Convention Survivial: 6 - 2 - 1 LIVE by it
Ok, first-time con-goers, let me introduce you to a little rule known as six-two-one. It's a simple number pattern to remember, and it's quite crucial to surviving a convention. Just what is it?
6 - The minimum number of hours to sleep every 24.
2 - The minimum number of healthy meals to eat per-day.
1 - The minimum number of hot baths with soap per day (no exceptions). This includes brushing your teeth.
621 is the key set of guidelines to keep you awake, aware, fed, and smelling rose-fresh throughout the con.
You might also want to consider:
http://www.anthrocon.org/what-to-take-to-a-con
Toothpaste / toothbrush and various breath mints
razor and shaving cream
general first aid kit with aspirins / fever-pain releif, stomach cure, band-aids, and ointment
any prescription medications, counted out for the duration of the con
vitamins / immune boost (this helps prevent con illnesses... except for post-con blues)
a camera - to remember all the good times to get over the post-con blues
If anybody has any survival tips to add, feel free to post. 
Brushing your teeth is usually a given, it's part of the hygiene routine that a shower/bath should be a part of.
Which also includes shaving, although I'm guilty of skipping shaving while attending a convention. It's not that I don't bring a razor along, it's that I don't use it. In my defense though, my facial hair doesn't grow fast and I'm already ugly as sin and can't possibly look any worse anyway 
Perhaps one should add the suggestion of brushing specifically after meals as well, preferably as soon as practical 
This is more of a bare minimum survival type thing
I AM CHAOS HEAR ME MOO. 
I know it's off topic but... Awwwww! Baby skunkie!
Another thing to be stressed - WASH! YOUR! HANDS! Not just before you eat or after doing something messy, but also after shaking hands or other such contact (and before, if you know you'll be meeting someone, just so you don't give them anything you might be carrying). Last year I went home from the con, developed some crud, and found later that one of the few artists I'd shaken hands with (I mostly avoided it) had the same crud afterwards. As an artist myself, I am bringing hand wipes with my art supplies this time!
And just a follow up to the "6-2-1" Rule, also known as "Passovoy's Law".
Skippy's Corollary
Red Bull Is Not Sleep
Cheeze Puffs Are Not Food
Fabreeze Is Not Soap
we can tell if you power shower: in other words, that Axe/Ladies deodorant will NOT stay on you for 9 hours. D:
I make sure to shower and get my 6 hours of sleep every night at the con.
It's the most consecutive nights of showering and sleep I get the whole year. It's a luxury I take full advantage of.
All other weeks I'm trapped in the lab, working sometimes all night, doomed to spend what seems an eternity inhaling various chemical vapors and breathing the painfully dry filtered air. And then there are the winters like this past one, during which I help my brother with his commercial snow removal in addition to lab work. Shoveling snow for 27 hours straight during that one blizzard... the horror, the horror... x_x
You have no idea how wonderful a shower feels after two days in the lab. I get home and scrub practically until the whole top layer of skin is gone.
Got to get rid... of the smell! The filthy FILTY SMELL!! *Charles goes insane and becomes the Master* >:}
And no , febreeze on your clothes is not a good alternative to actually wearing CLEAN ONES ! >_>
Xenia Onatopp , she's all woman
Perhaps we should add that as another corollary to the 6-2-1 rule:
We expect you to wear clean clothes every day of the con--clean being defined as 'has not been worn for a full day already and has no scent other than laundry soap'. If you're clean but your clothes aren't, the smell is still a problem. 
I've found that sneaking in at least 20 minutes in a nap in the middle of the day,
plus a shower, plus a clean change of clothes,
goes a long way in making me look and feel better even late into the evening.
I've been photographed up at 3am at events, looking like it was around 7pm.
Of course, bigger blocks of sleep and a full night's sleep go a lot further
than 20 minutes, but the catnap helps me keep going a few more hours until
I can GET the full night's sleep.
I will point out that the 6-2-1 rule has been mandatory for security staff for at least 20 years prior to working our first Anthrocon. And yes, I have ordered staffers off their scheduled positions and back to their rooms when violations become obvious.
On a similar line, medical incidents at Anthrocon fall into two classes: honest-to-god unexpected stuff like heart attacks and kidney stones, and egregious self-abuse. The 6-2-1 rule would probably prevent half of the latter.
Now if a lack of showering has caused a medical emergency...
I've stood next to a couple of people who should be banned by the Geneva Convention.
I actually gave a talk at a con several years ago where someone's personal bodily aroma was enough to make me gag. It was so bad that I had to open the window and do the entire talk standing in front of it just so I could breathe.
Somebody posted this on a since-deleted FA Journal post by the author of this AC post (said somebody picked up on the "shower once a week" like I did also).
Edit: said AC post has since been edited to remove the shower reference. See also Doonesbury starting 5/11/10
Please keep in mind that some people live in rural areas where they are dependent on wells for water. These wells do not just magically fill up with water as needed, especially in droughts. Water in some rural areas is a true commodity to be conserved, and therefore daily showers are a true luxury. Sometimes people can only shower once or twice a week, and baths are an unthinkable waste of water. 
