Because I am clearly a raving lunatic (a currenly 95% unemployed and therefore quite bored/needing things to keep me out of major mischief that don't cost too many monies one), I've decided to write a sort of "book" on convention and cosplay ettiquette (the working title of which is not currently fit to mention in polite company) and generally making it though cons relatively unscathed. So, for it to work I need to do some research, and probably interview people at some stage. I've compiled a fairly substantial list of resources like online articles and press coverage, cosplay blogs and tutorials, archived forum posts on the relevant areas; but that's not quite enough.

Pretty much every conbook ever has some sort of "How to survive at this convention whilst not getting eaten alive by free huggers and generally not being too much of a jerk..." Whilst I like to keep all my conbooks (and I know I must not be the only one), I live in what one of my best mates accurately described as "A nest of rags", basically boiling down to the fact that whilst I may have been to nearly 20 cons (though Expo's don't have conbooks) and have kept the conbooks... I don't necessarily know where exactly I have kept them... Also, there's a lot of cons I've not attended, so don't have copies of the conbooks for them obviously, it would be a bit weird if I did...

Now, this is where you guys come in. I am looking for scans or copies of any articles from conbooks about convention survival, cosplay "do's/don'ts", etc.

I've managed to dig the following out of the mess of my room so far (I also know I have Amecon 2012 somewhere, but where is anyone's guess so it doesn't hurt to get a double really):

Auchinawa 2006
Amecon 2007
Auchinawa 2008
Ayacon Revolution 2009
Minamicon 16 2010
Auchinawa 2010
Ayacon 2011
Kitacon 2012

Any other conbooks; or indeed links to good blog posts you know of on the subject would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Hola! I haven't had time to read through them to see if the type of article you're looking for was in these, but both Aya 2009 and 2011 are still up online here - http://www.ayacon.org.uk/conbook

We still keep on finding various copies of them around the house every now and then too, damn P-chan! I'll check later if we have any Minami 16 ones lying around, acting as doorstops etc

I saw this post a while ago. It's worth a read at least.

http://www.cosplaygen.com/2-simple-do-s-and-dont-s-in-cosplay-conventions/

Also there was an English Cosmode for America (Called Cosmode USA strangely). There was only the one printed issue of it and it was more like a hardback book. That had an etiquette guide. Not sure if it online anywhere.

It's almost 16 years old now so probably won't be particularly relevant anymore, but I still have the con book from Shinnenkai 97 and it has three separate (albeit somewhat tongue-in-cheek) "convention survival"-type articles in it. I can scan them if you really want them!

Also, for something more recent (although you've maybe already seen it), this was posted on the Manga UK blog some time ago: http://www.mangauk.com/index.php?p=how-to-cosplay

Thanks Kat, but those are the ones I already have (sorry probably didn't make that very clear, I'll edit the original post), but if you happen to come across any other conbooks in you travels that'd be fantastic!

Ice-climber, cheers for the link and hooo-boy, I've had a look at how much a copy of Cosmode USA would cost (can't find it online sadly) and if anyone has a copy that would like to scan or sell me for cheap I would be very grateful!

Silabub, thanks for the article and yes, I'd love to get a copy of that, I think it'll be good to see how conventions and nerds have changed and evolved (or in some cases, not) over the years.

I'll nick my housemates cables and get scanning!

Also, on the broader topic of how fans have changed over the years, I'll just leave this here /shamelessplug

Thanks Sillabub! Actually, that's a good point, videos of panels and/or copies of the slideshows would be useful too. Also any skits about not being an idiot at cons like Team Giblet's Mechazawa's Guide to Being an Anime Badass.

one of my favorites here...

http://thegeekypeacock.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/cosplay-is-not-permission-slip-rant.html

Which i feel the urge to print out and physically staplegun to every creep / perv / moron I see drooling over cosplay women at cons...

M

Oh, that's a great article Methos, thanks, I'd never seen her blog before you linked me but I've already been dead interested in many of her other articles. Also, she has great taste in Darth Vader sweaters, mine's waaaay more faded and grubby than hers natch, but certainly girl got swag. lol.

