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Alright, let's get on with the show. Waiting down upon the underworld to smash gangland, guns, a friend of the unfortunate, enemy of criminal. In a serious, all powerful character, a problem to the police, but a crusade of a law. Hello everyone and welcome to the Elthworld Exchange I'm Sal.
And I'm Joel. Today's topic is going to be on conventions and more specifically the Condous and Dones, they're the etiquette of cons, if you will. Because it is Con season and both Baltimore and New York are coming up, literally side by side, right on the eve or the finale of the Keystone Comic-Con, which Joel and I were in attendance for. I can blast.
I think we can safely say that Con season has struck. Boy has it ever. I will be having my first guest spot ever at London at the end of October. That's London, Ontario, not London, England.
I know people make that mistake a lot. Well, it's fair. That is London, Ontario is not the first London I think of. No.
Nor will it ever be. Keep an eye out for Joel if you're going to the Ontario London Comic-Con and of course give Joel some congratulations on hitting 20,000 subscribers. Thanks, man. I'm touched with that.
I wanted to do a special stream, but we're piling up and I'm like, well, I can talk about it later. Those numbers aren't going away. I'm not going to lose with that, like, 10,000 subs in the next couple of days. I think it'll be okay.
Ooh, is that a challenge? I bet I can lose 10,000 in a day. All right, I won't say it like that. Not for lack of trying.
We'll put it that way. But before we begin, let's jump into some super chats because we already got one from Cam who said any chance for an Elsworld Exchange on Spy DPS 4 once you guys both beat it. Also, I just read Spectacular Spider-Man 310 and wanted to cry. It was so good.
What do you say Joel? Elsworld's on Spider-Man, I suppose? I think that's a solid idea when I was playing it last time. I'm like, man, I want to talk to Sal about this.
I bet we all feel the same way. It's true. Yeah, the game has some great story and there's a lot of stuff to chat about. So I'm sure there's going to be plenty of opportunity for that.
I know that Tiffany and I are also going to do a thing on Spider-Man PS4 when she's known with it. And if you want to watch her play it, you can always go over to the Purple Channel, which YouTube doesn't like us talking about. So go over there. There's links in the description box below this video where you can find it.
But also the lovely in-town to Danielle in the chat will also give you a link, maybe. But that being said, let's jump into it. So Joel, what was your first con? Ooh, I'm going to date myself here on this when I will reveal a sad chapter in the Cape Joel existence back before I was Cape Joel, before I truly given myself to the one true calling that is North American comic books.
Oh, I was an anime fan. My first convention was an anime convention, anime north, 2000 something. Oh, man. Oh, yeah, that was my first one.
Nice. Nice. Now, when you went to your anime convention, was it? You did research on it, you looked it up, you found it, you were like, I got to go to this, you worked it out, and then you went, if so, how long did you stay?
What was your whole deal? Funny you should say that, actually, anime north actually used to have... I don't know if they still, I'm sure they don't do it anymore. They had a great working relationship with YTD, which is like a Canadian answer to Nickelodeon.
They would have like a block of shows and everything. They would actually have like VJs like for much music, but they were CJs, they were cartoon jockeys because that's what they shared. And they would have a whole, like a whole week's full of coverage where they would do their show like live from anime north and everything. And they really did make it seem like this super awesome place that existed here where I was in Toronto.
I could go to it if I just went out by the airport. I think they're still out by the airport all these years later. It's the smaller convention center, and then there's the big Metro Toronto where Fan Expo is where you and I were. Right, right.
I gotta tell you, I think my first convention was I think one of the auto shows. I know my buddy was a big gear head and he took me to at least two car shows at the Javits Center. And my dad took me to like an upboat and car show at one point where I saw the band. I think we talked about this on the show.
We go, I've been to many boat shows myself. Never have I felt closer to than no we share this. She had a straight boat show. Just a couple of unathletical awkward dudes going like, what am I doing here?
And then it's like your dad, your man's man was like, I'm taking my boy to the boat show. Maybe he'll find some interest. And it's like, no man, I'd rather go to the complex door. But they didn't have those big shoey fresals there.
We're great. Five dollars, get out of here. Get out of here. I will say my grandmother attended more Comic-Cons than I did in the early days.
I remember her saying there's going to be a comic book thing. She didn't say convention. She didn't say anything. I think she indicated that it was more like it was going to be a sale.
But she heard there's going to be a nearby comic book thing. And she asked me to make her like a grocery list of books I wanted. I was out in Brooklyn for this like 80 year old woman. She like she let her ass down to go over to the Brooklyn comic show or God knows where the hell it was.
But that's where I got my spawn number one and my spawn number eight and my shadow hawk number three and a bunch of other terrible book. Timeless classics. I really shouldn't have friggin asked her to get because number one, ancient Italian grandmother from Brooklyn doesn't need to be looking at spawn. Number two, they probably gave her a friggin amazing deal when my grandmother like four feet to nothing walks in with her like long grocery cart.
