Introduction
Anime conventions are an Experience with a capital E -- exciting, sprawling, overwhelming, exhausting, financially draining. But there's little else in the world of anime that comes close to the exhilaration of the convention experience. The more you know about what you're getting into ahead of time, the better it'll be for you all around.
Here are a series of tips for convention survival, assembled in roughly the order you'll need to use them as you go through the stages of preparing for a convention, going there, being there, and returning home.
Pick a convention you can get to
Anime conventions, big and small, have started to pop up all over the place. There’s scarcely a state in the U.S. that doesn’t have one (or a province in Canada, or a major city in most any country) that doesn’t have a convention at some point during the year. The closer you are geographically to your con of choice, the easier it is to get to—and the less money you’ll have to spend getting there. Start locally and branch out.
For a rundown of major places to go, check out our list of major anime conventions.
Look for local help re: lodgings and transport
If you’re not within walking or public-transportation distance of the convention, figure out how you’re going to get there and stay there. If you know someone who lives within the immediate vicinity of the convention and is willing to let you crash at their place for a few days, make that your first plan of action. It helps if your friend is also going to the show—that way the two of you may be able to further split costs—but if he isn’t, compensate him for his kindness (and don’t leave too much of a mess in his spare room or on his couch!).
For car trips, see if you can share a ride with someone else. Splitting a ride with a fellow fan or friend can work out quite cheaply—just be sure to pay him something for tolls and gas along the way depending on the length of the journey.
Book hotels (if need be)
If there’s no one local to the show that you can depend on for transport or lodgings, you’ll have to figure out what you can work out on your own. However, you can again cut down on the costs of the hotel bill by sharing with friends—so much so that the total per-person cost for a three- to four-night stay can work out to as little as $100, even after taxes.
The good news: almost every major convention works out group rates with hotels in the area as a way to attract congoers.
Note that these group rates typically must be booked by calling the hotel directly; they are not available through travel-booking sites like Expedia or Travelocity. Check the convention’s website and look for announcements about convention-rate room blocks. The bigger the convention, the faster these designated rooms will sell out, so be sure to book in advance. Most such reservations do not cost anything upfront—you’re only charged on checkout—so you can book pre-emptively and free up later if something better comes along.
Get a general idea of the convention activities beforehand
Depending on how far you are from the convention in question, consider your options for transport.
If you have a car, and the convention’s not too far, that’s often the easiest solution. Again, make offers to share a ride with others if you can—you’ll be able to offset tolls and gas.
Renting a car and splitting the costs with friends is another option. This is especially recommended if you’re going out of state or driving a few hundred miles.
If something goes wrong with the car, it won’t be your car—you’ll have insurance, roadside assistance, and all kinds of other options available. And depending on how many people are pooling costs, you can often rent a pretty comfortable and spacious ride.
Bus lines—Greyhound, Bolt, etc.—may run between your city and the convention’s city. Note that this will only get you most of the way there; check local maps to figure out how to get from where the buses let out to wherever you need to be. You may not be within walking distance of your hotel! (The same goes with long-distance rail lines like Amtrak.)
A plane ticket is the most expensive option, but apart from long-distance rail there’s typically no other option if you’re going across the country or traveling more than several hundred miles at once and want to do it in a reasonable timeframe.
If you have a credit card with a rewards program, save up those points and use them to offset the cost of your travel. They can often be used to buy plane tickets, car rentals, or can be converted directly to cash.
Keep an eye on the con’s website for announcements about what’s on the schedule—guests, activities—and plan accordingly. If you’ve learned Voice Actor X is going to be at the show and has an autograph session, be sure to bring copies of Series Y (the one X had the lead role in!) so he can sign those, and keep an eye out for when his autograph sessions will be announced. If there’s a video game tournament, pack that special $150 controller that’s your pride and joy.
Note that almost every convention’s schedule tends to change drastically. Changes happen all the time. Fortunately, most conventions have a website, Twitter feed or even a downloadable application (like Guidebook, for Android, iPhone and other devices) which can help you sort out what’s going on when. Guidebook can even display maps for the area where the con is taking place, although that—along with live updates—requires your device to have a data connection.
If this is your first time at a particular convention, do yourself a favor: don’t get lost. Get maps of the area—not just the hotel or the convention center, but the surrounding neighborhood. This goes double for any convention where the lodgings and the convention grounds are separate, or spread out over several different buildings. Maps are typically available in the convention’s guidebook or on their website, or you can simply hit up an online map application.
