Youmacon: The Bad
Continuation of this entry...
Okay, onto the convention itself....
The bad
One of the things that frustrated me the most about this con was the amount of money I spent for parking. $23 over 3 days. This doesn't seem bad but consider I parked for $9 last year. Last year they had a giant surface lot open with parking for $3 for 24 hours. This year, for some reason, the lot was closed and empty. The first day I parked 3 blocks away for $10, which was annoying as my cosplay dress shoes hurt to walk in for long distances. The second day, I parked in a next-door structure for $9, thinking it was one I could get a discount in. Turns out it was the OTHER structure that had the con discount. So, the third day I parked in the OTHER structure for the $4 con discount. But no one at the con told me about this.
Also, considering this was a huge-ass con crammed into the biggest hotel in Detroit, there were lines. And panels and events were packed. I missed out on going to quite a few panels (especially the 18+ panels and the MLP panels) due to them being packed past fire code. Plus, in the gaming center it was next to impossible sometimes to get on a console. AND, many of the panels were around an hour LATE due to the size of the con and lack of planning. Next year we may be going into the biggest building in Detroit, so maybe things will change.
Another thing that bugged me is the fact that I had friends there, but then had trouble finding them when I needed to, due to them being allergic to giving me their phone numbers. "Oh, I'll just see you later in the con if you need me." Okay, the con had over 10,000 people. I didn't see most of my friends after Friday. I was looking for one guy for the photoshoot and never found him. And this is in a building that's 6 stories tall not counting the hotel room tower which is another 70 stories.
Okay, onto the convention itself....
The bad
One of the things that frustrated me the most about this con was the amount of money I spent for parking. $23 over 3 days. This doesn't seem bad but consider I parked for $9 last year. Last year they had a giant surface lot open with parking for $3 for 24 hours. This year, for some reason, the lot was closed and empty. The first day I parked 3 blocks away for $10, which was annoying as my cosplay dress shoes hurt to walk in for long distances. The second day, I parked in a next-door structure for $9, thinking it was one I could get a discount in. Turns out it was the OTHER structure that had the con discount. So, the third day I parked in the OTHER structure for the $4 con discount. But no one at the con told me about this.
Also, considering this was a huge-ass con crammed into the biggest hotel in Detroit, there were lines. And panels and events were packed. I missed out on going to quite a few panels (especially the 18+ panels and the MLP panels) due to them being packed past fire code. Plus, in the gaming center it was next to impossible sometimes to get on a console. AND, many of the panels were around an hour LATE due to the size of the con and lack of planning. Next year we may be going into the biggest building in Detroit, so maybe things will change.
Another thing that bugged me is the fact that I had friends there, but then had trouble finding them when I needed to, due to them being allergic to giving me their phone numbers. "Oh, I'll just see you later in the con if you need me." Okay, the con had over 10,000 people. I didn't see most of my friends after Friday. I was looking for one guy for the photoshoot and never found him. And this is in a building that's 6 stories tall not counting the hotel room tower which is another 70 stories.