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What exactly can I expect from an anime convention?
I got into manga/anime stuff about 2yrs ago. My best friend got into it about four or five years ago. She's been to an anime con, and so have a few other friends of mine, and I've gotta say, if the GeekNights guys could do a show on what goes on in anime cons, it'd be a big help. But I digress. I call myself an anime junkie, rather than geek, or just plain fan. Anime is like crack to me (I'm in my local B&N store so often, they're beginning to know me...) Unfortunately for me, B&N is all I have around me. Anyway, what exactly goes on at these anime cons? Do they sell stuff?...do you get some stuff for free?...do they have anime AND manga there? I feel a little dumb, but I've wondered if it's worth the effort to get there. How do you get there? From start to finish, how do you successfully get to and get through an anime con? How many NYC cons do they have, and are they around the same time each year?
Comments
Then for your questions... Yep, every anime con has a dealers room that sells a variety of stuff. The bigger the con, the bigger and better the dealers room. Usually, no. I got a free DS charm thingy at my first Colossalcon, and I got free stuff for winning a Rock Band tournament...but other than that, no free stuff. Anime, manga, AND videogames! Well, determining whether or not it's worth the effort is completely up to you. Things to take into consideration: how long will you be staying? How much will it cost you? Do you have proper transportation?
As for how you get there...drive, fly, take a train, take the subway....it's totally up to you. NYAF is the only one I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm sure there's a ton more.
First of all: Save. In your budget, you should include: Food, Transportation, Place to stay, and o' course, Spending money.
I usually figure in about 10-15 dollars a meal, 3 meals a day. This way I can have really nice meals, especially at dinner, and not worry about taking it away from spending money. This usually can cover snacks too. For the days, don't forget to add in traveling time. Say you go from one city to another, and it takes about a day from morning to latish afternoon to get there, and another pretty much full day to get home. Of course these will go on each side of your actual con, so thus two extra days & $60-$90 extra for food.
Transportation includes any flights or buses to and from destinations or gas money, or cab fare. Always round up if you don't have exacts, and don't forget taxes! Make sure to have a little extra for taxis for sure, in case you get drunk or stranded. Have some change if you drive yourself for parking meters.
Because you're booking the hotel in advance, you should know where you're staying and how much it is. If you don't book in advance, you won't be able to find a hotel close by, and while this is fairly unimportant if you drive yourself around, if you're busing or using taxis, you'll either be spending a crap load of money, or a lot of time.
Registration and other fees should also be predetermined.
Spending money should be quite a bit in my mind. Consider either bringing a lot of money (a thousand or so; it goes down as you go to more and more or if you get a proper anime store) or budgeting. Include any art you might want to buy - that's where a good percentage of my money goes - and any manga/anime that you want to buy. Vendors rooms usually have a lot of stuff. Unless you're frugal with how much you spend on the Japanese snacks, consider putting this under the budget too - if you buy thirty dollars of Japanese snacks using food money, you might get a little screwed on the trip home. Put more into the budget if you've been known to go on crazy shopping trips, a little less if you're smarter with your money.
In Canadian, I figure to go from where I am (Grande Prairie, AB) to Otafest in Calgary, AB, it'll cost me approximately $119 for bus and a further $60 for taxis, around $180 for food, $20 for registration, $125 for hotel (splitting with a friend), and about $500 total for spending - which includes emergency money. This is not counting any taxes. Total amount: $1004, not including taxes.
Booking things ahead of time will save you stress and money. Bigger cons will give discounts for registering as soon as they open up the online lines. If you book the hotel as soon as they will let you, that'll also be a discount (although not much), and Greyhound generally also gives discounts for paying early. Better yet: use any other discounts - if you're a student, flash that card constantly.
Actually getting through the convention is easy. To start off with, if you have anything you want to find (such as, say, Negima manga volume 12 and that special edition version of the Cowboy Bebop DVD set), make a list of it before leaving. If you have a lot of manga and anime, make a list of what you already have so you don't buy doubles. Try and take a friend with you or meet up with them. It's cheaper (hotels and taxis!) and a lot funner. Grab a registration book, sit down and decide what you wanna do - go the Artist Alley, see this panel about webcomicing, or the one with the voice actors, the dance, and so on. Try to avoid the vendors room until it calms down a bit - don't get in line first thing unless you're a pro. Then, just go along with the flow. If you want to take pictures of cosplayers or just awesomely dressed people, remember to stop them and ask politely. Be sure to know how to use your camera. Enjoy!
