My conbox.

I had every intention of writing this before Dragon*Con, since all five of you who read this blog regularly go to Dragon*Con and probably could have used it. But alas, school.

But convention season isn’t over (is it really ever over?), and even though I’m also a little late for those of you going to Anime Weekend Atlanta, I introduce to you: the con box. This handy little invention is not mine; I first came across it on ConSluts, which has a wonderful entry about them. I’m probably going to repeat some of the information in that article, but I’ve got a few additions and remarks of my own. Essentially, a con box contains everything you need to make your convention experience an enjoyable one. As with the other parts in this series, I’m writing this from the point of view of someone staying at a hotel during a convention, but this advice can be adjusted for those living out of their car. Also, many of the elements of a con box are equally wonderful for vacationers. I took mine with me when I stayed in a condo at the beach this summer, and it was positively indispensable.

The first thing you need to make a con box is, well, a box. Specifically, a durable box with a handle. I use a 10-gallon storage container (that you can see in the picture), but you may want to use something bigger, as a 10-gallon container is not actually that big. I just happen to be exceptionally good at packing things. I hum the Tetris theme while I do it. Anyway…I digress.

The next thing you need to make a con box is a first aid kit. This should be the first thing you put in your con box and the one thing you should never go to con without. To put it simply, shit happens. The American Red Cross and Ready.gov have some pretty good guides on what should go in your first aid kit. You can also purchase pre-packaged basic first aid kits in most pharmacies. That’s what I have in my con box, and I supplement it with things like allergy medications, decongestants and antacids.

After you have your first aid kit squared away, you want to focus on the tools you use regularly but never seem to have on hand when you’re at a convention: things like scissors, a bottle opener, a corkscrew, a can opener…the list can continue depending on your needs. I also recommend keeping a multi-tool such as a Leatherman in your con box. This allows you to have (at a minimum) screwdrivers, a small knife and pliers on hand in a very small space. Some more expensive ones also have bottle openers, can openers and corkscrews on them, so you might even be able to hit all of your tools at once. Always bring dedicated scissors, though. Just trust me on this.

The third category of items that you should have in your con box are sewing and clothing care items. At a minimum, keep a small sewing kit (with a couple of needles, a couple of generic spare buttons, small amounts of thread in several colors and some safety pins), a stain-removal pen and some Febreeze in your con box. If you have any costumes that you plan on wearing, you might want to include additional thread that matches it, in case you need to do any repairs. The stain-removal pen and the Febreeze should be self-evident. Conventions can be messy, smelly places.

If you plan on bringing any food, like I suggested in Part 2, you will also want to include things like plates, cups and utensils (disposable or reusable–no glass). My plates and utensils are inexpensive, reusable plasticware from Target ($1 each for a set of 4 plates and a set of 4 knives, spoons and forks). If you go the reusable route, you may also want to bring a small bottle of dish soap or some disposable dishwashing cloths. Continuing on the kitchen and clean-up train of thought, you should also pack 3 or 4 garbage bags, some plastic zipper bags (both sandwich and gallon-sized), some wet wipes and a cocktail shaker (it’s useful for more than just cocktails).

The article at ConSluts also recommends including an umbrella, CDs burned with music and a large insulated cup with a lid. Of these, the umbrella is the only thing I keep in my con box. I never have time to listen to music while I’m at a convention, nor do I have cause to provide any. The cup with a lid is something that, if you pay attention, you will see many people carrying around many of the larger “geek” conventions. Let’s just say that they’re not intended to contain water or coffee, so you can make that call on your own. I do drink at conventions, but I prefer not to spend the entire show in a stupor. Sleep deprivation does that well enough on its own.

GTACM officers with Ben and Richard from Engadget HD

Richard and Ben of Engadget HD dropped by to give a short talk and a long Q&A session with Tech students and local Engadget readers. They’re in town for the CEDIA Expo (which I’m hoping to drop in on tomorrow–we’ll see). The talk was held in the Klaus computing building at Georgia Tech and was sponsored by GTACM.

