Convention tip: Cameras, phones, camera phones and sharing your photos

You may be tempted to show off a great Star Wars phone case, but this may be the best time to switch it up – unless you made it yourself, you probably won’t be the only one using it. Same goes for ringtones!

Unless you’re a professional, or otherwise used to hauling around a large camera, take one that’s portable and small. I’m sure a lot of folks will be using cell phone cameras, which are usually both!

If you are planning on using your cell phone to take pictures, and you use an iPhone or Android device, it might be worth looking into Instagram. It’s a nifty little social photo app that you can either take pictures through or use to post existing photos taken by the default camera setup. Yes, it’s best known for the faux-retro filters, but you don’t have to use them – and you can link it to your Twitter account.

For old-school photographers, or those who don’t want to share on the go, I remain, always and forever, partial to Flickr. It may be losing ground to Instagram these days (and with good reason – there’s a mobile app, but it’s awful) but it still remains the best photo archive/browsing site out there.

Anyway, a few more practical tips:

Luci: “Take a Sharpie and masking tape and put your name and address (or cell phone number if it’s not your cell phone) on the camera. You will be surprised by how many get returned to you. At DragonCon people are always turning those things and iPhones in because they are honest but by the end of the con, no owner shows up.”

Erika: “Remember to pack some extra batteries in your backpack/bag within easy reach.” And a spare charger, cell phone users! In fact, bring two, and leave the one you use overnight at the hotel – that way you have a spare if the other one gets lost. You might also want to look into a battery case or something similar.

And don’t forget to keep an eye on your camera batteries. True story from James: “Thursday night at Comic-Con, I plugged my camera into the laptop to download the pictures, and left the camera on all night (the batteries use a separate wall charger.) When I went to take a pic on Friday, it was dead.”

“Tip 1: remember to charge your camera batteries at night and Tip 2: remember to grab the batteries in the morning when you grab the camera – if you need to, leave your camera battery door open to remind you that there’s no battery in it, since usually outlets are not in obvious places in the hotel. Having a spare battery pack is smart!”

The Celebration VI schedule revealed!

The official app was updated today with a portion of the schedule. No app? You can see the panels on Celebration’s mobile site in your ordinary web browser.

Books and comics. For the Expanded Universe newshounds (that would be us) things start out Thursday with Dark Horse Comics Looks Ahead: 2013. Also Thursday is the Timothy Zahn Retrospective. Friday starts off with What’s Coming From Del Rey and later, A Tribute to Brian Daley with James Luceno and Pablo Hidalgo. Sunday brings The New Star Wars Comic Series at Dark Horse and THE Essential Panel with Jason Fry and Pablo.

There are also a number of writing workshops by Dave Filoni, James Luceno, Aaron Allston, Troy Denning and Timothy Zahn, along with a comic writer roundtable.

Celebs. Ian McDiarmid makes his stateside Celebration debut Thursday at 5, while Mark Hamill caps Friday evening. Saturday evening, James Arnold Taylor shares a double bill with Carrie Fisher.

Announcements. Expect some on Friday’s Super-Secret Star Wars Panel with Todd Grimes, Seth Green & Matt Senreich, an “exclusive first look at their top secret animated Star Wars project.”

Also of note: A first look at Attack of the Clones 3D; Bullied – What Every Parent, Teacher, and Kid Needs to Know, led by Ashley Eckstein (who wrote about it last week) and Carrie Goldman, the mother of Katie the Star Wars girl, as well as a panel on Planning Your Star Wars Wedding.

There’s plenty more in the app, including film screenings – these are only my picks for highlights. What catches your eye?

Is this our first look at Her Universe’s Mara Jade shirt?

…I’m guessing yes. Ashley Eckstein writes on this Celebration sneak peek: “This strong female character with Red hair, may have her own awesome shirt.” And who else goes sleeveless with a beige cape?

This is an Instagram photo with a filter, so don’t be too quick to judge on coloring… Though I’m afraid the jumpsuit was inevitable.

Ashley said in February that Her Universe was working with artist Cat Staggs on a Mara shirt for Celebration.

Celebration tip: Expand your horizons

Today’s tip is from Nancy: “Go to panels and events that are outside your usual Star Wars interests.”

“One thing about being a volunteer is that I’ve staffed panels that didn’t excite me in advance. I’m nearly always surprised, because the panel is waaaay more interesting than I’d expected. The little people actors who played Ewoks? Were hilarious. Dave and Lou Elsey? Were engaging and smart and enthusiastic and just generally adorable. I could go on and on, but the main point is to be open to new experiences. Celebration is a really terrific chance to try out new-to-you parts of the fandom.”

This is totally true. I ended up at a couple of Clone Wars panels at CV, and they were incredibly fun, despite the fact that I could count on one hand the number of episodes I’d actually watched at that point. And after seeing this video, I really wish I’d gone to the voice actors one!

And yes, while a lot of the high-profile events will have lines and fill up fast, there are often plenty of seats left at others.

“Why We Love the Prequels” panel returns to CVI

Bryan Young’s signature panel returns to Celebration, and in a bigger venue. “Why We Love the Prequels” will take over the Behind the Scenes Stage on Sunday at 10:30, enlisting the help of Pablo Hidalgo. The rest of the panel lineup is mostly the same as the original, with Young, Kyle Newman, Tom Hodges and Eric Geller. Joining them will be Jesse Hildreth, Senior Lighter on The Clone Wars.

Celebration VI: The rancor is coming!

Special guests The 501st is bringing a rancor to Orlando. Built out of foam by Pizzazz Scenic Contractors, Roxy the Rancor will be avaliable for folks to take pictures with. (Not, alas, wrestling.)

Panels. Still waiting on the schedule, but here’s something new and different: Historian Cole Horton and illustrators Chris Reiff and Chris Trevas will present From World War to Star Wars. The panel, held in the University Room (also new!) will “give fans a rare look into the in-universe parallels and real-world connections between the Second World War and the Star Wars Universe.” This is definitely more of the type of panel I was hoping to see, so it bodes well for the rest of the schedule, I think.

Merchandise. Jedi News’ Justin LaSalata shared the CVI Store’s merchandise order form. Of note for us: The 6″ Mara Jade statue will be available on Thursday for $85.

Also, be sure to vote in our latest sidebar poll!

Celebration tip: Be nice to the volunteers!

Today’s tip is a short one from Paula: “Remember that the vast majority of people staffing the rooms are volunteering. They don’t always know what’s going on, but will help as best they can if you ask nicely. So be nice.”

As someone who’s volunteered in the past… We do want to help you, but sometimes we can’t – when I was stationed on the dealer room floor at CV, I felt awful every time someone asked me where something was and I didn’t know! Alas, a side effect of volunteering is that sometimes you’re not quite familiar with anything outside of your immediate area, particularly for the first few days – I could direct people to the store, the bathrooms, the autograph hall, the artists, tattoo area and certain booths, but one of that day’s half-dozen Clone Wars panels? Forget it.

More related advice in the comments! Anyone who’s volunteered at a Celebration or any such con, feel free to chime in – on-topic!

Celebration VI schedule to be revealed in app first

Actual news in an email update? Refreshing! According to an email sent to CVI attendees about an hour ago, the program schedule will be coming to the Celebration mobile app first. No word on when the reveal will happen – early next week, perhaps? – but consider yourselves warned.

One thing we do know about the schedule: It’s 9 feet long. And it looks like this.

Extra credit if you can figure out what this means: