So this year I went to my first convention in Michigan with Youmacon.  This was a must do for me because it had Wendee Lee and her autograph helped me to reach 30 signatures on Fire Emblem: Awakening, I’m still a bit stunned about that to be honest.  This was another anime convention and it was one I had fun at, but it did have some hiccups.

Vendors/Artist Ally

I really enjoyed the vendors.  There was a wide variety of artwork and vendors to shop from and what I really loved is the amount of space the vendors hall had.  It was so easy to walk around comfortably and it made the whole shopping experience that much better.  I was able to walk around and get a good look at everything without worrying about getting in someone’s way.  I also managed to find a nice deal on dice that I can use for a group that I am the Dungeon Master for in a Dungeons and Dragons Campaign.  My fiance also managed to find a few T-Shirts that she really liked.  Overall the vendors were a success.

Guests

The guest list was great, but that’s again what motivates me to go to cons so don’t expect me to critic the guest list heavily.  This convention had Robbie Daymond, Ray Chase, Cherami Leigh, Wendee Lee and so many more.  As for the autograph sessions they were managed very well.  The staff was very helpful in making sure you were at the right spot and were really friendly to talk to.  They also did a lot of work to track how many autographs they had per guest so it helps them to cap the line and avoid disappointment.  Another thing I really liked about how the lines were managed.  We did have one problem where one guest was about 15 minutes late to an autograph session and during that same session an attendee decided to have a 10 minute conversation with a guest during the autograph session.  The crowd was starting to threaten violence on the attendee so someone went to get another member of the con staff to resolve the problem.  Luckily after the additional staff entered the attendee was asked to leave and the autograph session was extended by 30 minutes. I thought this situation was handled very well.

Panels

I did a few panels this time.  As far as panels go there were very few panels outside of guest panels that really caught my attention so I did not go to a lot of them; however, the events the convention had were amazing.  I went to a few gaming events where we played a round of games like Werewolf and Death Note Mafia.  As you can see I have a weakness for games with a bit of suspense to them.  The people they had managing the games did a great job being fair with everyone and I had so much fun.  I also went to a concert, yes you read that right.  The convention had the creators of music for DragonBall Z so I had to stop by and listen to their music and I had an amazing time.  Overall this was a lot of fun.  There was one problem with panels though, and that was the directions.  The convention is divided into two buildings: The Cobo building and The GM Renaissance Center.  The events in the Cobo were easy to find but the GM Center was tricky and apparently several people had trouble finding where to go.  Instead of taking escalators all the way to the right floor you had to go to a certain floor and find an elevator to take you to another floor and then use escalators to get around.  Literally that is the best way I have to describe how to get anywhere.  The convention needs more signs in the GM center for sure.

Overall

I had a great time and did a wide variety of activities.  It was a lot of fun to be at this event and recommend this con to anyone who can easily attend it. It was well worth the seven hour ride it took to get to the event.  It is easy to get lost so take time time to really map this event and get a feel for the buildings but otherwise the staff is helpful and the event had a lot to offer.