And she's like, my boy, boy, wants me to get these things. Like I should have been like, oh, amazing fantasy 15, detective 27, just a couple of essentials. Shit, they would appreciate value. Just a couple of really like key issues.
Maybe some amazing 300, you know that kind of thing. But no, nothing like that. I just got like worthless spawn comics. But yeah, that my grandma went to the first Comic Con before I did.
But my first show was New York Comic Con. First year 2006, we went on a lark. I heard or maybe I saw like posters for it. I think I want to say that like the people who ran New York Comic Con in the first year, might have been reading over call, but comic New York Comic Con had like crappy like New York is doing a thing.
Whenever New York, whenever anybody's doing a thing, whether it's a party, a concert, anything, and it's like low key or really, really small, there's just pictures, there's posters, shitty posters, plastered all over the place. And we saw there was going to be a Comic Con at the Javits, New York Comic Con, first year ever. And I think they were saying like, it's the first year since XYZ, like whenever the hell the last New York Comic Con was. And we're like, hell, we'll go.
So we go first day, only day. We're like, we'll go to the one day and then screw it. It was in the basement. I told this story a thousand times.
I'll just say that like it was very different from the way that it was today. And I had a lot of fun and it ignited a fire inside me that was like, oh my God, I can't believe that there were these. That we could do these things. And I've been going ever since, I've been going to many different shows.
We've been invited, we've been guests, the days of maybe I'll go one day with my girlfriend who kind of maybe likes comics. And my friend who hates them to maybe I'll have a standing room only panel at that show a couple of times. Yeah. Very, very, a lot happened in those few years.
It's a magical time for us. Again, what you're describing there is almost this religious come to mecca moment that I think all nerds have when they go to their first concert. Oh, they're all like me. It's all the things I like all around me.
Yeah. And some of those shows are better than others. Some of those shows actually have like cool experiences, really great people, new stuff, things you can't find. And others are like very cookie cutter and kind of like, I don't know why the hell I went all the way out here to do this.
It's true. No two cons are created equal. And I think that's a very, very important message we can get across to everyone else. That's the Wizard World Show.
Ah, but I don't know if they're all the exact same show. Are they really? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
It's weird how like how Mick Donald's eyesed Wizard World turned convention. Like every convention looks like the same like center slash warehouse with the same vendors with the same wrestlers. It's just it was very bizarre to go like three in a row and go like, okay, well, I never have to go to another one of these again. That's funny because a lot of cons do have a lot of the same hallmarks.
There's usually the same prop weapons vendor and everything. Maybe not the same guy, but you always get the same prop weapons vendor, anime body pillows. Oh, yeah. People selling their own artwork.
No, it's true. So what we're doing today is we're just contextualizing a little bit about cons and about our first experience with them because to paraphrase and muddle with a little bit of what Stan Lee has said, every convention is somebody's first convention. And so by the way, I couldn't have been more surprised by how many people we met at Keystone who were like this is my first show I've never been to a comic book. So we thought, hey, listen, like if you do catch the germ that we did when we first hit our cons, we were like, I need to go to these every year.
Literally, New York Comic Con this year will be the most bare bones version of New York Comic Con for us as an entity, as a comic book, than ever before. Like pretty much we're gonna go back to basics like year two because every resource has dried up, every single opportunity has gone away. All the vendors we know are gone, all the booths we had were gone, you know, panels not approved, everything, just the whole rug was pulled out from under us when it came to that show. I'm still going every single day.
But you're going more as a fan now, you're not working like you might have been here. Oh, no, I'm working. Like the thing is, I will be going as a fan and I will be attending and buying things as well as any of us because like the reality is like this is a great excuse. It's a great excuse for me to just be a little kid again.
And that's kind of like the big secret is like, you know, yeah, I'm a guy who makes videos and makes a living and has a company and has to pay ridiculous taxes on. But also I get to play with my friends for pretend. And you know, I'm all really, really silly things on my taxes. So like it's just it's just things used to play.
Sometimes people recognize you and that makes the work all worthwhile. Literally happened yesterday at the Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Somebody from the National Show came up and was like, hey man, we were like, wow, so that was gonna be neat. But here's the thing, every show is somebody's first, everybody wants to know like what they shouldn't do.
And it's hard to really pin down what works. And so we're gonna take this opportunity here today for the next 45 minutes or so to answer any major questions you might have about cons and to dispel any rumors or any like any misconceptions you might have and hopefully guide you a little bit in the world of convention going. With some Comic Con do's and don'ts. So while we await those questions and while we go through a few of our own, we're also gonna give you a couple of like just resources, boxes to tick, things that you should definitely know when you're going.
And so I'm gonna try and break them down by category and Joel will just chime in. We'll just go back and forth with a couple of ideas. But while we're compiling our list, let me jump into the super chat with a couple of acknowledgments here from Mr. Giggles.
