Since the new Star Wars Clone Wars series on Cartoon network as aired, my daughter and I have caught the Star Wars bug. I must confess, I am not sure I ever lost it; however the fever has been renewed with the series.

With our new interests peaked I found out about a Star Wars convention that is being held in Plano Texas in October called Star Wars Fan Days III. Having only been to one very small convention many many years ago and some Cisco Live technical conferences, I was unsure how to prepare.

A few Google searches later I found a website called RebelScum.com that is dedicated to all things Star Wars. I signed up and started asking questions. To the credit of the members of the RebelScum forum,  I had most of my question answered. They were very friendly and a recommend checking out the site even if you are an occasional Star Wars fan.

Below is a list of tips I have put together to help prepare for their first convention experience in a long time. I thought I would post these in just case they might help others.

1. Register early. This can help you avoid long lines for general admission tickets and sometimes you get extra swag.

2. Get your hotel early. If you are going to a big convention you may want to make sure there are some hotels close. The better hotels can go fast, so be on the ball and get the hotel reservations as soon as you can.

3. If you are looking to get the autographs of a guest be sure to bring some supplies. You should bring something to protect the pictures during the show. This way you will not have to constantly protect your newly autographed items while enjoying the rest of the show. You may also what to bring your own pen for the guests to autograph with. A very cool suggestion on the rebelscum forum was to bring special colored pens for different kind of auto graphs. (Example: Red for a Star Wars Sith)

4. Bring a backpack to care your stuff. This will free up your hands so you have grab more stuff. This also doubles as a place to but your binders, poster tubes, or other items that you would like to protect.

5. Bring extra space to carry all the loot and swag you pick up back home. When I go to Cisco Live conference I a mass a large about of ‘toys’. The vendors hand out everything from blinking rubber bouncing balls, t-shirts, and rubix cubes to a chance to win game consoles. As well as all this loot you might find that special something that you just could not leave behind in at a booth. To get all this stuff home I suggest you make sure you have space in your luggage. Bringing along a shoe box, poster tube, or some other protect container can help save you prize.

6. Watch the prices. Some of the items you will see can be a good deal, but if you know that you can match or beat the price back home then hold off. This will save space for your other good as well as save you money while you are the convention.

7. Once the convention schedule comes out look it over and schedule your time. Plan your time to see what you can. Prioritize what panels, speaking events, classes you want to see. Stay flexible and check for schedule changes at the conference / convention gets closer.

8. Most important have fun. Everyone there is in the same boat as you. They just want to have fun, meet some guests, and maybe learn something in the process. Getting upset and losing ones temper does not help you see all the sights to see.

There you have it. I will being putting these steps to practice when we go to Star Wars Fan Days III. I will let you know how they work out Also stay tuned to MattsShack as we post about the Cisco Love conference and the Star Wars Fan Days III convention.