Dragon's First Time
Alright, I'll be honest, this is going to be my first A.C.. I've always wanted to go and had plans to go each year since 2007, but was never able to make it. So this year, I'm putting more effort than ever to go. So, I hope you all don't mind a newbie asking a few questions. I've read over all of the F.A.Q.s and links and still have a few questions I'd like to ask.
1. How much should I expect to pay for food over the four days? I'm not expecting to go out for $40 steak dinners each night, but I'm still curious as to what the average would be for maybe two or so meals a day.
2. What's a good amount of money to bring as far as buying stuff? I don't know what some things go for or what is being offered there so I was thinking around $100 or so but I keep feeling like it's too little. Any help?
3. Are there usually any special events that would require more money to have?
4. I know the sponsor and super sponsor memberships mostly help with donations so I'm not expecting anything overly fabulous in the way of gifts but I'm curious as to if having the super sponsor membership is worth it. I was thinking that at least for my first time, might as well go all the way. What special privileges and such come with it?
5. What's a good guestimate as far as having a hotel room for four nights? I was thinking of rooming up with one other person but if all else fails, to try to get a room on my own.
Thank you all for dealing with these questions and helping a new guy out!
ello ello, yay for a dragons first ac 
being a bit of a shopoholic at AC i will concur, you'll be surprised how fast 100 dollars can disappear. i will advise that, depending on if you plan on getting lots of small things, or a few big things or commishes, i'd say maybe 300 at a minimum. however, its up to you in the end and again, depends heavily on what your hoping to find.
as for any events or things that require extra money, 2 gryphon and uncle kage's duo stage time requires a small donation to the charity to get access, but is usually worth it cause those two just end up getting drunk and bouncing jokes off each other the whole time. also, there are sometimes meal related events that groups of people organize (like a italian resturant trip) that if you decide to go, do require sharing the bill. but beyond that, i can't think of any other extra cost events off the top of my head.
on the topic of food, prices for local resturants vary but are, and someone correct me if i misremember, somewhere in the range of 5-12 dollars depending on what you get. i usually order from either fernandos, which has a good selection of subs, wraps, and other tasty noms, and corys (i think thats the name) which has some good cheese steaks and other meals. depending on the hotel your at, i can also suggest bruegers, which is a nice bagel/breakfast shop behind the omni. not certain of the prices for that off the top of my head, but a quick search might help.
finally, on the sponser/supersponser stuffs, i'm not certain about sponsors, but supersponsors get a good variety of things. last year for instance, we got coupons for 1 meal from the close by food spots, coupon for free t-shirt, entry ticket for a free luncheon, and some special art from the GOH's. also they get a little gift or two on top of all this, and of course, yes, it vastly helps fund the con more than just a regular attendee.
1. Remember that 'Food' budgeting should include 'Drink'; I would budget about $20-40 each day for three reasonably complete meals.
2. It's hard to say; some spend under $100, some spend over $1,000.
3. There is the 2&Kage Charity Comedy Show which is an extra $20 (to the charity), and there are certain events only open to Supersponsors. Otherwise, all events are availabel to all levels of attendees.
4. https://www.anthrocon.org/registration pretty well covers the Supersponsor priveleges. In addition to those listed, there is special Seating available for some ballroom events, and frequently some exclusive art prints.
5. Hotel costs will vary slightly, but should be slightly above $150 per room per night when taxes are added in. Getting at least one roommate will help lower your costs greatly, and we will have roomshare and rideshare forums opening in February.
--Chi
1. How much should I expect to pay for food over the four days? I'm not expecting to go out for $40 steak dinners each night, but I'm still curious as to what the average would be for maybe two or so meals a day.
figure on at least 2 meals.If you get fast food youre going to spend at LEAST $5 a meal.a sit down type place 2-3 times that ammount for dinner.You can get by on $20 a day.Budgeting $40 if you can is wiser.If you have extra money you can always spend it when you get home.
2. What's a good amount of money to bring as far as buying stuff? I don't know what some things go for or what is being offered there so I was thinking around $100 or so but I keep feeling like it's too little. Any help?
It all depends.Ive spent several thousand in the art show before. Evn if you dont bid on a single thing,a commission from even the most starving artists will probably cost you at least $10, an average commisson will probably start at $20 and only go up,.Furry comic books are self published or vanity press and tend to be very expensive compared to normal more main stream ones ,art cds are often $15-30 ,art books are $15 or more dollars.One hundred wont go very far in the dealers room ,I`m afraid.But there are things to be found for under $5.I`d say plan for at least $100 a day if you can
3. Are there usually any special events that would require more money to have?
the con admission gets you into everything except for events that are raising money for the charity like a show 2 and Kage do
4. I know the sponsor and super sponsor memberships mostly help with donations so I'm not expecting anything overly fabulous in the way of gifts but I'm curious as to if having the super sponsor membership is worth it. I was thinking that at least for my first time, might as well go all the way. What special privileges and such come with it?
if youre on a budget ,its not worth it.If you can afford it ,then its really cool. you get to the head of the line for some programing events (though not the dealers room opening) theres an artist/dealers/sponsors reception on friday night to see the art show and have light snacks, theres the lunchoen with the guests of honor on sat which is always totally AWESOME! You get some exclusive prints,a few coupons for discounts at local places to eat, a free con shirt and there is usually a small cool knick knack of the con theme .The biggest thing is knowing youve helped the convention out.
5. What's a good guestimate as far as having a hotel room for four nights? I was thinking of rooming up with one other person but if all else fails, to try to get a room on my own.
the room costs will be on the reservation page. you can save a lot of money by rooming with 1 or 2 people.after 2 people though your savings drop off quite a bit not to mention its against hotel regulations to jam 56 people into a room. 4 people is the max and frankly after that ammount of people ,the trade off of cost savings to inconvience isnt worth it usually.
I've read over all of the F.A.Q.s and links and still have a few questions I'd like to ask.
Since you've already read the FAQ, I'd be happy to try to answer.
1. How much should I expect to pay for food over the four days? I'm not expecting to go out for $40 steak dinners each night, but I'm still curious as to what the average would be for maybe two or so meals a day.
Those of us who are happy eating inexpensively can stop at Furnando's for a meal for $6-7.
There's inexpensive food at a number of places close to the con (Furnando's, Corys, Hanlon's Cafe)
or relatively close (Golden Palace has an all-you-can-eat buffet, Arby's, Subway, Pizza Parma).
There's also some upscale places nearby, and each hotel seems to have some place either inside
or very close to eat at, which is usually a little pricier but is quality.
(The Westin, for example, has the Original Fish Market inside...) You can eat all 3 meals cheaply,
or mix-and-match for an expensive meal and 1 or 2 cheap meals.
I also like to buy 2-liter bottles of soda for my hotel room to have something cool to drink.
Hotels have ice and ice-buckets, of course, so I come in with soda and plastic cups.
Chocolate milk is also a good idea, but I drink that as fast as I can so it doesn't get warm ever.
2. What's a good amount of money to bring as far as buying stuff? I don't know what some things go for or what is being offered there so I was thinking around $100 or so but I keep feeling like it's too little. Any help?
It depends on how much stuff you're planning on buying-art, t-shirts, stuffed animals or other toys,
etc. $100 usually covers me pretty nicely but I'm usually not buying much art. (And what art I AM
buying is usually bargains in Artist Alley.)
If you plan on really raiding the Auctions, stores, etc, you can run into hundreds if you really want.
(Items at the auction can run over $1000 if demand is high enough, but that's uncommon.)
3. Are there usually any special events that would require more money to have?
There's usually a show benefiting the Charity on Sunday afternoon. Tickets for that are a few bucks.
If you're leaving by Sunday afternoon, obviously you can't make that, but I found it entertaining
when I was able to attend.
4. I know the sponsor and super sponsor memberships mostly help with donations so I'm not expecting anything overly fabulous in the way of gifts but I'm curious as to if having the super sponsor membership is worth it. I was thinking that at least for my first time, might as well go all the way. What special privileges and such come with it?
Besides the warm feeling of having helped put on AC with the donation, the sponsors and supersponsors
get a snazzy ribbon to display proudly on their nametag, and they get even shorter preregistration
lines (or a short onsite Registration line, if they waited until they arrived), preferential seating
at some events, and some more stuff I don't know since I've been a Panelist but not a Sponsor.
(We can all assist, each in our own way, to make AC better and better.)
5. What's a good guestimate as far as having a hotel room for four nights? I was thinking of rooming up with one other person but if all else fails, to try to get a room on my own.
Costs were already posted. If at all possible, I recommend opening communications with people with
common interests now, and getting to know some NOW. I did that one year, so that I was able to make
friends with possible roomies, and work out a nice arrangement with a fellow I'd already become
friends with. We continued to room together at later AnthroCons because we agreed so easily on what
was good policy and had developed trust for each other-vital for roomies. My best savings was when
we had a third roomie. (My policy for rooming is: a quad room with a bed each for the 2 roomies and
crash-space for any third roomie, or a room with one bed if I'm rooming with the Mrs.)
So, it's worth it to split the cost with even one person. I've done that with different cons of
different types. So long as I trusted them and we respected each others' space, we both benefited.
G'day fellow draggy, and fellow Anthrocon newbie... I've been looking into the same things you have buddy, it seems like the hotel costs (for the westin at least) are around $150 per night including the 14% tax, as for food... I've never been to the usa, but here in australia it's normally at the very least $20 a night, thats a good meal at night. but it depends on how much you eat...
I'm going supersponsor... for the same reason, I'm going all out with this trip to the USA, however, ...I can afford it at this time, if you find that your budget is getting stretched to breaking point, you're not gonna miss out on much if you just got as an attendie, saving about $150, or one nights hotel stay.
"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours"