The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
2015 edition - First time to PAX East? Here's stuff you should know!
Is this your first time at PAX East? READ THE MAIN FAQ STICKY FIRST, a lot of valuable information is there!
After that, this is a good place for first timer specific advice that isn't really FAQ material. If you have some first timer advice for others, feel free to post it!
--
Thanks to Zerzhul who made a trimmed down version of my first post, because I can't help writing walls of texts.
PAX events are an institution, and more importantly, they have set themselves apart from other events because of their very nature to let people interact more with each other. Compared to most other conventions, this is the only one where you actually get to share and participate in your passions with other attendees. No wonder why the rules of engagement are different. You can definitely attend PAX with little to no preparation or foreknowledge of the event. You WILL have fun and you WILL discover new things. If you feel like pushing things a step further though, you may want to take a look at the following. The hope is that it will help bring out the most from your trip and avoid potential snags that could hinder your experience.
AND most importantly...
Weather: I admit that I've spent too much trying to find a way to explain Bostonian weather... The reality is that it's all over the place. I have pictures from every event and sometimes I'm in a t-shirt, sometimes I have a jacket, sometimes I'm in a winter coat. I would say that on average, it's often "brisk" around PAX East time with some scattered warm periods that would let you walk around with a t-shirt or long sleeved shirt. A good jacket and scarf should be standard issue in anyone's luggage. Bostonians love to remind us that March winter storms are a possibility. It's true that we did see a very light fall in 2013 and on previous years we did spot some leftover piles of snow here and there, but other than that it usually felt more like spring time than winter. As for rain? Who knows, but we've been very lucky up to now since the only rain fall I noticed was in 2014 and it did not last really long.
Travel within Boston to and from PAX: Driving around Boston is definitely a challenge. It's not just the dense traffic, it's also because its streets are built over an old design (think cart roads and such), so there are a lot of surprises waiting for you if you don't know your way around. A GPS is an absolute must if you are from out of town, and have your maps printed out just in case because a good deal of their popular highways are underground, meaning there's a good chance you will loose your signal if and when you use them. Most people that I know will arrive in Boston by car, park it and use other means to get around. Boston boasts a very good public transport system, dubbed the "T", with both a subway and a bus line that stops in front of the BCEC. If you plan on using this often, you may want to consider a multi-day "Charlie" pass that will let you use their system at will, and it's actually quite cheap too (15$ for 7 days? Need to be confirmed). The T, like most other public transportation networks, only run until a certain hour. Taxis however run 24/7 and are usually easy to grab around the city, in fact there will also be a pool of them waiting in front of the event. Bonus points - they usually take credit cards too. Be warned, everyone wants a cab when the event closes, but this is not their first rodeo. Just be patient and get in the queue, they will set you up. Before you engage in all of that, you may want to check if your hotel has a shuttle service to the event, that can save you a lot of transportation money. Back to cars for a quick bit in regards to Parking: There is parking available at the BCEC with 15$ self parking and 25$ for Valet service. Once you leave however you will need to pay again, and it does not cover overnight. The hours you can park depend on the show hours. This is quite cheap compared to other places I've used around the city. For instance, hotels usually have options for you for about 35$ on average per night, but you can come and go as you please.
You are going to do a lot of walking: It will really help if you had a comfortable pair of walking shoes. I wore a Fitbit during my PAX 2014 weekend and the numbers showed that, on average, I would walk 8 to 9 miles a day. In fact, the battery barely made it through the weekend. Remember that the BCEC is the largest convention center in the Northeastern America! You can spend several minutes walking from point A to point B, so take that into considering in your schedule. For those who intend to use walking as their main method of going around the city, remember that Google Maps cannot take into account potential fatigue. Your numbers may end up being off.
