I usually bring two books since I have to travel 
by air to get to conventions.  They are heavy, 
but they are worth bringing because it's cool to 
see people's faces light up in recognition and 
delight.

I usually leave my cels in my hotel room in a 
secure place until it's time for the cel 
gathering. I see people bringing their books 
with them to the exhibit hall and think it's 
such a bad idea, since cels could fall out, 
get "lost," etc.

I've seen people with those rolling suitcases 
and that is a great idea to transport cels (and 
any other things you end up buying/getting for 
free).

When deciding what to bring, I know how my 
friends would like to see cels from certain 
series that they like, so I bring those.  Since 
my online gallery is private, most people have 
never seen my entire collection, so it's 
something novel (I hope).

I collect from a wide variety of shows, but have 
certain favorite ones, or what I 
call, "representative." I also go with themes 
like, smiling, crying, or blushing.

Most people at the gathering, I've found, are 
more impressed by autographed sketches, then 
autographed cels somewhat, but not autographed 
shikishi, nor signed pencil boards.

Oh, most people at a gathering usually will be 
respectful of your cels because they are 
collectors too.  If you don't feel safe about 
it, hold the book and flip the pages by yourself 
while you show and tell.  It's good to keep an 
eye on your cel books, and have your friends 
help you out with that, and there shouldn't be 
any trouble.

Although it's great to get positive reactions 
from people, you are collecting for yourself, so 
just be proud of your collection and enjoy the 
sharing/socializing ^v^

Alice