CON FEEDBACK JULY 2013

I was at the con to see a band. I think the website for the Midwest Anime Con needs a big feedback button that is easy to access. I have constructive feedback for them and I bet others do too. Keep it civil and polite please.

So, I only went to the Con to see Steam Powered Giraffe. I love them as musicians and people, and have been watching them on the net for years. I think it would be nice if the con had ordered food for them at least once every day. I think they should have been sent bagels or something in the morning and a party platter of good subs in the afternoon and had a place to rest between shows besides their hotel room. At least one of the guys seemed exhausted and famished when they were signing autographs and they made te con a lot of money and they're my man-babies and I worry about them. Maybe every band should have a con-related welcome comittee with a responsible intern to help them out and make sure they are fed and rested and have access to drug store medication and their needs are looked after.

Another thing that grated on my nerves was that SPG did a million things that were not written on the schedule. I wish there was some way to find them wherever they went besides their Tumblr. I think there should have been schedules posted all over the con of where they would be. Someone could have just hand written it into a schedule, made copies and put them around the con. And the schedule didn't make it easy to find out where stuff was. I have no idea where the con suite was or what was going on in the dome or anything like that.

Hotel Staff: I have been to other cons at that same hotel. (Beatlefest.) I think the cons give them a lot of money and business. Certain ones of the staff are rude and hostile. A lot of the staff was nice this time. If people have had a run in with a staff member or a con employee, I think they need to report it to the hotel or the people who run the con. The employees are paid to serve the con goers and make sure we have a safe and pleasant experience. I don't think that their employers told them to be snarky to the kids at this con. If someone yelled at you or your friends for no good reason or gave you really dirty looks or anything like that, it is perfectly acceptable to report them to a manager using a polite tone of voice and polite wording, just as long as you were not doing anything to deserve that kind of treatment.

Thanks for your feedback so far! We've noticed things ourselves. We plan to make sure to try to make shorter ConSweet lines and make sure we have free autographs.

I suppose I just have some of my own feedback (I know its really late, sorry!) about the con. While the weekend was very enjoyable for myself and my friends - a few things stood out to me that really put a crimp in the weekend. First of all, FOOD. Dear god, the line for the ConSweet was over 3+ hours on... Saturday was it? I think it was, I don't remember. Absolutely rediculous and needs big improvement. The venue itself was lovely, very clean and spacious and the areas used for the con were nice and well kept, but also a bit stuffy and small. I think bigger rooms are needed for the Dealer's Hall at least because it was constantly crowded in there. Lots of great booths with unique merch though! Con staff were another matter. A lot of the staff were very nice, polite kids. Easy to talk to them and friendly. There were also a few bad eggs as there are with any big event. Saturday night seemed to bring out the bad ones the most as there was one girl who was yelling at people constantly in line for the SPG autographs/photo-op and moving us this way and that without warning. I also noticed that there were not many staff checking badges for 18+ events or checking prop weapons (there apparently was a Hetalia cosplayer with a legit kitchen knife on her, how did that one slide?). More staff are definitely needed next year because it seemed that the con was a tad short staffed. On the last day of the con I ended up getting sick. Sick to the point where paramedics had to be called to come look at me because none of the con staff had any kind of medical training so to speak. They were all very nice to me however, bringing me water and talking to me to keep me calm while I was in the midst of a full-on panic attack. I think it would be much more reassuring to have people at the con who are medically trained for these sorts of things so ambulances don't have to be called unless its a really, really bad emergency. Other than that, I had a wonderful time at my first Anime Midwest and it was a good weekend overall. Meeting SPG was the highlight of the weekend for me and the concert was spectacular. They seemed to be the primary draw for the con. I think for next year you need better staff, WAY MORE ORGANIZATION, and some kind of medical people on hand in case of emergencies. Thank you for your time and I hope someone reads all of this.