Convention Tips, Tricks & Etiquette | Episode 09 - Mind of Snaps Podcast

Heading to a convention soon? Check out some tips, tricks and etiquette ideas before you go!

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Jessy (Mind Of Snaps / SheSnaps)

www.MindofSnaps.com

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Transcript

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Welcome to the mind of Snap podcast with your host Jeff A. She's a popular twitch broadcaster. Photographer. Were Amendola's advocates in this and future cast? Expect to fall on with snaps as she learns more about her mind in the world and her fellow humans. It could get messy, but stick around. You might just learn something as you enter the mind of snaps. Hello and welcome to the Mind of Snaps. Podcast Episode 19 9999 Planning to attend E three or another convention soon? Well, this this podcast, this is the one for you. This week I'll be sharing my convention tips, tricks and etiquette for those of you who will be traveling soon to hit up E three or some other convention like Guardian Con, which I will be at. I know every time I attend an event, I come away from hit with all kinds of ridiculous stories from people crossing lines or doing things that are largely feud as big No nos. So I think it's time to put some of this information out there so we can try and save our friends from making the same mistakes. Okay, so, like, let's distribute this. Guys. We need people to know this. All right, so let's just start with the tips. Four convention travel and packing one packing. I see people make so many mistakes here. One packing. Make sure that you pack a comfortable backpack. We're going to start there. I see a lot of people with these little drawstring bags. I get it. They're helpful. It's nice to have something, but the people who are really winning at these cons have some type of really nice, sturdy backpack with a little strappy do that goes across your chest. You know, the one that goes across your chest helps you keep your backpack kind of war more up on your back and more comfortable throughout the day. If you even want to have one of those backpacks that has, like that, what they call those the CamelBak build in the water pouch do have you want that? But most importantly, you will be collecting things. You will be bringing things you'll need to carry stuff. You bring a comfortable back back. I think they're also incredibly helpful just for traveling through the airport in general, inside of that backpack. Get yourself a good quality travel, battery charger, a little battery pack and a good good cord for it. And if you want to take it one step further, bring a power strip. So this might sound crazy, but it could. It could really help. And it won't take a ton of space. Have you ever wanted to feel like a god among hman? Go up to a crowded outlet at a convention where there's only two people charging devices and then bust out a power strip? I give the access to power. Sorry. You know, that was nerdy, but still, at least I give me and maybe like four others access instead of it just being two people up on that one outlet. Suddenly we got a whole team, man, if you got space, a power strip can be a game changer. If not a travel battery charger in general, you will need You're going to be on your phone a lot. It's important for communicating with other people for following things for downloading APS. Whatever. Have a battery charger. You need it. Next up. A reusable water bottle. Holy shit. Why do you not have one yet? This is for your daily life in general because hydration is so important. But also, when you're traveling, you want this for the con and for the airport. You can bring a reusable water bottle through airport security. It just has to be empty. And if you haven't noticed them before, you will start noticing them. Now there are water, Philip stations meant for those reusable water bottles near every bathroom near anything where you would find, um, or any place where you would find water fountains. If you see a water fountain, normally you will see one of those bottles stations nearby with fresh filtered water. So save your money at the airport and at the con. There are always water fountain somewhere. Bring a reusable water bottle. I like my contigo a lot because it has a little snappy thing on the top of clip clip Do and I could just clip it to the tops, my backpacks and stuff. But I don't have to carry around that either. So bring a reusable water bottle. Hydration is important, especially like those of you who are going to guardian con in Tampa. That should have hot bro. It is fucking hot there you need to stay hydrated. Stay hydrated. You may walk around. You're gonna be on your feet all the time. Stay hydrated, please. Drink water. Okay. Next comfortable shoes. This. I feel I feel that this should be a given. But I also think sometimes people underestimate just how how much you will actually be walking. For example, I went to a photography convention once. I was going to be presenting at the Samsung Booth at W P. P I, which is a wedding. Photographers long. I wanted to make it good first impression. I wanted to look nice, so I brought a pair of nice heels. And instead of thinking I've got walking to the convention center, I've got walking around the floor. I'm probably gonna walk around after I might go and get lunch. I've got all these different things that I will be walking to. I was only thinking, Well, I'm just gonna be walking around this little eight by eight square or whatever so I can wear heels. That's fine. Or I was thinking I've worked the whole day in heels before. That's no big deal. I've done this before. No big deal. I was fucking wrong. I was wrong. If you're gonna wear heels, I get it. If you're gonna wear uncomfortable shoes because they're fashionable, they do with your cause. Play whatever I understand. But be smart, if you can at the very least bring another pair