Dragon Con is my biggest and most anticipated convention of the year. This will be my 15th year in attendance, and I have loved every minute of it. This year was somewhat abnormal as my schedule was packed for a couple of months leading up to Dragon Con which meant I had to plan well in advance of the actual weekend. My biggest concerns with Dragon Con are health and accessories. I know, I know - these things don’t seem to go together. But over the years both of these areas have been huge problems for me.
First, let’s deal with accessories. I have always been one to have a costume and forget to buy, or even if I buy, I’ll forget to pack my accessories. What I have learned over the years from my cosplay friends is that accessories are what can elevate a costume to the next level. Since I’m cheap at heart, and love to thrift for costumes, accessories tend to be what pull the costume together at the end. Once I have the completed look, I list out every piece of that costume, and it becomes my checklist when packing. In certain cases where there are a lot of small accessories that will only go with one costume, I will bag them in a Ziploc bag and tag them. This helps with organization during the actual weekend since I’m usually sharing a room, space is limited and I live out of my suitcase.
Here is an example of my accessories list:
The most important item to me during and after Dragon Con is to not come down with Con Crud. For the first 10 years attending Dragon Con, I was either sick right after or the last 1-2 days of Con. GGI did an article dealing with avoiding Con Crud here. I’ve come up with a system that works for me and most of what I do is listed in the article. I will say that I’ve managed to avoid the Con Crud for the last four years. I’ve used this same method during other conventions and when traveling for work with great success. There are a lot more people in the hotel room this Con, so I'm hoping this method still holds true.
1. Four days before Con, start AirBourne, and I continue through Con +2 days 2. Hand Sanitizer - don't be afraid to do the slimy handshake of sanitization with others 3. Lysol wipes - used at the hotel room and sometimes in panels 4. At least 3 consecutive hours of sleep daily - 15 min power naps between panels does not count. 5. At least 64 oz of water per day 6. Workout every other day of convention 7. Allergy medicine daily (Benadryl if hotel is musty/moldy) 8. Daily vitamin |
My con count down preparation has begun. I can’t wait to hang out with my friends, see all the great costumes and attend some amazing panels! I hope to see you there this year!