Get yourself some form of mobile data access: Bring it, they are a near absolute necessity, but feel free to avoid cellular data if the costs are prohibitive due to your terms of service. Just make sure you can use WiFi for the occasional update session when it's at your disposal. First and foremost, Guidebook is the official event schedule app which is available on all platforms. Any updates or last minute changes will be updated to the schedule which can be setup to send reminders on certain events that you do not want to miss. It also contains a list of vendors, maps and all matters of very practical information about the event. Also consider Twitter which is heavily (and smartly) used to communicate information on line capacity, contests and attendees who are looking for players. Keep an eye out for hashtags like #PAX, #PAXEast, and check out the specific Twitter forum thread which comes up every year. Last but not least, QR codes are a thing now, and you will want to have the ability to scan them for various reasons. Exhibitors often give out codes in this form while attendees favor it more and more to pass along compressed contacted information. As for the question that's on everyone's minds: Yes, there is free WiFi at the event. Yes, it tends to be extremely unreliable, because tends of thousands of proud geeks will suckle the devil's teet beyond it's ability to supply the milk. I never managed to make it work when I'm remotely deep into the BCEC, however most people that I know who have cellular data (not my case) seem to be all right. On that note, a lot of vendors have a hard time making their own cellular network deal with all the concrete of the event floor.
Traveling long distances to go to PAX? Call your bank first: Take it from @TechGamingNews. "One major thing everyone should do is contact their bank, If you have never been to PAX or even if you have It is a great idea to contact your bank and let them know you will be heading to Boston MA. Why? because almost all banks have security features on their account bank cards that will automatically freeze your credit card if it sees spending limits different then what it has seen, it is always a good idea to let them know so you won't be embarrassed or stuck waiting to get it figured out or getting upset because the clerk keeps telling you its declined when you know there is money in the account." I could not agree more, since I had such troubles on my first two trips to PAX East.
The schedule only shows the tip of the iceberg: The schedule mostly mentions tournaments, concerts and panels. As for the official floor plan, it does not come with a complete explanation of every exhibitor. This being said, both items only give a small sense of what you can expect to see at the event. This is not due to lack of proper effort on the organizer's part, the problem lies with the fact that Conventions are somewhat "living" events. For instance, you can't accurately tell what you will see on the show floor, nor is it possible to convey the mood of any free play area... Some places, such as, JamSpace, classic console room or the Hand Held Lounge, have verry loose schedules. They just runs all the time, and so it may not show up as nothing more but a blip on the floor plan.
But wait, there's more: There are many community and company sponsored events/parties that happen in and outside of PAX during the entire weekend. Some start well before the event kicks off, sometimes they go beyond it. These are not official events and so they do not appear on the PAX Schedule, and they range from the simple to the most organized. You can learn about most community created events on the forums. For company sponsored events, many will eventually make their way to the forums as well, but the often enough that information will be shared on their own web site. If you are a fan of a specific company, keep an eye out for what they have to say online when PAX will be around the corner. You never know. You don't need to attend any of these parties to make your PAX experience worth while, this is just (cool) optional stuff.
Making Friends: A great way to stay in touch with the new friends you will make is to get some cheap business cards. Stick your email address, gamertag, forum name, whatever on them. Hand them out to all the awesome people you will most certainly meet.
Carrying Your Stuff: Come Friday night, your one shoulder will be KILLING you. Trust me, you want to evenly distribute the weight. Go for something that you know will be comfortable over the course of a long day. I personally prefer a backpack, not a messenger bag. LABEL YOUR STUFF. either get a label maker, or some sharpies - I highly recommend putting your phone number on them. You never know when you may accidentally leave something behind.
Recharging your devices: Plan ahead. Recharge everything overnight, and perhaps find a compact charging solution to carry with you. Be considerate of outlet use and try not to use more than one at a time (bringing a small power strip can make you a lot of friends).