of, like, walk around, choose that way when you're going out to eat or you're walking for parking garages or you're doing these long stretches of walking, you don't have to do it in heels. I really wish I had done that. I was filled with so much regret and so many blisters after that photography convention because of those heels. Granted, they looked great. I did a great job of pretending that they didn't hurt. But when I got back to my hotel room at night, you better believe I did not want to do a damn thing. On that same note. It never hurts to pack a small first aid kit and a small sewing kit because I really needed one. When I had all those blisters, I could have used a small Band Aid just to help, like the backs of my ankles or something. It's a good idea to have one in general and then, for those of you who are cause players, or if you want to be smart and just save yourself from the risk of potentially losing a button or something, bring a small sewing kit. You never know. Next up. Sunglasses. I feel this should be obvious is well, but you may be thinking I'm gonna be inside all day. I don't need to bring these. You're probably going to be leaving from the convention center to goto lunch or from the convention center to go out at night. It's likely to be bright. This is the same reason I recommend that you put a little bit of sunscreen on, because even if you think you will be getting relatively limited exposure, it really doesn't hurt to protect your skin or protect your eyes. If you're even walking out every day for only an hour or so in the sunlight, it's worth it to protect your skin. Same with your eyes. You don't want to be the one forced to squint at everything and hide and shade because all of your friends brought sunglasses. Um, protect them ojos. Just be smart. Bring some glasses. Bring sunscreen. They don't take up that much stays. Um, okay, if you want to attempt to conserve your phone battery. We were talking about having a travel battery charger and stuff. You will run through your phone battery fast, but if you want to try and conservative, bring an actual camera instead of your phone for all of your pictures. A lot of us love photography in general, but we don't want to drag around a big DSLR for these events. I get it. You can try out a muralist camera instead. It's definitely something I would recommend. They tend to be smaller, lighter and quieter, too, so you don't feel quite as intrusive when you hear the click, click, click, click, click all the time. Merrill, is there nice. I'm going to be bringing my Sony A 6000 with me everywhere. And if not, I highly recommend the Samsung Annex. Minnie, they stopped making their camera line, but this can still be found all over the Internet, and it's actually a super nice small camera. I want to say it's somewhere around 500 bucks records HD video. It has interchangeable lenses, and it comes with a pretty wide angle lens standard. So it really is effective, but that's that's if you don't have one. I totally recommend these Samsung next money or, in general, any form of muralists, especially if they've got those cool tech features, and you can easily just direct connect to it and send your pictures out. Super helpful. Moving on from cameras. Pack yourself some snacks, especially ones with protein that could be really key. You have a lot of downtime, potentially at thes bring something to snack on for me. I always pack something with protein, and I also packed something with sugar and something high in sodium. That's just me. I have a weird heart condition. So I like to make sure that if I start to feel dizzy in any way, I have everything that could potentially help me out there. You're probably not gonna be best packing tons of sugar with you. That might not help you as much. But at least one sugary item in case your blood sugar dips a little bit, can be really beneficial. Either way, pack snacks. You want them now? If you're packing snacks, you know you're taking care of your body. You're trying to make sure that you're well fed. It's probably a good idea to take care of your body in another way. I hate it that I even have to say this, but I feel you all knew it was gonna come up at some point in this podcast. When you're packing, please, please make sure you pack all things necessary for your high dream. That means your toothbrush, your toothpaste, flaws, mints or gum and deodorant slash antiperspirant. This is an important one, I want to point out. Okay, I don't know if everyone knows this, so I'm sharing it with you now. Deodorant controls odor but not sweat Antiperspirant control sweat, but not odor. And antiperspirant is also best to apply at night before bed because it actually takes a little bit of time to start working. So if you tend to be a little sweatier, if you tend to be a little stinky or there's nothing wrong with that, it happens to the best of us, but you can plan ahead for it. Pack a good deodorant slash antiperspirant. Make sure you shower at night. Put that on before you go to bed. Soon settles in. Apply again in the morning. It doesn't hurt to have a stick of deodorant on you as well in your backpack while you're traveling through the con. If you start to feel like you're getting a little sweaty, go wipe down the pits and reapply. Can't hurt, right? So I'm not gonna judge you for your B O or anything, but I wouldn't expect as many hugs if you're running around all stinky. It happens to us like I said, that we can plan for it. So please, please try to plan for it. I had a shirt that I basically had to just burn after last year. Last year near before. I think it was last year after last year's guardian con, because I went to an after party. It was super sweaty outside. Everyone was overheating. It wasn't even just me, but everyone was sweating. Not everyone was great about hygiene beforehand, so there were a lot of very, very stinky sweaters as well. I had so many people putting their arms around me and