Convention Etiquette: Discussion and Advice on Do's and Don'ts

[AmberLM]

Hah, with the cost of hotel booze, moderation is the way to go.

Though British cons run on and around the fan bar, we work very hard with hotels to provide real ale and cider and soft drinks at reasonable prices for fans. We've had some very helpful hotels (and a lot of very idle ones) who have trained staff in the care and handling of real beer, who have erected scaffolding(!) for the barrels, who have worked with us and breweries to make a convention bar work.
Very fond memories of the Worldcon in 2005, running the fan room with many, many barrels of beer from a local brewery behind the Conference centre. We drank 2 weeks production of beer in five days, the owner came back from the GBBF to see who these voracious beer fiends were.
The staff were from the hotel and had a whale of a time, on Pirate Night, the staff all dressed up in costume too. When we returned to the hotel for an Eastercon the following year, the same staff all volunteered to work bar again.

Though in 30 years of con going, I've seen very few bad incidents in SF Fandom; we drink like the Rugby club but act like the chess club, according to one hotel manager.

FF Who's been running conventions since 1988!

I hear you on the real ale issue! My flatmate is trying to plan her wedding and it's so hard trying to find hotels who are willing to serve real ales!

[BruTak]

So, anyone going to EasterCon in Glasgow next year?

[Frostfox]

So, anyone going to EasterCon in Glasgow next year?

Nah, saving my pennies for Worldcon in London in August.
Enjoyed this year's Eastercon in Bradford, much curry was consumed.
Sorry to be missing Glasgow, some of my favourite Eastercon's were in The Central in the 1980's.

FF

[BruTak]

You should see the Central Hotel - excuse me the Grand Central Hotel - now.

New owners (the Principal Haley group) bought it and spend an absolute ton of money restoring it to its former glory.

[Frostfox]

That's cool. They did that to The Midland in Manc (I remember before it was done, Pigpen juggling cockroaches at a 'Trek con...).
The Midland, The Grand and The Adelphi in Liverpool, three grand old dames of con hotels. Some very good times.
One of the Albacons, we drank the whole chain out of beer, coke and iron bru, and, being Easter, they couldn't go to a wholesaler for top ups.

FF

[BruTak]

You'd get along well with my mates Jinxx and the Shagger. They once drank the Thistle in Glasgow dry of Guinness.

[Frostfox]

You'd get along well with my mates Jinxx and the Shagger. They once drank the Thistle in Glasgow dry of Guinness.

'95 Worldcon, at the SCC, we drank two weeks of beer in 5 days from a small brewery near the exhibition centre. The owner came back from the GBBF in London to see who these loons were who could drink like fish. It was all the more impressive because it was only the loons in the Fan bar, not the convention centre or the 'real' hotel bar and, of course, only the British, European and Antipodean fans who were drinking it.

Me mates and me won Hugo's that year, for our fanzine, must admit, we were drinking something stronger than beer that night - 6 bottles of champagne in 7 hours... best night ever.

FF

[kirsten187]

Wow... as a newbie to the whole con...er, thing, I have found this really interesting - Very glad I have read it...

But as for this bit "6. Under no circumstances in a public area, should a body part that is normally covered in polite company, be offered to a married actor to be autographed." People actually DO that !??!!?!? yuk

I'll be going to my first convention in August so I'm glad I found this thread.

[BruTak]

Kind of planning on going to the Edinburgh Comic Con in mid April.

Maybe also Collectormania Glasgow and/or MCM Comic Con Scotland in late August and early September. It depends what their guest line up is like.

Non-sci-fi events I'm also considering are the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August, and the Scottish Air Show at Prestwick Airport in mid September.

[Starfist]

I am not sure if I am going to be attending any Sci-Fi conventions this year...

But I do plan to attend the MCMEXPO/Comicon in Birmingham in March.

Of the Non Sci-Fi events I plan to attend 'Sparkle' in Manchester would be the main one.

[BruTak]

I nearly forgot, I've a ticket for an evening of Buster Keaton movies (hosted by comedian/actor Paul Merton) in Glasgow at the end of the month.

Really looking forward to that.

[Krisz]

I was considering going to Chevron 8.2 as part of going back to the UK to visit my sister this year. Unfortunately the cost of the air fare on top is too much. Luckily Fan Expo in Vancouver has a load of great guests this year that I want to see, including William Shatner who I've wanted to see for 4 decades! I bought my ticket for it today.

Enjoy your first convention Kirsten 187! Be warned, they are addictive! Since attending my first ever convention; Stargate, Vancouver in 2007 I find now that I have to attend a con every year or I get withdrawal symptoms such as missing all the great fellow fans I meet and wonderful entertaining guests!

[BruTak]

I am reliably informed that a female fan was ejected from a convention at the weekend for biting actor Norman Reedus.
Apparently she got a bit over excited, but that's not really an excuse...

The "normal" people think we're all a bunch of nutters anyhow, so this won't do us much good.

Those of you were on the UK con circuit around 15-20 years ago may remember an Irish girl who'd bring her pet iguana with her to cons...

[discodiva]

Yeah been reading about that on Twitter.....biting? seriously??

Like the fan that rugby tackled Jensen Ackles and the other one that REALLY grabbed Michael Shanks on the bum once ...have these fans no control?.....


The things some people will do for attention ...

[BruTak]

I kind of hope the con organisers blacklist her from any future events.

Fandom does not need this kind of bad publicity.