This weekend I went to my first ever Comic Con! Being a costumer and fan girl, naturally this is something I've wanted to go to for several years, but it wasn't until this year that I was able to make it happen.
Seattle is home to Emerald City Comic Con, which luckily for me is one of the bigger/better con's from what I've heard, so I was interested to see just what it would all be like. I live close to Seattle, so it was no big deal to go just for a day. I wish I had been able to go for another day, but I was only able to get my hands on a ticket for Friday, but it was one crazy fun day!
Seeing as this was my first time going to a convention like this and I wasn't sure what to expect, I opted not to dress up, but I wish I had. While it seemed like the larger majority of people were in regular street clothes, there were plenty of cosplayers and it would have been a fun experience to be among them in costume.
There was actually a lot of things I learned from my first trip that I thought other's may enjoy hearing, which is where this post came from. Today I would like to present to you, 5 things I learned from my first trip to Comic Con.
1. There will be a lot of people (but that's okay). It's not often that I'm in a place with as many people as there were in the Seattle Convention Center and I was worried that it would be claustrophobic/crammed/hard to navigate. The convention center was definitely packed (and it got more packed as the day went on) but the event coordinators did a good job of helping the flow of traffic and there were plenty of empty area's throughout the building where you could sit down away from the hustle for a while if you needed a break.
2. Autographs are expensive, but there are free ops too. Celebrity autographs cost a lot (Between $50-$100) but there are plenty of people (mostly authors) doing free autographs. I got to meet one of my favorite authors Timothy Zahn, who also happens to be a
huge name in Star Wars literature, and it was completely free. I even got a poster, which he signed in addition to my book, and he was the nicest guy ever. As a girl on a budget, I thought this was pretty awesome that I could get that opportunity without spending anything extra.
3. Getting in line 45 minutes early is better than waiting for 2 hours. When I went to meet Timothy Zahn I decided to get there a bit early because I figured it would be quicker than coming after the signing had started. And boy was I right. I got in line about 45 minutes before the signing started and was somewhere around 12th in line. By the time the signing started there was at least 100 people waiting and there were still more people getting in line.
4. If you want a good seat at a panel you'd better get there at least one panel before. The interesting thing about panels at Comic Con is that once you're in, you're in. You don't have to leave after each panel. Once you have a seat you can sit there all day if you wanted, so if you want a good seat for a panel it's best to get there at least one panel before and then in between you can try and hop seats for a better one. But it's madness in between; half the auditorium is trying to leave while twice that many are coming in trying to get the best seats.
5. Bring a tote bag (or find a free one ASAP). There are tons of freebies, ranging from book marks, to posters and you're gonna need somewhere to carry it all. I brought a backpack thinking I would just shove stuff in there through the day, but I quickly realized it wasn't practical to be pulling it off every few minutes to put something in, especially when you're in the middle of an ocean of bustling people. I found a free bag at one of the booths which quickly became the most useful thing with me.
Over the years I've seen tons of pictures from Comic Con's from around the world but it's one of those things that's so very different to actually experience yourself. I'm looking forward to going again next year, and now I have the urge to go to some of the bigger cons and see what they're like.
Have you ever been to Comic Con before? If not, do you want to?