giving me hugs and stuff. And, you know, I'm not as tall as some of these people, so their armpits are basically on the tops of my shoulders. My shirt smelled so bad, I really didn't even think it could ever be cleaned again. It smelled like a combination of 50 different types of sweat, and it was horrible. Please help me save my shirts. I would love to hug you guys more. I know everyone would, but you know, not at the expense of all of my things. Please. And speaking of that poor shirt, it might not be a bad idea to pack some extra clothes, pack them for your travels, just in case your bags get lost or something. I always keep an extra set of clothes in my carry on, but then, in your daily backpack, the one that you take to the conventions, bring an extra T shirt, bring an extra pair of shorts, whatever something light. It might not be your favorite item, and I might not be the most fashionable thing. But if you spill something on your pans, if your shirt gets spilled on, if someone is sweating all over you, whatever it might be, it's nice to not have to go all the way back to where you gotta go. Hotel whatever, and be able to just hit the bathroom do a quick freshen up and then go out again. So if you can bring some extra clothes, it definitely can save the day. Cash. Cash is key. We live in a pretty cashless society these days, but conventions and events tend to still be. It's very helpful to have cash. Um, I know you will want it for potential convention purchases. You will also want it to split bills at restaurants. Not everyone wants to have to do the whole like, Okay, we put 10 on this card 10 on this 10 on this. Sometimes they can't split him. Depending on where you go in size, a group you're with having cash can be very, very beneficial for splitting things, for buying snacks, for buying things of the con. And in case something goes wrong with one of your cards. Or if you you need something, you don't deal with fees, so just plan ahead, bring as much cash as you think you might need, and then add another 50 bucks on top of that. Just in case. I would also recommend bringing some form of a planner like a light small one. If you use your phone, that's fine. It doesn't. You don't have to do every single thing that you plan out. But much like in life, it can really help to visualize things beforehand. You could be a little more spontaneous if you know you're not missing anything, keep right. So if you have everything all planned out and someone's like, Hey, I want to go on grab food You can look and say Oh, really wanted to hit this con, But the next one I don't care as much about so we'll skip the next panel. Let's go get food on the next one. Okay, Planning can really help. So bring some form of planner, even if it's just your phone and plan everything out. Plan out every every panel. You want to see every meet up or meet and greet. You want to hit up that way, you don't miss anything, and you can plan accordingly on the fly even. Um, in addition to all these things that you're packing in your bag, make sure that you also leave space. It seems silly, but I think you'll realize it's very key. If you want to bring stuff home, make sure you have space in your bag. And on that same note, if you're bringing gifts for people at the con, this has happened. A lot of times. Don't bring a giant gift unless you have told them ahead of time because then vacant leave room in their bag for this. I've had people bring me gift at cons before, which is super nice. Very, very nice. Thank you. Anyone who has ever brought me anything. It's so considerate and kind. But there were a few times where it put me in a really difficult spot because I had no idea where the fuck to pack it. I do not pack light. I have a difficult time with that. Lately, I do pack enough space to bring home little things, the type of things that I normally buy, like clothes or little knickknacks. I did not make space in my bag for a two foot tall stuffed animal, though, So please, please be considerate when you're bringing gifts to people. Thio. I know it's fun to give people things in person and see the looks on their faces, but you're probably better off either letting them know that you're bringing them something of whatever size or sending it to him ahead of time. I'm sorry. It's just it's just such a thing to bring things home. Um, okay, So when you're in your pre planning stage, not only are you putting all this stuff in your bag and trying to plan ahead for anything, you might be bringing for someone else, but you should also do a little bit of social media planning beforehand. Get yourself on whatever social media accounts you frequent and follow the convention on Twitter and Instagram. Follow any brands that are attending that you're interested in. Follow everyone, maybe even set up notifications on them and check those accounts often a lot of times. That's the easiest way for them to push out information about giveaways, about meet ups about plans, changing panels, changing whatever. Make sure you follow those accounts and check them frequently. It allows you to stand top of things much, much better. The last thing I want to talk about has nothing to do with packing, but it does have something to do with planning ahead. Make sure you sleep especially, especially the night before you leave town, too. Had to Akane I learned recently a few things about sleep that I found very fascinating. One. Jet lag can fuck with your body's rhythm and put your body in the state where it's trying to play catch up. Um, so if you can get a lot of rest beforehand, it might help prevent some of that. And sleeping in new areas can be really challenging because your body is essentially attempting to stay like half alert. Basically, it's It's an old evolutionary response where we want to protect ourselves in new areas when we're sleeping from potential predation, so your mind struggles to fall asleep in hotel rooms. Because of that reason, it's