Keep up the good work, Cobsieur for life, here, here Giggles. Jordan, we guys ever come to Megacon in Florida? You know, the problem is I don't have a great resource in Florida. We've never been invited.
I don't know much about Megacon. I know that Megacon I think is more like Dragon Con in terms of it being not so much a Comic Con as it is like an all-encompassing show. Which I've also never been to but always wanted to because I hear great things about that one too. I heard great and scary things about Dragon Con.
Again, I think Dragon Con's in Georgia almost went to that once and that was kind of it. But never say never, I would love to be invited because then there's an excuse for me to go as opposed to just me being like, I guess I'll try it out. And then just like wander Megacon going like, does anybody need me for anything? I think ideally Selen I would like to go to every con everywhere.
Maybe pressure your local con or can I seriously invite the else world exchange. Seriously, no, I would love to hit up a couple of cons, particularly overseas. I'd love to hit Australia and whatnot. Harder to do.
And Prince Harry, 40, Selen. Buddy Matt just came back recently from MZM or OZCON there that he spoke highly of. Which is also Reed as I discovered. Yeah, Reed is gobbling him up, man.
But I will say I like the show that Reed puts on C2E2's and apparently an incredible show still into that. But Keystone's a good show. It was just too bad that it was like, you know, the first one. Yeah.
Pricey, Eddie, 40, Selen. How much do I need to donate to the Patreon for a back issues on trouble and a Ben hosted episode of Marville and the Evil at Mendo? Well, let me tell you something about the Patreon. If you go to patreon.com.com.com.
Not only will you get a weekly update about what's happening here in the machine of Comic Pop. You will also get early access to videos that I get to finish early. Now here's the thing. I am the apparatus of Comic Pop.
I shoot them. I'm on them. I cut them. We have hour-long episodes every single week, every single day.
It takes time. We have a little bit of a dearth in terms of backlogs. Now they're back. You can catch today's episode right now.
But as far as influencing us to make shows, my ultimate goal with Comic Pop is to try and get it to reach as many amazing people as possible. In order to do that, I'm trying to widen the net that we cast. I find that even though we could take donations to make a show. I know that there's another comic book.
I don't want to call him a YouTuber because he didn't start on YouTube, but a comic book, a digital video creator, who was both our predecessor. I'm not yet. Who definitely took money to make videos that no one was going to watch but him. I find that I don't want to do that.
It's just a simple fact of like, I only really want to talk about books that I want to talk about. I think that the content will suffer if I were to exchange money for services rendered. When it comes to trouble, I might want to do trouble someday. There might be an opportunity for me to do that.
But for other books, there are some things I'm just never going to want to talk about. It would be a disservice to that book for me to talk about at length. If I didn't give a shit. Also, you'll never see that as a video.
But that being said, let's jump into it. The first category that I want us to talk about is clothing. Yes, very important. When you're going to a convention, you know you're going to go, by the way, this could go for one day or all three, four days.
But consider this and don't be like, oh, I did this on Thursday. I don't have to do this on Saturday. Every single time. When you get ready for your show, what are some things you learn about clothing that you need to hash in there every time?
Oh, yeah. It starts at the feet for me. Comfortable shoes are a must. You do not want to be breaking in new shoes at a gun because you're going to be on your feet constantly.
You're going to be walking miles in the convention center. This also means no open-toed shoes, no crocs, no sandals. That's for your own protection because you're going to be jam-shoulder to shoulder people. Your feet are going to get stepped on and all stuff.
No one wants to look at your feet. No one wants to smell your feet because here's the thing. For example, New York Comic-Con, you're going to have like 80,000 people crammed into one particular space. If everybody decided to go freewheeling with no shoes on, the place would be a biohazard.
Oh, yeah. And I have been at a show bumper to bumper with hundreds of people and smelled one person. It's true. I love your nerds.
You're my people. All of you have mastered the hygiene thing. You've gotten much better in the last decade. Comic-Con smelled way worse 10 years ago.
Yes, we will get into hygiene, but when it comes to clothing and shoes and footwear particularly, always go with, I think, sneakers. Even if you're going to be going in a professional capacity, if you're going to be going to give a talk, run a panel, meet a few people, glad hand or get your portfolio looked at by a professional, no one will be grudgy sneakers. However, if you feel like if you're wearing a suit and you need to wear dress shoes, bring them with you. Bring the pair of sneakers so you can actually walk the floor.
No one's going to look at somebody in a full suit and a pair of sneakers and go, what a jackass. If they are, then they don't know how good they have it in terms of footwear. Dove-teeling off of the shoes, good socks are a must. Yes, you want wooly, you want fluffy, you want breathable, because your feet are going to sweat and you're going to want to bring extra pairs.
I know when I travel, I'm usually going somewhere else. A lot of times I'm going to another country for conventions. I didn't bring enough socks to the Billy drip. That's the thing.