Food: With every new PAX comes a new Food thread by @Arsonisfun (it's not up at this time however) where you will hear people discuss their favorite places to eat, and sometimes places to avoid. I would suggest anyone to take some time and get out there for a nice meal in the city at least once. If you are constantly on the go however, you may want to take special note of Foodler.com and Grubhub.com. These two services will show you which restaurants can deliver to your location. Yes, that may include your hotel room (I had no issues using this at the Westin). We loved these in the past because they had everything for everyone, including some nice healthy food options. Note however that there are more and more services like these and I don't know much about them. I do know that they all love to use their mobile app versions if you are (most likely) using a phone or tablet when ordering, and if you are outside the country, do yourself a service and download this stuff ahead of time because some app stores tend to not let you acquire anything if your IP does not show your country or origin. This is important because last year Grubhub would not even let us use their desktop website over our mobile devices and we were stuck going for other options. As for Foodler, their "best bet" rating is to be taken with a grain of salt, since most of their suggestions turned out to be real duds. Another thing you could do ahead of time is to check out what other people liked last year (or if you have a friend who is local, as for his opinion). Bonus point if you create your own account now instead of later, it will save you a great deal of time on your first order. I myself will be practicing a bit to see what my options will be once I'm in the city.
Beware of time sinks: There are many unique things to see and do at PAX, but some take more time than others. Some, maybe too much. What is worth your time is entirely up to you, but if I may, please read Rorus Raz's words of wisdom on the subject.
Reposting The @CatBoy List from the FAQ. One should not underestimate its importance
The next section is taken from @sary from last year, with some modifications
Bonus content: You may want to check a blog I wrote last year on my personal notes from last year's PAX East event. They also includes details on my budget and spending habbits.
After that, this is a good place for first timer specific advice that isn't really FAQ material. If you have some first timer advice for others, feel free to post it!
--
Thanks to Zerzhul who made a trimmed down version of my first post, because I can't help writing walls of texts.
PAX events are an institution, and more importantly, they have set themselves apart from other events because of their very nature to let people interact more with each other. Compared to most other conventions, this is the only one where you actually get to share and participate in your passions with other attendees. No wonder why the rules of engagement are different. You can definitely attend PAX with little to no preparation or foreknowledge of the event. You WILL have fun and you WILL discover new things. If you feel like pushing things a step further though, you may want to take a look at the following. The hope is that it will help bring out the most from your trip and avoid potential snags that could hinder your experience.
AND most importantly...
Be excellent to each other.
Weather: I admit that I've spent too much trying to find a way to explain Bostonian weather... The reality is that it's all over the place. I have pictures from every event and sometimes I'm in a t-shirt, sometimes I have a jacket, sometimes I'm in a winter coat. I would say that on average, it's often "brisk" around PAX East time with some scattered warm periods that would let you walk around with a t-shirt or long sleeved shirt. A good jacket and scarf should be standard issue in anyone's luggage. Bostonians love to remind us that March winter storms are a possibility. It's true that we did see a very light fall in 2013 and on previous years we did spot some leftover piles of snow here and there, but other than that it usually felt more like spring time than winter. As for rain? Who knows, but we've been very lucky up to now since the only rain fall I noticed was in 2014 and it did not last really long.
Travel within Boston to and from PAX: Driving around Boston is definitely a challenge. It's not just the dense traffic, it's also because its streets are built over an old design (think cart roads and such), so there are a lot of surprises waiting for you if you don't know your way around. A GPS is an absolute must if you are from out of town, and have your maps printed out just in case because a good deal of their popular highways are underground, meaning there's a good chance you will loose your signal if and when you use them. Most people that I know will arrive in Boston by car, park it and use other means to get around. Boston boasts a very good public transport system, dubbed the "T", with both a subway and a bus line that stops in front of the BCEC. If you plan on using this often, you may want to consider a multi-day "Charlie" pass that will let you use their system at will, and it's actually quite cheap too (15$ for 7 days? Need to be confirmed). The T, like most other public transportation networks, only run until a certain hour. Taxis however run 24/7 and are usually easy to grab around the city, in fact there will also be a pool of them waiting in front of the event. Bonus points - they usually take credit cards too. Be warned, everyone wants a cab when the event closes, but this is not their first rodeo. Just be patient and get in the queue, they will set you up. Before you engage in all of that, you may want to check if your hotel has a shuttle service to the event, that can save you a lot of transportation money. Back to cars for a quick bit in regards to Parking: There is parking available at the BCEC with 15$ self parking and 25$ for Valet service. Once you leave however you will need to pay again, and it does not cover overnight. The hours you can park depend on the show hours. This is quite cheap compared to other places I've used around the city. For instance, hotels usually have options for you for about 35$ on average per night, but you can come and go as you please.
