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Okay, my con experience...

Three years of Otakon (Baltimore, MD, USA)

Major Events for me:
"Otarave"
Otacafe
Movie/Episode/OAV-viewing
Shopping
Cosplaying
Cosplayer hunting

Comments:

"Otarave" - It was really fun what with the bright flashing lights in the dark room, the music blaring, and everyone dancing. On the down side though, they gave us some trouble because it was a no bags area and my one friend had a backpack with her and one of my other friends swears somebody grabbed her on the dance floor. Oh, and, not going into detail here but innocents shield your eyes on the dance floor, okay? I swear the couple next to me right before I left was seriously having sex on the dance floor.

Otacafe - It's a karaoke bar. It's a decent place to sit down and take a break but let me warn you - the watercoolers are nearly always empty and the one time I ever saw one with water in it they were out of cups. Of course, I go for the music, though. I'm a karaoke freak (betcha never woulda guessed, right?). It takes a while for them to get around to you (I'd estimate my average experience as being an hour long wait between signing up and singing) but it's a friendly atmosphere and the audience is always kind. In fact, one year, I freaked out cause they gave me the full version of a song when I only knew the TV sized version... a girl from the front row smiled at me and said, "Don't worry about it. Just make stuff up if you have to. I bet no one in here knows enough Japanese to be able to tell the difference anyway." Like I said, they're nice.

Movie/Episode/OAV-viewing - I'd have to say don't do it unless you already know you like what you're watching. People at Otakon laugh at EVERYTHING that goes on in ANY anime, I swear! Take last year for example - me and my friends went to see Loveless and the audience was hysterical at just about every word that was said! Let me tell you, watching new animes at Otakon actually made me hesitant to ever watch them again...

Shopping - How could this NOT be good? There's a huge shopping area with tons of stands and if you look hard enough you can even find stuff that is long out of print.

Cosplaying - A lot of people do it and it's really fun. Last year, my whole group cosplayed the sinners from Chrono Crusade. We didn't get much attention up until we met up with a Rosette and two Chronos (up until then, I don't think people knew who we were, honestly. In fact, I was the one who got the most attention before that and it was only because people thought I was Muraki from Yami no Matsuei and apparently didn't believe me when I said I was Aion.)

Cosplayer Hunting - This is what I call it when you run around like a crazed fangirl snapping pictures of every cosplayer you recognize as being from one of your favorite manga/anime. It's tons of fun and it's a great way to meet people sometimes. Just be sure to clear your disc first if you're using a digital or bring plenty of film otherwise. Last year, I didn't clear off my disc and I ran out of room on the first day.

Otakon is a three-day-long convention in August with tons of stuff to do. If you're thinking of going this year, my group is going as Saiyuki so keep an eye out for a camera-happy singing Kougaiji, okay? whee

*cut quote to save space* That sounds awesome, Yuko-san! Wish I could go. *can easily get a ride south to Baltimore but can't get a ride up north to Boston to save her life* I hope you have fun with your cosplay!

*looking forward to the pictures* Believe me, I understand. If it weren't for the fact that I go to Baltimore with my friend Kurowoof (and more importantly her parents) I don't think I'd be allowed to go either. By the way, Yuko-san, what state are you in?

Heh. Sorry. Had to ask. See, I'm from PA but I go down to MD so I've learned that where you go doesn't necessarily reflect where you're from.

Hahaha! Cute Sango! I don't cosplay and I've never been to a con. I went to this Anime Fest thingy one time, but I don't know if that counts. Anywho, if I ever did cosplay it'd have to be someone that I really looked like because I'm cheap and I don't ever want to cut/dye my hair in some weird way. O__O

I have a friend that is going to cosplay! She's going to some thing or other and invited me, but I said no because it was too expensive. I kinda did wanna go. ;_;

I've only been to one convention (stupid Australia)... Anime AU, it's hosted every year by the ANUAS (Australian National University Anime Society) <- one of the many reason I'm going there for uni. It was pretty fun, but it was also really small. There are bigger ones in Sydney and Melbourne.

Anyway, um... they were showing about 5 different screenings of various anime in full-sized theatres at once! They had a karaoke contest in one theatre, a learn-to-play-Go-like-Hikaru-no-Go in another, a restaurant in the back selling various snacks, stores selling cheap-a** manga and anime and collectables...oh and heaps of people from around my city had their own mini stalls. Hehe, I bought a Naruto doujinshi, it was funny.

Cos only about 10% of people cosplayed (I didn't, cos I was meeting up with my friends there, not beforehand), they had a cosplay fashion show. It was actually pretty boring... the costumes weren't well made, so I went off to watch something... I think it was MKR...

Yeah, so that was my recount of my only anime convention... I'm going to America just for one... maybe even Japan.

I'm going to ACen! (Huge anime con in the mid west) This is my first year... actually first time going to any anime convention... I already have my Sakura-hime cosplay ready and I'm gonna be on the morning announcements in it (My anime club's doing a commercial to get new members) Luckily it's close by my grandma's so I don't have to pay a lot for a hotel room *sigh of relief* I can't wait!