Today’s question is…
I’ve never been to a convention. What is it like? What do you do there?
Boy, this is quite a question! I guess I can’t just say, “it’s where you go do fun stuff” like I used to tell my coworkers LOL
I’ll try to break it down into little pieces so I can make sense. This’ll just be a general sort of overview meant for someone who has never been to one, I’m not going to get into TOO much detail!
Finding a convention for you
First off, what do you like? Do you like anime? Sci-fi? Model building? Costuming? Pop culture? Comics? While there’s usually a little something for everyone, most conventions tend to lean towards one all-encompassing theme.
So let’s say you’re into a little bit of all geeky sort of things. Go for something like a Pop Culture con, or a “Comic Con” – “Comic Con” has become a catch-all phrase for “nerd convention” – though there are still some cons that call themselves “Comic Con” that are truly dedicated to only comics.
Now, there are some sites out there like Animecons.com and ACP that keep up-to-date lists of conventions – and I’m sure there are others – but mostly you can just do a google search for your city name + “comic con” or “fan convention,” etc. Most of the time I hear about things by word of mouth, though.
If there’s nothing you can find near you, you can always travel.
There are conventions all over the country. In my home state of TN, there are at least 10 I can think of off the top of my head – 4 in my city. All of differing sizes and genres. Larger cities obviously will have a greater chance of having multiple conventions for you to choose from.
We do travel quite a bit for conventions – we go to Atlanta most often, and we’ve gone to San Diego, Seattle, Chicago, Dallas… etc.
How do I get to the con?
If it’s local, you can just drive over for the day – do your homework, you may have to pay parking.
If it’s still in driving distance, but a few hours away, you may want to look at getting a hotel room. The convention will usually have a deal with local hotels (or the hotel, if it’s a hotel con) for discounted room rates. Obviously if you’re flying/taking a bus/train, you’ll want a hotel room.
Some conventions take place in a hotel – I personally prefer those over the ones that take place in a convention center. While convention center cons are usually bigger, they’re just not as convenient to a costumer like myself – convention center usually equals a block or two of a walk back to your hotel room.
Planning Ahead
The bigger the con, the harder it is to get into. When you think of a convention, you may think, “San Diego Comic Con sounds cool, let’s go to that,” because it’s the most publicized convention. Well if you’re thinking that in May and SDCC is in July – you’re probably out of luck. Hotel rooms for miles around will already be booked and tickets were long sold out.
So make sure you plan ahead. Google around and check social media for what people are saying about last year’s event, and look over the site’s website and facebook page. Larger conventions generally have to be planned for months in advance, while smaller conventions you sometimes wait til closer to the event. Just remember – if the convention has a hotel block, they need to fill it, so they usually fill up well before the event. (If not sold out within 20 minutes of being released, like SOME cons…) It’s mostly those hotel rooms you have to worry about, very few cons will sell out of tickets to the event itself – only some of the largest will do that.
Registering
Almost every convention features a “pre-registration” deal for your ticket (from here on out, I’ll refer to this as your badge – most conventions give you a badge to wear to show you’re paid for). Usually if you pre-register for all 2, 3 or 4 days of the con, you’ll get a deal on it, and you can pick up your tickets at the pre-registration line, instead of the walk-up line.
That sounds handy, but often the pre-registration pick-up line is much more crowded than the walk-up line – I had friends at Dragoncon one year who walked up and bought their tickets in 10 minutes, while I waited in a pre-reg line for 2 hours.
Usually if we’re just going up for the day, I’ll buy my tickets at the door. If it’s a full on trip where we have a hotel room and we’ll be there from start to finish – I pre-register.
Make sure you bring a lanyard to put your badge on – sometimes cons will give out freebie ones, but it’s much easier to deal with a lanyard (especially when you’re in costume) than clipping a badge on your clothes.
(Different crowds, different cons…)
Different kinds of cons…
So let’s go back to my first point. The different kinds of cons.
Sizes: there are tiny cons where they may only be 100-200 people there. These are usually new cons and it’s great to support them, but you’re not going to find big name guests or fabulous finds in the dealer’s room, and they’re usually not worth traveling a long distance to or getting a hotel room. But they’re great for meeting local fans or artists.
I like the more medium sized cons. There’s a good number of people, they may have a few good guests, and good sized dealer’s room – all without being super crowded.
Big cons are also fun – but you’ll have a lot more crowds and lines to contend with.
Huge cons are where you can meet big name guests, see awesome panels, spend way too much money and way too much time standing in line. These are cons like San Diego Comic Con and DragonCon, and they’re crowded and popular for a reason.
Then, like I said above, there are different genres. Most of these are a mix of everything, but they lean more towards one thing or another.
Scifi/Fantasy cons: May have a more literary bent. Usually a smaller, quieter con.
Anime cons: Obviously leaning more towards anime, manga and video games – usually a younger, louder crowd. Lots of costuming, though if you’re not an anime fan you may not know what half of it is.
Hobby-specific cons: There are cons for costuming, model-making, robots, etc. They’ll usually have some fannish things going on but you’ll find more workshops and demonstrations here.
Comic Cons: Like I said, this term has become a catch-all for conventions in general, but a true comic con is going to have more comic book geared guests and more comic book sellers in the dealer’s room.
Show-specific cons: Some cons are totally dedicated to one show/movie – there’s obviously Star Wars Celebration for Star Wars fans, and Doctor Who cons like Gallifrey One. There’s also My Little Pony conventions, Harry Potter conventions, etc.
Pop-culture con: This is the true “everything geeky” con – most “comic cons” really more of this, especially San Diego Comic Con. You’re going to get a little bit of everything here. These are my favourite.
