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

[SG7]

The only thing I can come up with is that, at some of these massive cons, people cram as many people into a hotel room as possible, allowing for minimal access to bathing facilities. Otherwise, I got nuthin'.

I did that at GateCon '08. There were six of us in the room. But it was a 2 room, 3 double bed room. Also did that once for GenCon Indy. Had 5 of us in a tiny room. But in both cases we all made sure to get our fair share of the facilites to shower. For me I couldn't fathom not being showered or deodrized. I am completely paranoid that the guest I am getting a photo op with or autograph from will be able to smell me. And that would be the WORST thing that could happen.

Everyone has their own standards. Some just lower than others I guess.

[Skydiver]

I can't believe people still need to be told this, but DON'T ASK FOR HUGS DURING THE GENERAL Q&A TIME. It's super awkward for everyone cos it's hard for the guest(s) to say no without looking like a douche and you're taking up time from people who have genuine questions. You just look like an ass and people will hate you. You are not special. So, please, STOP IT!

people that do that come across as pathetic attention whores...an they're the ones that get talked about after the con

[Skydiver]

I've stayed 5-6 per suite and we all had plenty of time to bathe

[SG7]

Oh hon I hear ya!....Sadly there will always be those few individuals who consider their own "needs" and/or "wants" are way above any other fans' in the room....they will continue on their merry way (and peeing off fellow fans, organisers and the guests in the mean time) ignoring all hints to stop.....I've seen this sort of behaviour at the talks, in the autograph queues (talking or butting in to someone else's all-too-brief conversation time) and elsewhere trying to draw attention to themselves.......they can't help it, we all want them to stop it, but sadly they won't......

Deeds xx

Yeh nothing like going up to a guest in the autograph line to get an autograph and the person in front won't leave and or the person in behind comes up beside you and steals the show. Luckily this summer I got to be at two events where that didn't happen. Once was at Polaris in Toronto where I met Alaina Huffman (SGU). Turned out I was the only one in her line. And got to chat for about 5 minutes or so. Probably could have chatted longer as no one else came to her when I was there, but even still, I didn't want to be greedy. That and I was brainfarting on anyting to keep the conversation going as I am very shy!

Second time was at FanExpo also in Toronto. SPACEchannel had a booth there, and on the Sunday had David Blue (SGU)and Ryan Robbins (Sanctuary) there. And what they did was had a line for the 50 or so of us who were lucky enough to get a ticket to be able to get autographs from them. And one person would be with David and Ryan getting autos and or photos (they didn't mind if you got adlib photos too). And they would have the next person cued for when you were done. You were not rushed and there wasn't a chance of the person in front or behind stealing your moment with the guests.

[EH-T]

Oh hon I hear ya!....Sadly there will always be those few individuals who consider their own "needs" and/or "wants" are way above any other fans' in the room....they will continue on their merry way (and peeing off fellow fans, organisers and the guests in the mean time) ignoring all hints to stop.....I've seen this sort of behaviour at the talks, in the autograph queues (talking or butting in to someone else's all-too-brief conversation time) and elsewhere trying to draw attention to themselves.......they can't help it, we all want them to stop it, but sadly they won't......


Deeds xx

Yeh nothing like going up to a guest in the autograph line to get an autograph and the person in front won't leave and or the person in behind comes up beside you and steals the show. Luckily this summer I got to be at two events where that didn't happen. Once was at Polaris in Toronto where I met Alaina Huffman (SGU). Turned out I was the only one in her line. And got to chat for about 5 minutes or so. Probably could have chatted longer as no one else came to her when I was there, but even still, I didn't want to be greedy. That and I was brainfarting on anyting to keep the conversation going as I am very shy!

Second time was at FanExpo also in Toronto. SPACEchannel had a booth there, and on the Sunday had David Blue (SGU)and Ryan Robbins (Sanctuary) there. And what they did was had a line for the 50 or so of us who were lucky enough to get a ticket to be able to get autographs from them. And one person would be with David and Ryan getting autos and or photos (they didn't mind if you got adlib photos too). And they would have the next person cued for when you were done. You were not rushed and there wasn't a chance of the person in front or behind stealing your moment with the guests.

My only experience with fans asking for hugs during Q & As was at the one Creation event I attended where they never bothered to announce the rules let alone follow them. Never an issue at Gabit events where they tell you what the rules are and people follow them because they know they will be enforced.

I have also had a couple of experiences with 1 person at a table hogging all the talk time at a meet & greet. As I had met the celebs before it was not a big deal to me personally but it did bother me because it was unfair to the others at the table. It may very well have been their one and only chance to ever meet and talk to the guest.

At The Sanctuary Experience there were not a huge number of people in line during the time I was getting Damian Kindler's autograph. He was taking lots of time with everyone. I had him sign my Stargate book (A Visual Guide I think it's called). He had never seen one before so he started flipping through it. He commented on various episodes (Ethon was one he wrote and Brad Wright told him it was the best written episode of that season) and then he started showing the book to Martin Wood. I kept glancing behind me to make sure others weren't waiting even though it was all Damian's fault! It is nice to have the time with the guest but you always have to consider others.

[SG7]

I kept glancing behind me to make sure others weren't waiting even though it was all Damian's fault! It is nice to have the time with the guest but you always have to consider others.

That's exactly how I felt when I got to meet Alaina. I probably could have chatted much longer but I am a very shy person and can find it hard to carry on conversations. And also I like to be considerate if there are others there. I always made sure to check that no one else had come into her line.

And it was an amazing experience getting to meet David and Ryan (though I had already met him at a fan party at GateCon this summer). The people at the SPACEchannel booth who had brought the two of them there, made sure that each person who got to meet the two of them got enough time to do so. I would not be surprised if each person got at least one or two minutes with the two of them (they were together side by side). With David they had small head shot photos that he would sign and give for free and or you could get your own item autographed. With Ryan he was a last minute addition so you could really only get your own items autographed as they didn't have any of the small headshots of him. They didn't even mind if you got your pictures with them either. And made sure that you actually did get your moments and kept the next person about 5 feet away until it was their turn. I was really impressed with how they did it. There was little chance of others stealing any fan's moment with the guests.

[Skydiver]

I think, if there's no one behind you, take a few. Don't hang forever of course. 5-10 minutes at the absolute most, but if it's just you and the actor and no one else is there, hey, keep em company.

now if there's a line, then please be mindful.

[Rosehawk]

I went to a convention this past summer and the person sitting next to me had this really nice camera that took excellent long range pictures. She then proceeded to shoot almost non-stop for the full hour and a half panel. I normally don't react too strongly to flash, however the constant flashing from the corner of my eye for the extended period of time actually ended creating a massive headache for me and I had to leave in the middle of the next panel because the headache got so bad that I got nauseous and had to lay down. Not to mention that the constant clicking of the camera was very disruptive to listening to the two guests up on stage talking.

While I can understand wanting some good photos, to shoot almost non-stop during the entire panel was a bit excessive.

When taking large amounts of photos, please be considerate of those sitting next to you both for the flash and also the noise. Short term usually not an issue, throughout the whole panel it's a bit inconsiderate.

[silvercomet]

I think, if there's no one behind you, take a few. Don't hang forever of course. 5-10 minutes at the absolute most, but if it's just you and the actor and no one else is there, hey, keep em company.

now if there's a line, then please be mindful.

If there is nobody else and I'm in a chatty mood, I would just ask the actor whether he'd like to have a talk. Some are bored when there is nothing to do. But I can imagine that there are also some who are happy about a break.

When taking large amounts of photos, please be considerate of those sitting next to you both for the flash and also the noise. Short term usually not an issue, throughout the whole panel it's a bit inconsiderate.

I take pictures myself. However, I've never understood why people are using a flash at all. It might work when sitting in the first row, but in the rows behind the distance is just too far away anyway.

And for the noise: I've set my camera to 'mute'. Because the clicking-noise from my own camera bugs me too. Don't know if every camera has such a function.

And please, when taking pictures, think about the people who are sitting behind you. Don't hold the camera on a high level all the time.

[Rosehawk]

I take pictures myself. However, I've never understood why people are using a flash at all. It might work when sitting in the first row, but in the rows behind the distance is just too far away anyway.

And for the noise: I've set my camera to 'mute'. Because the clicking-noise from my own camera bugs me too. Don't know if every camera has such a function.

