Best: PAX East
Worst: Tekkoshocon

Best : Ohayo-con

Man, there's just so much to do there for a con in Ohio of all places. It's in the winter obviously, and everyone's stuck inside, but I got to see some stupidly neat stuff. Cat bus, Black Johnny, Mister chef. The Toku / /toy/ meet up was so awesome too, and I really wish that time of year would come by quicker. I always have a good time with that convention.

Colossal-con might contest this for me, but I need to like go on a year when shit doesn't suddenly shit on me like no tomorrow.

Worst : Anime Punch

No fucking contest here. The Con-chair does not know how to run it, and it was pretty much a ghost town of a convention, the only reason they can draw a crowd is because they somehow manage to bring talent over. But the game room is horrible, the "party" antics suck, and its'... honestly more like Hipster-con and less of an actual anime convention. Next year I'm saving up for Acen or Colossal instead of going to Anime Punch. It's just that bad.

>>4847332
May I ask what make Tekko horrible? I was considering it on my con list for next year since I have a relative who lives in Pittsburgh.

Anyway, I actually really love Katsucon and it's worth if if you're on the East Coast.

ATL fag here. I don't go to just ATL cons, but the two extremes happen to be here.

Best: Dragon*Con
People are there to have fun. Everyone (most everyone) is accepting, nice, hilarious, and helpful. There is stuff to do, people to meet, it's organized, it's big, it's fun!

Worst: AWA or Momocon
I keep thinking and hoping these cons will be awesome, but they never are. Momocon is a clusterfuck of ghetto weebs who have no idea what personal space is, and the staff sucks. AWA is completely dead. There is literally NOTHING to do unless you go to raves or an AMV/Hentia room. Shit sux both ways.

Best: Dragon*Con
Worst: Izumicon

>elaborate

It's no fun otherwise

Best: Otakon because of the swarming mass of people, the way cosplayers take over part of the city, and good photoshoot experiences.

Worst: Setsucon because I hate low attendence conventions. They're usually boring.

I don't have a worst con per say, up until last year I was only going to Otakon, I've been slowly branching out.

Otakon 09- Was by far the best for me, went to great panels and had a kick-ass group of friends. It was only 3 of us, which is a great number to roam around the con with.

Major down side with Otakon, it's getting too big. I don't go for any of the events now. There's no point. I went to a panel on Sunday and people were in line prior to me and I got there an hr early. The panel didn't start till 11am. I gotta say I had more fun on Sunday that I did on any of the other days this year. I wasn't cosplaying, I hung out with friends and the crowd was so much calmer.

Katsu-con 16/17 - Has not let me down yet, even with the 1st time going was after the blizzards. During the blizzard year, it wasn't the best a lot of canceled events and so forth... but it was a ton of fun hanging out with my cosplay partner. I love the hotel, it's so amazingly pretty.

AUSA- Right now is on my lowest list of good cons. All that really has going for it is the cosplayers and area. As long as there's good weather, it's a great place to get photos. A lot of different areas for photography. I've only gone once, and I'm giving it another shot this year... but I may not even bother again if it's bad. I got a hotel so maybe it'll be better.

pic not related

Best: Ohayocon

Worst: Shinbokucon.
yep.

Best: AnimeIowa. Close-knit community, decent forums for the time when the con is not happening, enough good (and bad) cosplayers that the good ones really stand out, and just big enough that it's not choking on its own success.

Worst: ACen '08. Stood in line for 9 hours to get registered, only to not get a discount, miss every panel I wanted to see, and was left with 15 minutes of dealer floor time. Wife and I eventually said "Fuck it" and spent the rest of the weekend enjoying our awesome hotel room.

>Best

Anime Boston. It may not be a good con in the conventional sense (Otakon might be better in that sense), but I always have a ton of fun at Anime Boston every year.The aforementioned Otakon and then animeNEXT are close seconds.