During the informal talk, Ben and Richard chatted about what it’s like to write for Engadget HD, how the writers only ever actually see each other at trade shows, and a range of other topics from sound systems to emerging entertainment technologies to working 20 hour days at CES. I’m still sitting in the talk as it’s winding down, and it appears that they may have brought some friends from the expo who have some fun giveaways. Before the talk began, I snagged a pair of Z-Buds earbud headphones, which admittedly, I’ve never heard of, but they’re pretty nice looking, and they look like they might actually be comfortable. I’ll give them a try and report back.

The talk continues, so there should be more to come!

Edit (9:30 p.m.): Ben and Richard chatted some more with the audience before we called it a wrap, including a couple of funny anecdotes about how the supposed rivalry between Engadget and its competitor Gizmodo doesn’t really exist. Then some representatives from ZAGG (the guys with the headphones) had a few more giveaways, including some $25 gift cards. They seemed to have enough for everyone who wanted one, so I snagged one myself so I can see what they’re all about. (Hey, give me a break. I’m a grad student without an assistantship during a hiring freeze. I’ll take all the free stuff I can get!)

Ben also offered to post links to the blogs of the people who attended the talk, so it’s entirely possible that the fragile little server this blog is sitting on (along with my internet connection) could come to a screeching halt very quickly. I’m self-hosted, so please be kind! Will blog for better hosting.

Before

After

I decided to try my hand at downsizing a couple of oversized polo shirts that I have in my possession, and I found that my experiment in tailoring was surprisingly successful. So I decided to post a photo tutorial of the process I used to Flickr. I’m not the greatest seamstress or tailor, but I can do most basic things, given enough time. The process to convert a shirt from circus tent to stylish takes me about 2 hours, but that’s probably because I don’t sew very much. My 1970s-era Kenmore sewing machine gets hauled out maybe about five or six times a year, at the absolute most.

The procedure could probably also be adapted to downsize other styles of shirts, as well, but it probably is best suited to polos and T-shirts. The entire process could also probably be sped up by using a Serger instead of a regular sewing machine, but a regular sewing machine is what I (and most other people) have, so that’s what I’ve got to work with. If anyone decides to try this with a Serger, let me know how it goes. Likewise, if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to comment here or on the Flickr set.

Most of my provisions for Dragon*Con 2008, including my con box, cooler and some food.

Conventions have a certain quality of being overwhelming; that is, there nearly always seems to be too much of everything and not enough time for it all, but there’s one, perpetual exception: con food sucks. It seems that regardless of the size or location of conventions, one recurring theme is that nobody eats well. It’s entirely possible to survive solely off of fast food and food from the consuite (if there is one), but by the time the show is over, you’ll feel the effects of your poor diet for days, if not weeks. And if you have any special dietary restrictions (like you have severe food allergies, you’re vegetarian or you keep kosher), not only is it nigh impossible to eat well, most find it difficult to even eat enough.

Dietary restrictions aside, if there’s no consuite (and sadly, consuites seem to be a dying tradition), feeding yourself during a convention can get really expensive. Restaurants near convention centers and large hotels often have inflated prices, and after a whole day of walking around and navigating crowds, you’ll find your appetite to be a bit larger than usual. Bringing some of your own food to, at the very least, supplement your diet will save you some serious coin, especially if you can take what’s left over home with you.

Whether you’re living out of a hotel room or your car, your solution and convention food savior will be a cooler with plenty of ice. So let’s start there. Most conventions are held in hotels, and whether you’re actually staying there or not, you can probably access one of the ice machines. My cooler doesn’t have a drain plug, so I put the ice in gallon-sized freezer bags so that it’s easy to change out the ice without having to empty the contents of the cooler every 12 hours or so. But what if you don’t have a cooler or can’t bring one because you’re flying in? What if the convention isn’t in a hotel and you can’t get ice? Most convenience stores and grocery stores will hold your solution: styrofoam coolers and bags of ice. The styrofoam coolers do the job just as well as the pricier ones, and you can afford to leave them behind. For that matter, if you’re flying in, you’ll want to find a grocery store at your destination, anyway, as you’ll need to do some shopping for food, anyway.

