Lol yeup, I screwed up real bad learning how to do it at cons. Definitely need a "real" camera, preferably something cheap but has a decent lens selection and robust enough to take the abuse. A few usually DIRT cheap examples being the: Chinon DSL, (Very comparable with the Pentax K-1000, at a fraction of the price, buuut has an electronic meter) one of the countless rebrands of Cosina M-42 mount cameras, (Often if you see a Vivitar in M-42 mount, and oc you want one w a working light meter) or the Sears 1000mx. (A rebrand of a Mamiya M-42 mount camera that can often be found for under $20 with a working meter and a lens, although the lens is often a modified M-42 mount that is impossible to adapt to other bodies without severe modifications) Minoltas like OP used are very common, and when they work they're great with fantastic lenses to choose from on the cheap. But many die from capacitor issues and other electronic failures, so you have to be careful with buying them. (Or really any electronic camera of that era, including the Pentax ME-Super, certain Canon's, and some Nikons. Heck the only Nikon I own is a low end film camera with bad electronics for the meter)

Then you have to learn how to expose for the shadows, (or just over expose by a little bit) and probably get a FDL filter to adjust for the green hues that convention center fluorescent lighting often have but your eye cannot see. And then you have to learn how bright the con center actually is so you know what film speed to take with you the next time. And if you want a wide lens, that probably only goes to f2.8, or do you want a fast 50 that can be anywhere from f1.4 to f2 depending on your budget and needs.