>Worst
I could list off any number of free, one-day cons I've been to, but that wouldn't really be fair. So I'm gonna say Castle Point Anime Convention- the one-day con with the audacity to charge for the same exact amount of programming as a free con. It's only 12 bucks for a pre-reg ticket now, but I'm pretty sure on-site reg was around 30 bucks the first (and last) time I went. People tell me it's just a con to hang out with friends at, but I really don't need to pay just to hang out with friends for a day. mangaNEXT is a close second here, but it's been getting better, so it's off the hook- I actually plan to attend this year.

>>4847324
Best: Matsuricon 2007 (I think?), First Anime Punch, or Marcon 2011

All three of the cons have been super fun for me, Matsuri had fun people and awesome cosplays that year, Marcon because I got involved in Psi Psi Columbus, and Anime Punch had a lot of stuff to do and was great fun the first year.

Worse: Anime Punch 2009, Marcon 2009

First choice obvious, only good thing was Protoman, second choice, con sucked due to drama reason, good thing was I really bonded with the guy who'd become my boyfriend.

Uk cons, but hey ho

Best: Probably Ayacon, though I might be biased as it was my first proper con. Good location (better than Ame), excellent events, decent guests, and great congoers. <3 Hyper Japan gets an honorary mention as a 2 day event even though it had some obvious problems this year with over crowding.

Worst: London MCM expo if it even counts as a con. They seriously need to get their heads out of their arses and get some proper security. Personally I think they should stop trying to (badly) pander to the anime crowd and go back to being a movies, comics and media convention. This years JAF is a runner up - £10/day is not worth it for 10 stalls, a masq with one group in, and 2 hours of 4 girls dancing.

And for the record, the one American convention I've been to (Sakuracon this year) wasn't as good as Ame, Aya or Kita, though that doesn't mean that it was bad. Maybe I just like my conventions smaller. It was miles better than Expo, though, and they could learn a lot of lessons from it if that was the route they wanted to take.

>>4847458
Expos don't count as cons. They are trade fairs plain and simple. I wish people would stop referring them as cons.

Best: Anime Fest 2006
first con I went to completely solo, wound up leaving 4 days later with a ton of new friends and some of my favorite con memories ever.

Worst: Anime Matsuri 1
3 hrs in line for reg, transformers on loop, worst run cosplay contest I've ever seen, babysit a drunk fuck...pretty much this con was horrible.

The most consistently bad con I go to is Oni-con though, its like they still have no idea what's going on but they're in their 7th year.

>>4847475

I know, which is part of the reason it's so shit. They're increasingly trying to sell themselves off as one, though.

Best: Acen 2010
Bought tons of stuff, had a room to myself, went to all the panels, and had a posh time.

Worse: Anime reactor. Drunks, small dealer room, had to share a room with a pot head and sleep on the floor, and since it was illegal to smoke in the room, he had the air on and I got a really bad cold.

I've only been to one, and it was complete shit. It's in Daytona Beach, Florida and it's called 'Anime Express'. It's on a college campus, the staff is uncaring and unorganized as fuck, and there is quite literally nothing going on. There were no dealers last year. The Artist Alley had some nice people, but there were only like 3 tables there. There were no activities or panels, except random people watching anime and AMVs and pretending 'lol it's a panel on Afro Samurai because we're watching it and making dumb jokes for commentary lol'. The 'rave' was, I shit you not, upwards of seven people with glow sticks dancing in the campus cafeteria. I hardly saw any cosplaying. I've been going to this con for 3 years in a row because I live right by it and it's mega cheap, but it gets worse and worse every year. It's not worth going to if you aren't in the immediate area already. I would never pay for a hotel to go to this.

Best: Aki-Con 2009 (or 2008? whatever the first year was.) It was a total bro con. The second year was pretty good too. If it weren't for personal drama the change to the Hilton last year would have been pretty amazing for me, but I'm really looking forward to it again this year.

Worst: Kumori-Con 2009. Oh lord. Terrible location, hotel stuff were nasty individuals all around (one cosplayer got told to "go get hit by a bus so there'd be one less freak in the world.") Elevators broke down/had horrendous lines. I didn't even know there was a second building with events. It was just...bad.

bump

Haven't been going to a lot of cons.

