(05.06.2017) By Austin Brunick — Pop culture conventions like Comic-Con, Pax, and E3 can be overwhelming the first time you attend one. There is a lot of people, you are probably driving in an unfamiliar city, and the weather can be unpredictable.
Katelyn Stewart, a freshman at Morningside College and first-time con-goer as of April 29th, and Evadne Hendrix, a senior at Crofton High School and veteran con-goer were at Planet Comicon in Kansas City from April 28th to the 30th, and have a few tips for those who are thinking about attending a con but don’t know what to expect.
The first tip comes from Stewart: eat at weird times.
Stewart explains that while at Planet Comicon she was going to grab food from one of the many vendors around 10:30 am, when she first arrived on the main floor of the event.
However, Stewart decided that she was not hungry so she waited until after John Barrowman’s panel. However, by the time the panel ended it was around noon and every food vendor had an over 30 minute wait.
Stewart also says that budgeting is one of the most important things you can do at a convention. She says that she brought a certain amount of cash into the venue and left her credit/debit card in the car, which forced her to budget the amount she spent to what was available in cash.
Hendrix agreed with this statement, but went further to say that you should wait until the last day of the con to buy items because the price has a higher chance of dropping.
Hendrix’s number one tip was to buy the provided parking near the convention center.
Almost all cons have some form of “official con parking” where you can pay a fee to be guaranteed a parking spot near the convention center which eliminates the long walk after parking. This also means that you don’t have to try and find a parking ramp in a city you have not driven in before.
Both women agreed that the most important tip for first time con-goers is to enjoy yourself.
“It is easy to get wrapped up in the commotion of things and to be overwhelmed and stressed out”, says Stewart, “but once I settled in and realized there was plenty of time to do whatever I wanted, I had a lot more fun.”
The biggest take away for those planning to attend a con is to plan ahead.
Check the forecast ahead of time, bring rain gear, dress comfortably and most importantly have fun and be yourself. Cons are a place where weird people can come together and be weird together and that is the beauty of them.
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