Questions about Last Year

I know this is (obviously) late but I want to ask because I was considering coming back for Steam Powered Giraffe since I wasn't a fan of them before. So I had a few concerns before I drive five hours again to come back: Last year was my first time at this convention and I did not have that great of a time. My primary reason for coming was to see Ellen McLain and John Patrick Lowrie, and (as far as I know), we didn't receive any kind of notification beforehand that they had canceled. Though from what I heard, they had some sort of emergency and had to leave and I know these things happen. My boyfriend and I spent a good deal of Friday trying to figure out where the ConSweet was being held and almost every staff member didn't have a clue what it even was. I never saw any info about the guests charging for autographs. I know several people were pretty upset that they waited in line for two hours only to find out they would be charged $10. Me included. We also had to ask several people about the parking discount we were supposed to receive before we had to talk to the main person in charge. Out of all the panels I went to were canceled since the panelists decided for one reason or another not to show up. Two were taken over by someone at least, but he said he had been doing that most of the weekend. That's incredibly crappy. I think that's it. I wasn't going to come back after all of this, but since SPG is my favorite band now, it's about the closest I'll get to seeing them. Is this a constant problem or did I just happen to be there on an off-year?

Last years troubles and woes we're primarily because they we're understaffed as I was told. They had well over 5,000 people at Midwest 2013 and we're only expecting/projecting 3,000. So with that said, I am hoping they are properly staffed for the suspected attendance displayed on the home page (which last I checked was an outrageous 10k) Last year was pretty chaotic. But who's to say this year won't be the same. Hopefully not. As far as I could tell things look to be on the up and better side for Midwest 2014. I'm also returning primarily because of SPD. If I hear good news I'll be sure and post it here for ya. But in all honesty: don't let that one experience keep you from coming back.

Honestly the biggest thing that keeps me from returning is the long drive. We managed to find someone else willing to drive so if all goes well, we will be there. Thanks for the response as well, I hope things do go more smoothly this year.

Well I'm with you on the long drive (about 5.5 hours for me). Either way I hope to see you at Midwest! If you do go I would love to look out for you and any cosplays (I'm kinda a spastic picture taker)

Hello there, I have staffed at Anime Midwest last year and to be honest, the cancelled stuff mostly happened last minute and it honestly sounds strange of how every staff aren't aware of where ConSweet is (which could also because of the different departments that they're in and aren't able to go to ConSweet at all*. there's always a map for the attendees and if you need any help, you can go to Con-op and ask questions too since they don't really have an individual customer service department yet. I feel really bad that fans who waited in line were charged, and I'm not entirely sure but I heard it somewhere where it was also somewhat of a inside or last minute thing of the manager to 'make a lil profit' for autographs. I don't think that most of the staff of Anime Midwest knew about it either. Some probably did, but seeing how this made people confused and upset, I'm taking a big guess there. Same with their 10K attendees, which also sounds ridiculous. Hopefully, there'll be more staff and volunteers to make this convention run smoothly and more grounds for attendees, guests, etc to run around so it wouldn't be so croweded. Hope this year will be better than last year too for you!

Thanks for the replies, guys. I will totally be there this year (assuming all goes well). But I'm still wondering,does anyone know why John Lowrie and Ellen McLain cancelled last year?