I hope this message is Ok on this board...it seemed to be the appropriate place for it...
I attended Polaris this weekend so I could meet Jim. I wasn't sure if I could attend until Wednesday, so everything was hastily put together. Now, I had to take 3 days off work (without pay) to do this. I didn't mind, not only was it for meeting Jim, but I also needed the downtime. While I'm not poor by any means, it was looking like this could be a terribly expensive weekend. While trying to work it out, I remembered something a former staffer of Polaris told me I should do...volunteer.
This varies from con to con, but at Polaris volunteering for 6 hours gives you access to crash space. This comes in 2 forms...paid and unpaid. Unpaid is limited access...it's up in the con suites which are open to the public from 8am till 1 or 2am. It basically gives you about 6 hours to sleep. If the con you go to offers this you may need to take a sleeping bag (depending on the number of people you may wind up on the floor). Still, it means you get to stay at the con without paying for a hotel room!
Paid crash space is also limited (they have a limited number of suites) but you're actually in a room with one other person. I took this option, and got my hotel room for $15 a night! Considering the whole weekend usually runs you into 100+ dollars, this was quite the savings!
There were other things I got out of volunteering. I got a bunch of free stuf (t-shirt, pin, and a discount for next year) but I also got access to the crew lounge. Officially this is a place for a short rest where you can grab a snack. They give you rules that it's not for "full meals". When I went up there the guy in charge asked if I'd eaten, and I said I was about to go across the road to a restaurant. He pulled me aside, informing me that I was not to pay for food all weekend...they would feed me! Oh, and you should have seen the food! Along with a selection of hot meals there was fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as crackers, breads, etc...not only did I eat quite well, but I also ate healthier than I would have had I gone to restaurants all weekend! Here was another perk of volunteering that saved me a fortune.
On top of all the perks, I found that volunteering was a lot of fun! On Friday I took a bus to the con, and arrived at about 11:30 (the con started at 6:00). I worked for 6 hours helping to set up the dealer's room. Yes, there was some lifting involved, but that wasn't too bad. I enjoyed watching the dealer's room go together, plus there was even a perk here. By the time the con started there were over 200 people lined up to get in and see the dealer's room! By that time I'd already seen it, so I could wait until things had died down. Incidentally, I saw a t-shirt I really wanted before things were open and the dealer offered to put it away for me!
Next I worked the info desk for an hour. This was also a lot of fun, filling people in on where things were and what was going on. It was near the beginning of the con and I got a good look at some of the costumes (including an Indiana Jones who came in carrying his own Ark of the Covenant). Throughout the weekend I worked backstage at the masquerade (getting the best view of the costumes) and worked the con suite handing out drinks. This last was a great deal of fun as I got to meet a lot of convention goers and got into some interesting conversations.
Granted each convention will have different rules, but if you don't think you can afford to go and meet Jim, check out the con's website and fire off an email! While there's a lot going on at most cons, you'll find there are things you don't want to do and you can easily schedule what you'd like to do around that. I only needed to put in 12 hours, but I wound up doing 16 across the three days. I did 12 of those hours when nothing for the con was actually going on, and if I hadn't needed to leave a couple of hours before the con ended, I could have easily done even more hours helping on the teardown!
My point here is I easily saved several hundred dollars this weekend. What's more is I wound up having a more rewarding experience than I would have had simply attending. If finances are keeping you from meeting Jim, this is a great way to do it!
