Before going to NDK. Con survival guide.

[Nogardous]

I have to disagree with you on this.

You can pack to much, particularly if your are carpooling and sharing a room with people.

From experience; I have shared a room and carpooled a few times with a friend of mine who loves to cook; while the intention of cooking home cooked meals for your friends, is nice; dragging a microwave, knives, pans, and other dishes to con is inconvenient. Some people like the convince of fast food or going to  a restaurant.

It is also not necessary to bring extra TVs and game consoles. The rooms have a TV, learn to share; and the con has a wonderful magical video game room; give it a try.

Don’t bring more than you can carry; your room mates don’t want to drag your stuff around; or be crowded in a car half full of your stuff.

I have to agree everything that I bring fits in my black Duffel Bag and couple Items in my hands... I never pack more or get more then what can be taken in two trips to the car... Also helps my old car had no cargo rooms so Packing light was a requirement. Also a Microwave is handy too though...

[Osias]

A microwave is handy; but try to find a small one, not a monsterwave.

[Sarge]

I would ask that if someone has posted a tip (such as Sleep...) please do not repost it.  Thank you.

To add to the discussion about overpacking, a common saying is "Pack half as much as you think you'll need, and twice as much money."  As someone who flies many thousands of miles per year, this is sound advice.

I would also like to reinforce the medications suggestion.  Bring your own tylenol, aspirin, etc. as our EMS services do not dispense drugs, be they over-the-counter or otherwise.  They cannot risk giving something to someone who might have a bad reaction to it.

[Mahou Shoujo Michi]

I have to disagree with you on this.

You can pack to much, particularly if your are carpooling and sharing a room with people.

From experience; I have shared a room and carpooled a few times with a friend of mine who loves to cook; while the intention of cooking home cooked meals for your friends, is nice; dragging a microwave, knives, pans, and other dishes to con is inconvenient. Some people like the convince of fast food or going to  a restaurant.

It is also not necessary to bring extra TVs and game consoles. The rooms have a TV, learn to share; and the con has a wonderful magical video game room; give it a try.

Don’t bring more than you can carry; your room mates don’t want to drag your stuff around; or be crowded in a car half full of your stuff.

There are limits to all things.  I'm speaking from the stand point of seeing people who will pack one change of clothes, and that's it.  I'm not saying to bring your whole dang house, I'm saying to bring more than a pair of socks.

[Lusha]

As far as money goes, (just cause I know that there has been some thing problly posted about this already,)  Do know that it is easy to spend every thing you have physically on you.  I know that I personally would.  So have a little place to put your money that you plan on using for food and only bring as much money as you are willing to spend for the artist alley and dealers room.  This way you will be able to keep on your budget and still get food.

[Sixwing]

For those with particularly sensitive ears, earplugs may be a good idea - especially if you are planning to attend the Masquerave or J-pop dance, or are unfortunate enough to be close to the speakers in the AMV showings. Those speakers are srs bsns, and I like to be able to hear the panelists the next day. *s*

[Lusha]

I must agree with the speaker comment, they are **extremely** loud, though I am a teen and I am use to loudness, i say that if you know you have sensitive ears, sit back a few rows, youll still be able to see.  I sat in the back during the first showing of the amv contest and i also went to the overload and sat next to the speakers in the front row... either way you will see...

[The Ronin]

Heck, I'm 30 and I still believe that if it's too loud, you're too old

But protecting your hearing is a very good idea, especially if you have sensitive ears.

[Alitain]

Learn to properly walk through hallways and just in general anywhere.  Sorry, a pet peeve of mine but it annoys me to no end when I'm trying to get somewhere(especially say the bathroom), and I have to stop and try and squeeze through a group of people who decided the middle of the hallway is a great place to stop and chat.  Pictures are one thing but should still be moved to the side, but I think a survival tip is to keep it moving or get over to the side and out of the way.

This isn't just for the dealer's room(though VERY important there), but just in general too many times people stand in the middle, or walk really slow and chat while ignoring the traffic jam behind.  So to keep everyone's stress level down, please be courteous.

Oh, maybe something new.  Since from my understanding pre-regging will no longer be done through paper during the con, but instead online come sunday, maybe a good idea if you want to get a jump on it is to bring a laptop, if your in a group should only need one.  Sure there're computers there but...think it'll be easy to use them?  Probably not.  And even if you don't wanna pay for the net at the hotel you can always go find a starbucks or somewhere with free wifi to access the site.  That's what I think I'll be doing just in case, not sure yet but figured it might be a good suggestion.

And another thing I forgot before.  Bring a trash bag or two.  Maybe its just my personal opinion, but there should be no reason to leave your food wrappers, and action figure boxes and little plastic bits all over the room.  Sure, housekeeping is there to clean its there job but still.  I always try to bring at least one trashbag then maybe use a bag from the dealer's room or something, to pack the trash in.  That way when they come to clean all the trash is right there in bags by the trash can easy to grab.  Maybe this isn't exactly a survival guide addition but...well its still a good thing to have for your trip.

[Rich]

For those with particularly sensitive ears, earplugs may be a good idea - especially if you are planning to attend the Masquerave or J-pop dance...