The difference between a “con” and a “show”
Some events pass themselves off as a “convention” when they’re really just a “show.” There’s nothing wrong with a “show” – but know the difference before you go in.
Typically, a convention is held over multiple days, with lots of programming, shows, workshops, guest speakers, dealer’s room, etc. Fans come for all 3 days, often in costume, go to parties, dances, etc after hours. A lot of times these are fan-run – by fans, for fans.
“Shows” have minimal programming. Little-to-no workshops/entertainment, and guests are just there to sign autographs and take pictures. There’s a dealer’s room with people selling stuff, and probably an artist alley too. Sometimes these will only be for a day, but more recently they’ve adopted the 3-day long format like regular conventions. Once you’ve gotten your autograph you’ve wanted and made a lap around the dealer’s room – there’s nothing else to see or do. They’ll close the doors at 6pm and there is no more programming til they open again at 10 the next morning. Really, these shows are more for people just heading up for a day-trip, collecting an autograph and going home.
Shows are usually run to make money. There’s nothing wrong with that, and lately “shows” are adopting more and more ideas from true conventions, which is a good thing. But I see a lot of people excited about going to their first convention – and then afterwards wondering why people think these conventions are so fun. You’ll want to learn to distinguish between the two, so you don’t wind up disappointed.
Lines
There will be lines. No matter what size or what type convention you go to. Lines to get your badge at registration. Lines to check into the hotel. Lines to get into a panel. Lines to meet a guest. Lines to get into the dealer’s room. Lines to ride the elevator.
That’s just the way it is at a convention, so prepare your feet.
If there’s something you specifically want to do, make sure to ask con staff well beforehand when/where the line-up is going to be. Large panels with famous guests and larger cons will have people starting to line up hours beforehand to make sure they get into the room and get a good seat. You don’t want to miss out because you only showed up 20 minutes before the panel.
Dealer’s/Exhibit Halls
My favourite part of a convention! Stuff to buy!
The bigger the convention, the bigger the dealer’s room. And sometimes you’ll expand into what is more of an Exhibit Hall, where companies will have items on display and freebies. Think like San Diego Comic Con – companies like Lucasfilm, Hasbro, DC and Marvel will all have booths there, sometimes even holding their own programming within the booth.
But typically you’re going to just get a bunch of dealers with their tables set up selling all kinds of stuff. Toys, clothes, collectibles, handmade items, games, comics, you name it.
Sometimes people in the dealer’s room only accept cash – and the ATMs will usually be out of cash the further you get into the weekend – so plan ahead.
Artist Alley
Sometimes this is lumped in with the dealer’s room, sometimes it has it’s own space – but artists can buy or rent a table and sell their artwork. Sometimes prints, sometimes original, sometimes hand-made items and a lot of them will do work on commission. You can find all kinds of neat, unusual and one-of-a-kind items here, one of my fav places to check out at cons.
Schedules
At registration, you’ll usually be given a printed schedule or book of events! This will let you know when all of the programming is happening and where, when/where guests are signing, and more. A lot of conventions now use apps as well for their schedules, so look into that!
Guests
Guests are the main-stay of conventions – they’ll be there to do panels/speak, sign autographs, post for pictures, etc. The bigger the con, the more famous guests they can bring in. Just remember, the more famous the guest, the longer the lines are going to be.
Almost every guest is going to charge for their autograph, and for a photo, too. Be prepared for that. Some don’t allow you to take a photo of them at all – this is usually because they have a deal worked out with a photographer. You pay to line up and get your photo with the guest, and then get a print of it.
Check the schedule to find out what times the guest is going to be signing at their table. Some bigger names will require you to buy a ticket beforehand just for the autograph. They’ll usually also sell prints of photos of the guests if you don’t have anything of your own for them to sign – and some of them won’t sign anything but their own prints.
Some guests can be super nice to fans. Some can be grouchy. Sometimes they’re just having a bad day or they’re tired. Having a great experience meeting your fav celebrity, or having a not-so-great experience, is just part of the deal.
Programming
The kind of programming/events you’re going to get a con depend on what kind of con it is – but there are some mainstays. You’ll almost always get a costume contest, an art auction and/or show, discussion panels, a workshop or two, trivia “game shows,” a dance, maybe even some robot battles, wrestling, concerts or pie-eating contests. Who knows. Most conventions will release their programming schedule a week or two before the show, so check it out and see what all you’d like to do.
Panels are what you’ll see the most of – these are usually run by fans to discuss various shows, media, games, etc. For instance at my last con, I went to a discussion panel about Christopher Lee. It was really interesting. At Dragoncon, I went with my husband to a panel about film-making. There’s all kinds of panels and you’ll surely find something that interests you.
Costume Contests
A convention will almost always have one costume contest. Sometimes they’ll have a “regular” costume contest, and a “hall” costume contest. If you don’t want to get onstage, you can enter the hall costume contest – which is usually just someone snapping a picture of you, and judges later looking over the photos and picking the best (or, by public votes).
Some bigger conventions will have multiple costume contests – like Dragoncon has one geared towards construction, one geared towards skits/entertainment, and then several show-specific contests – Star Wars, LOTR, etc.
Just remember that entering a costume contest is going to take a big chunk of your time. It’s fun to do though.
Camaraderie
The biggest thing to know about a convention is you are going to find “your people.” Maybe none of your friends or family like Doctor Who – but once you get to a convention, you’re going to find hundreds if not thousands of other Doctor Who fans.
For me, personally, every time I go to a convention I feel a sense of camaraderie with everyone else there. We’re all geeky fans together, and that’s what makes it so fun. We’re all allowed to geek out, to be excited over other stuff people might think are silly. I think that’s one reason I keep going back. 🙂