A Guide to Comic and TV Conventions

Whether it’s your first time attending a convention or your 57th time. Going to a convention can be pretty stressful because of the huge amounts of people, tight crowds, your bank account being drained, and of course the famous actors, writers, and producers you’re seeing everywhere.

Comic-con, Walker Stalker Con (The Walking Dead), Asylum (Supernatural), and London Anime & Gaming Con are just a few of the popular conventions to name. As exciting as they are, there are some things you need to think about before attending…

  1. MONEY: Let’s get the important one out of the way first, conventions are incredibly expensive if you plan on doing EVERYTHING. Tickets alone cost between £20-50 just for general admission and it’s considerably more if you want a VIP pass. You’re then looking at autographs that can cost up to £60 depending on their level of fame – some do it for free! Photo ops (professional photographs with the celebrities) can cost you another £20-£60. Now, imagine you want a photo and autograph from EVERYONE…that’s a lot of money. Conventions are often held in major cities meaning you may have to spend a fair bit of money to travel there from your little six house village. And finally, you need to take out a mortgage for food and drink sold at conventions (joking), but on a serious note, I recommend taking your own packed food!
  2. PLAN: Schedule out your day! If you have a lot you want to do then it’s best to be as prepared as you can – panel and photo op times, locations, and maps. It’s good to have it all planned in your head too; getting out your map and schedule in the middle of a crowd of 30,000 people isn’t always going to be easy.
  3. DON’T BE A RULE BREAKER: When you’re in a room with your favourite celebrities, it’s going to be hard to not go a little insane. But you need to fight the urge to throw yourselves at them. It’s pretty easy to get kicked out of a convention if you’re not careful; don’t touch anyone without permission, don’t record things you’re not supposed to e.g. exclusive sneak peeks of trailers, and try not to get angry at other attendees when they bump into you…
  4. BE COMFORTABLE: I know you want to look hot for your favourite celebrities, but don’t wear heels or anything that’s going to make walking around all day feel like agony. You tend to get exceptionally sweaty in convention venues so make sure you have layers you can take off and tie around your waist. And use a backpack rather than a shoulder bag.
  5. INVEST IN A PORTABLE CHARGER: Guarantee you will spend around 87% of the day taking pictures and using the convention’s online app to get you around the venue, and it’s gonna drain your phone battery! There’s nothing more disheartening than not being able to take selfies with your faves! Get a portable charger to make sure that won’t happen.
  6. BE PATIENT: Unfortunately, there’s thousands of other people waiting to get into the panels and meet your favourite celebrity – the queues aren’t gonna go fast. Remember, these people are all in the same boat as you, try not to go crazy.
  7. WEAR DEODORANT: Just for the sake of everyone around you… please wear some deodorant.
Written by Clo Gascoigne