+1 on that for... your chances of sleeping when you have roommates.  They may not snore but they may.  They may also have different schedules than you do and wake you up when they're rustling around in their bags for their PJ's at 3am.

Buddy system - of your roommates, pick someone who has close to your schedule, make sure they know to wake you up if they get up first.  Back when I only attended cons for fun I woke up at like 1pm or something, and so did my friend.  Our other friends, who I think are awesome, figured 'oh, I'll just let them sleep, they'd hate it if I woke them.'  It's the nice thing to do, when you think your pals are sleeping in, to not rob them of their sleep.

So when we woke up and realized we'd missed half a day, we made a deal - we'd wake each other up when we got up.  Worked great for like the next five cons we were both at. Plus, we were usually the first ones up so we didn't have to wake everyone with double the alarm clocks.

Adding my thanks to PockyPirate for a really great set of guidelines!

-Rich

[Nogardous]

Yeah I know with me I'm a light sleeper but I tend to be able to run on few hours of sleep... The buddy system works great too if your waiting in a line... so if you see a cosplay that you want a picture have one hold the place while you get a pic... Works too if you do it for bathroom breaks or to get food or something to drink. I know first con I didn't do that and waiting in line and having to pee sucked... Far as walking goes I agree with that too... I know that most people will block paths in the back hallways... Also Don't Block the Restrooms... if your waiting for someone wait where you can see the door but not blocking entrence or exit to them

[A.Wesker]

As a Reminder YOU ARE AT ALTITUDE Please Keep Drinking Water

We want everyone in the convention to have a great time and Altitude Sickness is not fun (Trust me I have lived in Colorado my whole life and I have even been effected by it) My motto at the convention is when you see a water container stop and take a drink.

Thanks

[FeatherFurr]

I figured I'd post my tip in case someone looks at this topic. Bring food you know will last. Things that won't go bad and things that don't need refrigeration are good. Last year I brought rice cakes and peanut butter for my group. They're a good source of breakfast type food when you don't really want to make something. I'm not sure my friends even like rice cakes, but they ate them.

[mudman2001]

Like Sarge said, bring you own medications.  It is every easy to get a small bottle that can fit in a pocket that contains just about everything you need.  The one that I take with me contains 5 or 6 Tums, 4 doses of non-coated aspirin, 3 doses of Allergy Relief, and 2 Ibuprofen's that I have a prescription for.  You can also take a small assortment of band-aids and alcohol wipes in a sandwich zip lock bag for minor cuts.  Plus you can keep the med bottle in the bag so that everything is right there in case you need it.

[Twigaroni]

I normally pack more than I could possibly need, but I do have that intense "better safe than sorry attitude." I try, within reason, to bring every piece of material or equipment that I can forsee possibly needing at any point.  In most cases, of course, it would be ridiculous to, for example, pack an extra wig "just in case," but for me, it's a question of whether or not I want to drive 30 minutes back to Arvada to pick up a screwdriver or a pair of scisssors or pliers, especially after the con has already gotten underway. Then, not only am I missing at least an hour of the time that I worked so hard to look perfect for and to pay for, but at that point I'm also guaranteed to have to cruise the hotel parking lot like a vulture for another half-hour+ trying to wait for someone to leave, or pay $10 to park across the street for a few hours until something opens up. Especially if it's a repair that would take a grand total of 5 minutes or less. Infuriating! *RAWRtrampleDenverinarampage!* And THAT is why I always bring more than I think I will need!
(Plus, you might make the day of the person you meet who needs exactly that of which you brought extras!)
I always bring my pill-box full of naproxen, and my lovely lady's pain medications in case she forgets them. The way I figure it, a  ruined con full of agony and dismay may be preventable! 
ALSO: Band-aids, Band-aids, Band-aids. Blisters from new shoes, Abrasions from falling down stairs/in/out of elevator, something to cover the bite you sustained from a Great Dane at work the week before the con... It's a minefield out there, folks. Be prepared!!!
(Note from someone with no medical training: Puncture wounds (like dog bites) should be covered only with a dry bandage that allows air to circulate, constant attention to the wound and plentiful common sense. Never pack or cover a puncture with ointment or cream of any kind, as this can drive bacteria and dead or infected tissue deeper into the wound, which can obviously cause MAJOR issues!!!!)
 

[mudman2001]

Twigaroni, thank you for talking about foot blisters.  If you are getting new shoes for any cosplay, break them in first.  If you do get a blister in your feet, find some moleskin.  Wal-mart carries it and I think I have found it at Walgreens also in the pharmacy area.  The reason for getting the stuff from the pharmacy is that one side is adhesive to stick to your foot.  If at anytime you start feeling a warm spot on one spot/area of your foot, take off you shoes and socks to check for a blister.

To use it, cut a section off that is larger the blister.  In the part that was cut off, cut out a hole large enough to go around the blister with a little room around.  Peel backing and place onto your foot around the blister.  Put your sock and shoe back-on very carefully so that the moleskin doesn't move and cause the blister to pop.

The stuff was a godsend to me back in the boy scouts.  I don't know how many new scouts went on the required 5-mile hike with brand new boots on.  By the half way point, more than one of them moleskin somewhere on their foot.  The most common places were the back of the ankle/heel area and the sides of the feet.