People don't think about this. I'm going for four days. I'll bring four pairs of socks. You may want to bring two or three extra pairs just to kind of cover your ass or your foot as well.
You're going to ruin them. But I would say go with comfortable socks. I would skip dress socks entirely. I had to buy overwatch socks at the show just because I needed extra pairs.
It's like, well, I can either wash them in the sink at the hotel tonight or I can just buy some overwatch socks. Well, this way I get to souvenir so socks, please. You will walk probably four to ten miles in the span of a four-hour window. So you may want to consider that mentality.
Imagine if you were walking, if you parked your car at like a park and then you walked up a hill for about four hours. You would get sweaty, you would run, you would not want to go out to dinner immediately following the walk. So you think to yourself, like, okay, well, what am I wearing for the hike and then what am I wearing after the hike? So you always want to bring extra clothes.
But when it comes to wearing the clothes at the show, my standard, my gold standard, loose and comfy wins every single time. Yes, absolutely. What's that? I said breathable helps too.
Breathable helps too. But don't wear a mesh shirt like Ben used to in his team in years. Just go with a classic loose fitting, like, you know, a breathable t-shirt. If you must maybe throw on one of those collards shirts over it.
But I really, if I were to do that, like Joel is right now, I might wait to break out the collards shirt until after you've arrived. Because, like, in New York, for example, you're not going to get a parking space right at the Javits unless you paint a good nose. For me, I park at the Port Authority. So when I walk to the Port Authority, I'm walking to go like four to ten blocks.
If I'm doing that, short blocks, but still a little ways. I'm a big guy and I'm going to sweat. So I'm going to need, like, and if I'm going to impress, if I'm going to sweat through my shirt, I may need either a new shirt or I may need some kind of coverage. And that requires the, the collature.
Put that into another thing you might need, a backpack. We'll talk about that in a little bit. A bag is a lifesaver. We'll get into bags in a minute.
Let's stay on topic. I didn't mean to. It's a realist, but I do say, you know, but we want to stay in this wheelhouse. So you're loose and comfy.
When it comes to pants, honestly, you know, it's funny. Like, I always, my standard, which has been forever, has been jeans and a t-shirt. But if it's going to be warm and you should always do a weather forecast every single time. By the way, it was in Philly.
It was humid as sin. It was humid, it was humid as sin. I wore cargo shorts on the Saturday. And I'm so glad I did.
Because it got humid. And as humid as it was outside, it got even more humid when you're in a room full of people. Because the body heat, that's the thing that gets you some convention centers. They try and keep it as cold as possible on the inside.
But the body heats what gets you. Exactly. And it is not a dry heat. So, you know, I'd say cargo pants, Tiffany was pointing out, she was like, don't wear those.
But you are moderating your panels. I'm moderating the camera panel. If I showed up and cargo shorts, there's only really one heavy set bebirted jersey nerd that can probably get away with that. And it ain't me.
He's made some movies. He's made some movies. He's got the clap to pull it off. And then the paparazz makes fun of them.
So like, I'd say if you're going to wear your cargo shorts, but you need to be presentable and professional, bring a pair of pants with you in your backpack, which will also don't wear my hockey jersey. You know what's funny? Like the hockey jersey, not so bad in terms of like, if you're not dressing to impress, remember one guy can get away with that. And even then, it's debatable.
So if you're dressing to impress, I would not go with the hockey jersey. But if you're just going to be comfortable, I'd say bust out the hockey jersey. Why not? Not bad at all.
I feel that if you wore the hockey jersey of the corresponding beloved local team, you might actually impress a few people. This is true. Yeah. If you are, like, for example, I remember when I battled Dan Merle in the screen chunky's movie fights live show at Wizard World Philly, we had to choose.
He had Rocky. I had Arnold Schwarzenegger. And we were in Philly, so I lost. If I had worn a flier shirt, maybe I might have gotten a little bit more street cred.
Man, let me tell you, I got some Eagles merch while I was there from their whole big Super Bowl when I've been wearing it on videos I've been getting so much love by fillians and fillers. It's amazing how much they love their team. They do. So yeah, I guess if you're looking to manipulate your crowd, you may want to like invest in a local sports team shirt because here's the thing, when it comes to comics, we're all on the same team.
I'd say if you are looking to impress anybody or if you're looking to like bust out your nerd credit away that isn't showy and obnoxious, maybe break out that T-shirt that has a character on it that you never get to wear. You're like, it's too esoteric or that's too off the wall. It's going to confuse and annoy people who I work with. I'll never be able to get away with this there.
You can get away with the con. For example, I have the swell bright blue tick shirt from Vox Kids from back in the day that I saw. I think it was an JCPenney off the rack and I was like, oh, I'm getting this. I still have it and I wore it to New York Comic and I think you're too.
And I got at least four offers to buy the shirt off my back. Nice. I refuse all of them. I love my shirt.
I've had a similar story. I have of course my retro original Superman shirt that I bust out on all those occasions too, which even I stump people like Ben, you're like, what the hell logo is that? I'm like, it's the original one. They're most original one.
Exactly. That's the seagull shooster, baby. So you can bust that out. But remember, if it's tight, if it's uncomfortable, if you can't stand to wear it, a car ride.
You can't stand to wear it for a couple of hours. Don't bring it to the home. Leave it home. Leave it home.
Maybe find a replacement at the convention. Lord knows they'll probably have them. But if you are dialing as their superhero stuff is there, all the big shirt companies are there. Exactly.
If you are going as a professional, dress to impress, dress professionally. What is professional attire? Well, depending on what you're doing there, it really determines what you should be wearing. I find that if you were going at a professional capacity, the most neutral type clothing, usually without some kind of logo, without a kind of character, because you never know.
If you're going as a personality or an influencer and you don't know what they're going to ask you to go on, let's say that you're there and you're going to moderate the Batman panel with Kevin Conroy like I did. And that might make sense to wear a Batman shirt. But what if in the same day they ask you to moderate the Chris Claremont panel? That is going to be a little dicey.
So be a bit more than you don't want to do that. So you may want to err on the side of caution. What I did, which was kind of funny, was I have a collared over shirt that is Batman themed. I did that when I did the, when I would do another panel if I were to do it, which I did.
But yeah, so when it comes to being professional, dress to him for us, dress professionally. Remember, business casual is the way to go. I would not wear dress shoes. I would not wear a suit if I were to bring one of those blazers.
Like I've seen a lot of people do. Like I have a t-shirt that says like, you know, I'm like, don't that's forever. And I got a blazer that goes over it. First of all, I think those are kind of out nowadays.
But secondly, if you are going to do that, throw the blazer in your backpack because you don't want to sweat through that thing on the way over there. No, no, you do not. I have several blazers. You want to wear it for my panel.
It's a blazer too much. And it depends. Like, really like, if the other thing is you need to make sure the blazer goes with whatever you're wearing. You don't want to wear like a blue blazer with blue pants.
No, no. But you also don't wear it like a blazer. The thing you can do, and there's no shame in this also, is do your own little fashion show at home. Yeah, like put together your own outfit.
There's nothing wrong with putting together an outfit. Especially the outfit is like a t-shirt and jeans or t-shirt and cargo shorts or t-shirt and over shirt and cargo shorts and shoes. Like put together, mix and mash, try them out because the last thing you want to do is go all right, I'm dressed to impress and you go there and you see exactly what somebody else has that you could have put on. You're like, oh, that's right.
That's always the worst feeling. And I do that anyway when I pack to go just to make sure I have enough outfits for the show itself. Yeah. I know that somebody asked about hats.
The hats are debatable. I have a real problem with hats, but that's really a hang up of mine and has no bearing on you. It's no offense to you. But it depends.
I would not wear a big obnoxious sombrero or a cowboy hat unless it was part of your cosplay and even then you got to consider when you're doing cosplay or when you're doing anything in a crowded area, consider your audience. There's going to be hundreds of people, Elbow to Elbow surrounding you. If you're going to get your shit knocked off or if you're going to be in the way, you might want to consider scaling it back a little bit unless you're going to be one of those players that hangs out outside all day. That too, which they do a great job.
I'm a bad person to ask about hats because I don't know if you've noticed that I have a giant freak head. I need a double XL and a hat when I get a hat. So I don't wear hats to begin with. So I can't tell you about that.
No, if I put on a baseball cap, I would look like a 10 year old boy and it just doesn't work. I also think that after a certain age, there's very, very few people who can pull off the baseball cap. It's rough. Some people can.
And if you can, more power to you, sir. Exactly. Feel free. If that's part of your kucharma, I got to buddy who I went to college with who wore this one baseball cap all the time.
He is synonymous with that cap. He could have gotten married in it and I wouldn't have batted an eye. If he were to go like, should I wear this hat at the con, I would blink and be like, what are you talking about? This is your hat.
If you pull off a hat, I wouldn't necessarily go like, I'm going to blaze a new trail at the convention. If you want to try out a new outfit, I wouldn't at the show because again, that breaks a couple of our Carter rules of not having, basically bringing unfamiliarity to the show because you're going to an unfamiliar space. You might want to feel at least comfortable in your own skin. But no new shirts or at least if you're new, break a man or wash him first.
Also, hey, Dr. Scholes are your friends too. If that's something you think you need, get you some Dr. Scholes.
Yes. I always break them out. Even though I don't necessarily need them on a day to day basis, I know that I'm going to be on my feet more than most people and more than I ever do on a regular basis. So I always break out a new thing of Dr.
