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Conventions (comic books, games, movies etc.)


Corvinus85

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I have never been to a convention and this year I thought about attending some. Any advice?


I would like to go to the San Diego Comic-Con at least one time in my life. Is it too late/early to look for a ticket? (Judging by that one Big Bang Theory episode, getting tickets may be close to impossible :P )


Other cons I have been thinking of attending are Worldcon (if it's in the U.S.) Dragon Con, GenCon, and possibly smaller ones closer to home. Maybe I should start with one of those.


Feel free to post your general experience of cons if you have attended.


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I've only been to one. Some advice would be to bring an empty bag or back-pack for anything you buy. I would also bring a separate bag filled with snacks and water. If you plan to buy some older books look around before you buy one cause you might find some else selling the book for less money.


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I'm not sure where you live, but often there are regional events that hit big cities



Dragoncon has a great rep... But we've never been



We go every year to Chiller (NJ) ... Philly and NYC Comic Con ... and the SteamPunk Words Fair (NJ) ... Monster Mania (Philly) and a few smaller events here & there


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I have never been to a convention and this year I thought about attending some. Any advice?

Be aware of the difference between fan-run conventions and for-profit expos. The former are a lot more fun, IMAO.

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SDCC is definitely something to experience at least once - but it is pretty overwhelming.



The "pre sale" tickets went up this morning for those that attended last year (if you attend you get first dibs) and I believe they sold out in like half an hour.



In a month or so they usually open up ticket sales to the general public and those sell out even faster. You just have to have a good internet connection and be home exactly at the time the ticket sales open.



If you can find any cons near you they are always worth going to check out. Even just to people watch the cosplay. If you are in the San Diego area, Comikaze is held in L.A. and it's been getting bigger and bigger each year since it started a few years ago. It's cheaper and it's fun!


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I've been heavily considering GenCon, but I'm too... not stupid, but... inexperienced in Cons(?) to figure out how best to go about it, and I think it's too late for this year anyways.



I don't believe there is anything near here, maybe Denver, but that's still a looooong ways away.


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I have never been to a convention and this year I thought about attending some. Any advice?

I would like to go to the San Diego Comic-Con at least one time in my life. Is it too late/early to look for a ticket? (Judging by that one Big Bang Theory episode, getting tickets may be close to impossible :P )

Other cons I have been thinking of attending are Worldcon (if it's in the U.S.) Dragon Con, GenCon, and possibly smaller ones closer to home. Maybe I should start with one of those.

Feel free to post your general experience of cons if you have attended.

There's a big difference between the professionally run conventions (like SDCC and the others run by the same group, Dragon Con, etc.) and fan-run conventions like Worldcon. The former are huge and full of fanfare. The latter are not huge nor full of fanfare (unless you get really into the Hugos) but you're very likely to be able to talk to authors and other guests. So it depends on what you're looking for. But I'm actually going to move this thread into the BWB section because that's what it's all about, and there are a host of people there who may be able to attend a con with you even if George isn't going.

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I have never been to a convention and this year I thought about attending some. Any advice?

I would like to go to the San Diego Comic-Con at least one time in my life. Is it too late/early to look for a ticket? (Judging by that one Big Bang Theory episode, getting tickets may be close to impossible :P )

Other cons I have been thinking of attending are Worldcon (if it's in the U.S.) Dragon Con, GenCon, and possibly smaller ones closer to home. Maybe I should start with one of those.

Feel free to post your general experience of cons if you have attended.

Some conventions to think about, Bubonicon held in August in Albuquerque is basically George's home convention. Everyone there is really friendly. Just after Memorial day is ConCarolina's, Charlotte NC, where George is the Guest of Honor (GOH). There will be a fair sized number of BwB members in attendance and Ser Scott is organizing activities for Saturday. Those are about 1K members. Boskone coming up this weekend has a good rep, but I've never made it up there. I like our DC local convention Capclave, which had George as a GOH last year. I believe that everyone had a good time. We're a literary oriented convention, books shorts stories etc. The other two are more general SFF conventions with costuming, gaming, music, literature, and art.