trying to protect you, basically sleeping with one eye open, so to speak. So try to get as much sleep as you can beforehand, and then make sure that you get as much sleep as possible during If you want to feel the best during the cons, it's best to try and plan little naps. If you need to make sure you're slamming water, try not to drink too much alcohol because that can really fuck with your sleep. Your CBD if that helps, CBD helps me when I'm sleeping on the road do whatever you can to make sure you get as much sleep as you can while you're on the road. It's It's just so good for you. It can help you. Do not feel so fatigued and help you to get the most out of these events. Okay, sleep is vital. Make sure you sleep. Let's rest my tips for before the convention. I'm gonna run through them quickly right now. So if you want to make a little list and start, check marking these things off like I like to do. Let's do it now. One packing. Make sure you pack a comfortable backpack, a travel battery charger and or a power strip, a reusable water bottle, comfortable shoes, first aid kit and or a small sewing kit. Some glasses, sunscreen, a camera, snacks, tools for your hygiene, including deodorant slash antiperspirant. Extra clothes, cash, some form of planner. Make sure that you're following brands beforehand, including the convention. Before you go, make sure you leave a little bit of space in your bag and make sure you get your sleep beforehand. Check, check, check, check, check. Check all of those off. Let's move on to tips. While at the convention. First of all, get your bags or your passes or whatever it is that they're giving out your badges before the actual event starts, if possible. So if they give you an early bird thing, or if they tell you you can come and do this, registration is open a day before at this time, do it. It will save you so much time because you really I want to try to be early to everything you can the date of the con. And that's actually my tip number to be early for everything. If it's something you're interested in, you are going to want to be early. There's a good chance it's gonna fill up. You might want to get a seat, Whatever it might be. Don't miss it. I've also seen lines get too long and then have to get cut off, including my meat up. Last year at Guardian Con, it was a group meet up for a big group of broadcasters, and the lines were so long that they had to cut it off after two hours. I felt so bad for the people at the end of those lines. Try to be early to everything. This is also why I recommend having that schedule put together, because then you can easily plan for and make sure that you are early to everything. When it comes to being at the con and wandering around, you're likely to see lots of things that catch your eye that you want to bring home with you. Totally great. Support all of these different companies by the things you want. But if you want to try and be smart with your money, I recommend you do a quick full lap before making a purchase that you're likely to see something else similar to somewhere else. So you see a I'm trying to think of a good example. I don't even know you. See a T shirt you like Go do a quick lap. But maybe you'll see another T shirt that you like more. I'm assuming you have some form of a budget. You want to try and save money, right? Do the quick full lap before buying things. Unless you're specifically therefore that it's a limited item. It's it's specialty. Whatever. Try to do a quick lap. It'll help you, I think, make better decisions financially and save that budget. Um, when it comes to going to the convention in general, don't be afraid to go alone. This is something I get a lot if I'm going to Guardian con, I don't have anyone to go with. Should I still go? Yes. You'll probably make some friends there that you'll be able to hang out with. Don't be afraid to go alone, but be smart. Be safe. Keep your wits about you if you're alone. I definitely wouldn't recommend getting inebriated anywhere, at least not to any large extent. And to be a little extra safe. Tell someone back at home your plans and check in with them whenever I travel, especially if I'm traveling alone. My best friend demands that I give her my hotel information, car information, flights, extra phone numbers and then she checks in with me frequently. I do the same for her. It really is nice. It's nice and it's smart and it's safe. We care about you. Care about yourself. Let people know where you're gonna be, where you're at. It's good idea. Even if you are with people, do not assume your safety. I get really concerned for people before and during these because I feel many people don't have any form of plans in place for their safety, and that scares me. I don't like that. So even if you are with people, just don't assume anything. Please be smart. Please be safe. Cover your drinks. Don't accept drinks from strangers. Go one step further and make sure you're watching them get poured even because I've heard all kinds of horror stories there. I like to have fun cons to. But cons are probably not the right time to be trying new drugs or getting too drunk. I understand Getting drunk is fun for some people. It's not my jam, but whatever. Do what you want to do. Just be smart. Be safe. Try to avoid getting too drunk. And this This isn't just for women. This is for everyone. It is much easier to protect yourself. If you're not overly intoxicated, you could get lost. You could get separated from your friends. Your phone could die. The last thing that you want is to be in a situation where you're having difficulty controlling yourself or understanding what's going on because you got too drunk. Um, in addition, mystery of a body if you can. This this body system is not just for women, either. There there are people at these events, it's sad to say, but there are people at these events that will try to prey on people, men and women, both sexually or