Worst: Anime Conji? Only because it's a tinyass local con and they had nothing that really caught my interest
Best: Anime Expo. I find it fun, it's a big con and with lots of cosplayers and I always go with my friends.

Bump for appropriate thread.

Best- Sakuracon 2011. Rocked out with friends, wasn't even there for most of the con, just messed around, did some fuckawesome photoshoots and had a great time.

Worst- MTAC 2009. I had just gotten into the con scene, and going to my second MTAC in the wake of my first AWA left a lot to be desired- basically going to a small con after the thrill of a large con. Plus, the guests were shit compared to 2008 and there was nothing to do and the con theme sucked ass.

WORST: Anime Matsuri 2011

Hoolyy shit, they just had to book the hotel that was next to the rodeo that was going on the same weekend. Because that's what you need at a convention, more drunk fucks to harass convention-goers. Not to mentioned the hotel staff itself treated the con-goers like shit too while they treated the rodeo-goers like first-class citizens. There's also other things that I heard from other people, like how a hotel staff (supposedly the head too?) actually hit/assaulted a cosplayer.

The hotel layout was TERRIBAD for the con, the artist alley downstairs was lined down in a narrow-ass hallway that was constantly congested. The artists upstairs had a bit of an easier time without traffic but that was mostly because they shoved into a corner. If the artist alley wasn't hell enough, the hotel also decided it would be a great to place their goddamn concession stand there too. I love me some food, but the the hotel was already HOT as it is and they were practically catering steaming nachos and hotdogs all around.

The only decent thing I liked about the convention was the formal dance they had. Maybe it's because it was also my first formal dance at a con, but I thought it was pretty good. The music choice was awesome and hanging out with Texas Jet was cool too.

>>4849367
Also, some reviews for the hotel during AM2011.

"I have *never* stayed at such a terrible hotel in my life. I was with a "freak show convention", as a majority of the hotel staff referred to us as. Although the convention is partly at fault for scheduling the event at the same venue that many rodeo-goers would be at, the hotel staff made the clash even more intolerable. The staff was openly insulting to attendees of the convention, even to younger kids and thier parents! The hotel barred people in costume and people with convention badges from the front entrance, insisting rudely that we take the back entrance, while anyone with a "normal' appearance were allowed right through. Reservations made month in advance for the con-goers were scalped to rodeo attendees. Parking was a living hell. Even though we were hotel guests, we had to pay $20 to park offsite. Why? Because the parking security that barely spoke English heard that we were with the convention and told us there were no parking available when there were TONS OF EMPTY SPACES IN PLAIN SIGHT. "

>>4849390
Another reviewer, this is legit too. I saw the sign itself and the 'DO NOT' was crossed out. I wish I took a picture.

"One of the services that was provided by the hotel for the convention attendees was water stations. Their idea of a water station was unattended pitchers of ice water. I've only seen water served this way for business meetings. Not something that is going to have all ages in attendance. It is WAY to easy for someone to spike the water. In fact, someone wrote a sign & posted it above one water station "PLEASE DO NOT ROOFIE THE WATER". "

Relevant content.

>"PLEASE DO NOT ROOFIE THE WATER"

Thats... Hilarious, but kinda sad

Best: Anime Iowa. Small, fairly intimate gathering, snack room is FANTASTIC (they never run out and offer a bajillion kinds of candy and soda and never tell you to stop eating) often oddball panels of deeply devoted fans, a interesting mix of vendors (as opposed 500 big business manga booths)... I just love this con, even though the dance is always meh with goddamn Dubstep, but this a plague that spreads to all cons. I'm also prejudiced, because 2 years ago Anime Iowa had the best goddamn DBZ panel I've ever been to. We calculated Goku's power level by the end of the series, and it was clearly over 9,000.

Worst Con: Anime-Zap. It is literally a hallway with two panel rooms. There were 2 games, I think, and a ton of 13 year old Hetaliatards running hysterically up and down the hallway being lol so randum. The cosplays were nonexistant to shit, there was no place to sit, nothing to do, and the level of fucktard attendees was unbearable.

