Conventions for Beginners

Since the Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con is coming up, now seems like a great time to share some tips for people attending their first convention. Conventions are so much fun, but they can be overwhelming, so here are some things you can do to ensure that you have the best time possible.

1. Don't procrastinate. If you're coming from out of town, book your hotel as early as you can. If you wait too long, it might be difficult to get a room at your preferred hotel, and the rates might be too high. Also, get your convention tickets as soon as they go on sale; some conventions offer much lower ticket prices when they first go on sale, and the prices usually go up closer to the date of the convention.

2. Research, research, research! If you're interested in attending panels, lectures, meet and greets, etc., decide what you want to see before you get there. I always go to the convention website and read the descriptions of everything that's going on, and I print out a schedule as soon as it's posted and highlight everything I'm interested in; that way there's no confusion once I get to the convention, and I can even plan in advance what time I can take breaks for lunch and dinner. I can get pretty cranky when I'm hungry, so this benefits everyone. ; ) If you're not going to have much time for meals and the convention doesn't offer food on-site, find out what restaurants are nearby before you get to the convention. If you only have an hour or so, you don't want to waste time trying to decide where to eat; you want to get your food quickly, eat, and get back to the convention with time to spare.

3. Bring a good camera. I know everyone has cameras on their cell phones, but the quality of the pictures I take with my digital camera are so much better than the quality of cell phones pictures, so if the convention allows cameras, bring one. You're going to want good-quality photos since conventions are full of great picture-taking opportunities...like this one from AtomaCon in North Charleston, SC:

4. Bring a battery-operated phone charger. You don't want your phone to die, and these are pretty inexpensive. (I got mine for $5 at Five Below.)

5. Start working on your costume as early as possible. You wouldn't want to realize a day before the convention that you're missing something you need or that some part of your costume is going to be harder to finish than you thought it would be, so if you're planning on entering a costume contest, start working on your costume way ahead of time in order to avoid unnecessary stress. Also, check the convention website for contest rules so you know what criteria your costume will be judged on, what percentage of your costume must be handmade or altered, what props aren't allowed, etc.

6. Bring water. There's so much to see and do at a convention, and you're going to miss a lot of it if you pass out from dehydration, so bring water with you or buy some at the convention if it's available.

7. Bring cash. The vendors will most likely accept credit cards, but if you're worried about going overboard buying merchandise, decide on the highest amount you're comfortable spending, bring that amount in cash, and don't buy anything else once the cash runs out.

8. Wear comfortable shoes. This might be difficult depending on your costume, but you're going to be doing a ton of walking and standing in line, so wear comfortable shoes if possible. I have some with memory foam in them, and my feet never hurt when I wear those.

9. Bring a notebook. If you're just going for fun, you don't need to worry about this, but if you're attending panels to learn about something you might want to pursue a career in or because you want to write about it (for a blog, website, newspaper, etc.), bring a notebook and something to write with. When I go to conventions and attend panels about anything paranormal, I take a ton of notes because as good as my memory is, I'm not going to remember half of what I heard by the time I actually sit down to write a blog post about it. Basically, if you think you're going to want to remember anything you hear in a panel or lecture, write it down. Sure, you could take notes on your phone, but it seems a little rude to have your phone out when someone is talking, and you also have to worry about your battery dying or your phone erasing all the notes you took (my phone erased all the pictures on my SD card, so I don't trust my phone for anything too important).

10. Have fun! Most importantly, enjoy yourself, and don't stress out too much. You're going to remember your first convention for the rest of your life, so make some amazing memories. : )

The Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con takes place June 23rd-25th at the Las Vegas Convention Center (3150 Paradise Road). For more info, check out the website:

https://www.amazingcomiccon.com/amazing-las-vegas

If you're coming from out of town, Vegas.com has some great flight and hotel package deals. : )

