I'll be attending Ohayocon this January, which will be the first anime convention I've been to. What should I expect from an anime convention in general? I would love advice from any veterans who can tell me what to look out for, how long I should be there (I plan on all of Saturday and most of Sunday), etc.

Tips? hmmm...

1. However much money you THINK you're going to need, triple it.

2. Remember 5/2/1 - 5 hours of sleep, 2 meals a day, 1 shower a day.

3. Take two suitcases... one filled with the things you need and one empty to carry back all your new loot.

4. Resist impulse buying; deals get better as the con goes on.

I've attended several cons ranging from a couple of hundred attendees, to over ten-thousand. Every convention seems to have it's own flavor and will depend on the number of people you go with, or plan to meet.

I like showing up for every day of the convention, but if that is not possible, try to check a schedule for the days/events you will want to attend. Again, it depends on the convention, but I've almost never had a bad time.

I used to try and take everything in my anime related collection, but my cosplays are pretty bulky and now require their own suitcase when they come, making cosplay an ever less frequent event. Now a days, I travel with a suitcase, messenger bag, and blueprint tube. My friends and I will pitch in and pile groceries into a cooler instead of paying stupidly high prices for food; we can eat on our own tastes and schedules for about $10 a piece for the duration of the convention.

Here is a list of things which I do for at least one convention per year.

• Scope out food spots before you leave. You will not want to get there only to find that the hotel restaurant is the only food for miles.
  • If you don't like what is near by, pack a cooler or other easy to prepare foods such as Easy Mac, and granola bars.
  • Neither Cosplayer nor Otaku can survive on Pocky & Ramune alone.
• Take all the money you plan to spend as cash. ATM's frequntly run out of money during cons, especially ones close to the dealer's room. Also, many vendors will try to add a fee for using plastic. Using cash also prevents you from blowing your budget.
• Take a list of your collection, especially unfinished series. As you collection grows, you will have trouble remembering which volumes of that series are still missing (why I now stick to large chuncks of anime).
  • Take a note pad and writting utensil so you can note which booths have what disks and the asking price. I saw a price difference on the Anime Legends edition of Please! Twins in excess of $25 at Anime Central last year. You don't want to forget where you found that sweet deal.
  • Some vendors will negotiate prices if you buy enough anime. The worst thing I've ever had happen was being told they don't heckle.
  • I price missing volumes of anime, and series on my "hit list" before leaving for reference.
• Ensure all garments have secure, un-perforated pockets.
• I carry a messenger bag and poster/blueprint tube during missions to the dealer's room. This allows for convenient and safe transportation of most goods.
  • The tube also holds bottles of water during other excursions.
• If you intend to seek autographs, pull the items together you wish to have signed, and prepare a list of signers and roles for the items in question. I've had a few forget which series they did, or how to spell a character's name.
• Portable game systems, novels, and manga, all make time spent waiting in lines more entertaining.

If you travel by air, additional items for consideration include:

• Check your air carrier's policy on checked baggage fees.
• Check lists of permisible items for checked & carry-on luggage. You don't want to throw out that nifty new item because you can't get it on the airplane.
  • The hotel consigiere will frequently offer shipping and/or receiving services for a fee. Fees and services vary, but in some cases FedEx, UPS, or DHL, can be the cheapest option and for some items, the only option, to get your stuff (to or) from the con.

Please sleep enough for your personal sleep needs, eat at least 1 proper meal each day, and bathe daily.

Oh... additional re: autograph seeking: Don't carry DVD cases with you. Just take the cover art out and keep them in a manila folder. Much easier to pack.

Well said, you can use scraps of card stock to keep the case inserts from being bent.

And the note about waiting in line, make sure you have extra batteries and/or chargers for everything. Anime conventions running behind schedules is much like death and taxes, they are constants in the universe.

Make sure you're asking questions at the right panel (examples from last season included asking Bandai Visual USA questions at the Bandai panel)... oh and don't be afraid to go into panels, that's what you're there for anyway and sometimes you get some real gems.

Industry panels can be a great source of free swag, be prepared to carry something out just in case.

Oh... remember to always ask cosplayers politely to take their picture (I know that seems common sense but you'd be surprised) and be careful about walking in front of others trying to get a pic. It's easy to get caught in a terrible standstill but try to be patient (no matter how frustrating it can be)

Having gone to my first convention just a few months ago I'll try to give some advice based on my own experiences as a first timer and what I learned for next year.

Money/Purchasing
1. Set up your budget in advance and stick to it.

2. As Otaku Review said, triple whatever money you think you need.

3. Have (and use) cash for all purchases if possible.

4. Don't buy on your first pass through an area. Compare prices from all vendors that have the items you want, and keep in mind how much you would buy from each vendor. You can usually get a deal if you buy multiple items from one vendor, rather than 1 item from several different vendors. Even if one item is priced higher a "package" deal can often save you money.