Also, educate yourself a bit about the general quality of the neighborhood where the con is taking place. The immediate neighborhood around a convention center is usually pretty safe, but find out from people who live in the area if there’s a limit to how far away you can go. The last thing you want to do is end up lost and unnerved.
Note that most convention guides also have some material about the immediate neighborhood where the convention is being held—local restaurants or take-out places, convenience stores (you never know when you might need a box of bandages or a roll of duct tape, fast), hotel amenities, public transportation, parking, and other non-convention attractions that might be interesting.
It’s easy to say “don’t take what you don’t need,” but the hard part is figuring out what you do need. Clothes, toiletries, and possibly food (see the next section) are all pretty vital. Everything beyond that should be considered case-by-case, especially if it deals with some convention activity (see the previous section).
Anything you pack will either have to stay in your hotel room, be taken with you on your person, or checked as luggage somewhere (e.g., in a convention center’s coat-check area, or in a hotel’s safe).
For that reason, keep to a minimum the number of truly irreplaceable valuables you bring with you. It’s that much less to lose or be stolen, that much less to worry about or lug around, and that much less to distract you when the real attraction is all around you.
Eating at a convention is never cheap. Food courts at convention centers jack up the prices because they have captive audiences. There may be fast-food places in the area, but the hours and availability vary wildly. And restaurants are the costliest bet—even meals at the cheapest greasy-spoon around the corner from the convention center can still add up.
One way to put a dent in your meal budget is to prepare and brown-bag at least one meal—typically lunch—a day.
Rely on nonperishable ingredients unless you have access to a fridge or a picnic cooler, and be sure to include a piece of fruit and something to drink. The money you spend on creating brown-bag lunches for an entire show may come to less than a single lunch somewhere—and it also means you don’t have to drop everything and run around to find a meal, since you’ll have the meal with you.
Another possibility—although this is only for those with certain metabolisms!—is to take advantage of the hotel’s continental breakfast if they offer one, and to eat your biggest meal of the day first. Since it’s a fixed per-person price (excluding taxes and tip), it may be something you can budget a little more accurately than other meals.
You can often find goodies in the dealer’s room that you’d never find online, or only at inflated prices, so it’s always worth the trouble to give the dealer’s room a pass at most any sizeable convention.
Before you do that, though, set aside cash specifically for the dealer’s room and no other place. For one, it’s a smart budget measure: one of the disturbing things about using a credit card is that most people forget very quickly how much they spend.
If you allocate a cash-only budget for the dealer’s room and stick with it, you’ll remain within your means a great deal more efficiently. Also, everyone takes cash in there; you won’t get stuck with someone who can’t process a credit card because they have no cell signal or because their computer lines are down.
When you’re jammed together with thousands of your fellow fans, taking care of your health becomes all the more important.
Eat regularly. You’ll be off your feet for a few minutes while you do so, and your body will thank you. All the more reason why packing a lunch is a good idea, since you can eat as you need to.
Wash your hands frequently, especially after a trip through the dealer room and before eating anything.
Hand sanitizer can be useful, but studies have shown it’s actually less effective than simple soap and water—it’s meant to be used when you have no access at all to a bathroom, not as a substitute for same.
Bring one to two changes of clothing for each day—specifically shirts, since this minimizes the amount of sweat or germs you might be carrying around on your upper body.
Use tissues for the sniffles, not sleeves or gloves (especially costume gloves!).
Shower at least once a day and use deodorant. Many conventions are now instituting policies that require people to do this, and are not shy about removing people who refuse to follow basic hygiene.
Get at least six hours of rest per day—and that’s six consecutive hours, not an hour here and an hour there. Energy drinks and power bars aren’t a substitute for rest, and that goes double if you’re a convention volunteer and your alertness and attention are crucial.
Pack your costume gear separately from everything else, in its own bags. This way you can move it around easily, get to it in a hurry if you have to, and protect it that much more from damage. Props and other bulky items should always be disassembled before you leave and reassembled once you’ve arrived. This goes double for flying, but it helps if you’re sharing car space since it frees up that much more room for your fellow passengers and their luggage.
(Then again, if your friends enjoy driving through three states with a keyblade across their lap…)
Don’t change into or out of a costume anywhere that you’re not supposed to. It’s safest to do this in the privacy of your own hotel room or a specifically-designated changing area. Don’t use a restroom, or a room that “looks unused.” It may not be.
All conventions have rules about props. Edged weapons are forbidden, and most anything large or weaponlike (e.g., a prop sword) will typically need to be tagged by a convention staff member. Also check regarding rules about brandishing weapons: what you may think is harmless horsing around may not be seen that way by the staff.