Scholes or some variant thereof. I know that if you go to Walmart, you can put your feet and get athletes foot on those things that like measure your feet. But I would just investigate in getting some cheap off brand inserts for your shoes. If you're just a little worried about it, get them.
If you're very worried about it, get professional grade. But if you're a little worried about it, never hurts. Because here's the thing. If you're like, this is uncomfortable, it sucks.
You take them out and you take your chances. But you know, it's just like, oh, God. The blisters can and will ruin your day. And I remember by the end of New York, more walking than I was used to doing in a pair of shoes that were near the end.
I was limping when I was leaving New York because I had like friggin baseball sized blisters on my toes just from the nonstop walking. By Sunday, my feet will hurt like never before. And I will be very careful. It does a lot.
It will always hurt. But always take pain with your body seriously. Never go like, well, Sal says his feet are never a year. He's been doing it for 10 years.
Like, go to the doctor if you're having a problem or if you're worried about it. Take care of yourself. By the way, after a show and you're home and you're comfortable, dip your feet in an ice bath to relax them and get them back to at least some kind of working order. Don't neglect your feet.
You stand on those. They are essential to walking. So don't take them for granted. Anyway, I know that this seems like kind of silly, but it's something to think about.
It's something to consider every time you're getting ready. Because you're so excited about the show. You're not really thinking about anything other than going to the show. You're not preparing.
You're not going to prepare what you need to do. So when it comes to that, I guess we can transition to hygiene. It's much shorter conversation. What do you got?
Again, yeah, I mean, all basic hygiene rules apply, especially again, if you're like me and you're probably traveling, you're probably staying in a hotel, you want your travel tooth paste, you want your travel, mouthwash and shampoo and deodorants and everything else. They seize my mouthwash at the airport when I was coming to Philly, but you bet your ass I was up at seven to go to the 7-11 to get myself a new mouthwash because I didn't want smelly ass breath when I meet new people. When it comes to your hygiene, I mean, like, you're going to be meeting new people and kind of the big point of going to a convention with thousands of people is to do just that. You want to meet as many people as you can.
You want to make good impressions. You want to like form relationships. The dude I met at Five Guys came to our Zap Show, which is an integrity con, but it was a live performance at a comic book store. He said that the people he met, a bunch of them that he met at the show, he actually is still friends with and they communicate.
They've created their own little like click out of that. So like cons are a great opportunity for you to like make friends and influence people. And the purest way to damn your chances of that is by smelling terrible, either out of your mouth or off your body. People are more willing, well, you know, I'm not even going to pick and choose.
I'm just going to say here's the deal. If you're worried about like halitosis or gang or or gentivitis, go to the didn't and you've been putting it off. Great opportunity to go to the dentist. That's true.
Good to a cleaning. You find out what the problem is. If there is a problem, but otherwise, floss and brush every single day before and after I would not floss and brush and then have like a garlic bagel right before the show. That's the thing.
You know, actually had a great idea that I think I might steal Dylan. Yeah, like one of those little things filled with mints and everything. I'm like, ah, that's smart. So you can up your breath throughout the day.
Good idea. It's true. The altoids are a good investment to make, but I wouldn't use them in substitution. Yes.
Because you want to start at 100. You don't want to start at like 50% and then be like, but I'll just add shit to it. So you smell bad plus altoids. Like it, and hope that one outweighs the other and that the one that outweighs the other isn't you.
So definitely do that. But always, you know, brush and floss, use mouthwash. Don't forget to brush your tongue and scrape it with one of those like, you know, tongue scrapers. It's always helpful.
I only mention that because like, sometimes you never know when, you never know who's going to tell you something you've never thought about, you've never considered. Tongue brushing and stuff. That is a big help and especially if you do it for longer and longer periods. But before we jump into the rest, I want to address the super chats opening, neglecting those.
Heartless fang asking, what do you guys look forward to most at cons? The stuff you can buy, the creators of the people or the people should you roll with a group at Comic-Con or solo? I want you to answer this question first or multiple. I mean, rolling with a group certainly helps.
I know every time I've done, as I said, I'm either, you know, going to a city that I don't live or I'm going to a country where I don't live. So having people to be able to show me around and, you know, people I can hang out with is great. It's definitely the feeling of camaraderie that I certainly enjoy the most, you know, hanging out with people who I maybe only see at cons is a really nice thing. And I do that, of course, you know, now that I do do this professionally and I do maybe have a little bit more pull, getting to talk to writers and artists and maybe having them tell me a thing or two that maybe they shouldn't tell me, but they felt, you know, more comfortable in letting a thing or two drop.
That feels pretty nice too. Yeah, definitely. I think when it comes to going with a group, always go with at least one person. And the reason I say that is because I've met a lot of people who go by themselves because they don't have an opportunity to go with anybody else.
And if that's the case, we have no other opportunity but to go by yourself, definitely takes opportunity. But I find that a lot of us are awkward and uncomfortable. And that's not a dig on that way too. Trust me.
Like, I'm on camera, but yeah, I'm on camera alone with my best friends. So I'm awkward and uncomfortable. And when I'm alone at a show, it sucks because I'm like, when is my opportunity to talk? Who am I going to talk to?
How am I going to go? It's going to become wallflowers. Exactly. We're going to go back to high school prom.
So like, it's that other person really helps to bust you out of your shell. Even if it's somebody who doesn't really like comics or doesn't want to go, like the problem you find I think is when you bring somebody who doesn't want to go and tries to get you to leave early. That's the sucky part. You can always be like, oh, you know what?
Like, actually, now that we both have gone and I've found my niche or my groove, you can get out of here and I'll do my thing. But I find going with the group is always more advantageous because you get an opportunity to really like feel comfortable in new space. And also like, it's more fun to eat with people than alone. Absolutely.
We'll get into those people who smoke, which is always the problem. So they would always be leaving every 10, 15 minutes to go smoking. I'd have to find them again. I will say if you do go with the group or with a couple people with one person, don't be afraid to set up ground rules or work out like number one, you want to work out like coordinating where you're going to meet, when you're going to meet, what you're going to do, plan your meals.
But also, don't be afraid to be like, yo, I'm going to go check out this thing and I'll see you at this place at this time. Because number one, your phone's going to fail you. Yes. Some people in one space, they're all going to drown your network.
It's not going to work. They don't feel the vibration if it's on vibrate. So just be like, here's a, we'll go to the Chevy booth at three. See you there.
But don't be afraid to be like, hey, yo, this only happens once a year. I want to do this or I want to see that. Don't be afraid to set your ground rules and your boundaries. I'm going to be like, everyone do this.
And don't assume it's somebody wishing you harm. Just be like, yo, by the way, we're having a good time. But I want to do this right now. You don't want to do that.
That's cool. But I'm going to do it. Nice. Now be sure to say, hey, remember, we parked in the itchy lot.
Exactly. Out of the two lots. Let's see. So what do I look forward to?
Most of cons. I think it's a combination of things. I think it's meeting the audience now that I have one. It's amazing meeting people who actually watch the channel, post for Selfie, and whatnot.
That's something really fantastic. But for me, it's just kind of like being there. And seeing the creators is cool. And especially if I have a creator that really, really matters to me, which there are those, but the ones that I'm looking for usually aren't there.
But like, yeah, I would say like, it's a combination, but it's mostly just the experience of going. It's like taking a minute and going to a place that you like, it's so rare that you find someone or a group of people who speak your language. And it's kind of cool. Even though like we all live online, we have like subreddits and groups and message boards and like Discord chats, but like it's cool.
It's always like a very similar experience to go someplace and be surrounded by it. So that's kind of my answer. It's the community. Exactly.
I've forgotten. Kami, long time listener, the podcast, but first time being able to catch a live. Just wanted to say thanks to all the great content. You guys are awesome.
Keep up the great work. The thing about the Campbell backpack is really just like you need to drink at the show. Yeah. So either whether you bring a candle backpack or you bring a bottle of water or four bottles of water or an empty bottle of water you fill up at the water fountain, but don't do that.
You should always drink more than you think you need to. Yes. Hydration is super important. Cause as we said, you gotta be walking, you gotta be sweating, you're gonna be losing your electrolytes and everything else.
And you know, hydration, if you get dehydrated and make you feel sick, you'll make you feel dizzy, you make you pass out, but you don't want that over when you're good. Exactly. out of the con or the other guy who passed out of the con. But drink water, ladies and gentlemen, not just your favorite drink, just drink water.
Bring water. And when you think to yourself, you get like dry mouth or you're feeling a little dizzy or you're getting like your chef's shortness of breath, drink some water. Take a good idea. But pace yourself.
Cam, is it worth haggling with vendors of cons? Yes, in fact, yes it is. The trick is to know when to do that. Sometimes it works out where you can go the first day and you can haggle with the creators.
But for the most part, here's the thing. All the prices are built in haggling to them. So if you see a statue that is $50 more than you find online, that's because they're expecting people to haggle with them. And those who don't tolerate it are in the wrong place.
Boy, are they? You know, people who go and you're like, hey, would you take this? And they go like, oh, no, price a firm. Whatever's on the thing is what it is.
They don't know. They're the first show. But don't waste your time with them. And if you wait until the last day, that's when the real good haggling opportunities come in, because they got to pay to take all that stuff back with them.
So it's in their best interest to liquidate their stock as soon as possible. Exactly. So you really, you should take the opportunity to haggle, even if it doesn't work out. It's kind of like practicing asking a girl out, where it's like, what do they say?
No, the fact that you took the initiative and you tried it out and you put yourself out there should feel good even if it's a rejection. So apply that same token to your haggling experiences, really. It's a muscle. You got to work it out.
