Going to Kumoricon

[ConsLookCool]

Hi, I want to go to Kumoricon 2005 in Portland, and this would be my first convention, so I have a couple of questions. Is it ok to not have a costume? Do you have to pre-register? Or is ok to just pay at the entrance? I see that in this forum, there is a lot of talk about getting rooms, is it necessary? Or can I just sleep in my car? And is there anything else I should be concerned about? The reason that I want to go to this convention is because I made some music videos of a couple conventions that a friend of mine went to, and these things look really cool and fun, and I want to see one for my self, plus this one is in Oregon. I would really appreciate any answers/opinions to those questions, thanks.

[Seraph]

"Is it ok to not have a costume?"

Of course, cosplay is completely optional.

"Do you have to pre-register?"

No, but you'll save some money and have your ticket reserved(there is an attendance cap).

"I see that in this forum, there is a lot of talk about getting rooms, is it necessary? Or can I just sleep in my car?"
No its not necessary if you other places to crash.  I dunno about parking in portland so I dunno about sleeping in your car either.  main reason for getting rooms is that its really nice to be able to go crash somewhere very nearby.

"And is there anything else I should be concerned about?"
hmm....I suggest maybe saving some extra money for food or any items you may find that you're interesting in buying at the con.

[Kyuubi]

another great reason for owning a room is that you have a place to put all the stuff you bye a the con so u wont be lugging around a whole bunch of stuff

[EvilMonkey]

Another good reason to get a room is that the convention saves a lot of money when people stay at the hotel.  If we don't meet our room night agreement (how many rooms we said our attendees would use at the hotel) then we have to pay extra for the convention space, by a lot.  Also, if you share rooms with someone, you can knock the price down quite a bit.  a $99/night room with 4 people in it would only be ~$28/night after taxes added on, maybe less, but about that.  And it's good to have things like a pillow, and a shower, definately a shower.

[ConsLookCool]

So if I don’t pre-register, then it’s a possibility that they wont let me in? “For people not staying at the hotel, parking is only $5.” Do they mean that that is the in the hotel parking lot? If it is, then its much cheaper then $99. To get it at that price, I would need 19 roommates ($4.95 for each), and I don’t even know that many people. Also, I don’t like the idea of staying with strangers. If I buy anything, I can use my car for storage, and since the parking lot is right by the hotel, its close by. Showers are nice, but I was thinking of maybe going home every night to take a shower, eat, and maybe take a nap, I live in Salem, so the drive shouldn’t be that bad. I don’t even know if I’m going to stay the full 3 days, so I might not even need to sleep. By the way, does anyone know what the price for admission at the door is?

[EvilMonkey]

The $5 parking is at the hotel, there is limited metered street parking available also.
At-the-door prices probably won't be set until closer to the convention, as those usually reflect how much we need to adjust our budget.  Generally the per-day passes will be about the cost of the current pre-reg price, maybe slightly under, and the full weekend at the door will be $10-15 more than the final prereg price.

[Kyuubi]

See what my sis and I do is that we get up early take a shower eat breakfast and everything and then our mom drives us to the nearest MAX station and we take MAX to the loydd center and at night we take MAX back where our mom is waiting for us uhh yeah

[Kei-Kei]

Here's a suggestion, try to go with a group. It's okay if you're by yourself, but a con experience can be so much better with a group, and it cuts down on costs too.    Hope you enjoy your first con.

[Radien]

If you definitely can't afford a room, I highly recommend going back to Salem for each night. Remember that it's hard to enjoy any road trip, alone or not, if you don't have at least the bare essentials. I learned after my first con that it is well worth the extra money to have a good night's sleep, a place to relax when you're deciding what to do, and a secure area that can safely hold your belongings.

Having a room also keeps you close to the action, so you can come and go whenever you wish without having to travel across town, or having to drive an hour each way to get home and back. Sleeping in your car can also be much less safe in Portland than it might be in relatively-quiet Salem.

Also, if you're coming alone, try to socialize a lot. You may not feel comfortable rooming with strangers, but if you take the time to get to know some people, they won't be strangers anymore, and might be good roommates for next year.