When building your shopping list for the convention, take into account what conveniences you will have on hand at the convention. Some hotel rooms have refrigerators, which significantly reduces your need for a cooler (though they’re usually small, so they don’t entirely eliminate it) and increase your options for the kinds of perishables you can bring. Some even have microwaves in the room or available in the hospitality room, which further increases your options. Consider yourself lucky if the place you’re staying provides these, because in most cases, you’ll have neither. The following food suggestions are based mostly on the assumption that the only things you will have at your disposal will be the cooler of ice that you’ve brought and a small coffee maker (which really doesn’t do you much good, come to think of it, unless you don’t mind pouring coffee-tainted hot water over your ramen noodles).

When shopping for food to bring to the convention, you want to try to maximize the nutrition that you can get while minimizing the amount of things that you have to buy, as you have limited space. Below is an example shopping list, based upon my own experience and some good ideas that my mom had last year at Dragon*Con that I didn’t consider. I am not a vegetarian, nor do I adhere to any special dietary restrictions, so some of the suggestions below might not work for you if you do. However, I still think it’ll give you a place to start.

Non-perishables (or doesn’t require refrigeration)

• Bread
• Peanut butter and jelly (the kind that come together in the same jar)
• Canned fruit (don’t forget a can opener in your con box!)
• Pop Tarts
• Cereal (something that can be eaten as breakfast or a snack–Cheerios is a good one for this, as are Kix, Cocoa Puffs and Reeses Puffs)
• Aseptic cartons of milk such as these from Horizon. They don’t require refrigeration, but if you like your milk cold, you can keep them in your cooler without having to worry about keeping them cold enough. Powdered milk is another option, but I personally can’t stand the taste.
• Canned or pouched tuna or chicken (mix with mayo and make a sandwich or toss with the bagged salad for a more substantial meal)
• Mixed nuts, trail mix and/or dried fruit — these are typically a nutritionally dense food that you can easily carry around in a small zip-top bag in case you need a pick-me-up.
• Beef jerky
• A flat of bottled water
• Juice and/or soda
• Sweet and salty snacks of your choice — a bag of chips, a bag of pretzels, some candy…whatever floats your boat.
• Condiment packets (like the kind you get at fast food restaurants). Staples include ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and soy sauce.

Perishables (requires refrigeration/cooler)

• Deli meat — I recommend the kind that comes in the plastic storage containers.  As long as you keep the ice changed out, this can be stored in a cooler for several days with no ill effect.
• Cheese — sliced, sticks, cubes…whatever. If you’re keeping it in a cooler, keep the ice changed out and the cheese in a water-tight bag or container. Wet cheese is gross.
• Fresh fruit/veggies — only get things that don’t require elaborate preparation. Baby carrots, apples, oranges, bagged salad kits, pre-cut broccoli florets, grape/cherry tomatoes, bananas and grapes are all good options.
• Pre-made cold pasta or bean salad — buy it in the deli section of the grocery story or make it at home beforehand. Keep it in an airtight container in your cooler. Unless you have a real refrigerator at your disposal, stay away from anything containing potatoes, eggs or mayonnaise.

If you have a microwave available (some can be made with hot water from the coffee maker, if you don’t mind a little coffee-flavored contamination)

• Ramen/Cup o’ Noodles
• Easy Mac
• Hamburger Helper singles
• Canned soup
• Chef Boyardee (or similar)
• Any other self-contained, boxed, just-add-water food with microwave instructions. Take your pick.

Of course, with nearly all of these, you’ll need to remember to bring bowls, plates and utensils. Fear not, these and much more will be in your Con Box, which will be the topic of Part 3!

Have any additional suggestions? Leave a comment!

“I don’t think the media has a liberal bias or a conservative bias so much as it has a bias toward overreacting to short-term trends and a tendency toward groupthink.”

That’s pretty much the long and short of it. Except for maybe Fox News. They’re just shameless.