And please, when taking pictures, think about the people who are sitting behind you. Don't hold the camera on a high level all the time.

It wouldn't have been a big issue except for the fact that the picture taking was virtually non-stop through the whole talk which was about 90 minutes long. I don't even know how the person was able to enjoy or hear the talk themselves.

[silvercomet]

It wouldn't have been a big issue except for the fact that the picture taking was virtually non-stop through the whole talk which was about 90 minutes long. I don't even know how the person was able to enjoy or hear the talk themselves.

That's one reason why I don't take so many pictures. I just want to get a few good ones for autographs. Then I want to enjoy the talk. Taking pictures is distracting - at least for me.

[Skydiver]

the issues with the camera is why cons have rules about 'flash in the first 5 minutes only' and telling people to turn off any sound on their camera

some complied, others literally didn't know how their camera worked, and still others were openly defiant. In fact, i'd catch them looking at me to see if i was looking as they tried to raise their flash to take a photo after the first 5 minutes.

and you're right about the flash. it's worthless if you're more than about 10-15 feet away.

that said, without the flash, your shutter speed is often slower. (which, i think, is why people try to turn it on)

but there are ways around it. look to see if your camera has 'continuous' mode. (the symbol is 3 little squares on top of each other). switch it to that and the camera will snapsnapsnapsnap as long as you have your finger on the shutter. It overcomes the slow shutter speed.

you will take lots of junk photos, cause if hte person is moving s/he'll blur, but out of all the junk, you will get a few

what the photo obsessed don't get, their bad attitudes and selfishness push con organizers closer and closer to banning ALL cameras.

[silvercomet]

the issues with the camera is why cons have rules about 'flash in the first 5 minutes only' and telling people to turn off any sound on their camera

Sadly this rule is hardly observed. At one con even the actor had to ask for not using the flash any more. It must be very distracting for them as well.

that said, without the flash, your shutter speed is often slower. (which, i think, is why people try to turn it on)

but there are ways around it. look to see if your camera has 'continuous' mode. (the symbol is 3 little squares on top of each other). switch it to that and the camera will snapsnapsnapsnap as long as you have your finger on the shutter. It overcomes the slow shutter speed.

you will take lots of junk photos, cause if hte person is moving s/he'll blur, but out of all the junk, you will get a few

Oh, didn't know this. So maybe this is part of the problem with my camera as well. It is annoyingly slow.

But I've wanted to try the continuous mode anyway. Better chances for getting a good shot IMO.

[Skydiver]

It got so bad during MTM that the'd have a person walk in front of the stage with a sign reinforcing to people to turn thier danged flashes off.

there were some very sweet and nice people there, that said, there were also some very self absorbed and rude women that seemed to think the whole world owed them the 'right' to take as many photos as they could and damn everyone else. They were annoying the guests, they were annoying people around them, and by the end of the weekend, a few of them were quite infamous for their inconsideration and attitude.

I would tell a person to turn their flash off and i would then see them looking back to see if i was looking as they tried to continue to sneak one in.

[SG7]

It wouldn't have been a big issue except for the fact that the picture taking was virtually non-stop through the whole talk which was about 90 minutes long. I don't even know how the person was able to enjoy or hear the talk themselves.

When I was at Polaris this summer, I got to sit in on a one hour panel with Alaina Huffman. And for the panel, it was only about a 3rd full. And I did shoot my brains out for a lot of the panel, however there was hardly anyone behind, beside or in front of me. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have shot as many pics as I did. I do like to take a lot of photos to ensure that I at least get a couple of decent ones. However I don't use much flash. And I don't usually shoot nonstop.

That happened at GateCon '08. Someone a row behind me had one of those "continuous shoot" mode digital SLR cameras and literally shot nonstop for half of the panel. Was very annoying after a while.

As for the continuous shoot mode, I tried it with mine during Alaina's panel, and during a SPACEchannel panel with David Blue & Ryan Robbins at FanExpo, and found that 95% of the photos didn't turn out to my standard. I found I got more decent ones by just shooting normally at various times through out the panel. But that could very well have been how I had the camera set up or something or my camera not being as good for that sort of shooting mode.