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

[BruTak]

About '84/85 Central Hotel Glasgow, Albacon. I was sharing a Twin with best friend Gytha and about 8 Vikings/42nd Squadron soldiers. It was a huge room.
We came back from breakfast to not only find that the room service lady had rolled up all the extra sleeping bags, tucked the whiskey bottles into the wardrobe but had also hung all our swords, axes, blasters and shields from the wall light fittings. It looked like a baronial hall.
Ah, those were the days...

FF feeling old...

LOL! Yup, heard that story many times.

It has now officially passed into Convention Legend.

I'll be going to a small Dr. Who con in the Central this November. Guest of honour is Georgia Moffatt.

[Frostfox]

LOL! Yup, heard that story many times.

It has now officially passed into Convention Legend.

I'll be going to a small Dr. Who con in the Central this November. Guest of honour is Georgia Moffatt.

Well, Gytha North/the Brighton Vike and the 42nd Squad were fairly legendary! But it is true. In those days, hotels didn't have to worry about fire regs and if the hotel was full, having 'campers' happened all the time. It was against the rules but we all did it; we was poor.

The story about us being paid by Alan Moore to de-bag Dez Skinn at one of the Cymrycon's resurfaced recently in a book of anecdotes by Bryan Talbot about the Comics industry. Gytha had a fab photo of Mr Skinn's family jewels; if any one deserved it, he did; he owed Alan and several of the Warrior artist/authors lots of money.
The following year, V borrowed my black cloak to custard pie Dez in the bar. He still owed his creative staff money.

FF

[BlueJello]

I must admit that if I'm not in the room, I lock up any valuables (camera, toys, and now laptop) in my luggage. And fortunately, or not, my luggage sorta looks like crap and is HIGHLY identifiable with a huge neon green X across it. Hey, I wanted to be able to spot it and it's not like I'm checking into the Ritz

But what's to stop a thief from taking the entire luggage --- ugly or not.

[BruTak]

Well, if it's funny con stories you're after...

At one of the Scottish Star Trek cons, either '98 or '99 -I think, they all kind of blur together after a while... anyway, during the Saturday night disco, one lady was dancing so enthusiastically that she managed to do in her ankle.

Following preliminary treatment from one of the first aiders (my buddy Nasty Nick) an ambulance was duly summoned.

The ambo crew were somewhat surprised (to say the least) when they were greeted by a member of the "Delta City Police Emergency Services Unit" (Nick), who then began pulling the appropriate medical equipment out of the vehicle - "You're gonna need this, this, this an' this..."

After a couple of moments of stunned silence, the senior member of the two man crew ventured the opinion - "You're one of us, aren't you?"

With a - "This way, lads." Nick led them through the hotel (the Glasgow Thistle) and to where the casualty was located.

Passing, along the way, assorted Starfleet officers, Klingons, Ferengi, Jedi Knights etc. etc. and so forth.

By the time they got to the casualty, the two paramedics were looking a trifle wild about the eyes and privately wondering if they'd somehow stepped into the Twilight Zone by mistake...

[Frostfox]

Well, if it's funny con stories you're after...

At one of the Scottish Star Trek cons, either '98 or '99 -I think, they all kind of blur together after a while... anyway, during the Saturday night disco, one lady was dancing so enthusiastically that she managed to do in her ankle.

Following preliminary treatment from one of the first aiders (my buddy Nasty Nick) an ambulance was duly summoned.

The ambo crew were somewhat surprised (to say the least) when they were greeted by a member of the "Delta City Police Emergency Services Unit" (Nick), who then began pulling the appropriate medical equipment out of the vehicle - "You're gonna need this, this, this an' this..."

After a couple of moments of stunned silence, the senior member of the two man crew ventured the opinion - "You're one of us, aren't you?"

With a - "This way, lads." Nick led them through the hotel (the Glasgow Thistle) and to where the casualty was located.

Passing, along the way, assorted Starfleet officers, Klingons, Ferengi, Jedi Knights etc. etc. and so forth.

By the time they got to the casualty, the two paramedics were looking a trifle wild about the eyes and privately wondering if they'd somehow stepped into the Twilight Zone by mistake...

Ah, weirding out the locals! A fine hobby.
At a Trek con in Leeds (at the Dragonara, of course) we had a visit from the local coppers, investigating a report of 'weirdos' in the hotel. They ended up with The Joker in handcuffs; we got some excellent photos and they got out of the rain for an hour or two on a cold Saturday night.

FF

[BruTak]

Kids stuff!

At Wolf SG-6 a few years ago, we had some guys from the 101st Airborne partying with us.

[Arctic Goddess]

Kids stuff!

At Wolf SG-6 a few years ago, we had some guys from the 101st Airborne partying with us.

We've had Cliff Simon and Alex Zahara partying with us on a couple of occasions. Having a nasty System Lord and Iron Shirt the Unas as party guests was kind of fun.

[prion]

But what's to stop a thief from taking the entire luggage --- ugly or not.

Not much probably but there's no use leaving temptation (electronics) hanging around

[Chelle DB]

By the time they got to the casualty, the two paramedics were looking a trifle wild about the eyes and privately wondering if they'd somehow stepped into the Twilight Zone by mistake...

...that was funny!!!!

[BruTak]

...that was funny!!!!

It's always a good laugh watching the reactions of the "civillians" at cons.

Kind of reminds me of the bit in Ghostbusters where they're in the hotel and the guy waiting on the lift takes one look at their gear and goes "I'll wait for the next one."

[griffindorgirl]

Several years ago at Shore Leave, James Marsters (Spike from Buffy and Angel) attened the con. They had an out door table for him to sign at. Girls were hanging around the railings at the top of the area. They were yelling and being totally rude. Most of the girls were teenagers that had never been to a con before. It was disrespectful to the con and the guests the way the girl were acting. Two years before, James had appeared at the same con and it was a totally different experience. I believe that if you go to a con you should respect the guest and the rest of the people that attend the con. It is just common sense and everyone should follow it.

[drschneider]

So what's so great about the gold ticket?

[~Sarah~]

With the gold ticket, you get a few more perks than the others...
For example: The Dessert Party, in which the celebs come around to each table and spend a few minutes in close proximity talking with your table...
You get included autographs, and things like that...
If you're going to Vancouver, I would say the Gold is definately the way to go, that way the only thing you really have to add on is Photo Ops...
And that's up to you how many you want to add on..
Plus, you get first dibs on seating, and are closer to the front in the autograph line... There still are some autographs that you may have to pay for extra, but the big names are generally always included....

Did I get that about right you guys?

[drschneider]

Is there alcohol involved? I don't believe in drinking alcohol, and being around drunk people. No offense.

[Rosehawk]

Is there alcohol involved? I don't believe in drinking alcohol, and being around drunk people. No offense.

That all depends if you plan on attending fan parties or not.

You can take drinks into the dessert party so there may be alcohol present, though since most people want to be alert for the guests coming to their tables, the serious drinking usually happens after the event.

So yes, there may be alcohol at any given table but probably not anyone who is drunk, though there is no guarantee that someone(s) won't be drunk.