Obligatory.

Is anyone heading out to Khaotic con in a week or two? It's a first year con and I'm not sure what ot make of it, but I'm gonna go and give it a try.

AFO has a shitty venue in that the convention part of the hotel is really poorly thought out. Staff is ALWAYS yelling at people to stop blocking hallways. The panels stink.

With that said, I go because it's close and cheap for me. I don't buy a pass and I am not worse off for it. (The AA is out in the hallway so you don't even need the pass for that.)

The cosplay is OK. Sometimes there is good stuff, but most of it's mediocre to bad.

You also have to pay extra to get wifi in your room which is bullshit. (What is this, 2000?)

I go with my friends and we dick around, partying the whole weekend, so I have fun.

Megacon's great. It's huge, but there's always good cosplay there. It's more expensive, but worth it if you are there for more than just hanging out with your friends in cosplay.

I've never been to Florida Anime Experience though.

FAE's alright, a little small but it's got a new venue this year that's a lot nicer than the shithole it was in last year. If you can find cool people to hang out with, it'd definitely be a really good time. I kind of have high hopes for it this year


>>5674719
a near perfect description of AFO, actually

>>5674719
>>5674727

Thanks, much appreciated. I'll probably end up going to both of these. I've actually never been to a con before, so hopefully AFO isn't too disappointing. I'm sure I'll have fun anyway.

>>5674719
>AFO has a shitty venue in that the convention part of the hotel is really poorly thought out. Staff is ALWAYS yelling at people to stop blocking hallways. The panels stink.

The hotel has had expansion upon expansion, little they can do to eliminate that one narrow doorway; they have renovations in planning. You also obviously attend the wrong panels.

>With that said, I go because it's close and cheap for me. I don't buy a pass and I am not worse off for it. (The AA is out in the hallway so you don't even need the pass for that.)

>You also have to pay extra to get wifi in your room which is bullshit. (What is this, 2000?)

A sad fact about most hotels, honestly.

>Megacon's great. It's huge, but there's always good cosplay there. It's more expensive, but worth it if you are there for more than just hanging out with your friends in cosplay.

Megacon's nothing more than a big dealer's room. True story.

If you've ever been to any of the game shows there and took part in the interactive events there (if you actually bought a badge and didn't contribute to the overcrowding problem); you'd realize that AFO's about providing an entertaining weekend more than all these upstart cons from 2011 that are only concerned about profiting off the fandom.

--AFO Attendee 2008-2009 & Panelist since 2010

Why hasn't MetroCon been mentioned? I thought that was a popular convention...?

>>5677887

No. I have paid for AFO in the past. The interactive panels suck, and the non interactive panels suck, the game room okish. The damn costume contest always seems to go two ways now "Drama" or "Not enough entries". You only go to AFO for the pool and room parties. Something you can do without a badge. Also the cosplay sucks for the most part, because everyone is too busy partying and playing in the pool. Why do you think the con is commonly referred to as "party con"?

Sure is AFO asshurt in here over "Big Dealers Room" still being best con in the state.

sage cause FL thread.

>>5678096

thread's not that long bro
also i guess cgl is not the place to talk cons, its the place to talk PT/Dakota/Venus!

>>5678167
At this point it really is. The best you'll get as con discussions are the VERY large national crowd drawing cons, con horror stories, and con drama stories. Also the post con report that is mixed in with photodumps. That's pretty much it

This thread is the norm for FL con thread overviews that don't get taken over by drama.

>Metrocon
That con has had many of it's own threads. For not good reasons. Stick around /cgl/ and you'll see.

>>5678191
What in the world...? Just tell me! I already bought a weekend pass to that convention. I need to know if I just wasted my money.

>>5678220
How old are you? Do you like FFXIII, Hetalia, Homestuck, w/e is popular atm by crazy ass fantards? What are you hoping to get out of the con?

Answer these questions. From there I can tell you...

I'm probably only going to make it down to Florida for one con before July, so I'm hoping to make it a good one considering that I'm new to the southeast.

>>5678502

The only good con we have down here is MegaCon. Sorry to break it to you.

I'm a fan of Florida Supercon, but that's because it's pretty much a large vendor hall and I love buying comics from there.

Metrocon is nice because while yes, it is mainly an underagecon, they have a wide variety of panels you can get into (I remember last year I went to the Dr Who, Sci-Fi, Fandom, Manime, Mecha and lord knows what else panels)

AFO is ok in my opinion. It's fun if you know a lot of people going. I went with just one other friend and didn't have that great of a time.

Megacon is my favourite for the guests and panels (dat Teen Titans panel, Robot Chicken was good too!), but it really isn't a big anime con. This year they kinda shoved all the animu fans into a hallway which was awkard.

>>5678502

What >>5678614 said. And you missed Megacon. Go to the theme parks or beach instead. Maybe try Dragoncon in Atlanta, GA if you want a good Southeast con this year.

>>5678096
only reason to still go to metro is the free drinks at the embassy. after the hotel's shit with the pool last year i won't be going back....even the guests were pissed.

mega is still my favorite in fl. i like supercon too, now that it's more multi-genre and better organized.

>>5678714
What happened at the pool last year?

