Well, for my first experience...
I mostly watched things I'd already seen, but seeing it movie theatre style instead of on fansubs was actually fun. Also, I learned everything is funnier when a crowd watches it. A joke could not go by without laughter, and this somehow made it more enjoyable for me. (And thus we learn group psychology.) I also got to check out some series I'd never seen before.
The panels, the ones I did see, were mostly pretty interesting. Obviously, you only go to ones that sound interesting to begin with, but I still got the impression that, for instance, the How to Become a Samurai in 1 Hour panel would have entertained anyone with even a slight interest in samurai for that full hour.
I caught only the tail end of the AMV contest, but two out of three were really good. Better than 90% of the youtube links you find on 4chan.
The dealer's room is cool. You can buy all kinds of junk, most of it cheap. Blades start at around $10 (real metal, with an edge). The game room actually has a big variety of games, but unless it's one of the tournaments, you'll have to search for it.
Dlsite.com gave me some free porn just for asking "What's this?" And a disc of h-game demos.
Somebody climbed onto the roof and vandalized a window using duct tape. Above the Charles Street Lobby.
I spent $50 in the dealer's room. Several figures and volumes of manga. Prices I saw:
$15: 4 volumes of manga
$20: 2 DVDs of anime
$3-9: 2" - 6" figure
$25+: Larger models
$10+: Blades (as mentioned)
$15: T-shirt
...something like that. And I'd say: Don't buy food at the con or near it. Buy groceries and stash them at your hotel. And drink only water. Helps a good bit. And I think I'm still high off the experience, or why would I bother relating this much, Anon to Anon?
