First con... :x

[Lysanna]

Hi everyone, I'm Lys.  I've been woeful of the lack of anime connage in Portland since I moved here, and now there is one.  I know I could have gone to SakuraCon, but I met someone in Kinokuniya who claimed to work there, and he was mean, so I never went.  So anyway, what I'm saying is, this is going to be my first ever con.

I have some questions for the more experienced...  For example, um..  How soon in advance is it advisable to book a hotel room?  Or is it more better to find people to room with?  Is there some sort of thing where it's good to group all the "con rooms" onto one floor, or section of building?

Basically, any newbie information or links someone can give me will be very much appreciated.

I'm looking forward to this!

[EvilMonkey]

Reserving a hotel room using our group code give you a better chance of being in the 'Con Block', also it's always good to go with people and room with them, as it helps lower the room costs.  Though, if you want to take the lead and reserve a hotel room you can always ask if anyone needs a room.

[Shikamaru]

OR you could just join a room that has a party and end up sleeping on the floor. That's what alot of people at the sakuracon this year did. We had tons of people in our room... then again...we were up most of the night. (2 hours sleep here per night)

[DreamcastSi]

This will be my first con where I actually have to pay for lodging. My dad lives in Auburn so sleeping at sakuracon wasnt a problem. Now that he's moving to Boise, it could be more difficult. :roll:

[procyon]

I think the hotel rate is pretty reasonable overall. And as Qevil said, by sharing a room with some people, costs drop pretty quickly. Drag a bunch of friends to the con ('cause, hey, Kumoricon will be the coolest place to be that weekend ) or try to set up a room sharing deal with some people on this forum.

[SailorNaboo]

Though we are aware that sometimes people do break the rules and squeeze an extra person or so into a room, it is against hotel policy.

KumoriCon is a new convention making the big move from little Eugene, Oregon to much bigger Portland, Oregon and how much the convention space costs is directly tied to how many rooms are rented by people attending the convention.  That's one of the reasons we have the code, it's not just for a good price, it's to keep track of how much business we pull in.  

The less we have to spend for convention space, the more we will have to spend for guests and such.

[skyhawk]

Though we are aware that sometimes people do break the rules and squeeze an extra person or so into a room, it is against hotel policy.

KumoriCon is a new convention making the big move from little Eugene, Oregon to much bigger Portland, Oregon and how much the convention space costs is directly tied to how many rooms are rented by people attending the convention.  That's one of the reasons we have the code, it's not just for a good price, it's to keep track of how much business we pull in.  

The less we have to spend for convention space, the more we will have to spend for guests and such.

Nod. You want to encourage people to rent hotel rooms or you guys won't make your room block. Since I haven't seen your hotel contract I can only guess what the penalties would be but, I would not want to see you hurt because of that. It can be quite expensive and people's houses and financial lives have been lost because of bad planning.

I'll be getting a room for sure. I would hope everyone else reading theswe forums will do the same!

Daniel Harrison
President
ANCEA

[EvilMonkey]

Absolutely, room nights can make or break a convention,  Mainly they have the ability to break them, as most hotels impose stiff penalties when the convention doesn't hold up their end of the bargain.  We also want to make a good impression on the hotel, because we are hoping to use the entirety of the space next year, which will also provide for more events and more space for people.

[Takmai]

I just got a room.  As for the first con thing... Kumoricon was my first con last year.  There were so few people it was really friendly-like, so if its as super as last year, it shouldn't matter that this is your first con.

[Xella]

My first con was a much larger con (Fanime in 2003, to be exact), and while I wasn't miserable... I could have been happier.

Kumoricon last year was my second con, and in comparison, I had an absolute blast.  Because it's only in its second year (I assume this is at least a large part of the reason), it's a much smaller con.  While this means you're less likely to come across totally random cosplayers who cosplay characters that aren't as well known as the leads of the series (I think the majority of people were leads or secondaries, and there were five lesser-known characters from any given series, total.  Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just going on what I know and saw and cosplayed myself =D;), the atmosphere is a lot friendlier, like a big gathering of friends.  I don't remember the names of 95% of the people I met at KumoriCon, but I'm positive I met and struck up a conversation (for at least two sentences) with 75% of the people there.

That said, get a room as soon as possible—either with friends or people you know (advisable; you can split the cost easier that way =D), or just for yourself.  Make sure a responsible person who doesn't procrastinate is put in charge of getting the reservation made.  There are always going to be people who are walking the halls into the night (I did last year; it's just more fun that way =D) or trying to find a way and place to crash because they don't HAVE a room, but that's mighty illegal (at least the latter is).  The sooner you can secure the room, the better; you're more likely to not run into the "oh sorry, we're booked solid =D" problem that happens from having a) something going on in the hotel, and b) having that something happening on a weekend where people have Monday off from work/school.  If you procrastinate, I warn you thus: If you don't have your room a month before the time you need it, you're going to have trouble.  The sooner, the better ^^