(Oh dear god I rambled.)
Thus far, every con I've been to has at least had a few guests, most of which being voice actors, very few being webcomickers and podcasters...and meeting them can be difficult if the con is fairly big.
Kage-rod: That's kinda over the top. I wouldn't suggest getting a hotel and the full 9 yards for your first con, unless you'll be going with a seasoned congoer (and while he said he has a friend who's been to a con, he never said he'd be going with said friend). Odds are, something will go wrong (and it'll be even worse as a first time congoer), and it'll ruin a big portion the con.
And traveling...for a day? I'd say that most people can usually find a con that's within 1-2 hours from them, if they're living in America (and especially NY).
And a grand? It's kinda pointless to suggest a number unless you know what con you're going to and for how long.
For Ohayocon, I usually end up spending about $200-500 on the whole weekend depending on food, gas prices, how many people are splitting the hotel, and shit like that. For smaller cons, like Colossalcon and A&G; Ohio, I can get away with spending $100-150 including hotel and food costs. Subway=filling and cheap
Then if you just go for a day? Shoot, I can probably manage on $50 (considering badge is between $20-30 and then you need to cover food).
And I did mention which con it'd be. I wasn't suggesting it for them - I was giving an example. My costs are rather large because of the traveling and hotels and the fact that I always have emergency cash because I'm paranoid.
Subway is filling, but I've always went to a celebratory dinner somewhere, and while it's not that expensive, it's still about 20 dollars with tip. So that takes 5 dollars from somewhere else, and then I always always always buy snacks because of my eating habits and such. Any extra is just for emergency.
unless it's Otakon.
And what's with the bold? Just split your post into two paragraphs, bold makes it stand out yes, but it's not like it wouldn't be read if it was not bold. Secondly, periods are not supposed to be put directly after a question mark. Let alone three! I mean, what the hell? You type properly in the first half, and then once you get to the relatively important stuff you pull open the drawers of Saint Stupid! You do not see a 100m sprinter training hard and then wearing clowns shoes on the day of the race.
EDIT: To clear my point just in case, this is not your average forum. Your posts will be noticed and read without you having to resort to bold, all caps and a multiple of 11 exclamation marks.
Don't buy anything at your first con. Trust me. If you pull out your wallet, you will regret it. Half the things you will buy, you won't ever need. You might get an awesome deal on some stuff but unless you have a decent job, its really not worth spending. It may look cute and it may look shiny. Smack yourself! Don't buy it!
Anyways, my dealers room advice:
For DVDs and CDs- First, make sure you read up on bootlegs before buying. Dealers at cons are notorious for having bootlegged goods. Here is a good guide. Second, check Righstuf and Amazon for their prices, since usually con dealers don't offer any better deals (except in their bargin bins, which are usually worth looking through).
For manga- usually you can get a better deal on Rightstuf or Amazon. So if you're looking for anything in particular, check those sites before going to the con. If they have anything for really cheap (like $1-3), you probably WON'T regret getting it.
For videogames- well, first off, not many cons have video game dealers. They tend to go to the biggest cons only. Regardless, check play asia for what they're charging before buying ANYTHING from dealers at cons. Usually Play Asia kicks the shit out of dealers' prices (at least Mad Gear's...).
For posters, wall scrolls, figures, other shit: Don't buy it unless it's cheap and won't put you over your budget.
This tactic wont apply to hot selling items though. I learned that lesson while trying to get the Yoko of Gurren Lagann artbook and Yoko doujin and Yoko merchandise! *cries* I love you, Yoko!
Ahem. Anyway with really popular items that everyone wants you would want to pounce on it on Friday.
Do I really need this?
Is this something I truly want?
Is this something that is very hard to find and/or is limited?
Can I find it cheaper online or at my home shopping area?
If your first 3 answers are "yes" and the last one "no", then normally I deem the purchase worth it.
Also what Viga said about the Sunday deals, it's fairly true. Vendors that come from long distances would rather sell as many items as they can then have to pay for shipping the stuff back home.
So really...I don't get it. What cons have sunday deals worth noting (cause IMO, 10% off manga isn't worth noting)?
Anything going on this Summer in June, July, or August in NYC???