5. Don't be afraid to bargain. This is especially true on the final day of the convention. It is a pain to transport all that merchandise back to where it was stored before, so try and make some deals. (I bought the 10 volumes of Vampire Hunter D (that were released at that time) from the Dark Horse booth Sunday afternoon all at once and got them for half of what they were charging individually (and for about 1/3 of retail.)

Panels and Questions
1. If there is a panel you absolutely are dying to go to, check out the wait early. Look at any line that may be forming about 30-45 minutes in advance. If there are already people waiting, it is time for you to get in line as well. If there is no one there yet, check back every 10-15 minutes to make sure nothing is building.

2. When asking a question, realize that the panelist may not know/be able to give the answer to a certain question. Getting angry, being insulting/negative, or anything of that sort doesn't make you look cool to everyone else in the panel room, it just makes you look like a jerk (and yes, if the panelist gets you back we will all laugh and be hoping you die of shame.)

3. Get a seat close to the front of the room. This is not school where the optimal seats are at the back of the room. If there are microphones for the panelists this doesn't mean you can sit in the back and still get everything. The sound system will mess up at some point, probably in the part you are most interested in hearing.

If there aren't mics for the panelists then sitting closer is obvious. Not everyone will project their voice.

Cosplay(ers)
1. If you want a picture, ask nicely. 100% of the people I asked allowed it.

I'll attach a little story to this: One of the people I asked for a picture initially said no. All I did was put my camera back in my pocket and comment that the costume was really well done. This person then stopped me and told me that it would be okay to take the picture. Before I asked apparently another person who was turned down had made a rude comment before "sneaking" a picture in anyway.

The point is, being nice and respectful allows me to say that I got 100% of the shots I wanted, rather than 99%. While it may be that a no definitely means no for some, being kind about it certainly can't hurt your chances.

2. Some cosplayers will have a group of people all cosplaying as characters from the same show (Bleach and Naruto were the two most seen at NYAF for me.) These larger groups take up more space to shoot so be aware of your surroundings and try not to block off a point where most people are trying to get through just so you can get a picture. Kindly asking a group shot to be against a wall will not only get you a better picture, it will keep them out of the way.

Don't make demands of how you need the picture done, but if the group is currently wandering/waiting for something it is perfectly reasonable to see if they would mind getting to a "safe" area to keep the traffic moving.

General
1. Be nice to any staff that are there.

2. Don't let the handful of people that are going to act like jerks ruin any memory you have of the convention.

There will, undoubtedly be a couple of people who, directly or indirectly, will act like idiots. These people are such an incredible minority that it is almost ridiculous to mention them, but it is incredibly annoying when it happens.

3. If you are waiting in line, try striking up a conversation with those close by. Most people are actually really cool, and you already know you must have at least some small amount in common. It can be difficult to just strike up a conversation, or get involved in one going on if you are anything like me (I'm incredibly reserved) but if you see a small group in a line chatting and you can contribute something to the conversation go ahead and speak up.

I know this list might come off as slightly negative at points, but honestly that isn't the intention. My first convention was NYAF in September and I loved it. I can think of only three stories where someone said something/did something to make themselves look like a jerk, but I could easily come up with dozens of awesome experiences in just a few minutes.

Anyway, to answer the 2 questions you pose directly in your post:

What should you expect? Well, you already know it is an anime convention so you probably already know quite well what to expect. If there was one small surprise for me it was the fact that the "adult" items were not separated from all the other items. I imagined that there might be a section of the floor for adult areas but there was not (usually vendors kept them in a separate area of their booths, but the booths themselves were scattered around the hall.

Oh yes, expect cosplay. Expect some to be incredible, some to be mediocre and some to be very, very odd (people dress up as some amazing things, not always in a good way.)

As for how long to be there, going all the days is my preferred way. For each day it may vary. Check out if there are any panels you really want to see and when they are. If you've done all the panels you want in a day give yourself a little time to wander around the hall but don't be afraid to pack it in early on one day, especially if you have a longer day coming up. If you've got hours to kill in between the panels you want to do you can always head out of the convention and grab something to eat if anything is close by.

That's all I can think of right now, but I might add more later as they come to me.

Yes BUT set a budget for yourself. You don't need to pay 22% CC interest on an action figure.



Also, think portable food. Granola (bar or bagged), Gatorate or water bottles. Con food is MAD expensive.



Wish I had remembered to do that ... Also, a furoshiki or canvas shopping bag works well as not everyone has plastic bags or I have seen booths have them and run out the last day.



I never buy anything at a con before the last day unless it's something I've planned for. Usually I limit myself to one nice figure though at AB this year I may do two.

Remember also that a small box of Pocky costs less than a dollar at a Wal*Mart super center. You Don't need to pay much more than that.

I went to my first Con last year and let me tell you, the lifesaver for me was the two frozen bottles of gatorade I had in my bag. They had partially thawed by around 2 and came in very handy while waiting in line at an FMA signing. I was so thirsty and had been putting off drinking anything all morning (a bad idea guys!) drinking that stuff instantly rejuvenated me.

So I guess make sure you take with you enough to drink, and don't put it off, keep yourself hydrated. It will give you the energy you need to keep on truckin'.