I'm going to Worldcon for the first time next year, and have never been to any cons. However, I've been to a lot of large academic conferences, and they're very similar in a lot of ways. My advice here is based on both my experience at academic conferences, and what I've gleaned from reading about other people's experiences at various Worldcons and other large conventions.
If you are attending with friends, or planning to meet up with friends there, don't feel you have to be completely joined at the hip. Your fannish interests aren't necessarily going to overlap completely, and you'll have a much better time if you go to the panels, readings and so on that you want to see, rather than dragging yourself to events you're not interested in. You can always make plans to meet up at set times (for meals, coffee breaks, or just time away from the crowds) in advance.
Map out what you want to do in advance, and accept that it's going to be hard to get from one back-to-back event to another, unless they're in the same room. Prioritise the events you really, really want to attend, and try to schedule a gap in between them. Accept that you will not be able to see everything you want, particularly if the con is extremely crowded or badly organised (I heard the Worldcon last year in Helsinki was particularly bad for this, with large queues and crowds, as they hadn't properly anticipated the number of attendees). Try to spend the first day/morning getting the lie of the land — how to sign up for things, how long you're likely to have to queue, and how far apart things are.
Schedule some kind of downtime, unless you're the world's biggest extrovert. Bring a book, or some kind of internet-connected device (and charger, if necessary). When I go to large conferences I always eat lunch on my own away from the conference, because I find crowds and small talk overwhelming, so this gives me an easy break for an hour or so — and generally much better food.
If you can afford it, the convenience of staying somewhere really close to the convention outweighs any monetary saving you might make by staying somewhere further away and cheaper. My impression is that there are a lot of spontaneous, unscheduled events at Worldcon such as hanging out in hotel bars, parties in people's rooms and so on, and you don't want to feel you're missing out if this is something you're likely to want to do. Also, speaking as someone who is fairly familiar with Dublin, a lot of public transport stops around 11pm, meaning you may end up spending lots of money on taxis if you're staying further out.
Accept that you will spend time queuing, and bring things to do to keep you occupied while waiting in queues. Make sure to build time into your schedule to eat and drink.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2018-08-27 02:40 pm (UTC)If you are attending with friends, or planning to meet up with friends there, don't feel you have to be completely joined at the hip. Your fannish interests aren't necessarily going to overlap completely, and you'll have a much better time if you go to the panels, readings and so on that you want to see, rather than dragging yourself to events you're not interested in. You can always make plans to meet up at set times (for meals, coffee breaks, or just time away from the crowds) in advance.
Map out what you want to do in advance, and accept that it's going to be hard to get from one back-to-back event to another, unless they're in the same room. Prioritise the events you really, really want to attend, and try to schedule a gap in between them. Accept that you will not be able to see everything you want, particularly if the con is extremely crowded or badly organised (I heard the Worldcon last year in Helsinki was particularly bad for this, with large queues and crowds, as they hadn't properly anticipated the number of attendees). Try to spend the first day/morning getting the lie of the land — how to sign up for things, how long you're likely to have to queue, and how far apart things are.
Schedule some kind of downtime, unless you're the world's biggest extrovert. Bring a book, or some kind of internet-connected device (and charger, if necessary). When I go to large conferences I always eat lunch on my own away from the conference, because I find crowds and small talk overwhelming, so this gives me an easy break for an hour or so — and generally much better food.
If you can afford it, the convenience of staying somewhere really close to the convention outweighs any monetary saving you might make by staying somewhere further away and cheaper. My impression is that there are a lot of spontaneous, unscheduled events at Worldcon such as hanging out in hotel bars, parties in people's rooms and so on, and you don't want to feel you're missing out if this is something you're likely to want to do. Also, speaking as someone who is fairly familiar with Dublin, a lot of public transport stops around 11pm, meaning you may end up spending lots of money on taxis if you're staying further out.
Accept that you will spend time queuing, and bring things to do to keep you occupied while waiting in queues. Make sure to build time into your schedule to eat and drink.