The answer is yes

the answer to all questions

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There is a parking garage under the convention center. If you go for the day, and leave at night the rates are reasonable. Dunno about long-term parking though...

That already sounds expensive :( Hopefully long-term parking will be just as reasonable too.

I wanna say it was under $20 a day...

When I last went, I pitched a tent in a local friend's yard and drove in everyday of the con... But, overall the convention center parking is just as good, if not better, than the hotel's

Parking at the hotel does indeed suck I believe there IS a parking garage a few blocks away though that's more reasonable and has better long term parking. I'll see if I can't find the info on it.

Okay, thanks, I really appreciate it!

Don't feel bad, this is my first year doing AC, too. XD

Yay, I'm not alone xD

If you find out what the cheapest area to park at is and how much, PLEASE lemme know. I wanna make sure I bring enough funds. XD

Lol, apparently the cheapest to park is in the overflow across the street from the convention center. I hope it really is reasonable xD;

I might just end up bringing my debit card and to hell with it. Too hard trying to calculate EXACT funds for things. *snrk* XD

I'm gonna have to just not spend any money this week and use the rest of this month's money to make sure I have enough for parking and stuff in general for AC xD; Lucky for me by the time I get back it will be very close to the end of the month..and I can be reimbursed once more.

Isn't it wonderful when the planets align JUST so, and everything is all rainbows and lollipops? =D

I've been wondering the same thing about parking. At FWA this year the parking garage under the hotel was full by the time I got there, and my group ended up paying a fortune for another garage :/

Yeah, same, we spent a lot on parking as well. The first night I had to pay $32 q_q;; Then for the rest of the weekend it was like..another $30 after we found a cheaper alternative, so all together it was $60 and it caused a huge overdraft on my account. I only had made enough money for gas, registration and food.. ): ..not for parking.

park across from the overflow hotel, it's the cheapest option. GO TO FERNANDOS. Be prepared to get blown off A LOT by people that you already had plans to meet up with. (It's not an intimate con where you'll see/hang out with the same person more than once) Also, avoid the big water fountain thing and the waterfront if you don't want to get a contact high ;3

I would say do NOT park in the hotel garage. There's a parking lot behind the convention center, near where the dealer's room area used to be ( i'm sure someone can point you there, it's hard to describe ) and it's across from some sort of science center thing. It's about $7 a day ( maybe $3, I can't remember ) if you don't move your car, but you have to repay every time you leave and come back.

As for prints, unless you have a good quality printer, get them printed at kinkos. Usually $5 is a decent price for good prints, although you may be able to go higher since your art is really awesome (: I would say stick to around $8, since most big name artists don't even go over $10 for a print. Also, I would suggest going with glossy paper. Looks much nicer than matte prints.

Wow that kinda sucks, hopefully I won't be leaving too often. That sounds like a nice price for parking though, I could do $7 a day.

I used to have a printer..but I gave it away with my old PC >_> I should really get a new one at some point, printing elsewhere is either a nuisance or really expensive. I'll probably end up going to kinkos anyways. Thanks!

there's a lot of stuff right around the convention center, so really, there isn't a lot of reason to leave anyways. :3 plus the city's traffic is horrendous. D: here's the google street view of it: link

If you could point that spot out to me, too, I'd REALLY appreciate it. I'm also a first-timer at AC and have no clue where anything is. >_>;;

it's pretty much on the backside of the convention center. Near the...river...I think? It's on smallman st, pretty much at the intersection of that and 11th st.

Not sure if this works, but here's a google street view of it here

That's perfect! I'll be bringing my GPS with me, so with these landmarks and the Google link, finding it should be easy. Thank you! ^_^

No problem! :D I support sharing parking tips, since I know I'd hate to be out the ~$90 it costs to stay the weekend in the garage! D: I'm surprised it's not more well known!

I guess too many people keeping the secret to themselves? >_>

But yeah, I'd much rather spend $20ish for all 3 days I'll be there instead of $90ish. That's just robbery! X_X

While I have you here, can I also ask you what places to eat at are there near and around the convention center? Food's another cost to take into account on my list. XD

can't help you with food ^^; I tend to bring my own food, save on costs and such. I do know fernando's, across the street from the con, is pretty good, and there's an arby's and a pizza place a little ways away.

I'll just round up instead of down with food costs, then, no biggie. =3

Thank you for all of your help, though! ^_^

http://www.anthrocon.org/parking

At $10 a day, the hotel parking isn't that bad. The only problem is that it fills up pretty fast, which one of the reasons I show up on Wednesday.

Oh cool, well then, that sounds reasonable :D I know we're getting there early too, so hopefully we can grab ourselves a spot.

Be prepared to smell ungodly amounts of body spray from the 50% of lazy fucks who wont bathe.

Gross ):

And from the people wanting to cover up 'other' odors. ;D

100$ is a good estimate for parking costs. I say estimate because it's hard to get a surprise if you budget that high. I think I've always paid about 70-90$ for parking while I'm at AC. I stay Wed-Monday though and usually split it with other people when I get back.

