When Can I Get My Badge?
Registration hours are as follows:
Thursday: 6 PM – 9 PM (Only pre-reg badge pickup, no at-door purchases)
Friday: 9 AM – 9 PM
Saturday: 9 AM – 9 PM
Sunday: 9 AM – 3 PM
If you arrive after 9 PM on Friday or Saturday, we will have Late Night Registration in our Operations department by Registration. Just ask a staffer to point you there (although we should have signs pointing at it).
If you have a friend or friends who has not purchased a registration, they will have to wait until 9 AM on Friday at the earliest. Our Box Office will not be set up and open on Thursday.
Do not worry if you cannot make it until Saturday or Sunday. You can pick up your badge any time pre-registration is open.
If you registered as part of a group, you do NOT have to pick up your badges together. Everyone in a group is listed individually in the system, so you can pick up your badges on different times, even on different days.
Well then… How DO I Get My Badge?
1) Get in the pre-reg line. (Yes, we know you hate the line. We hate it, too. That’s why we do everything we can to make it move as quickly as possible.)
2) Check out which of our 5 badge designs you want. We will have large versions of them on display on easels next to the lines, so you can have an idea what you want before you get to the booths.
3) Get up to a Pre-reg booth and give them your Eventbrite confirmation (with scanable code) and/or Photo ID. If you have your confirmation on your phone (PDF or Eventbrite App or whatever), no problem. We can scan it off your phone. If you don’t have your printout, don’t worry, we can look you up by name. We request a photo ID just to make sure that the person giving us the confirmation is the one whose name is on it. If your face matches the ID and the name matches the confirmation/name in the system, you’re fine. Also, you do NOT have to give up the confirmation form. Please recycle them properly.
4) Let us know which badge you want. There will be large versions of the badges hanging at the booths, as well as normal-sized ones attached to each booth. The 5 badge types are numbered, so please choose by the badge number. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE IN THE BADGES OTHER THAN ARTWORK.
5) Grab a Sharpie, put your name on the badge. We don’t pre-print names on badges. Have an idea what you’re going to put on the badge before you get to the booth. This actually is the most time-consuming part of the process once you reach the booth, believe it or not.
6) Take your bag of goodies and go enjoy the convention! You’ll get a program guide, a schedule, and a number of other small items, including one that I think just about everyone who has been to an anime con is familiar with and likes. What is it? Find out first-hand when you get your bag.
But Wait, I’m An Artist/Helper/Assistant/etc.!
If you’re supposed to get an Artist Alley badge, we have a special line for you. Artist check-in will be at the last Registration booth, stations 15 and 16, on Thursday night and Friday morning. The Artist Alley banner will be on the front of the booth, and our Con Safety line wranglers will be making sure any artists who are in the pre-reg line are directed to the proper line.
If you were one of the artists who received the Artist Alley Questionnaire link, you do NOT have to bring that confirmation. All we need are the Table confirmations and your pre-reg confirations.
If you pre-registered regularly but are listed as an Artist or Assistant, your registration has been converted to an Artist Alley registration. Pick up your badge from Artist Alley.
Artist badges function the same as regular Attendee badges with 2 added perks: 1) You can get into the Artist Alley during Artist Only times, which is Thursday night and Friday morning for set-up, and I believe an hour before opening and an hour after closing for setting up and closing down. 2) You can get behind your table and sell stuff! This is why you’re there! Anyone without an Artist or Staff badge is not supposed to be behind the tables.
So I’m A Panelist… What Now?
If you’re a Panelist, you need a Panelist badge. You can get those over at Panel Ops (aka the Readington Room) in the Doubletree on the 2nd floor. You WILL need a regular Attendee badge with it, though. You can pick up your Attendee badge at Registration, but we will have some available for pick-up at Panel Ops. So if you’re running late (for example, it’s 10:30 and you’ve got an 11 AM panel you’re running), just stop by Panel Ops and they should be able to help you with both your Panelist and Attendee badges. For those not running late, now you have a second option for getting your Attendee badge.