Many conventions now also have rules against certain kinds of signs that could constitute solicitation (“FREE HUGS”). Signs that are an integral part of the costume are generally okay, but may need to be tagged as above. Check with the convention guidebook for rules about costumes and props before you arrive, just so you know what’s OK and what’s not.
Costume damage is all but inevitable. Long dresses get stepped on or snagged on things; glued-on parts break off; and props themselves can be crushed or snapped. Don’t freak out if it happens, and treat it as a learning experience whenever possible. (Perhaps next time you can pack spare parts if needed.)
If you’re staying in a hotel as opposed to crashing on someone’s couch, remember some basic ground rules about dealing with the hotel staff. There’s also a few ground rules here to keep in mind when dealing with convention-center folks.
Leave tips for housekeeping and good service throughout the hotel. Housekeeping in particular should be compensated well if you’re doubling up with others in a room and you leave behind a mess.
$5 a night or more is suggested (you can split this up between the occupants).
Pulling pranks is not a good idea. It may sound like fun to move a twin bed into one of the elevators (yes, someone once did this at a show I was at) but it’s not fun to the guys who have to drag it back out again—and remember that most of what happens in a hotel’s hallways is on camera, so there’s a good chance you may get caught red-handed. And in the same vein, pulling the fire alarm is never a good idea. Aside from being a massive inconvenience to both the other hotel patrons (convention-goers or not), the hotel staff, and the fire department, it’s also highly illegal. Anything illegal outside the convention or hotel is illegal inside, too.
If you encounter someone else doing something questionable, find a convention staffer and tell them about it. They’re not the bad guys; they’re here to ensure everyone can continue to have a good time—and it’s better if they know about it first and shut it down before hotel authorities (or, worse, law enforcement) get involved.
Let convention-center and hotel-staff people do their jobs.
After the convention’s over, be sure to check back at the convention’s website or mailing list for news about next year’s show. For large, heavily-trafficked conventions, these announcements are often made within days of the closing of the convention. And for good reason: the hotels for those shows often fill up very quickly, so if you plan to go back it helps to book as fast as possible.
To be scrupulously honest, hotels release rooms for booking in blocks, so it may still be possible to book a room much further down the line.
But since most direct pre-bookings at the convention rate don’t cost you anything upfront, it doesn’t hurt to do it immediately, get a confirmation, and save yourself the trouble and worry.
Anime conventions are an Experience with a capital E -- exciting, sprawling, overwhelming, exhausting, financially draining. But there's little else in the world of anime that comes close to the exhilaration of the convention experience. The more you know about what you're getting into ahead of time, the better it'll be for you all around.
Here are a series of tips for convention survival, assembled in roughly the order you'll need to use them as you go through the stages of preparing for a convention, going there, being there, and returning home.
Pick a convention you can get to
Anime conventions, big and small, have started to pop up all over the place. There’s scarcely a state in the U.S. that doesn’t have one (or a province in Canada, or a major city in most any country) that doesn’t have a convention at some point during the year. The closer you are geographically to your con of choice, the easier it is to get to—and the less money you’ll have to spend getting there. Start locally and branch out.
For a rundown of major places to go, check out our list of major anime conventions.
Look for local help re: lodgings and transport
If you’re not within walking or public-transportation distance of the convention, figure out how you’re going to get there and stay there. If you know someone who lives within the immediate vicinity of the convention and is willing to let you crash at their place for a few days, make that your first plan of action. It helps if your friend is also going to the show—that way the two of you may be able to further split costs—but if he isn’t, compensate him for his kindness (and don’t leave too much of a mess in his spare room or on his couch!).
For car trips, see if you can share a ride with someone else. Splitting a ride with a fellow fan or friend can work out quite cheaply—just be sure to pay him something for tolls and gas along the way depending on the length of the journey.
Book hotels (if need be)
If there’s no one local to the show that you can depend on for transport or lodgings, you’ll have to figure out what you can work out on your own. However, you can again cut down on the costs of the hotel bill by sharing with friends—so much so that the total per-person cost for a three- to four-night stay can work out to as little as $100, even after taxes.
The good news: almost every major convention works out group rates with hotels in the area as a way to attract congoers.
Note that these group rates typically must be booked by calling the hotel directly; they are not available through travel-booking sites like Expedia or Travelocity. Check the convention’s website and look for announcements about convention-rate room blocks. The bigger the convention, the faster these designated rooms will sell out, so be sure to book in advance. Most such reservations do not cost anything upfront—you’re only charged on checkout—so you can book pre-emptively and free up later if something better comes along.
Get a general idea of the convention activities beforehand
Depending on how far you are from the convention in question, consider your options for transport.
