Santa Fe Comic Con

I am an indie artist based in Las Cruces, NM and I do some fan art, my own indie art, indie comic and all of my own printing (sublimation to metal, neoprene, tote bags etc). My wife makes our handmade jewelry. This was the first year at Santa Fe for me, but I have done Jim's other show (Albuquerque Comic Con) going on 3 years (2018 will be 3rd year). Just like Albuquerque Comic Con, Santa Fe has most of the same problems:
-Low attendance, I estimate about 1500 people
-High table cost, before service fees its 200 for artist (6' table, 2 chairs, no pipe/drape and about 5' behind you) and 400 for vendor (10x10 booth with table/chairs/pipe & drape). This is the same cost as Albuquerque which does get about 15k (still a tough show) attendance, so there is no reason why the Buffalo Thunder resort of 2 ballrooms, a hallway and like small panel rooms could cost anywhere near the Albuquerque Convention center for the prices to be the same
-Staff was not present, at all- and I see the same staff at Albuquerque Comic Con, Sabaku Con and other cons. The security is always walking around, but volunteers and admin staff are never to be seen
-Gaps of about an hour at a time, multiple times per day, ZERO attendees walking in the hallways or ballrooms
-Venue was decent (casino with indoor/outdoor pools, october is great time in Santa fe etc) but very expensive. Normal rate is over 200 (this is a hilton and is NOT that nice, way nicer hiltons on their lower tiers), con rate was 119 before tax. This should be like $70 a night for a con/casino and being in Santa Fe
-Food was expensive at casino and not very good- multiple mile drive back to Santa Fe (about 15 miles) for other restaurants or about 5-10 miles north to smaller town (dont remember) for fast food
-Load in/out easy

For this being the 4th or 5th year, there should be about 10k attendees, more activities for attendees and they put cosplayers in the hall with celebrities. NONE of which have worked in hollywood, been on syfys faceoff or steampunkd or something like that and about 80% of them dont even make their own cosplay. They are nice people, I know most of them, but if youre not making your own cosplay and you havent been "in the industry"- why the HELL are they with celebrities and the first thing attendees can shop at?

There were famous crafters, artists and authors stuck back in the corner of the ballrooms which by day 3, some attendees didnt even know the ballrooms were there

Management is never receptive to feedback and they never update anything

Overall I would give this a 0.5 to 1, I do not recommend doing this show... ever