However this does not mean that a fur can shower just before leaving for the can and once a day at the con.
Those with extra sensitive noses would have never survived in pioneer days. 
or in the post-apocalyptic future! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XczyHThJf4g
Sometimes people can only shower once or twice a week, and baths are an unthinkable waste of water. Sad However this does not mean that a fur can shower just before leaving for the can and once a day at the con.
Assuming a slight spelling correction...
Yes. Exactly.
If water is at a premium at home, just take this as a vacation from water conservation. Shower every day. If daily showers cause you to develop a rash, shower as often as you can without skin problems. Wash all of your clothes in a pittsburgh laundromat, if you can't afford to do it at home. Enjoy the luxury of being clean and sweet smelling.
The rest of the con will love you for it.
Do we have a giant washer we could bring along to toss offenders into? >:3
The Allegheny's closer.
Adds to the 6-2-1 law
Confessions Of A Professional Housekeeper
Filed under: Confessions Print Article
Posted Apr 1st 2010 6:01AM
By Cheryl Carpenter for AOL Find a Job
I've worked at cleaning homes for a professional cleaning company and on my own. These days I am a mixture of nanny, housekeeper and cook for one employer.
Housecleaning is literally a tough job that someone has to do. Here are some of the dirty little secrets of the trade that will help you get better service and less snooping from your cleaning person.
First, to a greater extent than you might imagine, the person who cleans your home knows the real you. They know how clean you are, what you like to eat and drink and your preferences in undergarments-for both work and play. The fact is, a person doesn't even have to go into your closets or drawers to find out stuff you'd rather they not know.
So, lesson one: If you hire a housekeeper be aware of what you leave lying around. Cleaning a house means going through the entire house dusting, vacuuming and straightening. While most housekeepers do not pilfer or steal while they're working they can gain a lot information. Sometimes they can't help it-clients really leave their lives wide open-and sometimes they're kind of nosy...oops, I mean inquisitive.
Some housekeepers cannot control themselves when it comes to reading anything they come across. I have worked with people who know what a client pays for utilities, when she had cosmetic surgery or plans to, and what type it will be. A housekeeper like this will know if you received a traffic ticket, have been in court or received a summons. I found out without really trying about a man who, along with his girlfriend, took his wife to court for stalking him.
People routinely leave medications lying around without thinking about it. Most of the time this isn't a big thing, although it might be embarrassing to realize what it tells the housekeeper about your personal life. For example, most housekeepers know which male clients are on Viagra.
Additionally, a lot of people leave pills lying around outside of their containers on counters and sink tops. This is a bad idea. Cleaning products have a lot of chemicals. Housekeepers who are trying to work quickly probably won't move stray pills out of the way of their spray. For the same reason, it's a good idea to put toothbrushes away before your housecleaner comes.
If you use a service that provides the cleaning equipment, keep in mind that a worker will use the same equipment for several homes. Some homes are filthy! I cleaned one home that had 12 cats and four large dogs-that's a lot of stray hair. Another had food on the kitchen floor that had to be scraped off with a putty knife; it would never have occurred to the owners to wipe up spills as they happened. In short, you never know what a cleaner is bringing into your home via the dusters, vacuum bags and rags he brings with him, so whenever possible ask him to use your own cleaning products and equipment instead.
One way to break up the tedium of cleaning is to try on the client's clothes when she is away. This is especially true if items are left out. My cleaning partner and I cleaned one home where the lady of the house would leave out dress-up costumes. We couldn't resist looking at them and having a good laugh.
Another coworker always helped herself to food, candy or chips that she found around the house. Some clients invite housekeepers to help themselves to the fridge; most do not. But if you can't quite keep certain foods in the house and you can't figure out why, well, maybe your housekeeper is hungry.
It is just stunning what a daily tip and a thank-you will do. I know most folks do their tip at end of stay, but the daily (even if only couple of bucks) will get you amazing help if you need anything out of the ordinary.
I recently stayed in a lovely hotel that had "turn-down service" -- meaning the corner of the bedsheet was turned down and a chocolate was left on the pillow. The housekeeper had done what I thought was quite a bang-up job on the room, everything being tidy and perfectly in its place, so I left a $5 bill on the pillow along with a little note that said "Housekeeper."
That evening when I returned I found the bedsheet turned down, with a massive pile of chocolates atop the pillow.
That's so sweet! I'll make sure to keep my housekeepers happy, too!
Diana, The Spawn and I are huge fans of the Disney Parks. The housekeepers there are amazing. When the child was younger she traveled with an entourage of dolls and animals. One evening, we came back from being in the parks all day. As I was opening the door, I heard the TV on. On the other bed, all her little friends were propped up, in a semi-circle watching TV.. plus a new Mickey and Pluto plush that had joined them and a small pile of packs of cookies and snacks were laid out in front of them.
You might want to add brushing your teeth at least once a day, bad breath is not a thing people want to be around.
I AM CHAOS HEAR ME MOO.