From “Across the Fandomension" website, last updated February 28, 2026
NOTE: I am always looking for corrections, additions and updates; if you spot errors and omissions below, please contact me at [email protected] so that I can update this page. – G.S.
A few times a year it becomes clear that there is an art to congoing, or at least a few tips that many of us have picked up and now take for granted. At any rate enough con virgins suffer at each con from killer hangovers, anxiety attacks, hypoglycaemia, or no place to sleep, that a collection of tips like this might be useful.
This is not the last word. This is, as it were, a first draft, dashed off without consulting any references, just off the top of my head. Will you be willing to add some ideas here for future editions? (see my email above.)
- Plan ahead as well as you can. That includes: getting an advance membership, if you can; reserving a room in advance, or a place to crash with a friend, if you can; arranging your transportation to and from the con, in advance; and providing your own spending money for meals.
- If you re depending on friends to get there and to crash there, give something back. Gas money, and part of the cost of the room, for instance.
- “Ghosting" at a convention is Bad Form. Convention committees are not made of money and are not paid out of convention proceeds, whatever some congoers may think. You buy a membership, not a ticket to be an audience member; you are not “taking something back" for the People by attending without paying.
- Wash all over, at least once a day.
- You’re not obliged to wear the same costume all weekend.
- Get at least five hours of sleep a day.
- Drink plenty of water. You’re likely to get dehydrated and not realize it, even if you’re not doing physical work.
- Get at least two square meals a day.
- Grazing off the consuite/hospitality refreshments all weekend is Bad Form. Contrary to a widespread impression, the concom is not attempting to feed you full meals for free all weekend.
- Take turns talking, when attending panels. Try not to interrupt. Try to speak audibly, clearly, concisely and to the point.
- Volunteer some labour to the convention. Contrary to another widespread impression, the concom is not just putting on a variety show for you, and you are not just buying a ticket. You bought a membership, which means you’re participating in an event made by all the attending fans. You will get out of the event roughly in proportion to what you put into it.
- If you volunteer for Security, keep this mantra in mind: Security does not mean pushing people around.
- If one thing leads to another, as it sometimes does … did you bring condoms? And did you and your roommates arrange a signal, like hanging a tie or a sock around the door handle, to indicate you don’t want to be disturbed? (It took years before someone explained this signal to me.)
- If you go to the Bitch Panel (in case you don’t know, SF cons often schedule a Sunday panel to hear compliments and criticisms), try to comment on something you saw done well, or at least suggest solutions and improvements.
- Expect to get a cold or flu after the con; at least, a mild post-con depression, for a week or so. Maybe you should take a lot of Vitamin D before, during and after the convention.
(People who gave me ideas: Paul Carpentier, Mike Citrak, Con Hiebner, Donna McMahon, Beth Miller, Andrew Nisbet, J. Steven York)
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