One pro is that this con does allow table sharing, as long as both vendors are accepted. The table is already cheap ($135 including one pass) in the first place. That allowed us to come out in the positive, though I'm not sure if it was worth the time and work for what was made.
I would only recommend doing this con if you live very locally (less than an hour), can share a table to cut the cost, and have a project you can work on to keep yourself busy during the many slow hours.
Please note this is just my personal review, but I will try to be as objective as possible.
Rating guide:
A+ amazing, best it could possibly be!
A very good
B+ better than expected, no complaints
B no complaints, could be improved
C+ decent, needs improvement
C not great, several problems
F complete failure, many issues
Table Cost: A
It was $135 for an 8 foot table. They come with one badge so I bought a second one for my wife for $30. $165 for a 3-day con is not bad. But prices are increasing for 2025
Location: A+
Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. This convention center is on the outskirts of Philly and is not hard to get to. The venue is massive and can accommodate a ton of vendors, artists, panels, and activities. Parking is also free
Guests: B+
This year they had a pretty decent lineup of celebrity guests and voice actors. Not a crazy amount of variety as most VAs were from anime fandoms. This brought in attendees who were mainly interested in anime and not many who were interested in other media such as horror, sci-fi, and video games.
Tattoo Artists: C
As many have stated, having tattoo artists at a con keeps attendees preoccupied for far too many hours. One tattoo can take up a whole afternoon. Attendees also spend a majority of their money on a tattoo and have little left to spend elsewhere. Not really sure it’s a great idea to have both artists and tattoo artists in the same event.
Vendors: B
The regular exhibitors who sold merch, memorabilia, collectibles, toys, etc had a nice variety of things to choose from. Not a lot of repeat items, but there were a lot of booths.
Artist Alley: C
Far too many artists. There were about 230 vendors in Artist Alley on top of the 20 tattoo artist and 139 exhibitors. Attendance was not great enough to allow shopping from all tables and many people I spoke with did not recoup their table costs. Competition was too high.
The layout was well put together and easy to navigate. But there were definitely areas that had better foot traffic than others. There was a no-show near me and on Saturday an artist moved to this table because they said their original area was dead. They increased sales after moving locations.
Attendance: B
Not a crazy amount of attendees but enough to make the space feel alive and busy. People were great and super friendly and people had some incredible cosplays! My main criticism was that the majority of people just seemed to be walking around and not stopping at anyones table in my entire aisle.
Sales: C
This is where things get subjective. I sell sci-fi and horror themed art. Some original designs and some fan art. My personal experience:
Friday: 2 sales (7 hour day)
Saturday: 12 sales (10 hour day)
Sunday: 18 sales (8 hour day)
Not a lot of original designs sold. People attending mainly seemed interested in fan art and lower priced items. I had several people come back 2-3 times to look at my prints and when I told them they were $20 they put them down and left. I also had several sales running and bundle deals but lots of lookers, not a lot of buyers.
The artist next to me had a great hook to get people to stop. He got nearly 100% of patrons to stop at his table and his sales were also low. He sold indie comics. People just didn’t seem to want original artwork, although he did sell a few commissions.
Overall rating: C+
Not the most groundbreaking, earth-shattering, big bucks, rolling in the dough convention out there. But I did make my table back with a little extra to make it worth it. ( Although, after working 3 days, a part-time job would’ve paid more). It also significantly depends on where you’re from. I commuted Friday about 1 hour and 20 minutes from home and stayed at my sister-in-laws house on Saturday about 30 minutes aways. Since I did not need a hotel, I definitely saved a lot of money. But artists I met had come from North Carolina and New Hampshire and for them it was a bust.
If you are local I would only recommend vending if you have a lot of fan art or physical items (not prints and stickers). Indie comics, Original characters, and high-end items were tough to sell and there were far too many vendors.
For the size of this convention they accept easily double (tbh maybe triple) the amount of artists/vendors that the attendance size can support.
Which just leave all the artists and vendors very dissatisfied. It is not uncommon to see people FULLY packing up on Saturday with no intention of returning Sunday, which is a very bad look.
Due to their desire to have way too many artisits and vendors there is very little quality consideration as well as not picking artist that actually cater to the niches of the con and the attendees.
While the table sizes are large for the cost, we are not given enough space between artists to actually be able to get in and out of our spaces comfortably.
The hours of this con are absolutely ridiculous, to make vendors stay till 10pm on a Friday when there are no attendees after 6-7 and same goes for Saturday which just makes this an exhausting con to vend.
The only good notes I have are for the venue its self, there is ample free parking, the food is good and not wildly overpriced, as far as I could tell the bathrooms are kept at least decently cleaned.
And there are a lot of reasonably priced hotels in the area. That's really all it's got going for it.
I could probably go on but I think I've said enough.
Also there’s only one in con food option that was extremely overpriced!
This is my second year going and I really appreciate the easy check in and load in process. The venue is flat so it was awesome to not take any stairs or elevator. It also wasn't a long walk like some of the other venues where it's like a maze.
I had pretty good sales overall, I made back my table and hotel with extra. I overslept on Saturday morning and arrived late. When I pulled in from the hotel there was a huge line that wrapped around the building that I saw when I pulled up, so they definitely had a lot of people. They had an exhibitor head that walked around and checked in with us who was super nice. It did at one point get really loud by the main stage, but after a bit they came around and lowered the volume for us and apologized for it.
I overall had a great time. When they came around and offered to rebook for next year I had to wait on a line, so I definitely wasn't the only one who did well. I feel bad for some people who didn't do well, but some cons I don't do well and others I do. I can only speak for myself though.
The majority of attendees were other vendors. With hundreds of spots and each vendor needing a pass, this surely contributes to the inflated attendance numbers.
There was nobody making purchases anywhere - lots of people milling about, but nobody there to shop. Sales were terrible for every single vendor we spoke to. They also did not treat the vendors very well; nobody checked in, made sure everything is going well, etc. things that we have experienced at every other vendor event we've done.
Inflated attendance numbers to oversell the number of vendors and artists results in a terrible experience for everyone. Apparently, they have entirely new vendors every single year. Nobody we spoke to had been to the event before - that says a lot! No returning vendors = BAD.
Beware of this con - it is not worth the time, money, and effort to be here.
I find that the con has been steadily growing in attendance and popularity in the region. It should be noted that I live in the try-state region and follow the cons in this area. They took a big jump from being at capacity in a hotel in Delaware to moving into a convention center. Overall they have adjusted very well but still need to continue to grow into the venue. This part one back in May of 2019 they acquired the venues main hall and actually commanded it pretty well. I see potential but can understand the con may not be big enough for some peoples standards at the moment.
The layout and staffing at the con are pretty good. I find that they use the space in a unique way that works for them and keeps everyone in the hall and engaged. Noise is an issue at times although that is a problem with other events in that use the same venue as well.
When it comes to affordability, the con is as cheap as you can vend in a con at an convention center. Free parking at the venue and nearby hotels, Reasonable rooms if you need one, and table prices are pretty low. From what I have seen is ticket prices are very reasonable for attendees as well. which should encourage traffic.
Bottom line is I always turn a profit. Do I turn a huge one? No, but it is getting better each time. I think going in understand the con is in it's developmental stages and not some huge con would help you understand what to expect. It is by no means a bad con.
-Massive empty halls full of disgruntled artists who had literally no one to sell to.
-Many artists pack up and leave on Saturday, leaving tons of empty tables on what should have been the "good" sales day.
-the only sales most of us got were to other artists because... apart from a small handful of attendees, they were the only other people in sight.
This con is obviously making all of its money by lying about attendance, advertising to artists, and selling tables to them at a high price. I had never heard of this con before a representative approached me at another con I was selling at, and I'm not surprised considering they do absolutely no promotion for the con other than to the artists they sucker into buying expensive tables.
Avoid this convention at all costs, you will not have a good time, you will not make enough money for it to be even close to worth it. I'm honestly furious after seeing how they lied about attendance because now I can see how they've managed to stay in business the last few years.
a. Post a COMPLETE LIST of vendors and artist on the website so fans can get excited on who is at the show,
b. The vendors were too spread out. Had u used HALF of the space and only had ONE "Panel" (using that word loosely since most were dead empty) because no one could understand while two empty shows were running at once,
c. a food vendor who doesnt get people sick, I was lucky to spot the MOLD on the bread of the hot dogs I got on Friday and didnt eat them. Despite my warning ppl still ate there and hence the sick.
d. PROMOTE. PROMOTE. PROMOTE. For weeks I told the you via email and posts to highlight my studio (I sent bio and pics) as well as other artist. You said, soon. It became never.
e. Before, during and after NEVER did a promoter or staff come to my table to see what was up, if we needed anything, TO SAY SORRY FOR THIS DISASTER. Nothing. I have had promotors of shows where I made lots of $$$ come to apologize because more people didnt show. THAT is a professional. You are an embarrassment.
f. You had a group of artists BLOCKED by other vendors yet you never bothered to address the issue despite the contract stating a vendor cannot extend or block another. But for that, someone living and breathing would have needed to walk the venue and takes responsibility.
g. You didn't help vendors but were quick to force a vendor to remove a plastic tank because it violated the "weapons policy". What, u think anyone would feel threatened by a toy tank? To be threatened, all anyone had to do was walk up to the food vendor.
What I gather, you fleeced all the vendors to cover your costs and then half-assed the rest.
I STRONGLY suggest you reevaluate if this show should exist at all.
I for one will do my best to avoid any show under this leadership and like they say, a happy customer tells two people. An angry customer tells TEN.
Guess what, you have a LOT of angry customers.
They advertise this as a con with high traffic but it was utterly disappointing. Will not be returning.
In regards to the venue, I do many events at the Oaks Expo Center. It has more than enough parking and is located in an area where food, entertainment and hotel options are a plenty. Choosing this venue might be the best thing the event planners have done for this convention. I'm giving 4 stars based on the venue alone.
Layout was ok. It feels like the layout was designed in a way to make the space feel more filled than it really is. Panel "rooms" are just sectioned off areas around the perimeter of the convention hall. This means that in the center vendor/artist area you get a cacophony of the various panels/music going on in different areas of the convention. The "rooms" themselves are way oversized for the crowds they draw. Programs in the panel rooms barely drew a handful of people (maybe 5-7 people in areas with seating for 30+) and honestly feels like anyone would be given a time slot if they asked. I'm giving 3 stars because the layout is serviceable, but there's a lot of room for improvement.
Attendance was better in 2019 than in 2018, and that really speaks to how bad 2018 was considering 2019's attendance was still bad. Thy Geekdom Con has a wikipedia page where they publish their attendance numbers. Seeing their annual growth in attendance is what lured me in as a vendor for 2018. I checked back during the 2019 convention and saw that they reported 2700 attendees which is hilariously untrue. I had heard that some organizers count weekend passes as 3 separate day passes for inflating attendance count. I figured that no one would be that dishonest about something that would be glaringly obvious at a small convention, but it’s the only way anyone would be able to come close to saying that 2018’s attendance was 2700. I'm giving 1.5 stars because attendance definitely grew from 2018, but that bar was pretty low.
The cost of the booth space would be good IF the convention was drawing the crowds it claims to. But given the attendance, poor programming and limited special guests I feel bad for everyone who paid for space at this convention. I’m giving it 3 stars because the price isn’t unfair for the space you’re allotted and what’s typical for the venue. But unless TGC starts bringing in the crowds they claim to bring in then it’s a poor deal for the artists/vendors.
I saved the staff for last because there’s a whole lot to unpack here. My experience with them (which was echoed by other vendors I had talked to) is best described as “bi-polar”. Sometimes they’re pleasant and easy to communicate with, and other times they seem to have a poor attitude that they don’t hide well. The organizing team (which seems to be mostly family, Chris seemingly being the lead guy and then his parents) clearly play favorites with artist and vendor placements and are extraordinarily gossipy. I watched Chris go to a vendor (A) and start discussing issues with a completely different vendor (B). When asked by vendor A why Chris was bringing the issue to him, Chris told him that he thought they were buddies and was hoping A would say something to B instead of going to them directly. Vendor A would later tell me that he had no idea who vendor B is. In another case, a vendor had decided to pack up and leave early because over halfway through the second day it was clear the crowd was not his demographic. The mom came back and had a mild verbal confrontation with him right there in the aisle instead of asking him to a more private area to discuss. She took a combative approach telling the vendor he was unprofessional and such instead of asking why the vendor felt wronged and what they could do to help fix the situation. On the final day the mother even came to me, asked me how the weekend was going and got pretty defensive when I said that I felt attendance was poor and sales were weak as a result. I’m giving 1 star because they don’t seem interested in feedback or acknowledging that their convention is really more of an anime with some gaming convention as opposed to the multi-fandom convention they bill it as.
I prefer vending/attending “indie” conventions and want to see TGC and others like it succeed. But as of right now TGC needs a lot of changes/work and I’m not convinced the team behind it are capable of pulling it off.
Honestly, I had a whole day of no sales and a moments where I wanted to pack up on Saturday afternoon. The attendance was abysmal for such a big venue, the staff was nowhere to be found half the time and my sales were mainly from other artist because there were more artist than attendees. I lived in the area so I wasn't too mad about the money I lost vending there.
I like getting other artist/vendors' opinions and most of them made about the same amount as myself which was either barely enough to say the con was worth it or losing money. The Layout was at least clear and easy to navigate through and it was hard to actually miss anyone's table while walking around.
Guests who were coming in weren't looking to buy anything. Dealers/artists I've talked to did not do well overall, a lot of people didn't make their table back. I made my table back, but only by $30.
I made 99% of my sales on Saturday and Sunday was the slowest hell I've been through at a table. I sold one item and ended up doing two last minute commissions.
I would say that the people who attend this show are more into enjoying the panels and cosplaying rather than purchasing anything. Most of the artists in my aisle didn’t do well at all.
I will say there was a good balance of different artists and vendors, so the variety was nice. However, I do feel that this convention should have done much more advertising to bring people in. The convention has potential, but it needs to do more to bring a larger audience in.
