NYC Book Con Experience

I found out about Book Con last year from The Drowsy Reader and since we weren't able to attend we made it our mission to go this year. We purchased our tickets early and we were really excited when we found out that Mindy Kaling was going to be interviewed by B.J. Novak. About a couple of weeks before the event, Aziz Ansari was also added to the list which was very exciting.

What's not exciting was finding out that in order to guarantee a seat to see any of the panels, we would have to wait in line basically by 8:00am even though the first panel, autographing session, etc starts at 10/11:00 am. We had known in advanced that there was a possibility that the Book Con would be moved to Chicago next year (it's been confirmed) and we had been planning on this trip for awhile so we decided to wake up quite early and we were at the Javits Center by 8:40 am and there were already hundreds of people in line for Mindy. What confused me was how some of the people managed by 9:00 am to get the wristbands for all the panels. We were told by Book Con staff that there would be 2000 seats and that we should stay in line till 11:00 am if we wanted a "good seat".

Now this is where my rant starts:
1. We were treated like sardines, we kept being yelled at by Javits staff to "squeeze in". 
2. Instead of giving the wrist band at the end of the line and have a separate line for people who already obtained a wristband to enter the hall, they thought it was a great idea to have 3 people give out wristbands on the left side of the waiting line so people started pushing and shoving to the left to obtain wristbands.
3. People who left the lines to get other wrist bands or to go to the show floor were allowed back in and cut to the front which made the line even more congested.
4. Since people stood for basically 3 hours to get into the panel hall, when they allowed us to enter it was basically a stampede.
-rant over-

I'm not saying the experience above made the Book Con terrible. Based on what I read, apparently my experience is multiple times better than others. I definitely had to pick and choose what I wanted to do and even then at the exhibit floor, there wasn't clear signs on where to be for the different events that were happening. If I was more organized and 10 years younger, I probably would have done a lot more but let's be real, waiting in line for 3 hours for anything or anyone is not my cup of tea.

Mindy Kaling + B.J. Novak & Aziz Anzari Panels

The panels were probably the highlight of Book Con. Mindy and B.J were everything that I expected Mindy and B.J. to be. They talked primarily about her upcoming book-  but she also answered a couple of questions regarding The Mindy Project which has been officially picked up by Hulu (YAY!) They were adorable as any best friends/exes can be. We were given an excerpt from her upcoming book (I've read it, it's great) and a little Mindy Kaling pin from Valley Cruise Press.

Aziz panel was deep, thoughtful and funny. If you watched his stand up at Madison Square Garden (if you haven't watch it on Netflix now!) you know he has a thing on Modern Romance and how texting has become such a big part of modern relationships. His panel included a NYTimes writer and a sociologist. There was a lot of research and focus group done for this book from all over the world and I'm not going to lie, I am really excited to read it.  

Final Thoughts

The question that I had asked myself when I started writing this post was would I go back to Book Con? Well since it's going to be in Chicago next year the definitive answer would be no. I don't think it's worth the trip for me personally to go all the way to Chicago. If Book Con ever comes back to NYC, then maybe, who knows? It'll depend on the panels, authors and events that are going to be available. 

I do think there needs to be better line control and clear signs on where to stand for different events at the show floor. There were staff members holding signs that says "end of line" but you don't know what line goes to the event you want to go to and it's chaos. 

My main disappointment about Book Con is not even about the long lines but rather because it felt as if I was at Vid Con instead of a Book Convention. Having said all that I do have some tips and recommendations in case you are interested in going to Book Con next year. 

    

1. Go with a friend (or two) you know you can stand in line with for 3 hours because it will make the longest, hottest, smelliest lines at Book Con bearable.
2. Know why you are there (panels, authors signing, meet & greet, etc) and prioritize what you want to see and do.
3. Wear comfy shoes.
4 Bring a bag pack, yes those free totes are nice but the weight adds up.
5. Plan on spending a lot of money for food and coffee. No matter where Book Con is located, it's going to be at some sort of convention center and convention center food are expensive. A venti Starbucks iced tea in Philly costs about $2.30 ish, I paid close to $4 for an iced tea. 

6. But most importantly, don't forget to have fun! No matter what city Book Con is going to be in, don't forget to actually go out and experience the city. I was lucky because I lived in NYC and I still go a few times a year, but I hope that if you had gone to Book Con and you were from out of town that you at least experienced a couple of quintessential NYC experience (like paying a lot more for everything and getting turned down by cabbies).

If you haven't read my Book Con haul post please go and check it out. As always, thanks for reading! Until next time,