SOB, I meant "mixed feelings" on the first question. This is what happens when you break three polls in a row.
The Show: Katsucon 2010 Where: National Harbor, MD--the Gaylord Hotel & convention center When: February 12-14 Which Fandoms: Anime, mostly, though there were some video game characters, a notable number of Potterfen, and a gaggle of Gagas. Demographic: It seemed like a slightly older crowd--like a good number of fans were in their twenties and up. It also seemed to be a more racially diverse show than usual. How Many Days Did You Attend: All of 'em! And I feel like I was there for the full thing through. Why Did You Attend: Artists' Alley/because I was poor How Many Years Have You Done This: This was my first one.
Review of Con-Staff interactions: Many problems were had with the Artist Alley head, Tex. I had a couple people tell me that he was busy ranting about the person who called the comptroller--me--throughout the convention. Other staffers were friendly and helpful, though, and on Sunday Tex even helped me drag things out to my car.
Review of Pricing: $100 for a space + $45 admission seemed high for a 6k person show. I talked to a few smaller artists who were having a hard time making it back.
Review of Location: The Gaylord is very pretty, very huge, and very upscale. When I arrived on Friday, the place was crawling with Secret Service because Obama and George W. Bush were both there--that's the kind of crowd this place takes. That being said, it's also an awful place to drag stock around, and its high-end status means it and the surrounding stores are hideously expensive. Expect to pay $8 for a bowl of soup and $15-19 for a day's parking. Hotel staff were mostly nice and helpful. They let me know where I was going, and one even took pity on me and helped me drag stuff down the hallway. I only had problems with one, who refused to let me out another of the hotel's exits because a marriage convention was using them. The difference between me and the other Katsu people using those doors? I was dragging a giant bin of stock/supplies.
Review of Artist Alley: The setup seemed very strange/not especially space-efficient. I also talked to artists set in corners far from the doors, who told me they didn't get traffic. Lots of artists didn't show up on Friday. A bunch didn't even set up on Sunday. The result was a somewhat patchy-looking Alley. I got the impression that Sunday was as slow as it was because people thought we were tearing down.
Review of Dealer Room: I . . . walked through it once, while in search of Nekocon's table. It was shiny and busy, though I talked to a couple vendors who said it wasn't being especially profitable. It looked interesting on Friday, when we had the wall between it and the AA open, but no one would open the wall after that.
Other Thoughts: A loading dock would've been wonderful. A secure room so I wouldn't have to drag stuff back and forth/waste an hour and a half setting up every day would've been nice as well. And I didn't have the worst of it--I talked to people who had two vans' worth of camera equipment they had to lug back and forth every night, up elevators and across a quarter to a third of a mile of hotel hallways.