Time for part 2 of The Fangirl Handbook! In part 1, we reviewed the proper concert etiquette. Now let’s discuss how to meet the band! Thanks to social media and companies like VIP Nation, it’s become easier than ever to meet your favorite celebs. Meeting your favorite band or celebrity is something you’ll remember forever – both the good and the bad.  There are two scenarios to the meet and greet:

1. How You Think the Meet & Greet Will Go:
Your favorite band member is so taken by your beauty, wit, and that perfect outfit you planned that they spend hours talking to you as if no one else is in the room.  You get to have a full, intelligent conversation with each member of the band, and then take the perfect meet and greet photo which you can instantly share.

2. What the Meet & Greet is Actually Like:
You are in a line with approximately 500 other people. You overhear a security guard complain that they are running behind. Venue staff are panicking because doors open in 45 minutes and they’ve got to corral thousands of screaming girls into the venue. Instructions are being yelled at you, usually some variation of “no touching, no cell phones, no cameras, no autographs” as you make your way towards that moment you’ve been dreaming of. You can finally see them in the distance! This is your chance! Based on how quickly the line is moving, you calculate you will have about 15 seconds, 20 if you’re lucky. Panic sets in. You’re next! What do you say? His eyes are more beautiful than you remember from the hi-res photos you found on Tumblr. You barely manage to get out a “hello” before you feel yourself being pushed between your least favorite boys. Security yells at you to turn around for your picture, and voila your moment is over. You didn’t even make it down the line to say hi to your favorite!!  Six days go by, and you STILL don’t have that priceless meet and greet photo, which you’re sure by now is a total disaster.

We’ve been lucky enough to meet a few of our favorite bands before, here is some of our advice to make the most of it (for you and everyone else involved).

DOs and DON’Ts of Meeting the Band.

DO:

• Be polite.
• Stay calm.
• Talk to them! You might not get the chance again.
• Ask for a picture if you can. A picture says 1000 words.
• Have an idea of what you want to say in advance. Usually you will get just a couple of minutes (even seconds) and having something in mind keeps you from freezing up or worse rambling incoherently at them.
• Give them a chance to talk too!
• Thank them! They do not have to be standing around for hours taking pictures and meeting hundreds of people. Not everyone does.
• Introduce yourself. It may be your FAVORITE BAND MEMBER OF ALL TIME OMG but they are people too. Think of meeting them like you would any other person. This helps with remaining calm.
• Be nice to them. We shouldn’t have to say this, but you would be surprised.
• Have your camera ready! You will have very limited time, so don’t waste any digging in your purse for your camera!
• Be kind to other fans and help each other out! (Again, we shouldn’t have to say this). Remember, we’re all in this together!
• Follow directions. If security says no hugging, then just don’t do it. They have rules for a reason, whether you like them or not. You don’t want to be that person that gets escorted out.

DON’T:

• Scream in their face. Would you like a random stranger running up to you screaming in your face? No? Then don’t do it to them.
• Scream as soon as they enter your line of vision. You are both taking time away from someone else, and scaring the band.
• Touch them inappropriately. (Yes, we’ve seen this happen.) Just generally don’t touch the talent.  As we were told on TRL however, the talent can (and will) do whatever they want.
• Jump on them. They see you. They know you are excited. You don’t need to physically attack them to show this.
• Ask for more than one photo. If your first photo turned out, there is no need to ask for a “selfie!”. Use the extra time to chat with them – you already have 1 photo, enjoy your brief time!
• Twerk. Ever. Just stop. It’s not cute.
• Say rude things to them. Don’t like his girlfriend? Keep it to yourself.
• Bring embarrassing or inappropriate photos for them to sign, or bring up uncomfortable topics. This should be self explanatory. Don’t do it, it’s not funny or cute. It’s just plain rude.
• Attack them before they’ve gotten out of the car/off stage/etc. Just calm down. They see you. They are more than happy to meet you if you are calm and nice, but will get scared if you suddenly jump on them and start twerking and asking for selfies.
• Push/shove other fans out of the way, or use people’s heads as a tripod. Once the pushing starts, they will get scared and leave…as would any sane person. And you’re ruining the experience for someone else.

We hope this list of Do’s and Don’ts help prepare you for the next time you get the chance to see your favorite boy band on tour! Check out VIP Nation for upcoming tour info.

(Feature photo from Backstreet Boys “I Want it That Way“)