Happy Comic-Con month! #SDCC

Last year, I did a few posts about San Diego Comic-Con, my experience, and things not to do. For those of you going this month, or who may want to go someday, I wanted to share those things with you this year, pre-conference.



While Jenny of Geek In Heels was on maternity leave last year, I guest-posted about Comic-Con and my exhilarating experience. You can find it here.

Additionally, here is my list of don'ts, re-blogged from last year.

I loved the experience, and I think the "do's" of Comic-Con would be an endless list, since there are so many cool things there, and more experienced people than I have put together those lists. Here, however, is my list of don'ts.

At San Diego Comic-Con...

Don't participate in events you don't care about just to stay together with your friends. You definitely won't always have the same interests, watch the same shows, read the same books, etc. I'm pretty hesitant to take on new TV shows and I don't just channel surf. Ever. Because of this, I hadn't watched any shows that were in their first season before Comic-Con, but my friends definitely had. Don't be afraid to split up. Trust me, you'll spend plenty of time with your friends, especially if you're crammed in a hotel room together.

Don't wear uncomfortable shoes. You would be surprised at how much standing and walking you do. Also, if you're planning on wearing a skirt, wear shorts under it. Trust me.



Don't be rude to people. There was a huge line for one of the halls one day and the True Blood panel was the last thing on the agenda. Since that show is insanely popular, some non-fans made nasty comments to True Blood fans, saying they were "ruining it for everyone else" by getting in line so early for the last panel of the day and restricting everyone else's access. Trust me, True Blood fans are not Twilight fans. Don't judge.



Don't whine. No one wants to hear it. Seriously.

Don't be afraid to tell actors and authors that you like their work if you run into them. I'm glad I did.



Don't forget to let your geek flag fly. We are all in the same boat.



Don't be mean to volunteers. They are just doing what they are told. If they are being stupid, maybe point out the error as politely as possible. If they are routing the line up and down a quadruple flight of stairs in the heat and people are close to passing out, you should probably say something about that (true story).

Don't be a superior snob about your costume. If someone compliments it, you should appreciate that. Remove stick from ass.



Don't leave off the hashtag when tweeting about a conference. It helps your followers ignore your #SDCC tweets if they don't care and it helps other attendees keep up with what is happening. We found out things like line closures, surprise guests, and other news through a designated tweetdeck column.

Don't tweet too much, you'll kill your phone battery and then you can't text your friends when they try to find you in a room with thousands of people in it.



Don't hold your camera up over your head to take pictures and leave it up there the entire panel.

Don't wear your really tall hat during a panel. The people behind you want to see too.

Don't forget food and water. It's a huge pain to get food at designated meal times, and you don't really want to step out of line. Bring fruit and mini cheeses and crackers. You'll get sick of only eating granola bars.

Don't carry your laptop unless you really need to liveblog an event. Just bring a little notebook to write down quotes in.

Don't be sad if you miss something. Choices have to be made and compromises struck.

I also found this list of 10 Ways to Ruin your SDCC experience. It echoes some of the same sentiments and is also a great resource.  Here's another great article on how to approach Comic-Con, contributed to by the people who run All Things Fangirl. P.S - I totally did the "Ninja" thing referenced in this article and I saw some great panels that I wouldn't have otherwise (including one with a childhood crush!) and my whole group got into the third row of the Mythbusters panel. I approve of doing this only if you have an interest in the rest of the panels in that room.