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A Newbie's Guide To SF Conventions
Introduction
At Helicon 2 (the 2002 Eastercon), I ran into a guy who was attending his first Eastercon. He'd been to one or two other cons in the past, but Helicon was his first "general SF" con, and his first convention of any form for several years. Being a newbie, he had a perspective that I'd not encountered much recently in the context of conventions, and discussing things with him was very revealing.
Essentially, since he didn't know anyone who attended cons, he had to book his place at the con completely cold, with no real idea of what he was letting himself in for. I know that I, in his place, probably wouldn't have joined (I was dragged to my first con by friends).
Once he arrived, since he didn't know any other attendees, he had to figure out by trial and error things that most of the con attendees had regarded as common knowledge for years. I get the impression that I was the first person there he managed to hold a conversation with. Quite frankly, I find that terrifying, since I'm hardly the chattiest person in the world. To think, people wonder why fandom seems to lack new blood.
So I'm trying to improve the situation a bit, by giving the newbies some idea of what they're being invited to sign up for.
This guide is intended to cover general SF/Fantasy conventions, as experienced from an average fan's point-of-view. There are other types of convention out there, notably "media" conventions, which are associated with TV programmes or films.
I should stress that these pages mostly reflect my personal experience with conventions. In particular, I've only been to British conventions. Where I'm aware of differences in other countries, I'll try to note them, but I won't be able to cover everything.
Thanks to those fans out there who have helped assemble this by pointing out things I missed out, or got wrong, or which vary elsewhere in the world.
This guide should be regarded as a "live" document - I intend to add updates and tweaks as they spring to mind.