You are going to do a lot of walking: It will really help if you had a comfortable pair of walking shoes. I wore a Fitbit during my PAX 2014 weekend and the numbers showed that, on average, I would walk 8 to 9 miles a day. In fact, the battery barely made it through the weekend. Remember that the BCEC is the largest convention center in the Northeastern America! You can spend several minutes walking from point A to point B, so take that into considering in your schedule. For those who intend to use walking as their main method of going around the city, remember that Google Maps cannot take into account potential fatigue. Your numbers may end up being off.
Get yourself some form of mobile data access: Bring it, they are a near absolute necessity, but feel free to avoid cellular data if the costs are prohibitive due to your terms of service. Just make sure you can use WiFi for the occasional update session when it's at your disposal. First and foremost, Guidebook is the official event schedule app which is available on all platforms. Any updates or last minute changes will be updated to the schedule which can be setup to send reminders on certain events that you do not want to miss. It also contains a list of vendors, maps and all matters of very practical information about the event. Also consider Twitter which is heavily (and smartly) used to communicate information on line capacity, contests and attendees who are looking for players. Keep an eye out for hashtags like #PAX, #PAXEast, and check out the specific Twitter forum thread which comes up every year. Last but not least, QR codes are a thing now, and you will want to have the ability to scan them for various reasons. Exhibitors often give out codes in this form while attendees favor it more and more to pass along compressed contacted information. As for the question that's on everyone's minds: Yes, there is free WiFi at the event. Yes, it tends to be extremely unreliable, because tends of thousands of proud geeks will suckle the devil's teet beyond it's ability to supply the milk. I never managed to make it work when I'm remotely deep into the BCEC, however most people that I know who have cellular data (not my case) seem to be all right. On that note, a lot of vendors have a hard time making their own cellular network deal with all the concrete of the event floor.
Traveling long distances to go to PAX? Call your bank first: Take it from @TechGamingNews. "One major thing everyone should do is contact their bank, If you have never been to PAX or even if you have It is a great idea to contact your bank and let them know you will be heading to Boston MA. Why? because almost all banks have security features on their account bank cards that will automatically freeze your credit card if it sees spending limits different then what it has seen, it is always a good idea to let them know so you won't be embarrassed or stuck waiting to get it figured out or getting upset because the clerk keeps telling you its declined when you know there is money in the account." I could not agree more, since I had such troubles on my first two trips to PAX East.
The schedule only shows the tip of the iceberg: The schedule mostly mentions tournaments, concerts and panels. As for the official floor plan, it does not come with a complete explanation of every exhibitor. This being said, both items only give a small sense of what you can expect to see at the event. This is not due to lack of proper effort on the organizer's part, the problem lies with the fact that Conventions are somewhat "living" events. For instance, you can't accurately tell what you will see on the show floor, nor is it possible to convey the mood of any free play area... Some places, such as, JamSpace, classic console room or the Hand Held Lounge, have verry loose schedules. They just runs all the time, and so it may not show up as nothing more but a blip on the floor plan.