Peoria used to have a janky little con called pokettokon that got canceled last-minute two years ago and so it was Spark as a first year con replacing another, but still. I was so annoyed I left and drank myself unconscious.

The worst part was my little Hetaliatard cousin was there, and she called me afterwords screaming that it was better than Acen. I nearly murdered her through the phone. It turns out she was one of the little fucktards running screaming through the halls and trying to larp Hetalia or something. I hope she grows out of this before I am forced to drown her, for the sake of the family name.

Just to say, Acen is awesome and THE con of the year, but Anime Iowa is less intense and more friendly, so they got my top billing.

My con going is kind of limited to the East Coast (specifically DC/Baltimore region) but next year I do plan on branching out.

Best: Otakon is the biggest on the EC and it shows. The Inner Harbor literally gets swarmed by it and it's quite fun to see and experience. Civilians are generally very polite (in my experience) and generally seem amused and entertained by the spectacle. Got lots of people asking me for photos while I went off-site to grab food or walk back to the hotel. The con itself is huge and generally there's always something to do. The dealer's room is nice and diverse, and the artist alley is one of the better ones I've seen. However there are some drawbacks. It is a VERY expensive con. And rumor is they're upping admission again. Part of it is that they rent out the Marina for the masquerade, but honestly, the masq has gone downhill so much over the past few years (which is why I've stopped going) that attendance is way down and I don't think they need the space anymore. I hate paying a bunch of money on my ticket for an event I don't go to anymore. I'm sure it's bound to happen with every con, but this year, a lot of panels were same shit, different name. That's my opinion though.

Worst: Anime Banzai. Shitty con in a shitty venue. It's obviously got it's share of growing pains, but it's just terrible. The dealer's hall is shit, the cosplayers are mostly yaoi fanturds and the decent ones are still rather basic. Not my thing, never going again.

Best: Anime USA, small convention done RIGHT. The location is a bit of a nightmare (crossing a highway to get to any source of cheap food,) but the layout inside the convention is fun and efficient, and the formal ball is actually decent (other small con formals tend to suck.) It's also low key, and it's the only con I can relax at.

Worst: Anime Boston, specifically 2008. Line-con, anyone?

I haven't been to a con that i've enjoyed for the sake of the con for a while now.

Tried fanime but due to the schedule issue, the con experience wan't pleasant at all.

But by far the worst con was t-mode. Seriously. Tiny con run by people on power trips.

>>4849367
>>4849390
>>4849433

Holy shit I feel your pain anon.

Best: Otakon 2011
Worst: Katsucon 2011

Had I not gone to Katsucon this year I don't think I could have ever rated one of my convention experiences as "worst". I've never had an unenjoyable time at a convention ever, except for Katsu '11.

>>4851247

As a person who has ONLY been to otakon and was considering Katsu for 2012, may i ask what was wrong with it?

>>4851247
Agreeing with >>4851280, what was so wrong about Katsu? I had a blast there and met a lot of awesome people - what happened on your end?

>>4851247

I'm in the exact same situation as >>4851280, so please elaborate.

Best: Ohayocon
Although honestly going around the city late at night to do stuff is just as fun, I have a great time every year
Worst: Anime Punch
Only reason I even went was for the only good person there, other than that the place was a mess and boring.

>>4851297
AP is like one of those cons you want to avoid altogether. But wonder why it keeps happening

From my experiences, here's my worst and best:

>Best
Katsucon 2011.
This was the first time I had cosplayed for a con, and it made my heart soar when people asked for my pic (Scar - FMA, ripped shirt) separate from my cosplay group. Not only that, but I enjoyed the panels I attended, had a lot of fun at the LARP there, met tons of tokusatsu fans who are now bros, met people like Maguma who were also chill as hell, and participated in the FMA photoshoot, where there were lols had errywhere. Sad thing was Saturday night when one of our friends got shitfaced w/o knowing his limits and we had to wake him up every hour to make sure he wasn't poisoned.