Flight and hotel package deals

2017 MUFON Symposium

MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) is holding this year's symposium July 21st-23rd at the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort and Spa. This year's theme is "The Case for a Secret Space Program" and panel topics include "The US Navy's Secret Space Program and Nordic Extraterrestrial Alliance," "A Case for Underwater Alien Bases: What Deep Water  Secrets are the Oceans Hiding?," and "The Fluxliner, or Alien Reproduction Vehicle, Theory of Operation." Attendees can also learn how to be MUFON Field Investigators or take an Area 51 tour. I would love to go to this, but I won't be able to, so if any of you guys go and would like to write a guest post about it, let me know.  : )


https://www.mufonsymposium.com/

Ghost Adventures: Madame Tussauds Wax Museum

I really enjoyed visiting Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Los Angeles, so when I saw that Ghost Adventures did a 2011 episode at the Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas, I just had to watch it!  The show stars Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, Nick Groff and airs on the Travel Channel.  Zak, Aaron, and Nick start out at the David Saxe Theatre (hey, I saw the fake Beatles there!) at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.  David Saxe tells Zak that he used to work at the Sands Casino (which is where the Ventian, where Madame Tussauds is located, now stands), and things used to wrong with his sister’s magic act…things that could hurt or kill her.  They installed security cameras because they thought someone was tampering with her props, but they never caught anyone on camera.  David says that he doesn’t believe in ghosts, but he leaves a ghost light on in his theatre anyway; Zak and David see smoke in the theatre, and David can’t explain where it’s coming from.

The Sands used to be owned by the Mafia, and the team talks to a few people in Vegas about the mob activity that went on before arriving at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.  When they first get to the museum, they talk to Chris Mayes, the show manager at the museum.  Zac wonders if any spirits of dead celebrities are inhabiting their wax likenesses.  Chris gives them some history about Madame Tussaud, saying that during the French Revolution she was forced to find the heads of the deceased and make death masques.  Employee Kurt Mayne tells the team that he has seen ghosts in the maze where the Halloween show takes place.  Another employee, Stephanie Freitas, says that one night at closing, she heard the voice of Elvis Presley, who had performed at the Sands.  Along with another employee, she followed the sound; when they figured out which room it was coming from, they opened the door and felt “a very cold chill…and Elvis was singing louder than ever.”

The crew sets up night vision cameras in the Viva Las Vegas Room and by the staircase.  They begin walking around and hear something laugh at them; this is caught on the camera by the staircase, as well as one of the REM pods lighting up to signify electromagnetic energy.  Zak places a recorder, an EMF detector, and some casino chips on a table, and they soon hear the EMF detector go off.  They crew goes downstairs and try a new device called the Ovilus II that “contains a phonetic generator that spirits can manipulate and choose specific words by using their energy.”  Zak asks if there’s someone in the room, and the word “Noah” shows up in the Ovilus II; the device then shows the words “play,” “corner,” and “tied.” Zak asks the spirit if the Mafia tied him up, and “contract” shows up on the Ovilus II, so the guys deduce that the Mafia put a hit on Noah.  Zak asks what happened after Noah was tied up, and “cave” appears on the Olivus II, so Zak then asks what happened in the cave, and “dig” appears.  Zak asks Noah if he had to dig his own grave, and he answers “throat” through the Ovilus II; he then asks if the Mafia strangled him and Noah answers “lash.”  Zak asks if Noah died then or if the Mafia left him in the cave, and Noah answers “alive.”

The guys decide to split up: Aaron goes to the Scream Maze, Nick goes upstairs, and Zak stays downstairs.  Zak walks around the Spirit of America room with a thermal imaging camera, then heads to the Viva Las Vegas room, but he doesn’t catch anything.  In the Scream Maze, Aaron asks if there’s anyone there who enjoy scaring people and asks if they’ll show their presence…then he feels something go through his body.  Aaron asks the spirit what show it performed in and if it was in a show with three other people…a female voice answers “singing in the rain.”  They wonder if Judy Garland might be the spirit, and Kurt tells Zak that Liza Minnelli’s wax figure is standing right outside of the door to that room.  Upstairs, Nick hears a noise, then takes a picture in which a transparent figure can be seen standing at the bottom of the stairs.

This was a great episode, and watching the Ghost Adventures crew investigate in dark rooms surrounded by wax figures was pretty creepy.

My rating: 8/10

http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/ghost-adventures

Watch the episode here:

And just for fun, here's my favorite photo from my visit to Madame Tussauds in L.A.: