The venue has changed over the years, but we've been in the same hotel for the last two years. I've seen cons take better advantage of the hotel setting, but the signs are up and it's easy for the attendees to find their way. Attendance has been good for a small con. They have a solid base that returns each year and everyone always seems to have a good time. They tried to expand to a larger venue in a fairground once, but couldn't support it and decided to go back to hotels, which was good for everyone involved as it kept pricing down. There's a mixture of artists selling original art work, authors, and other misc craftsman (which is the group I'm apart of).
On the staff... This is probably my biggest gripe. I've never had any issues they have needed to address, but if I did I don't predict any easy resolution. The woman that runs it always looks like she's stressed and I see her running around looking frantic at times. Finding the staff during set up is usually problematic as well. Overall, they're just disorganized.
The show was moved from Lancaster to York which wasn't a huge deal and the communication around it was good.
The issues started at the convention. No one was checking for badges or checking in artists. It was basically a free for all for the tables and spaces. I paid for a 10x10 booth ad only got about 8" (table) and 4" at the most of space including the table width. The booth behind us was a large comic book store and had set up before we got there taking up over half of my space in the back. I brought this up to the woman running the booth (I later found out she was the one running the show, selling the tickets and dealing with all the vendor issues, apparently they had/have virtually no staff?) She told me to work it out with them. It went no where. They insisted they were only using their 10 feet and that the aisles were set up wrong. I then spent the entire weekend cramped in a small booth without half of my product up.
Venue
Originally it was supposed to be in at the Lancaster Host Hotel, in the middle of the shopping tourist center of Lancaster. A few months after we bought our table, we got news that they were changning the date and moving to the York Fairgrounds. Not a great location, and not a money spending town.
Staff
For the most part fine, but one of the organizers gave our friends a hard time about sharing a table, even though they had approved, and then threatened to charge them double, but didn't follow through.
Layout
It was in two york fair buildings, so it was weird. Also artists, vendors, and celebrity guests were all mixed together.
Attendence
This was a small con. A lot of the attendees were more interested in the guests and generic comic merchandise than original art.
Affordability
A lot of vendors had a hard time making profit, since the table cost was high for a small con.