financially, like there's, there's lots of different ways someone might try to take advantage of you. And it always helps to keep your wits about you and have a body with you and in that same respect to keep that shit charge to keep your phone charged, keep all of your things charged and ready to go so that if anything goes on, you can get out of there quickly can call an uber or whatever it's. It's imperative that you have some plans in place to assure your safety. Another great thing you can do is get one of those locations sharing apse. So even if the connections are a little rough and you're having trouble calling or texting each other, you can check, find where each other are and then just walk towards each other. Um, I would definitely recommend getting one of those with a body as well, and on this same note at the convention. If you don't drink, if you don't smoke whatever. Do not be embarrassed to say so or stand up for yourself. People will back down if you stick to your convictions. People are always trying to buy me shots. Always. I do not feel pressured in the slightest. I let people know in advance. And this might be a good idea for you to do as well let your friends know ahead of time. I don't plan on drinking at this event. I really don't want to drink at this event. Please back me up. If someone says I'm gonna buy you a shot and I say no, just please have my back. I don't want a drink. I want to do this. I don't want to smoke. I don't wantto eat meat. Whatever it might be. Don't be embarrassed to say I don't do this. I'm not interested and just stop there. There is a good chance people will try to pressure you. But if you just are if you don't make excuses, if you don't get lost in arguments and you just say no, no, no, they will drop it because they do that with me all the time. I get people telling me all you're a bitch you're opposed to. You don't want a drink? I don't want to do shots with me like No, I don't like what I do not like getting drunk. I do not like taking shots. I will not be taking any. I'm gonna go buy you a shot. You'll take it when I bring it over. No, not gonna do it. I'll dump it on the ground. I'll hand it off to someone else. Don't be that guy. Don't do it. I'll make you waste your money. I don't give a fuck. You're not convincing me or guilting me into drinking. It's just not gonna happen. So those are my tips for at the conventions. And it actually works because it leads us right into etiquette, which is the last part of this week's podcast. So we went into the tips for traveling, packing. We went into tips at the conventions, which gonna cover those again really quickly. That's get your bags and passes. Whatever your badges a day before, if possible, try to be early for everything. Do a quick pull out before making any purchases. Don't be afraid to go alone. But if you do try to tell someone at home your plans of possible Be smart. Be safe. Keep your wits about you. And even if you are with people, do not assume your safety. Cover your drinks. Don't accept things from strangers. Watch your stuff get poured if you can. Not the right time to try a new drugs. Not the right time to get too drunk. Try to have a body. If you can keep your phone and your devices charge, Get a location sharing app and remember, stick to your guns. Don't do the things you want to do. Trust your gut. All right, etiquette. You're gonna hear this a lot, but it's important. And it sucks honestly that I even have to say this so frequently. But holy shit. Ask first, understand the concept of consent. Okay, there's something that I see out on on the Internet all the time, and I want to reiterate this is well cause play is not consent. It doesn't matter what someone is wearing what they're doing. It doesn't matter if they're famous or not. Do not take pictures or videos of people without asking. It's weird, it's creepy. And if they do agree to a picture, ask before touching. Do not assume that they're cool with you suddenly picking them up or putting your arms around them or whatever. It takes two seconds to just say, Hey, can I put my arm around you and then put your arm around their shoulders? And if you do this, for fuck's sake, if you're gonna put your arm around me for a picture and I said, Yeah, sure, go ahead, keep your hands away from my waistline and my ass. This isn't the time to try and put your arm around me like you're my boyfriend. This is your time to put your arm around me like word distant cousins or something. I really hate it when I try to be nice and take a picture with someone and they put their hand unlike the small of my back. That's a quick way for me to make you look silly in front of a bunch of people. Don't put yourself in this position. Don't put me in that position and I've seen a lot of people get called out for taking pictures or videos without asking both by people who were being photographed or video or by others. In fact, I had one really funny instance When I was at Twitch Con a couple years ago, I was outside the convention and I ran into Rampage Jackson again. We ran into each other a couple times inside and we're talking. And then we ran into each other out on the sidewalk and we're having a brief conversation. And for those of you who know Rampage, Jackson is a big deal in the M E world. Um, a group of people start walking past and they just pull out their phones and start recording him while he's talking to us and we're in the middle of a conversation. He got distracted. He looked over and sees these people like 20 feet away, just staring at us with their cameras out. And he called him on it. And if you know rampage, you'll know. He didn't exactly say it in the nicest terms, But what he said needed to be said clearly like This is rude. I did not tell you you could do that. All you had to do was ask. It's really not that hard. It's really not that hard rampage was actually a great example for another thing we're gonna bring up shortly in terms of