But wait, there's more: There are many community and company sponsored events/parties that happen in and outside of PAX during the entire weekend. Some start well before the event kicks off, sometimes they go beyond it. These are not official events and so they do not appear on the PAX Schedule, and they range from the simple to the most organized. You can learn about most community created events on the forums. For company sponsored events, many will eventually make their way to the forums as well, but the often enough that information will be shared on their own web site. If you are a fan of a specific company, keep an eye out for what they have to say online when PAX will be around the corner. You never know. You don't need to attend any of these parties to make your PAX experience worth while, this is just (cool) optional stuff.
Making Friends: A great way to stay in touch with the new friends you will make is to get some cheap business cards. Stick your email address, gamertag, forum name, whatever on them. Hand them out to all the awesome people you will most certainly meet.
Carrying Your Stuff: Come Friday night, your one shoulder will be KILLING you. Trust me, you want to evenly distribute the weight. Go for something that you know will be comfortable over the course of a long day. I personally prefer a backpack, not a messenger bag. LABEL YOUR STUFF. either get a label maker, or some sharpies - I highly recommend putting your phone number on them. You never know when you may accidentally leave something behind.
Recharging your devices: Plan ahead. Recharge everything overnight, and perhaps find a compact charging solution to carry with you. Be considerate of outlet use and try not to use more than one at a time (bringing a small power strip can make you a lot of friends).
Food: With every new PAX comes a new Food thread by @Arsonisfun (it's not up at this time however) where you will hear people discuss their favorite places to eat, and sometimes places to avoid. I would suggest anyone to take some time and get out there for a nice meal in the city at least once. If you are constantly on the go however, you may want to take special note of Foodler.com and Grubhub.com. These two services will show you which restaurants can deliver to your location. Yes, that may include your hotel room (I had no issues using this at the Westin). We loved these in the past because they had everything for everyone, including some nice healthy food options. Note however that there are more and more services like these and I don't know much about them. I do know that they all love to use their mobile app versions if you are (most likely) using a phone or tablet when ordering, and if you are outside the country, do yourself a service and download this stuff ahead of time because some app stores tend to not let you acquire anything if your IP does not show your country or origin. This is important because last year Grubhub would not even let us use their desktop website over our mobile devices and we were stuck going for other options. As for Foodler, their "best bet" rating is to be taken with a grain of salt, since most of their suggestions turned out to be real duds. Another thing you could do ahead of time is to check out what other people liked last year (or if you have a friend who is local, as for his opinion). Bonus point if you create your own account now instead of later, it will save you a great deal of time on your first order. I myself will be practicing a bit to see what my options will be once I'm in the city.
Beware of time sinks: There are many unique things to see and do at PAX, but some take more time than others. Some, maybe too much. What is worth your time is entirely up to you, but if I may, please read Rorus Raz's words of wisdom on the subject.
You will either quickly learn this, or you will find that three days have passed and you spent 90% of them sitting in line: the Exhibition Hall is cool, but don't get expect to see what you want to see.
In 2011, the line for Star Wars: The Old Republic, had a wait for five hours. I went as fast as I could the second the Hall opened on Sunday morning without running (running is bad, do not run), and still had a 3-4 hour wait. In 2012, Borderlands 2 had a 4-6 hour wait. The bottom line is that the AAA titles that everyone wants to play result in huge, likely boring lines for maybe 15-60 minutes of game time. That's a goddamn waste of your time and money, so I would curb your enthusiasm for seeing whatever big ticket title is going to be appearing next March.
The Hall is still great though: you can find a lot of upcoming indie titles that you probably wouldn't have otherwise noticed. And really: you are going to buy that multi-million dollar game from Big Publisher anyways, so why not stay on the lookout for awesome titles that don't have millions to get your attention? You also tend to get to talk directly with the devs, who are hungry artists eager to listen to your feedback. I cannot say how cool it is to spend a half hour or so shooting the breeze with something who making the game and very enthusiastic about their craft. You aren't generally going to get that with the big brand titles.