In some tactics work better than others, I found that being a dick never works. So always try a more softer approach. You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar, certainly. So be cool.
I would look up a couple of tactics. I would ask your friends. I try him out, test him out, see how he's going. But overall, there's no better education than actual practical application.
Indeed. And Will Angolden, Joel, are you going to New York, Comic-Con? I was going to, but then Philly happened. And then London happened.
And I'm like, well, something's got to give as much as I would love to go to New York. I probably will go to New York, maybe not for the New York Comic-Con. Maybe go to Not Peak Time. Maybe go for some other event in the near future, I think.
That makes sense. But I would definitely like to go back. I love the city. Love the show.
I hope I can go again. Definitely. It's one of the biggest shows in the country, so. And it's amazing.
It's true. So back to hygiene. Shower every day. Yes.
Every day. Yes. Not twice a day. Just every day.
Whether it's the night before or the morning of. Shower every day. Don't go, well, I showered on Thursday. And I'm going on Saturday.
So I think I can go to Skip Right. Shower every day. You're walking a marathon every day. You will be gross.
Does that mean you use the shampoo every time and ruin your hair? No, I'm just saying clean yourself properly every single time. Don't be funky. Yes.
If you know that you're a sweaty person and you're going to destroy your shirt, bring another pair of clothes. Either it's a good shirt. Help them, heart. Bring a pair of un- if you're the kind of person who needs this, like bring a pair of underwear.
But like, bring a spare whatever you run through if you are running a marathon. Or socks, underwear, shirts, whatever. There's going to be an opportunity for you to go to the bathroom and change. And no one's going to be like, yo, it's got change in the bathrooms.
As long as you're not being a psycho about it, you'll be fine. You're not the only one. Also, hey, little talcum helps too here and there. Just saying that if you need it.
And again, as a sweaty gentleman myself, and you've seen me do this, oh, hey, look, I got one of those free hotel towels there. Dab, dab, dab, dab. Yep, absolutely. Also, they sell a super cheap travel size deodorant.
This big, my brand is old spice. But anti-perspirant deodorant combo, like this big pops right into your backpack. Can we talk about it? We'll get to the backpack soon.
But pop it in your backpack. Anytime you're thinking like, I smell something, I smell to the same time in six different locations that show that you put it on. Don't stop and put it on right there. Go to the bathroom, have some decor.
But bring your own deodorant, I do that. And I think it's the way to do it. Also, this is something that Ben does. I don't do it every time, but I do appreciate that he brings it.
And I appreciate it when he offers it sometimes. But a little bit of antibacterial gel goes a long way. I'm that guy too. I carry that around as well.
Because con crud and con sickness is also really got to watch out for that. I'm going to have some about this big, little dab once in a while. Just a little bit. Just go like, it's been about four or five hours.
I probably touched about 1,000 things. About 600 people. Guess I'll dab that on a little bit. And you're touching your face and you're eating.
It's just it's not a good scene. It's not a good scene. So when it comes to hygiene, any other items we need to hit before we move on to the next topic? I mean, yeah, I think you basically covered it.
Do everything you would do at home. But do it to the end of the degree, both for yourself and for the hundreds of people that are going to be around you and sharing your space with an extra force. So think about your grossest. What put you there?
What did you remedy it? How would you change that? And then assume it's going to happen. Because it will.
Am I saying bring a little like kit? Maybe, actually. But I might like, I would keep it in its own package and put it in your backpack. But that's just a way to kind of be considered by people around you.
Absolutely. So yeah, so moving on to the next item. I think it's stuff to bring. What do you bring into the show?
This really depends on you and what you want to make your con experience about. If you're going for the first time, I would research everything, whether it's creators, guests, panels, find out what matters to you the most and then create your own schedule. Do not rely on the app. The app will fail every single time.
The app's a good place to start. But it is not there to help you all the time. No, you plan around the app. But you use the app to kind of like create a schedule.
If there is no schedule or if you don't care about panels, it's a freebie. It's a freebie. But if you do care about panels, plot your entire experience around the panels. You write down like what time they are, plan on being there anywhere between an hour to 20 minutes before the show.
And the reason why I say that is because it depends on how big the show is. It's true. And scout it out too is the other. Don't be afraid to walk around and scout this stuff out.
I have to do that because I naturally get lost every frickin' where I go. So I'm going to begin with to help me out. It does not hurt if the first thing you do with the con is just walk the whole floor. Like hit the whole floor.
And make the own either mental notes or literal notes in your phone. Your phone is going to be fantastic for a resource for you to keep track of everything. What booth did you see that thing at? How much was it?
Can you price check? Take pictures of everything. We'll get to that in a minute. But use your phone as a resource.
I have a great app. It's called Keep. It's Google Keep. Keep Notes actually.
And it has like a gazillion different great things on there. It has bullet point mode and has notes mode. You can write on it. You can also take pictures.