fanworks | Getting ready for the con, part two: don't forget to bring ...

We've switched days for our next two posts, so that we can have an extra day to put together some site photos for the con space guide! Today's post is on things you may want to pack for the con.

Part One: Food Options
Part Two: Don't Forget to Bring ...
Part Three (Monday): The Con Space

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Things you might want to bring with you

This is not by any means an exhaustive list and/or a replacement for your own packing list! You know best what clothing, toiletries, medicines, personal items etc. you need; these are just a few ideas for things that are specific to the con or that we ourselves frequently forget when con traveling.

For the con

Lanyards or badge reels: Badge lanyards (and/or badge reels) are provided at registration, but you are welcome to bring your own if you wish! If you're planning on bringing your own lanyard or badge reel to wear with your con badge, don't forget to pack it.
Items for the swap table: There will be a swap table set up in the info desk room in Salon 2 during all panel / daytime hours. If you want to bring something (or a bunch of things) to leave for another fan to take, please bring those with you and drop them off at the info desk during registration or any time on Friday.
Decorations for your hotel room door: If you are planning to decorate your hotel room door, make sure you have with you most of what you will need for decorating! The con will have scissors, masking tape, and black craft paper available on Thursday for covering doors, plus double sided tape for attaching decorations to the craft paper. Anything else you need, make sure to bring!
An outfit for Sparkle Motion: This is not a requirement! (Well, wearing clothes is; we do require that you do that.) But a lot of people have said to us lately, "whoops, I forgot I needed an outfit for Sparkle Motion," so if you want to have something special to wear to the dance party, here's your reminder! "Something special" can be as formal or informal as you want -- pajamas, glitz and glam, cosplay, jeans and a T-shirt, whatever you feel comfortable in. Keep in mind that the dance floor can get warm (particularly if you've been dancing for hours).
Layers: Hotel conference rooms can vary widely in temperature, and our control over this may be limited. A general rule of thumb we have found to be true across hotels is that emptier rooms can be chilly, and full rooms can be quite warm, so packing clothing to layer including light sweaters or wraps can be a good idea for managing panel room temperatures.
Fanfic printouts for Fic Book Club: If you will be participating in Fic Book Club and want a hard copy of the fic being discussed to have as a reference, make sure you print and pack it! We will not be able to provide hard copies of fic being discussed on site. (All stories being discussed are available online.)

For your hotel room

Power strips: The #1 thing people tell us they wish they'd remembered to bring: power strips! If you have a lot of devices (and/or a lot of roommates), power strips are a big help.
HDMI cord: If you want to plug a laptop into the TV via HDMI, you can, but cables aren't provided; make sure to bring an HDMI cord if you want to do this.
A media player such as a Roku, Fire Stick, Chromecast, etc.: Some streaming services such as YouTube are available through the hotel TV cable guide, but if you want access to most of them during the con weekend, bringing your own media player (if you have one that can travel) is a good option to make sure you can watch what you want when you want it.
Your media player's remote: If you bring a media player, don't forget the remote! If you do, you likely won't be able to connect your device to hotel wifi. (We have already done this once in this hotel. It was Game of Thrones series finale night. There was much scrambling. Remember to bring your device remotes!)

Other items for the hotel

Swimwear: the hotel has a pool and a hot tub in the atrium, and it's quite lovely (pictures coming in the con space guide!); if you want to use the pool or hot tub, remember to pack swimwear.

If you have ideas for other things people might want reminders to bring, please leave them in the comments on this post!