If you have a car, and the convention’s not too far, that’s often the easiest solution. Again, make offers to share a ride with others if you can—you’ll be able to offset tolls and gas.
Renting a car and splitting the costs with friends is another option. This is especially recommended if you’re going out of state or driving a few hundred miles.
If something goes wrong with the car, it won’t be your car—you’ll have insurance, roadside assistance, and all kinds of other options available. And depending on how many people are pooling costs, you can often rent a pretty comfortable and spacious ride.
Bus lines—Greyhound, Bolt, etc.—may run between your city and the convention’s city. Note that this will only get you most of the way there; check local maps to figure out how to get from where the buses let out to wherever you need to be. You may not be within walking distance of your hotel! (The same goes with long-distance rail lines like Amtrak.)
A plane ticket is the most expensive option, but apart from long-distance rail there’s typically no other option if you’re going across the country or traveling more than several hundred miles at once and want to do it in a reasonable timeframe.
If you have a credit card with a rewards program, save up those points and use them to offset the cost of your travel. They can often be used to buy plane tickets, car rentals, or can be converted directly to cash.
Keep an eye on the con’s website for announcements about what’s on the schedule—guests, activities—and plan accordingly. If you’ve learned Voice Actor X is going to be at the show and has an autograph session, be sure to bring copies of Series Y (the one X had the lead role in!) so he can sign those, and keep an eye out for when his autograph sessions will be announced. If there’s a video game tournament, pack that special $150 controller that’s your pride and joy.
Note that almost every convention’s schedule tends to change drastically. Changes happen all the time. Fortunately, most conventions have a website, Twitter feed or even a downloadable application (like Guidebook, for Android, iPhone and other devices) which can help you sort out what’s going on when. Guidebook can even display maps for the area where the con is taking place, although that—along with live updates—requires your device to have a data connection.
If this is your first time at a particular convention, do yourself a favor: don’t get lost. Get maps of the area—not just the hotel or the convention center, but the surrounding neighborhood. This goes double for any convention where the lodgings and the convention grounds are separate, or spread out over several different buildings. Maps are typically available in the convention’s guidebook or on their website, or you can simply hit up an online map application.
Also, educate yourself a bit about the general quality of the neighborhood where the con is taking place. The immediate neighborhood around a convention center is usually pretty safe, but find out from people who live in the area if there’s a limit to how far away you can go. The last thing you want to do is end up lost and unnerved.
Note that most convention guides also have some material about the immediate neighborhood where the convention is being held—local restaurants or take-out places, convenience stores (you never know when you might need a box of bandages or a roll of duct tape, fast), hotel amenities, public transportation, parking, and other non-convention attractions that might be interesting.
It’s easy to say “don’t take what you don’t need,” but the hard part is figuring out what you do need. Clothes, toiletries, and possibly food (see the next section) are all pretty vital. Everything beyond that should be considered case-by-case, especially if it deals with some convention activity (see the previous section).
Anything you pack will either have to stay in your hotel room, be taken with you on your person, or checked as luggage somewhere (e.g., in a convention center’s coat-check area, or in a hotel’s safe).
For that reason, keep to a minimum the number of truly irreplaceable valuables you bring with you. It’s that much less to lose or be stolen, that much less to worry about or lug around, and that much less to distract you when the real attraction is all around you.
Eating at a convention is never cheap. Food courts at convention centers jack up the prices because they have captive audiences. There may be fast-food places in the area, but the hours and availability vary wildly. And restaurants are the costliest bet—even meals at the cheapest greasy-spoon around the corner from the convention center can still add up.
One way to put a dent in your meal budget is to prepare and brown-bag at least one meal—typically lunch—a day.
Rely on nonperishable ingredients unless you have access to a fridge or a picnic cooler, and be sure to include a piece of fruit and something to drink. The money you spend on creating brown-bag lunches for an entire show may come to less than a single lunch somewhere—and it also means you don’t have to drop everything and run around to find a meal, since you’ll have the meal with you.
Another possibility—although this is only for those with certain metabolisms!—is to take advantage of the hotel’s continental breakfast if they offer one, and to eat your biggest meal of the day first. Since it’s a fixed per-person price (excluding taxes and tip), it may be something you can budget a little more accurately than other meals.
You can often find goodies in the dealer’s room that you’d never find online, or only at inflated prices, so it’s always worth the trouble to give the dealer’s room a pass at most any sizeable convention.
Before you do that, though, set aside cash specifically for the dealer’s room and no other place. For one, it’s a smart budget measure: one of the disturbing things about using a credit card is that most people forget very quickly how much they spend.