There's also other neat stuff like board games and stuff. Just don't make the mistake of spending all your time at the Exhibition Hall. There is so much more to PAX than that.
Reposting The @CatBoy List from the FAQ. One should not underestimate its importance
What should I bring with me to PAX?
CatBoy wrote:I better get this in just so everyone is kinda prepared and in the know of what to bring to PAX or any con that may come their way. (I'm sorry for the huge post, but a lot of people don't know what to bring.)
The Top Twenty Items Forgotten by Convention Attendees Checklist
1. Personal Towel (We know the hotel provides them, but if you're sharing a room with several people, this guarantees you your very own towel. Also, if you plan on using a lot of makeup for a costume or dying your hair *and* use hotel towels, you will be charged a hefty fee for damaging hotel property. Please bring your own towels if you plan to do this.) You may also dip the ends in liquid vitamins and suck on the corners when needed.
* A pretty cool tip involving this is bringing a small clothespin with your name on it to attach to your towel so people can differentiate between yours and theirs. In fact, bring a couple, so you can share with people.
2. Shampoo and Conditioner (Again, the hotel provides these, but the bottles are quite small. Bringing your own ensures you will have some, especially if you use a lot of shampoo or have long hair.)
3. Toothbrush and Toothpaste (You'd be amazed at what going three days without brushing tastes like. Gross.)
4. Deodorant (If you don't bring and use this, don't be surprised when people start edging away from you in packed rooms and theaters. Don't forget the strange looks and cringed noses you'll begin to see.)
5. Razor and Shaving Cream/Gel
6. Comb and/or Hairbrush (some people do use both. You'd be surprised.)
7. One shirt for each day of the convention, plus an extra. (3 days = 4 shirts)
8. Pants (Same number as shirts.)
9. Underwear (3 sets, plus an extra.)
10. Socks (One pair per day plus an extra pair.)
11. Swimsuit (You never know.)
12. Jacket or warm sweater
13. Shoes (If you plan on spending a lot of time dancing or on your feet, make sure you have comfortable shoes with you. Your feet will hurt if you don't have comfy shoes to at least change into.)
14. Any prescribed medication (Make sure to tell your traveling companions/roommates about any medical needs you may have.)
15. Tylenol/Aspirin/etc
16. Photo ID / Driver's License / Checkbook / Car keys
17. A phone card (Not only is this cheaper than having calls charged to your hotel room, but having several people using one phone can lead to billing confusion with long distance calls. Bring a phone card so you can let your parents/significant other know you made it to the con safely.)
18. An extra pillow and blanket if several people are staying in your room.
19. Some non-perishable food from a supermarket (Like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, pretzels and bottled water or juice. While there are a lot of restaurants close by, this is an easy way to save money. In addition, you'll be able to have your midnight snack without leaving your room.)
20. Your best public manners. (You'd be surprised how many people forget to bring these along.)
The exhibition hall is full of awesome. There are upcoming games, and hardware showcased as well as things for sale from games, to guides, to t-shirts, to dice. Prices are comparable with standard retail pricing, or a little cheaper, even. Also, there's tons of free shirts and other swag being handed out by various companies *cough*nVidia*cough*
A List For The REALLY Well Prepared
* Small tube of super glue
* 3 straight pins
* 3 safety pins: 1 small and 2 medium
* Hair pins: 3 medium and 3 heavy
* Small sewing kit (small enough to fit into the palm of your hand)
* Safety matches (1 pack)
* Disposable plastic razor
* Small emery board
* Tylenol/Aspirin (travel sized container)
* 6 chewable Vitamin C tablets (at least 500 mg each)
* 2 Vitamin B complex tabs, stress formula
* 1 pack Tums/Rolaids
* 6 bandaids (or a travel sized pack)
* 6 antihistamine tablets
* 1 travel pack of tissues
* Tube of chapstick or other lip balm
* 6 cough drops or throat lozenges
* Smallest size of tiger balm or camphophenique oil
* Travel size tube of spot remover
* Spare car and house keys
* Breath freshener
* 6 moist towelettes (for cleaning hands)
* Small pencil sharpener
* Small pen
* 1 small pack of post-it-notes (the square ones work fine)
* Clear nail polish
* Small amount of masking tape wrapped around a short pencil
* 6 rubber bands
* 3 unlubricated condoms
* Small penknife
* Small tube of neosporin
* 3 garbage bag twist ties
* Mustache scissors (small pair of scissors will work as well)
* Styptic pencil or qwik stop
* Hand lotion (travel size)
* Aloe vera gel (travel size)
* 3 nail polish remover pad
* Tampons or pads if you are the type to bleed occasionally
The next section is taken from @sary from last year, with some modifications
Color Guide: POSITIVELY MUST READ! | You probably want to know this. | The Details
3 PAX{East} RULES TO LIVE BY
3 PAX{East} RULES TO LIVE BY
- Wheaton's Law is... Law. - seriously, just DON'T BE A DICK.