Haha oh dear lord! I'm so sorry, that'll teach me for replying to forum posts in the morning before I've had coffee Will definitely keep an eye out for older Minami stuff though!

yeah her blog is one of the few i do keep a close eye on

M

Not entirely appropriate but this video has some good points:

http://youtu.be/maOk2inUjLg

Oh yeah I remembered this as well:
http://www.knowyouranime.com/?episode=10029kya

Haha, Kat don't worry about it

Those are fab Ice-climber, thanks. I'm deffinately approaching this with a sense of humor rather than being preachy and all like "thou shalt not...", so stuff like that is great. I'm totally delving into fun-theory-land.

http://youtu.be/U2Df2AihAao

This was just shared on Crunchyroll. Of course it's always the guys... You NEVER see any girls being like this...

lol, "chest puppies". I am laughing so hard at this, thanks again ice-climeber!

I think it's just that nobody's made a "how not to be a creepy yaoi fangirl and jump all over poor crossplayers/guys who are scared poopless by your behaviour and would really rather not be fly-glomped and smacked on 'dat ass' with a yaoi paddle, kthanxbai" video yet. Guys get a bad rep for being creepers at cons, but girls can be just as bad. It's just that scantily clad ladies are more likely to be perved on by dudes as the women who would potentially be perving on them are either classy and wouldn't be creepy or are your close friends who are allowed to feel you up in public if they want to (and vice versa). If you cosplay or crossplay as a character from a yaoi fandom, it's also seen as "it's gonna happen to you if you dress like that"... it's just that crossplayers/male cosplayers often feel like they pretty much just have to accept that kind of behaviour from the yaoi fan-scene. Equally, many socially awkward guys don't want to make a fuss when girls are creeping them out and/or are so flattered by the attention that they don't care if it's positive or negative. Whereas empowered women dressed as sexy superheroes are more vocal about when guys are being creepers, and rightfully so.

One of my best friends is, well, he's a very attractive young gentleman and he frequently gets creeped on by girls at cons. One tried to make out with him against his will and another basically attempted to kidnap him on the dancefloor and we had to rescue him before she manhadled him off to some private corner somewhere to do unspeakable things. And those are only the incidents I rememeber off the top of my head. Also, his ass is famous on tumblr and someone actually asked permission to print off a photo of it and put it in her locker at school... So really, it's not just guys that are creeps. I think a lots of guys are a bit embarrassed to admit that girls can be creeps too.

I raised the point in the video comments that I find it increasingly worrying that these sort of videos, and discussion about the creepy element are becoming practically mandatory to watch...

There are plenty of male con goers, cosplays and non-cosplayers alike, who aren't pervs or creepers, but get branded by the same brush as them because they're simply male and heading to the event to enjoy themselves... I'm not defending the creepers or pervs at all, but the case i'm pointing out is that a lot of men have to spend tons of time actually making up for the reputation other women slap on all men at cons because of a few creeps and pervs...

It seems that in the convention and cosplay scene, there is a definite 'guilty unless proven innocent' vibe around, and unless you already have a solid reputation for friendship and civility with the fairer sex, you're already branded as a creeper / perv until you can prove otherwise.

I can appreciate that some girls around have had problems with this sort of thing and I can fully understand people being wary of it going on, but from what I've seen, every man around now just gets branded the same unless they spend an exorbitant amount of time proving otherwise, which is a shame as it puts a lot of people off actually making attempts to get further into the convention / cosplay scene.

M

It looks like Penny Arcade have seen the same video and posted the following response :

http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2013/01/04

Damn you! You beat me too it

In answer to the video question of "How to avoid being branded a convention creeper..."

Simple... avoid the women that seem to brand all men as pervs / creepers without even talking to them...

Let's reverse the video for a second... how much of an outcry would there be if men posted videos for women labeled "How to become a sexy con girl..."?

Women wouldn't appreciate the generalization that all women in cosplay just do it to wear sexy outfits and get attention... so why is it acceptable for women to generalize all men as pervs and creepers at cons?

M

It would probably help things if conventions had a better reputation for listening to reports of harassment, and then acting on them. There were several atories last year of sci-fi and comic conventions last year that actively ignored complaints, and reinstated con-staff who had previously had bans for events for their behaviour.

If people know the real creepers will be kicked out, they can relax a little more around con goers!

EDIT: The stories from American conventions, I don't know of any UK issues. Just thought I'd better expand on that!