I usually take prints, this year I got them printed for Free by a friend so I couldn't help you with WHERE to print. I've never used a Kinkos. For my badges I plan on printing them at a campus print location who I know does trusted work. Unfortunately some of my badges need to be printed privately with my friend's photo computer. I'm not super comfortable with printing...er.... -extremely furry- stuff in public. As far as selling? Prints really don't sell THAT well from my experience and the experience of other's I've heard of. Don't go crazy about printing 100 of each or something. Usually 4 or 5 of each image is a good amount, especially if you have multiple images you're putting up for print. I would personally sell images that multiple audiences can enjoy, things you can put up on display in a house etc.

Gosh, why must parking expenses be so ridiculous?? I looked up the convention center and I see it's one of those high end snooty places that like to charge for just about everything. OH I SEE YOU NEED TO USE THE INTERNET, THAT WILL BE $9.95. OH DO YOU NEED TO PARK YOUR CAR SOMEWHERE?? THAT WILL BE $15 A DAY.

|8

I guess I'm just not used to it..I come from a place where this stuff is usually uh, well, casual and free.

Yeah, that's how I plan on printing out my badges, I have to go up to my college campus to print them out. It's always awkward printing out furry things in public, especially refs, and especially when the refs are porn or something of that nature. jhgd

Okay then, well I was originally just gonna print out like..what, maybe 10? I wasn't gonna print out too many, I don't have the money for that right now. I:

I come from a place where it's all free too. It's not like the internet is ever worth it in the end. Every con I've been too it's been IMPOSSIBLE to get on it because so many people are stuck to their computers.

And yeah 10 sounds good, I just know that everytime I brought prints no one wanted them and the few times I didn't a bunch of people were interested. That was the worst.

Prints are really hit and miss. I'm not bringing any with me to AC since I won't have a Dealer's table (AA woo!)

Kinkos and stuff like that will occasionally do prints, but you gotta make sure they're all non adult, or get in with the night staff who don't really seem to care. Many artists do their own prints on home printers, but it uses up a lot of ink and the paper is pretty pricey.

I personally do my prints through Rabbit Valley :o

Yeah, I don't have a dealer's table either, so I was only gonna have maybe 5 to 10 at hand, and that would be it.

I wish I had my own printer to print things out, I feel kinda dumb for throwing out my old one. q_q augh.

What's Rabbit Valley?

Rabbit Valley is a printing organization for furries. They do a lot of the club stripes stuff and offer printing services 8D I've got an account there where I just upload a digital image and they print it and send it off for me! 8D

http://www.rabbitvalley.com/ is their website and I think they'll be at the con, so you might be able to place an order and pick it up yourself!

I will throw some extra money at you for parking (:

Thanks, that would be awesome <33

Prints usually only work for very detailed pieces. So if you have something with a really nice back color or design, or even a full background, you're more likely to sell them. I'd suggest maybe something like small prints, if you planned on just having a few regular characters or small things without a terrible lot of detail on them. You might get away with having 'mini prints' which would also save you space and money as well as seeing if there is any interest. If not, you didn't lose out too much.

In any case, you can always try parking at one of the hotels like you're a resident there and walking the way to the convention. There is usually some kind of parking space in those, even at ones like Otakon in Maryland. Or just find some place public. It saves money even if it means a walk :x

If you have a printer, you could print them as people buy them like via requests. Wait a minute... thats a briliant idea! If I ever sell prints, DOING THAT.

no

The harvest pic would be a good idea for a print! or just something similar with a character acting all cute or something like that. Cute sells sdfdsj even if it's simple! Don't overwhelm yourself with pictures with lots of detail just in case you know? Maybe do a print with..a group of different dog/cat breeds !! XD I don't know but it's all I can think of at the moment..

My convention parking secrets:

Park on day one, do not remove car from lot. Get rides from others for the duration of the convention though personally, I simply walk to places with a group or just stay in the hotel the entire time if I can help it.

On the last day, drive up to the pay window or machine and say... "I came a few hours ago but I lost my ticket! (Or press the lost ticket button)" They will charge you for one full days parking. Act upset and reluctant to pay but pay it anyways. Drive away with $80 in your pocket that you didn't need to spend.

If you're rooming with someone and your name isn't on the room, park in hotel parking. Most hotels will grant you ins-and-outs, if they give you a parking ticket, 'lose' it and show your hotel key as 'proof' of you staying there.

If you are particularly brave and you KNOW that the staff has their parking either covered or discounted, tell the person at the exit that you're with convention staff and you need to run an errand for the convention.

If you are REALLY brave and the parking entrance is automated with a push button for ticket, enter the parking garage through there in the morning and get a ticket to use later when you leave.

If you are patient, check out a little early but exit the parking garage during a rush, probably around 3 or 4. This will vary, just pay attention to your surroundings and use your best judgement. This is when most people are leaving and the hotel staff needs to worry about getting them all out in a timely manner without pissing anyone off and they will SOMETIMES just leave the exit gate wide open rather than have a line of angry furries who want to go home.

Don't park in valet. Valet has been the only time I haven't been able to get away with my sneaky parking tricks.