the reasons why you don't want to do these things. In addition to being kind to your fellow man and because we don't like it, you might be called on it. You might be made to look silly if you cross some of these etiquette lines. So rampage made those people feel quite silly for crossing his personal boundary lines. We don't need Thio. Have this happen again. Just be respectful. It's weird to be in these places and have a lot of people looking at you. In general, the last thing you want is to feel like they're also recording you and not even coming up and talking to you. It's a very strange, strange sensation. I really don't know how to describe it if you haven't experienced that on that same thought and in the same concept of these rampage stories, don't skip lines. If you see someone talking, don't interrupt. Don't just like going insert yourself into a conversation. If you see someone is sitting there and they've got a bit of a line forming of people who are being a polite and waiting to speak to them. It doesn't matter if you personally are in a rush. Don't skip. That's another example. Like I said where it was kind of funny. I'm talking to rampage in some friends and this other dude walks up and just steps in front of me with his phone out ready, like in selfie mode. He is ready to put his arms around rampage and take this picture with him. And rampage was like, I'm sorry. Do you not see that I'm talking to people here in the dude's response to something long lens of Yeah, but I'm busy. I'm heading out. I gotta go. And rampages. Response was How does that affect me? I just told you I'm having a conversation here. You just came and interrupted because you're in a rush. Does my time not matter. Does it not matter what if these people are in a rush? What if they had to move on and he made this dude look silly and then refused to take that picture with him? And I'm telling you, this guy had his phone out in front of him he was 1/2 inch away from having his arm around rampage in selfie mode with him, and he was like, No, no, walk away. That was not cool. What you just did. And then you tried to justify it and tell me that I owe you this. No, back off. Don't skip lines. Don't assume things don't believe that just because someone is there that they owe you a photo and autograph, whatever. They're all people too. They got things to do. He had places to be. It was really not cool. And on that same note, don't monopolize someone's time. Another quick story. I was at a con a couple of years ago and I had a bit of a line formed as I mentioned, sometimes that happens. You start talking to one person in a little group forms they want to say Hi there, being polite there waiting. So I've got a line formed. I'm talking to people and for the most part, everyone is doing the quick version of whatever they wanted to say. Hey, it's really nice to meet you. Hey, I really like your your series on this. Hey, I really enjoy your mental health panels, whatever. Whatever it might be, they get it all out pretty quickly. This particular con There was a person who did not do that. They proceeded to tell me their whole life story. And trust me when I say this, it's not that I don't want to hear it. I would love to hear your life story. I would love to see the things that you're proud of and talk to you about this thing about at any other time. But Ata Khan, I'm trying to meet and talk to as many people as possible. And if you have been talking to me for 20 minutes, there are all these other people who are just sitting there waiting they could be talking to other people. They could be talking to me whatever. It's kind of rude, but this person has been talking my ear off, then pulls out backpack and grabs a big ah portfolio out of the backpack and then starts showing me all this different art in all these different projects and photography and all this stuff. And I literally was trying to say so many different times. Hey, cool. I would love to see that another time, but I need to talk to these next Dudes I tried to interrupt so many times to say, Hey, this is cool. But I don't have time. I'm so sorry. And I got interrupted in my interruptions. Oh, you just just one more Oh, it just one more Just one more. And that went on for so long before I finally had to get really blunt and say I'm sorry, I can't anymore. I need to talk to this next person. I will have. I will have to catch up with you later. I hope you have a great day. And then I just turned away. It was the only thing I had to do. And it made me feel terrible. It made me feel rude. If you guys are more mindful than then, you put us in a less awkward position, you know? So please, I know you've got a lot of things to say. I know you want your hugs, your autographs, all that. If you're the only one talking, take all the time you need. But if you see a little lie informing, be polite. Be considerate. Understand that people are trying to rush around and get the things they might have appearances. They might have meet ups. You never know. Don't monopolize someone's time. I hate that. I have to say this one, too, But I I even saw this repeated on a threat I was reading of like, Do not do this when you go to Khan. Um, I see this all the time. People have business cards or whatever, and they think it's clever or funny. If there is a woman with cleavage or with a low cut shirt to to stick this business card or whatever down their shirt, it has happened so many times. Don't do it, Don't do it. Don't put things down people shirts. It's so weird and creepy. Don't know. And we're talking about business cards. So let's get into that. We're talking about etiquette here. It's not wrong for you to want to promote yourself. It's not wrong for you to want to gain something from these events in terms of your business, your reach, whatever but don't demand a follow when you start talking to someone like, Hey, who are you on Twitter? I'm gonna follow you right now. Follow me