If you allocate a cash-only budget for the dealer’s room and stick with it, you’ll remain within your means a great deal more efficiently. Also, everyone takes cash in there; you won’t get stuck with someone who can’t process a credit card because they have no cell signal or because their computer lines are down.
When you’re jammed together with thousands of your fellow fans, taking care of your health becomes all the more important.
Eat regularly. You’ll be off your feet for a few minutes while you do so, and your body will thank you. All the more reason why packing a lunch is a good idea, since you can eat as you need to.
Wash your hands frequently, especially after a trip through the dealer room and before eating anything.
Hand sanitizer can be useful, but studies have shown it’s actually less effective than simple soap and water—it’s meant to be used when you have no access at all to a bathroom, not as a substitute for same.
Bring one to two changes of clothing for each day—specifically shirts, since this minimizes the amount of sweat or germs you might be carrying around on your upper body.
Use tissues for the sniffles, not sleeves or gloves (especially costume gloves!).
Shower at least once a day and use deodorant. Many conventions are now instituting policies that require people to do this, and are not shy about removing people who refuse to follow basic hygiene.
Get at least six hours of rest per day—and that’s six consecutive hours, not an hour here and an hour there. Energy drinks and power bars aren’t a substitute for rest, and that goes double if you’re a convention volunteer and your alertness and attention are crucial.
Pack your costume gear separately from everything else, in its own bags. This way you can move it around easily, get to it in a hurry if you have to, and protect it that much more from damage. Props and other bulky items should always be disassembled before you leave and reassembled once you’ve arrived. This goes double for flying, but it helps if you’re sharing car space since it frees up that much more room for your fellow passengers and their luggage.
(Then again, if your friends enjoy driving through three states with a keyblade across their lap…)
Don’t change into or out of a costume anywhere that you’re not supposed to. It’s safest to do this in the privacy of your own hotel room or a specifically-designated changing area. Don’t use a restroom, or a room that “looks unused.” It may not be.
All conventions have rules about props. Edged weapons are forbidden, and most anything large or weaponlike (e.g., a prop sword) will typically need to be tagged by a convention staff member. Also check regarding rules about brandishing weapons: what you may think is harmless horsing around may not be seen that way by the staff.
Many conventions now also have rules against certain kinds of signs that could constitute solicitation (“FREE HUGS”). Signs that are an integral part of the costume are generally okay, but may need to be tagged as above. Check with the convention guidebook for rules about costumes and props before you arrive, just so you know what’s OK and what’s not.
Costume damage is all but inevitable. Long dresses get stepped on or snagged on things; glued-on parts break off; and props themselves can be crushed or snapped. Don’t freak out if it happens, and treat it as a learning experience whenever possible. (Perhaps next time you can pack spare parts if needed.)
If you’re staying in a hotel as opposed to crashing on someone’s couch, remember some basic ground rules about dealing with the hotel staff. There’s also a few ground rules here to keep in mind when dealing with convention-center folks.
Leave tips for housekeeping and good service throughout the hotel. Housekeeping in particular should be compensated well if you’re doubling up with others in a room and you leave behind a mess.
$5 a night or more is suggested (you can split this up between the occupants).
Pulling pranks is not a good idea. It may sound like fun to move a twin bed into one of the elevators (yes, someone once did this at a show I was at) but it’s not fun to the guys who have to drag it back out again—and remember that most of what happens in a hotel’s hallways is on camera, so there’s a good chance you may get caught red-handed. And in the same vein, pulling the fire alarm is never a good idea. Aside from being a massive inconvenience to both the other hotel patrons (convention-goers or not), the hotel staff, and the fire department, it’s also highly illegal. Anything illegal outside the convention or hotel is illegal inside, too.
If you encounter someone else doing something questionable, find a convention staffer and tell them about it. They’re not the bad guys; they’re here to ensure everyone can continue to have a good time—and it’s better if they know about it first and shut it down before hotel authorities (or, worse, law enforcement) get involved.
Let convention-center and hotel-staff people do their jobs.
After the convention’s over, be sure to check back at the convention’s website or mailing list for news about next year’s show. For large, heavily-trafficked conventions, these announcements are often made within days of the closing of the convention. And for good reason: the hotels for those shows often fill up very quickly, so if you plan to go back it helps to book as fast as possible.
To be scrupulously honest, hotels release rooms for booking in blocks, so it may still be possible to book a room much further down the line.
But since most direct pre-bookings at the convention rate don’t cost you anything upfront, it doesn’t hurt to do it immediately, get a confirmation, and save yourself the trouble and worry.
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