So I wound up going to this event on a whim because it had a couple of people I wanted autographs from and a friend of mine agreed to drive the three hour trip.  I only went on Saturday because it looked like there wasn’t a whole lot to do at this event and after going to Anime Expo I didn’t want to fork over the extra money to buy a weekend pass and a hotel this quickly.

Vendors/Artist Ally

So honestly the best part about the vendors hall was the fact that the gaming room was also there.  I spent most of my time at the vendors area just going through the other conventions that were advertising but as I walked through the actual shops I couldn’t find anything that made me consider getting my wallet out.  I hardly found any artwork for sale too so I honestly thought for a little while that the artist ally was somewhere else, but it wasn’t.  Overall I think the convention would benefit from making the entire room a vendors hall and getting more vendors to come to the event and then put all the gaming consoles in a separate room.

Guests:

This convention had some nice guests.  Tara Sands, Chris Patton, Leah Clark and a couple of other guests.  Not a whole lot of big names but enough that it made this convention worth going to for a day.  The problem was the guests hardly did anything during the con.  On Saturday they had one massive autograph walk of fame and some of them, if they choose to, went to the vendors to sign autographs.  However, nobody had any idea when or if the guests would be at the vendors.  Also only one guest, Leah Clark, had a panel while the others seemed to just show up to sign autographs.

Panels:

Believe it or not this is the conventions biggest downfall.  The panels were pretty dull.  I went to one panel that was supposed to last for an hour; however we get the panel about 10 minutes after it started and it ended about 15 minutes after we got there.  I looked at my schedule in confusion as I double checked to see if I misread it, I didn’t.  The panel literally ended halfway through.  Other panels I went to really weren’t that interesting and I nearly fell asleep during one.  I went to one fan panel about the Adventure Zone podcast but all it did was summarize the events of the podcast.  I also found it odd that there were very few Anime panels at the event.  If you didn’t know this was an anime con, the panels would not have helped you in anyway.  I wound up refusing to go to anymore panels and just played video games till it was time to get the autographs I came to get.  I am glad they choose great games to bring, because I would’ve been bored otherwise.

Organization:

For a convention that’s been around for six years and with such few things to actual do, you would think this would be the area where they shine at, unfortunately they did not. Not only was there not a lot planned for this convention, but some things were way off schedule.  The one autograph hall of fame for Saturday started late because a guest didn’t make it in time.  These things happen and I don’t know why the guest was late so it could be at no fault of the con; however, the event happened at 6:30pm so you would think they would be able to use most of the day to prepare for the biggest event.  Another problem was the fact that they had to obstruct a section of the only walkway at the convention to move tables from the vendors to the main hall for the autographs.  The staff was clearly getting frustrated because people were in the way; however, how could the attendees know to get out of the way if you wait till you walk up right behind them and then tell people to move.

Overall:

Overall this convention was just dull.  It’s a great convention if you’re new to the scene because it is small, easy to navigate and gives a basic example of what to expect at a con.  Unfortunately for someone who’s been to several conventions this convention will appear lackluster and boring.  I was glad I only went for one day and went home after I was done.  I spent $30 to get in and didn’t get my money’s worth.  You can spend $30 on a day pass at most cons and find something to keep you busy for a majority of the day.  At this con I got bored with everything but the video games in the span of a few minutes and I can play games at home.  I have no desire to go to this event until it does some serious growing.  It just doesn’t have enough to make it worth the effort.