How To Survive Conventions: How To Not Starve

With the Spring Semester quickly coming to an end and the Summer Con Season getting in full swing, there are some things to keep in mind if you find yourself short on money this year. How do you have a good time at an Anime Con and keep fed if the ticket price and your hotel room eat up most of your cash? And how do you keep up your energy for that overnight Safety shift you volunteered for?

Three words: Preparation, Preparation, Preparation!

• Whenever we go to a con for a show, we always look for a local H-E-B or Wal-Mart to pick up food and drinks in bulk for the weekend. Why spend $30 on food for yourself, when $50 could cover three or four people in your room the whole weekend?
• Dietitians all agree that drinking the recommended amount of water can make you lose weight, and suppresses cravings for those of us on a diet. Cons are also notorious for leaving lots of places for you to keep hydrated. So drink up! If you keep yourself hydrated, you'll be less likely to run out to grab a bite to eat, leaving more room for Pocky and snacks.
• In order for any of the nutrients in your food to be absorbed by your body, you need protein. Without it, you might as well not even eat (I know someone who actually passed out on a volunteer shift because of this). Quick sources of protein include:
• Nuts
• Peanut Butter
• Beans
• Meat
• Certain types of cheese
• Tuna
• Need to keep your energy up, but can't make it back to your room? Consider picking yourself up some Clif Bars or Lärabars. These little treats are healthy ways to keep you up and active, and can last up to 5-6 hours (Tsuba can back me up on this one). They can be a little pricey, but are worth it if you have run into this problem in the past.
• Do some research - Does the con have a "Con Suite"? Most bigger conventions will have some room that they use to feed attendees. Now, for some of them the room is only open to guests and volunteers, but at larger ones (like A-Kon) the room is open to the public. Typically the only rules are that the food cannot be taken out of the room, and that you have a maximum amount of time you can spend in the room at any one instance.
• And above all, don't keep all of your money on your person while you walk around and check out the convention. If you keep some of your money inaccessible while you're out on the con floor, or set up a specific amount that you can actually spend on trinkets, you'll have some left over to use on food over the course of the weekend. Remember - you can't buy more useless crap if you die of hunger.