I've been heavily considering GenCon, but I'm too... not stupid, but... inexperienced in Cons(?) to figure out how best to go about it, and I think it's too late for this year anyways.

I don't believe there is anything near here, maybe Denver, but that's still a looooong ways away.

The first thing to do is check the convention's website to find out about the ticket/membership policies and prices. You can find several convention list sites that will tell you the timing of conventions. Denver has MileHighcon in October. Connie Willis, Carrie Vaughn, and several authors regularly attend the convention as they live in the area.

With a few exceptions, most smaller conventions, and by smaller I mean under 10K, have day passes that are sold during the convention. So it is not too late for most conventions.

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I'm guessing you're based in the states, but I'm going to Gamescom in Cologne this year (for my end of school lads' holiday, because we're nerds), and from what I can tell it looks like a really good bet - Its somewhat like E3, but open to the public. Cologne is a great city as well, and its pretty cheap :)


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Worldcon is in London, UK this year and next year in Spokane, Washington. 2016 is to be determined by vote at this year's Worldcon. I attended the above mentioned Bubonicon a few years ago (a bit far from NJ for a small con) but the northern NM area coupled with the con made it one of my favorite vacations. If you let us know where you live, that may help pinpoint cons of interest to you.


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I have never been to a convention and this year I thought about attending some. Any advice?

I would like to go to the San Diego Comic-Con at least one time in my life. Is it too late/early to look for a ticket? (Judging by that one Big Bang Theory episode, getting tickets may be close to impossible :P )

Other cons I have been thinking of attending are Worldcon (if it's in the U.S.) Dragon Con, GenCon, and possibly smaller ones closer to home. Maybe I should start with one of those.

Feel free to post your general experience of cons if you have attended.

They changed the process and it went much smoother this year. But yes, high demand, low number of tickets. In order to get tickets, you need to hook up with a group of people and pool your resources aka computer logins. Try looking for groups (hint: friends of cci) who help people navigate the convention. They just had the pre-reg sale, which is very late. I am guessing the general public sale will be within a month and the refund sale will be in May again. Like them on facebook and get a member ID for updates. It's a convention where you really have to work it. If you think you're going to show up late and get to go, you will be disappointed. But if you're smart about it, you will get tickets. This will be my third year and it is a BLAST.

I am going to Gallifrey One this weekend. It's a super fun Doctor Who convention. They limit tickets to 3,000 people and it keeps growing.

I've been to the Creation cons. Some people do not like that they aren't cheap but I like the fact that you get what you pay for in terms of seating. Also, almost every con has some kind of photo op or autograph line, so nothing new there.

Comikaze is alright. It's in LA. Nothing to travel for but fun if you're local.

I haven't been to any east coast or mid-west cons. I'd like to go to NYCC and Dragoncon at least once.

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They changed the process and it went much smoother this year. But yes, high demand, low number of tickets. In order to get tickets, you need to hook up with a group of people and pool your resources aka computer logins. Try looking for groups (hint: friends of cci) who help people navigate the convention. They just had the pre-reg sale, which is very late. I am guessing the general public sale will be within a month and the refund sale will be in May again. Like them on facebook and get a member ID for updates. It's a convention where you really have to work it. If you think you're going to show up late and get to go, you will be disappointed. But if you're smart about it, you will get tickets. This will be my third year and it is a BLAST.

I am going to Gallifrey One this weekend. It's a super fun Doctor Who convention. They limit tickets to 3,000 people and it keeps growing.

I've been to the Creation cons. Some people do not like that they aren't cheap but I like the fact that you get what you pay for in terms of seating. Also, almost every con has some kind of photo op or autograph line, so nothing new there.

Comikaze is alright. It's in LA. Nothing to travel for but fun if you're local.

I haven't been to any east coast or mid-west cons. I'd like to go to NYCC and Dragoncon at least once.

We should have gone to comikaze this year. It's grown a lot already in 3 years. I'm guessing from here on out no more groupon/living social tickets for $12 :crying:

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Worldcon is in London, UK this year and next year in Spokane, Washington. 2016 is to be determined by vote at this year's Worldcon. I attended the above mentioned Bubonicon a few years ago (a bit far from NJ for a small con) but the northern NM area coupled with the con made it one of my favorite vacations. If you let us know where you live, that may help pinpoint cons of interest to you.

Nebraska.

I know there has been an anime convention in Lincoln for some time, but anime does not interest me. I think there is a sci-fi convention, too which I have been considering.

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Nebraska.

I know there has been an anime convention in Lincoln for some time, but anime does not interest me. I think there is a sci-fi convention, too which I have been considering.

Conquest Memorial Day weekend is in KC. George tends to go to that one on a regular basis, but may not this year as he has Concarolinas the next weekend. I hear it is a pretty good convention.

KC is also one of the bidders for the 2016 Worldcon.

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The "pre sale" tickets went up this morning for those that attended last year (if you attend you get first dibs) and I believe they sold out in like half an hour.

In a month or so they usually open up ticket sales to the general public and those sell out even faster. You just have to have a good internet connection and be home exactly at the time the ticket sales open. ...

Actually, I believe pre-registration took about 90 minutes to sell out. And the "exactly at the time" thing no longer is the case--it was a two-hour window to get into the EPIC Waiting Room, and then places in line were assigned randomly by lottery. I apparently got a decent number, because I was out in about 15 min. with four-day+preview.

The general sale is more of a rough and tumble, since so many more people are eligible. But I have a feeling the system should work a little better this year than last year. Last year, I could only get Thu/Sun and in the general sale, I couldn't get into the Waiting Room at all, despite clicking on the link at the exact second of "opening." I get the feeling some folks may have been gumming up the works with bots or mulitple browser window usage, and the introduction of a security code (i.e., only one browser instance is "valid" to the Waiting Room) has eliminated that issue.

The nerve-wracking bit was not knowing what your number in line was (unlike last year), so those who were stuck nearer the end simply had to be there for the screen refreshes every 2 minutes. That's ok if you're only waiting 15 minutes. After an hour, you start going mental, so having company is good. :)

And don't refresh. :D :D :D

There's a big difference between the professionally run conventions (like SDCC ...

I know that SDCC gives the impression of being a professional or commercial concern from the sheer size, but it always has been and remains a volunteer fan-run and non-profit convention--all of the money goes back into the convention, which is why it's been able to grow the way it has. I've been attending since 1981. I used to volunteer for them. Remarkable as it may sound, there's really only one person on-salary, and that's because she spends the entire year full-time organizing SDCC, Wondercon, and APE.

I also wouldn't recommend it for a first convention, simply because it's mightily overwhelming, and can be an ordeal. Just because there's a GoT panel doesn't mean you'll get in to the GoT panel, even after you've run the membership and hotel gauntlets and emerged victorious. After Season 1, the wait in line for me to get into Ballroom 20 was four hours. After Season 2, I heard the wait could be 6 hours and you still might not have made it into the room. The wait for me to get into the Hannibal panel last year was roughly 3 hours. This can detract from enjoyment, and the real highlight of a good sf con, which is the fellowship you'll find with other fans. OTOH, it does give you good boasting rights, and makes any Disney theme park line completely insignificant. And who knows who you'll be next to in line?

But I'd say start local or if you're going to travel, find a con with a bit more focus on something you're specifically interested in. Some of the best convention times I ever had were at a convention so small that when you raised your hand in a panel, the pros would call on you by your first name (4th Street in Minneapolis); I've heard similar tales of Readercon. And I began attending Comic-Con when it was a very different beast and Hollywood ignored us--back then you could just walk up to Frank Miller and chat with him for an hour or two over a table. Ditto Matt Groening. Ditto Jack Kirby. I've met Siegel & Shuster and Bob Kane, too.

Just me, but this year, if you're a Guy Gavriel Kay fan, I'd recommend giving World Fantasy a whirl. And don't limit yourself to just SF if you're interested in other genres. I'm seriously tempted by Bouchercon this year.

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