>Worst
I don't actually think I've had a worst con yet. I suppose if I had to, it would be Anime Boston, solely because of the sheer expense and time it took to get there from Virginia.
It was redeemed, however, by watching J Michael Tatum recount his voice acting tales, attending Cosplay Night Court, and participating in a Vampire: the Masquerade (seriously, any con that does a WoD game is awesome) "LARP" was fun.

As for my other experiences,
>Otakon
Sadly it was too big for me to be able to see everything I had wanted to. Didn't get to see JYB, didn't manage to attend my friend's toku panel, didn't go to the dealer's room but once.
HOWEVER.
The Otakon LARP was the best con LARP I've ever done. Not many times do you get to rule-of-cool your way through a chapel being destroyed to rescue the royal couple after their marriage due to a loophole in their contract. :D

>AnimeUSA
This one was a little weird, since it was my first con and our group didn't stay in the hotel for the con. It seemed extremely small (especially in comparison to Katsucon and Otakon) but very labyrinthe. The Dealer's Room was awesome (bokken for 7 bucks? hell yeah motherfucker) and I was able to stick with my friends for the most part.

>>4851280
>>4851286
>>4851290

Personal reasons.

Katsucon: I went with someone who had to make the whole convention about them, whenever I wanted to do something outside of their world I was a selfish bastard for it. And on top of it all, I couldn't afford to go, I didn't really want to do, and as a result my experience was miserable.

Otakon: I hung out with some amazing people all weekend and did something I'll never regret for the rest of my life! Huge difference in experience here.

>>4851342

Oops, switched browsers and forgot to re-enable my trip.

>>4851342

Ahh. Well, from what i've heard, it can be pretty damn awesome. So i'd recommend going again, if you can get the money. And don't take people who are dicks!

>>4851379

I've gone to Katsucon every year for the past 5-6 years so this was definitely an anomaly. I also normally go with my buddies from college and it's impossible for us to not have a good time.

I'll go again in the future, but my new job training will likely prevent me from going next year.

>>4851395
Ahh, okay. Sorry to hear that. :C Hopefully next time it'll be better!
(hell, you could hang with me if you have no one to chill with next time c:)

>>4850756
Where did you hear that Otakon's raising membership fees? They haven't even held the wrap-up meeting yet, much less the budget meeting, and I'm pretty sure we're in a great place right now with a 10% growth over the last year. If the economy crashes again, maybe, but membership hasn't been raised in the last two years, since the last time gas jacked over $4/gallon nation-wide.

>>4851311
I'm pretty sure AP can't keep going much longer.

But some people actually like the con because they don't enforce any rules, so underage kids can openly be drunk, bad behavior can go on, because they state "They don't want to stop anyone having a good time." Plus, when the staff themselves aren't being good role models it gives other people the idea the can do whatever the fuck they want.

So that's the appeal of the con to some people. That's my honest opinion.

>>4851557
Yeah but it's less of a con and more of an excuse to just be an asshole to everyone.

>Best: NYAF 2009.
Holy. Fucking. Shit. This. Is. Awesome.
My best friend and I went, and we really can't think of a better time that we've had, con or not.

>Worst: Tie between Genericon '08 and '10.
On one hand, '08 was where I met my now-ex GF. On the other hand, '10 was just the most fuck-all boring thing I've ever been to.

>Pic related. Our faces when NYAF 2009

>worst con
>Control+F: KitsuneCon
>0 results

Best: Akon

Consistently lively with things to do and people to meet.

Worst: I don't think I have gone to one yet that I would consider "bad"

>>4851587
Hence why I don't think it can go much longer. Marcon stole their lifeline, and considering that Marcon has been amping up it's late night party side. I mean, Hentai Olympics vs Clocky Horror Picture Show (steampunk Rocky Horror)... kinda no contest.

Sad thing is how resistant AP has been to criticism, and the fact they need to change and start behaving themselves. The conchair takes all crit personally, has excuses for everything or blames others, and thinks anyone who doesn't like his con is just a hater. I maintain they only have themselves to blame for having a shitty con.

