Your Phoenix Comicon Advice: Winners, A Surprise, & Some Interesting Numbers

Well, I honestly didn’t expect that many people to give advice or ask questions when I came up with this giveaway idea.

For a guy doing his best to build community among Arizona nerds, it’s been a very satisfying couple of days watching people ask questions and having strangers jump in and answer them – because they wanted to help.

(And maybe Full Event Memberships…)

And so, I had to pick a winner of the two Full Event Memberships. Do I even need to mention how hard that was?

In the end, this passionate advice from Elyzabeth Morgan was my favorite:

My advice for a first timer? Do not be afraid! Let your inner geek out to play. Get in there and go large. Embrace the oddness, it’s why you’re going, right? Pull something out of the closet you would never wear in public. Don’t worry if it has nothing to do with comics, chances are someone else there is going to appreciate and admire your wizard hat, fairie wings, playboy bunny getup, whatever… And finally, talk to people! I can’t stress this enough! Conventions exist so that people with similar interests can all be in the same place at the same time. Don’t stand back and look, be part of everything you see. These are your people!

Elyzabeth – “Message” me on the Lightning Octopus Facebook Page so I can get your address for the 2 Memberships! (Oh, and congrats!)

But, I have a surprise…

I actually have 2 more Full Event Memberships to give away. One for each of my favorite 2 questions asked:

Krys VanSlyke:

If your significant other is not into any of this stuff in any way, is it better to roll solo or is there enough fun to be had in people watching and judging the rest of us?

Amber:

Any advice on bringing kids? Room to park strollers? Things for them to do? Food & bathrooms? I have never been so any info is great!

Krys – Message my Facebook page. Amber, I’ll email you.

(The random Bookmans Giftcard winner was Erik, who I will also email.)

Want to see a breakdown of the advice?

I’m not big into maths, but I am fascinated with numbers – so I broke down everyone’s advice into a few categories and simplified them into some generalities.

Here are the top 10 (or so) bits of advice from each category. The numbers represent how many times it came up throughout the comments, to the best of my knowledge:

Logistical

Philosophical

Unspoken Rules



Costuming Bring Food 10 Explore 15 Ask Cosplayers For Pics 7 Repair Kit 4 Comfy Shoes 10 Schedule 13 Be Patient 6 Be Patient 2 Water 10 Geek Out 12 Don’t Judge 6 Factor in heat 2 Cash 9 Have Fun 12 Respect Guests 3 Factor in size/movement 1 Camera 8 Don’t Be Shy 11 Respect Vendors 3 Peace Bind “Weapons” 1 Light Jacket 5 Don’t Schedule 5 Respect Volunteers 3 Deodorant 4 Pace Yourself 2 Step Aside If Not Moving 3 Go to Geek Prom 4 Compliment 1 Attend Panels 3

I’ll have to agree with most of these – especially “have fun.”