Even sweet, innocent, angelic little me can be a little shady sometimes. These tricks work 9 out of 10 times for me.

Oh, and let me tell you, that one time I parked in valet was because the hotel we were staying at only had valet, there was no self parking lot.

We parked in the garage right across the street from the Omni hotel down the road during my first AC trip. As far as I remember, parking was only $10-$12 a day, and we all split it. If I were you, I'd find a place to park that's reasonably priced and just leave the car there. Everything you need is within walking distance of the Westin, and it seems like the weather should be pretty nice. There's a lot of bums that wander around trying to get money from you, but from what I remember, it's no where near as bad as FWA/Atlanta. So it's pretty safe to walk around in the evening. :3

Also, Pittsburgh is very "furry friendly," as AC has been held there for many years now. So you'll see a lot of signs in restaurant windows that cater to the fandom and people in general are pretty accepting about it. XD It's funny. A lot of restaurants and shops close early (just like in Atlanta), but there are a few "late night" places that remain open past 8pm. Pizza Parma is one of them, and they have some amazing food that I plan on hitting SO HARD. lol

AC is an absolutely enormous convention (for a furry con, at least) that should probably have well over 4,000 people this year. I think FWA usually runs a little less than 2,000 on average, though this year seemed even more desolate than usual. So keep that in mind that it can get a bit crazy at times and a little overwhelming. We can fill you in on other AC tips later, I guess (like where restaurants and pharmacies/shops and such are). I ran out of important talking points. XD

Definitions of "expensive" parking vary depending on where you're from. I can park downtown here for $3 a day, so Pittsburgh for $14 a day seems hideously expensive to me. Someone from New York City or Boston would obviously disagree. ;)

There is a Parking page on the Anthrocon web site detailing all nearby parking options and their most recent known costs. You can find it here:

http://www.anthrocon.org/parking

Note well that the hotel garage offered us $10 per day parking in the past, but now there is no parking discount for hotel guests.

As for your print question, I have never sold at a con, but most artists will tell you that the demand for prints has fallen precipitously in the last few years and most of the demand is now for custom sketches; prints generally move very slowly.

20 bucks a day at the westin ((fills up by 2pm-3pm)) http://www.anthrocon.org/node/5571 But across the street ((pretty close)) is a 14 a day parking with in and out for 5 bucks,

excuse me 13 a day typing in the dark here

http://www.furaffinity.net/full/2985125/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2767698/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2847866/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3224337/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3306862/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3682590/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3944413/
Are the pieces in your gallery that I think might sell well as prints. A limited print run marked and signed with the print numbers makes them more valuable. I would print 8 by 10's kinkos and the fed ex store have good quality and generally good prices. I print mine at the local collage they have great printing prices for students. I would charge about 4 or 5 dollars above what it cost to print the prints.

I park at the overflow hotel which I stay at and they actually have a shuttle that will take you other places besides the con if you wish. So I didn't have to hunt for rides or take my car out. The plus with the parking at the double tree is that you get valet parking and can come and go as you wish once your car was registered. I was just in a wheel chair last year so used the van.
AC was my first fur con, and I had lots of fun. My suggestion is to look into tracks you want to see and go, the programming was amazing. And the comment about being blown off? I found that people were really nice and I often had to choose between continuing to talk to the wonderful people I had just met and running to my program. Don't miss Jibba's show and the dancing is tons of fun. See you there. Good luck.

Hah, for the fox/apple one I think I could just sell the original C: I could find a nice cheap frame at goodwill for it. Thanks for pointing out possible prints for me!

Also thanks for the info on parking~

Remember that frames don't travel well and glass brakes often, in fact the art show does not allow glass in frames at AC. Most art at AC is matted nicely and backed by foamboard, which is better than a cheap goodwill frame. Micheal's and most craft stores sell precut mats and I get my foamboard from dollartree. I like your work and hope to see you do well at AC. Also you should look up how to get in artists alley, its a drawing at AC for spots and anyone can go. You would probably enjoy it if you brought some drawing supplies and did sketches or badges. Just a thought.

If I remember correctly, parking for AC is $10 a night at the Westin, yes. :( No matter where you go (I was parking in a garage when I was at the Omni one year), it's gonna be pricey. I think the Westin's garage is usually $20 a night, but make sure, when you get there, to ask for a voucher that will give you half off when you go to pay for your parking spot. Ugh, for all we pay for the con, hotel, and food in Pitts, you'd think they'd guve us a damn break on parking. >:[

I don't know about parking (looks like it's already answered) but with the economy these days everything that should be free never is, so expecting it not to be is a good idea. ;3

Most folks I know who make prints at cons do so by simply bringing their own printer along. It's the only way to maximize any income from something like that, I would think.

This is my first AC and I am terrified. I had to be a dork and get a dealers room table too.

Print wise I dunno if they will sell but everything I printed (professionally, its too late to order from em now though D: ) will only be shown in print so if people like my art and characters they might go "Oh hey pretty!" At least I am hoping. And they will sell from 2-5 bucks since i got a good deal on em. But I heard people can be cheap with prints so here's hoping.

As for parking we are flying in and taking a shuttle in so I have no clue. :<