Best: Acen. As long as you get your badge mailed to you, everything is fine. Coolest people, best room parties, most hilarious cosplay, worth the cost! I travel a couple thousand miles for it and suffer through shipping huge costumes, and it's always worth it. Tons of oldfags.

Worst: Florida Anime Experience. It replaced the now defunct Jacon, and is a poorly-ventilated crummy hotel. Tom Croom and wasabi hype it up, but it's terrible. Bad cosplay, bad venue, no oldfags or cosplay veterans.

Best: Colossalcon
I didn't get to go this year, but Colossal was the best con I've been to. Everyone was super nice, the waterpark was awesome, and the staff was amazing. When my friend left her giant fan in the dealer's room and flipped out when she couldn't find it, they let us go back in there after it had closed and she found it.
>>4851713
Worst: Anime Punch
It makes me so sad, because my first AP was in 2009 (the year of the massive staff exodus), and I had the time of my life. But the past two years it has majorly gone to shit. 2010 was like a ghost town, and this year I had my first run in with the wonderful Mike Beuerlain. Shit was so disorganzed. I mainly went this year for the Protomen, and that was the only think that made it worth it. I just hope it lasts for another two years, just so I can see them again.

Best: Without a doubt, GenCon Indy. This was my first year going, and it was so great. I'm more into games than anime, and it was very interactive. I got to play a TON of new games, and sit down with people who had common interests and just bro-down.

Worst: I think Anime Midwest. I didn't even go into the con or buy a badge. We went in the door, peeked into the dealer area, saw a bunch of Hetalia closet cosplays and furries, and went right back home.

>>4851877
>bases a good time on what everyone around them is wearing
>shallow as fuck

>>4851834
Oh man, as I'll keep saying it . Colossal-con would have been SUBARASHI AS FUCK for me if it wasn't for the fact that i was dealing with the most fucked up drama-trip to ever happen on one male.

>>4851713
Not too surprising. I'll just see if i can get a few Ohio folk to travel with me through the depths of hell that is, North Indy so we can go to Acen next year.

>>4851894

Not what I meant. It just seemed like it wasn't going to have a whole lot of things that were in my area of interest, especially for a first-year convention. I don't have a lot of "cosplay friends" or people I only see at cons, so we decided to skip it.

Best: Comiket 76
The people who run Comiket really know what they are doing. I got there late in the day, but didn't really have to deal with lines at all even though there were half a million people in attendance. The fan made merch is top notch, so I bought lots of fun stuff. And also it was free.

Close second best is Anime Central 2008. They had Halcali and DJ Shimamura as guests! (If only they could get some decent sound equipment and someone who knew how to run it though). Acen is also just a generally fun get drunk and party convention.

Worst: Kumoricon 2010
Bought my badge in advance, but still had to wait in line for 5 hours in a parking garage just to get in. Then once I got in, there was really nothing to do. What made it the worst is that I got really sick from waiting in the parking garage the first day and spent the rest of the weekend in bed.

I'm attending my first con this year (AnimeFest) and I've heard plenty of good things about it.
But as for next year: how is AnimeFest these days?

>>4851834
What not to do when running a con:
1. Alienate the staffers responsible for your con being fun, especially for the sake of your pride.
2. Favor/have as a sexual partner/date girls that toy with the feelings of your male staffers. Don't tolerate that shit. Especially don't let it happen twice. (In my defense, I was still really immature, and had no idea how to handle guys being interested in me when I valued their friendship or liked them as well but had been told not to date guys on staff.) You end up losing the staffers that help make your con fun.

3. Especially don't set their legs on fire, even when asked and then act like you were the victim in the situation without any remorse. Then you scare the shit out of people, and they're all terrified of you. That's how you REALLY lose staffers.

I think they have two years left. They may use the Protoman to stay alive for several more years, as that is good shit. Just have to see. I think the Protoman can do better though.

>>4852007
Derp. I meant "How is A-Con"

>>4847364

Momocon is a free thing put on by nerds at Tech. Of course it's going to be terrible.

AWA is only fun to go drink at and vomit on someone's shitty costume. Even more fun: Knowing security so you don't get kicked out for doing it.