On April 13th 2012 the contributors of WildFire Writing and my little sister will be attending, for the very first time, an Anime Convention. Because of where we live things like conventions about fandoms is a luxury we aren't privy to because well we live in a tiny place and so although there are fans of anime and manga here we're more of a cult following. The same goes for comics, and other similar things. To prove this, if you ever come down to Grand Cayman, just go into one of our three book stores and look for a volume of manga. The chances of finding more than one are rare, the chances of finding one you're interested in are pretty much nil.

So anyway sad and pathetic story set aside you can say I am pretty ecstatic that I will be going to an anime convention in less than three weeks. I've actually been planning this trip since last year and at the time was even considering the possibility of cosplaying but I couldn't decide what I wanted to be and ran out of time. So my Doctor Who tees will have to do since this convention is also going to be a scifi one.

Advice I've been given on attending any convention

  1. Where comfortable shoes. There will be lots of walking, think of your feet.
  2. Brings snacks and a bottle of water. Food sold in conventions can be pricey, there should be water fountains where you can refill your bottle if you finish it.
  3. Take a backpack with you, you're most likely going to stop by the artist alley and vendor room and you want a place to put your purchases so you can keep your hands free.
  4. Take a camera, to you know, document all those lovely memories not to mention there might be some kick ass cosplaying going on. But you know before taking pictures of strangers get their permission first and ask if you can post the pictures online.
  5. Have cash, chances are no one in the artist alley will have a credit card machine or will be accepting your checks, the same thing might go for the people in the Vendor Room. Cash is quicker and more reliable.
  6. As the days for the convention pass prices might drop but if on the first day you see something you REALLY want and its limited you might not want to risk it being sold to someone else because you're waiting for the price to drop. Grab it now!
  7. Don't spend all of your money on awesome stuff. You're a person and well you need to eat. At the end of the day after all that walking and shopping and people meeting you're probably going to be hungry and want something that didn't come in a plastic bag and you'll most likely need money to get it. Separate your food money from your shopping money.

Hopefully I'll remember all these tips myself when the time comes and I'll make sure my friends and sister read this post too so they aren't scolding at me in my well prepared glory as they suffer hunger pains.

Have you ever been to an anime convention or a convention of any kind? Faerie Con? BEA? A Whovian convention? Maybe even SDCC? How was the experience? Is there any advice you can give me that I haven't mentioned in this post?