back. Don't demand it you can say I'm gonna follow you right now, but don't expect them to follow you back instantly. Um, if you do want to give a business card personally to me, I would prefer that people don't give me business cards like I don't save them. I don't really do anything with, um I'm there to meet people. This is my job. I can remember you guys pretty well, especially if you have your name tags. Show what your gamer tag is. I can usually understand or remember people after these events based on the conversations we had, what you were wearing, what I was wearing, Whatever. I don't need a business card to remember these things. What it usually tells me, especially based on the way that a lot of people present them, is that you saw our interaction as a business interaction, and it kind of makes me feel bad because I really just want to make friends with people. I'm excited to see anyone, whether there are larger broadcaster than me or smaller whatever. Like I don't care if you have nothing to do with my business. I'm looking to connect with like minded people, and when I feel like I've got a good connection with someone and we're getting along really well. And I'm like I just made a friend and then they're like, Hey, here's my business card. Let's multi sometime. Let's do a collab. I die a little bit. I'm like, Oh, they just They just want to try and grow which, like, cool I don't I don't have any ill will towards people who are attempting to grow in this industry, but it kind of makes me feel like you just saw me as an additional step that helps you get closer to where you're going, not as a person who could be your friend, and that's what I want. So, like save in my opinion, unless another person asks you for that. Save your card for the vendors that are there, save it for the business is not the people you know when I know the businesses are represented by people. But I'm just saying, like not necessarily don't don't necessarily give those cards to broadcasters, and two friends don't hand them to every single person you meet. Just save them for when they're appropriate. I have. I honestly don't even have business cards, and I realized I might be at a disadvantage because I'm not using them for business purposes, But it hasn't set me back so far. And I've been streaming for three years. I'm partnered. Whatever. I don't think it's necessary. And don't just go into the like, Hey, we should set up a multi. Hey, we should collab just make friends. Do that. Stuff will happen kind of naturally, if you're friends with people, it doesn't always have to be about business. Um, and you know, there's something that I I forgot to mention here because we were talking about consent and, you know, asking first, please, please make sure that you have your name is on your name tags visible and make sure it matches with whatever most people will know you by. If you're coming up to me and you want to get a hug, you want to get a picture. Whatever. Do not assume anything. I have a pretty good memory. I'll usually it'll. It'll click for me after a minute, who you are, even if we've met before. It might take me a second, but I have had people come up behind me and put their hands over my eyes and say, Guess who I've had people come up behind me and try and just pick me up. I've had people come and put their arms around me around my waist, underneath my like chest. Basically, I've had people come and touch me from all kinds of different angles and the majority of the time they're just trying to be friendly. They think we're friends and we are. But I just need to know ahead of time that this is about to go down. You will see a clear click when I look at you and say, Hey, snaps its whatever your name is like you say that to me. I will say, Oh, your name Cool, Great to see you and then my arms will go out. That is when it's time for a hug. It is not before that. Don't yell, Hey, snaps and then come hug me and I say this all the time in stream and I'm not even kidding. I will hurt you if you try to touch me without me knowing who you are or if you try to come up behind me and do that stuff like That's not cute. It's not funny. I promise you I will break your arm. I am not about to play when it comes to this kind of stuff. I've dealt with it long enough. I don't like it. I am a big hugger. I love people. I love hugging. I love talking to you dudes. I'm all for that kind of affection, But just make sure you have a clear opening for it. Make sure that this is clearly a hug. We're both going in for okay. It's not that hard. You can even just ask. It might make you feel weird to say like, Hey, can I have a hug? But dude, it happens. Mail time People ask for hugs all the time. I always give hugs. I will get very angry at you if you come and try and touch me without asking. And that goes for all of my my broadcaster friends, all the people there, even non broadcasters. Be smart, Don't touch people without their consent. Just just don't, man. I hate that I have to cover that so much. But I had d'oh and I even had it listed in my little note here and I forgot to emphasize how important that is moving on. Don't ask four or demand invites to things a general rule of thumb. If there's like a house party going on or an Airbnb party, Whatever. If you can't ask the person hosting directly, do not ask other people. I literally have had this happen to me where I'm going to a party or I'm going to meet up or gathering or something that is at someone's private residence or at their hotel or whatever. And I will have people say, Hey, can you call that person and see if it's cool that I go? Why don't you call him? Oh, I don't really know him that well. Can you d on them? No, they don't follow me back. Do you talk? Are you friends? Do you know each other? Well, I know them. Okay? Yeah. I'm not gonna be that in for you. I'm sorry. If you personally cannot ask the person who is hosting that party or whatever directly. Please don't