>>5678687

Thanks. That is about the same distance for me anyway, I'll check it out.

>>5678746
nothing....the hotel suddenly changed its policy about it. used to be 24h as long as ppl weren't being dicks. last year they closed it at 10PM or some dumb shit...no one was misbehaving, just sitting around chillin with some drinks. apparently the new hotel policy is that if a convention center group is using the hotel as its primary, they close the pool super early. new policy has nothing to do with anything metro guests did.

so much of metro is the hotel pool shenanigans that the con even contemplated using the mariott across the street as the con hotel instead of the embassy. the media guests complained bigtime...heard scott mcneill was not at all pleased when he went down to the pool at 2am and was told to gtfo.

also embassy people were dicks last year IMO...we went to sit on some of the couches to chat so we wouldn't disturb the ppl in our room, and random hotel staff kept telling us to gtfo...weren't being loud or causing problems, just sitting and talking quietly. i've been going to metro for years (oldfag) and was pretty offended by the staff treating us poorly.

Small or new cons:

Shadocon, Mizucon, Freecon, Khaotic con, Florida Anime Experience

Pros: Intimate, able to easily participate in events, socialize, con has a close-knit feel
Cons: Less of everything. Less cosplay, less variety in programming, tiny dealer's room/AA, not a lot of bang for your buck

AFO (3k-ish attendance)
Pros: 12th year running, established staff, good programming (interactive game is popular), emphasis on socialization in the hotel/pool/I-drive area, close to checkers/popeyes, highest quality panels and returning guests
Cons: Space, space, the neverending problem. choked, cramped hallways and a space that AFO overgrew years ago. Staff forced to yell and institute a "no idling" rule in the main hallway due to crowding. Little cosplay due to space restrictions and Sunday contest. restricted AA and small dealer's room, run-down hotel rooms, hottest time of year, buildings separated so you have to walk in heat/rain

Metrocon (7k-ish):
Pros: Extensive guest list and programming, large-scale events, established staff, great cosplay, great AA, lots of space, hotel in central location connected by short walkway, little walking, largest anime-centric con in Florida, panels done by first-come first-serve and can be run by anyone, not just those with ties to staff, free drinks at hotel bar, free breakfast
cons: because anyone can run panels, they tend to lack in quality overall, hotel is expensive and elevators are a nightmare, pool and night-time wandering rules change every year, large presence of under-21 crowd, events run over schedule in excess of 1-2 hours EVERY TIME, too much emphasis on chess match, and the staff is such a tight, controlled circle that sometimes they lose touch with the average con-goer (inside-jokes during stage productions), lousy food options, awful lines

Supercon (8k-10k)
Pros: Multi-genre, large venue, great prizes for costume contest, great guests, cheap hotel, amazing dealer's room and AA, laid-back atmosphere, good variety of events, con listens to, adapts and changes to the needs of attendees every year. Owner takes serious input from fans.
Cons: Appears unorganized in comparison to other cons, format changes every year, department heads of cosplay and anime change every year, must pay to park, is multi-genre (can be undesirable to those wanting anime-only)

Megacon (15k-20kish)
Pros: THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST. Really though, it's the biggest southeast con besides dragoncon, best quality guests, amazing costumes, mixture of comic, sci-fi, anime and anything that falls under popular (or semi-popular, or fringe) media. First big con of the year, exists for many purely to socialize, meet up for photoshoots, network and do big cosplay groups, multiple costume contests for different genres, biggest dealer's room, large AA, many food options, popular rave
Cons: Lines are hideous, must line up hours before to get into popular events, very little programming in the way of panels, area is so large that it can be intimidating or not intimate enough for some people, convention center is a long walk even from adjacent hotels, rooms are hard to come by at the last minute, must buy tickets in advance to avoid insane 3-hour lines

>>5677887

Hey, I never said that AFO was better than any of the upstart cons from 2011. I've never been to them, so I can't form an opinion on them. You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about it, but those cons aren't part of my argument.

As far as the venue, I've suggested multiple times that they cut a few shitty panels and put the Artists Alley in a room, but no one's done anything, so whatever. I don't care if they've had expansion upon expansion in the past. It's still currently a bit cramped. What you're trying to say is that I should accept a poor venue because, "Oh they worked really hard on it."

I have bought badges in the past. I've been going to AFO for just as long as you have. (As if bragging about how many times you've been to a con makes you more right about what MY experience was.) I found the panels to be shit. They are not well planned out. People stand there and talk at you awkwardly. They MIGHT set up a powerpoint if they're prepared. Mics never work. Panelists don't show up or show up unprepared. (Happened last year with an Ed, Edd, and Eddy panel according to a friend who bought a day pass.)

As far as the contest or the gameshows? They stink. The contest is never that impressive and the game show is awkward hosts trying to be funny.

I made the decision to NOT buy a badge so that I wouldn't contribute to the overcrowding problem by not even being in the narrow hallways where the lines are.

I'm sorry that you feel attacked as a panelist from AFO, but most of the panels are just crap.Maybe yours is a diamond in the rough, but I honestly doubt it.

As some other anon said, Megacon is still better even though it's "just a big dealer's room."

Sage for responding to you taking my critique of a con personally.