- 5-2-(2)-1 - Common Con advice is you should have a minimum of:
- 5 hours of sleep
the hours of 3:30 to 8:30 am are a good choice, as that won't overlap with too much going on. - 2 (actual, balanced) meals
- 1 shower - for yourself, to refresh for or after a long day of awesome
A common recommendation is that you add to that - with 2 liters of water. - 5 hours of sleep
- Enforcers make PAX{East} happen! Treat them awesomely.
- Remember: PAX{East} opens on Friday at 10AM. Book your hotel rooms and set your alarm clock accordingly.
- Realize now that you will not be able to do everything you plan on doing. Even if none of the panels conflict, even if you swear to wake up early every day, even if you are the latest Companion and have a key to the TARDIS. You will not be able to do everything you plan on doing - Schedules get juggled, alarm clocks fail to go off, multiverses need saving...
Block out your Must-Sees, your Want-to-Sees, and your Eh-that-sounds-cool-but-I-don't-really-care-one-way-or-the-others. Schedule, oversleep, reschedule, cancel, and reschedule (again) accordingly. - For those of you worried about winter clothing:
The BCEC ran a very nice coat/bag check at East 2011 that was a reasonable price ($3? I don't remember exactly). If you are concerned about not wanting to bring a big coat, you can layer (spoiler for an example).- tank top/undershirt
- long sleeve t-shirt
- short sleeve t-shirt (because most of long sleeves lack amusing sayings...)
- hoodie
- hat (always) / mittens / scarf
One thing you might consider in addition to a hoodie, if you're really worried, get something thin but waterproof, like a wind breaker. Just like it's not the heat, it's the humidity... it's not the cold, it's the wind chill. - Pretty much mandatory for EVERYONE though... a warm HAT that covers your ears - so, knitted or fleece, etc., not just a baseball cap! (The reversible fleece hats they sold last year were pretty spiffy...) And for the love of gord, this ESPECIALLY if you have piercings. The metal conducts the cold like no other.
You'd be amazed at how you can get by with a lighter coat, so long as you have an awesome warm hat. And maybe mittens. - As far as non-outerwear clothing goes: the Official FAQ says to bring a pair of socks a day, plus one extra - really, bring at least two pairs of socks for each day. Carry the spare with you. Middle of the day, your feet are tired (despite those comfortable walking shoes that you're wearing, right?)... change your socks, instant refresher.
- If your mobile data plan sucks (or you don't have a smartphone), up your text messages - a lot of things have twitter accounts, and you can just push tweets to your phone.
Bonus: texts seem to get through a tad more reliably when the circuits are in heavy use, than data or voice does. not guaranteed to be perfect, though.
Bonus content: You may want to check a blog I wrote last year on my personal notes from last year's PAX East event. They also includes details on my budget and spending habbits.
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That's sad to hear - removed it from the main text. Thanks for pointing it out!