go and ask every person you see. Can you get me into this party? Can you get me into this party? Can you get me into this party. Just accept that it's probably not gonna happen if someone else who's going believes they have that in for you and they invite you. That's one thing. But do not ask or demand invites two things. You're putting your friends in an awkward position. You're putting those hosts in an awkward position. Just don't do it. Do not. In addition to all of these don'ts, this is We're in etiquette, so we're gonna have a bunch of these. Do not pressure people to drink or smoke or do anything. We talked about this a little bit in terms of being that person yourself and being able to say no, but we haven't talked about it from the other side. If someone is only drinking water, don't ask them why they are not drinking. It's rude. You never know. That person could be in recovery. They could be allergic. It could be a personal thing. It doesn't have to get personal if you see someone not drinking, not smoking and you ask them if they want to drink and they say No, just drop it right there. I swear to you the amount of times people have bought me drinks even after I have said no, it's It's astounding how often that happens. Even when I say if you do this, I promise you I'm not touching it. I will just throw it on the ground. I'll toss it. Whatever. I don't care. No, you wouldn't do that. You wouldn't make me waste my money like No, I absolutely will. Do not pressure people to drink or smoke or eat things that they don't normally like. If people say no, no means no, that goes for consent in terms of keeping your hands off him. And it goes for allowing people to just exist without pressure. Do not pressure people to drink or smoke. Do not buy people drinks or whatever. If they say no, don't be that guy. Not everyone likes drinking. Not everyone likes smoking, that everyone likes eating meat, whatever it might be. Just leave people alone. Don't pressure. And on that same line of thought, be kind to others. This this is like a general rule of life, but it blows me away. How many people don't think about these things when they're at events? Do not fuck yourself over with future sponsors or vendors or whatever by being a dick, either to the current ones, the people representing these businesses you might want to work with or to just people in general. You never know when someone in these communities might suddenly be in a position where they can open doors for you. And they might remember that years ago you were a total dick to them. The these air pretty close knit events, or or against this industry overall, is more close knit than you might realize. Don't shoot yourself in the foot in terms of future growth by being addictive. People today, like don't be a dick to people just because it's not nice and you should try to be kind to your fellow man. But if if the only way to motivate you is to encourage you to not do it for selfish reasons, then so be it. You being rude to others is going toe limit your future success. It absolutely will treat the staff at those events with respect outside of events as well. Don't be that guy who talks down to uber drivers. Wait staff, hotel staff, whatever. It's really not a good look and me personally when I see people do shit like that. It tells me that if I was ever in a position where you believed I worked for you or was in a position that's less than whatever status you see yourself at, you wouldn't treat me that way too. I do not associate with people who I believe would treat me that way or others. I don't like it. I I I choose to stay away from people like that. So don't be that guy. Everyone there is a person. They're working. They're trying to do their own thing. Don't talk down to them. If you need something, ask politely. If things aren't going the way you want him to ask or inquire or handle it with respect and kindness, it will get you so much further. Please trust me on that. So to reiterate, we went through tips, tricks and etiquette. This last part here was about etiquette, So just a reminder. Ask first. No means no cause. Play is not consent. Asked before you get a hug, do not take pictures or videos without asking if they do agree to a picture asked before touching. Assume that they are expecting you to keep your hands to yourself and basically lean in. If anything, and if you want to do anything else, just ask. Hey, do you mind if I put my arm around you? Remember? Keep your hands away from waistlines. Ass is don't skip lines. Don't monopolize people's time. Don't try putting things down. People's shirt don't pressure people to drink or smoke or do anything. Don't ask or demand invites to things and just be kind. That's that's it for etiquette. I realized this one might have been a bit Rantie, but holy shit, you have no idea how often some of the stuff comes up. It really is mind blowing. So thank you for tuning in to another episode of the mind of snaps Podcast. Really hope you've enjoyed my Rantie convention tips, tricks and etiquette suggestions. Hopefully, you all have an incredible time at E three. Guardian Khan Switch compacts wherever you're going. Remember, be nice and try not to smell like you slept in a dumpster behind Arby's. You will get way more hugs that way. Thank you again for listening. Be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram by searching mind of snaps and on twitch at twitch dot tv slash she snaps. If you'd like to support our efforts to expand on, the mental health resource is available. Secure more speaking, invade engagements and pursue more creative passions. Consider supporting via the patri on, which could be found a patriot dot com slash she snaps. It even includes a Monday morning positivity podcast each week. Yeah, I have an incredible day today, guys. And remember, life is a series of problems waiting to be solved. Get out there and solve some of those motherfucking problems snaps out Wait.