither should you. Not fun..

Out of everyone I would think that would say that, I wasn't expecting you. But it is REALLY funny.

*IF YOU RUN OUT OF MONEY, DRAW STUFF AND/OR GO HOBO. Oddly enough, sitting alongside the walls of the convention hall is a nice way to relax and make some money back. However, you can't just sit with a cup in front of you and expect nice people to fill it; in my case, I had signs with slogans appropriate to my costume/cosplay, such as "Anything-Goes-Martial-Artist, needs money to start dojo. Will accept money, Visa, Mastercard, or NES Cartridges" and whatnot. If you feel hardpressed and don't mind dropping your dignity for a second, by all means, enjoy it (and employ all your sales tactics). Offering to draw for people also generates nice revenue every once in a while.

Signs have gotten really distasteful in past years. All signs now-a-days are rather looked down upon.

[otakuapprentice]

the golden rules that i know so far are:

*drink lots 'o water.
*bathe.
*sleep.
*bathe.
*eat, but not the stuff from the con center that cost 6 bucks where anywhere else it costs $2.
oh, did i mention BATHE?

[FanFicGuru]

Zoupzuop2- Your tips are good, except I'd warn against selling random drawings and stuff if you don't have an Artist colony table. random sitting around and selling stuff may get you in trouble with rovers and security. I know this because it happened to my friends before. So...yeah.

Also, I agree that signs are kinda meh..especially those 'Will Yuri/Yaoi for money'. Most of the time these are underage kids offering what could be seen as 'sexual' services for money.

Nobody really cares in Fanime, but you could be receiving a stern lecture from a patrolling policeman if caught.

At least, that's my thought.