The good with the bad.

[Kristy]

This was my first MewCon and there were definitely some good and bad points.  It was pretty dynamic in that regard. So, let's go.

Pros:
-LOVED the Rock Band room. It was great that it had its own room.

-All of the general staff were very sweet and courteous.

-I love the small con feel and enjoyed meeting a lot of people.

-The dance played good music and I enjoyed the atmosphere.

The dealer's room was in a great location and full of wonderful vendors.  Checking in to my art table went smoothly.



Cons:
Lack of staff communication was a HUGE deal and my group felt it badly.  I was captain of the para para team that performed at opening ceremonies and we felt pretty shafted.  We had to struggle to get our panels on the schedule, when we arrived no one even knew we were performing (and we had to basically fight to even get on stage), and we didn't receive any sort of guest status even though it was discussed.  I do appreciate what the con chair and the lovely people from Bang Bang Neko did to help us with our plight, but I must admit that it did leave a bit of a bad taste in our mouths.

Lack of programming and/or panels and events happening at WEIRD times.  Uhh, like, the charity auction and stuff being so early in the morning.  There needs to be much more focus.

Main events being far away was something that seemed like it was a necessary evil.  So, it seemed to me that more promotion within the convention space was required. 

There were a lot of lulls in programming.

And this is just a preference, I would have preferred to have either lanyards for purchase or have pin badges than to use the ribbons.


All in all, I had a very good time.

[Shadow]

I thought MEWcon rocked hardcore. 'Nuff said.

+ So much space in the hotel!
+ So many friendly attendees, staff members, and vendors.
+ Small con atmosphere.
+ Met some wonderful people and made new friends!
+ So much Johnny Depp love, SERIOUSLY.
+ Got hit on a lot in the 18+ panel as Sweeney LMAO.
+ Didn't get my razor confiscated. THANK YOU STAFF. You made Mr. Todd very happy.
+ Vendors hall actually in the con space. Wonderful view!!
+ Big room for the main events. Great idea to switch rooms with the vendor's hall!
+ Anime Dating Game. I laughed so hard! Even when I was in it! XD
+ Did I mention all the friendly people?


- The chick at the front desk was rude.
- Our hotel room leaked.
- Some panels were a waste of time.
- A bit unorganized. (Yet I also understand this.)
- Hard to conveniently get food. (Although the walk to Subway wasn't bad when it wasn't raining hardcore.)
- THE BADGE RIBBONS. UGH. It would be a huge improvement to have lanyards or badge holders. Or anything besides ribbon that frays so badly.

[Teepet]

- THE BADGE RIBBONS. UGH. It would be a huge improvement to have lanyards or badge holders. Or anything besides ribbon that frays so badly.

Maybe someday (next year?) we'll move away from ribbons (but they're so cheap and we are a po' con), but assuming you ever have to pick out a ribbon to wear in the future, go for the ones with the stupid scalloped edges, they don't tend to fray like the big smooth kinds do (my first ribbon was terrible too).

[MHopcroft]

From my perspective as a program participant:

GOOD:
I was treated really, really well by the con staff. Overall, the convention was run very well.
My panels, though not massively popular, had interesting, active attendees who hopefully got a lot out of what i was offering.
The other panels I attended went well too.
The Rock Band room was a marvelous place to relax with some great music and occasionally get some singing in.
The dealers who attended were really good, as were the artists.

BAD:
The hotel staff was a mixed bag -- some helpful, some not. The ones who were helpful were really helpful, the ones who were not....
Very little was within an easy walk of the hotel, and the hotel restaurant was too expensive to even think about. Three different times i walked over there, asked to see a menu, and walked back discontentedly.

Overall it was a superb experience this year. The problems were largely things outside the control of the con staff, so it's no knock against them.

[Kitsune]

Just a note for those over the age of 21, if you return to the quay, the happy hour stuff is quite good and only about 3USD each.  A good cheap way to eat at that time.

[Mr Silmero]

Just to let everyone know about the Main Events Space and its location-


Last year I believe the dealers hall and main events were switched in their location and due to that not only did the dealers have a LARGE amount of space they also had very few visitors due to the odd location which made for VERY bored dealers which does not equal happy people. So while the Main Events Space is a bit detached it also equals more room for things like dances and shows. I do think we should have one or two more signs and have them a bit more colorful and special then the rest of them for next year- I mean it IS the Main Events room.



Edit: One nitpick I did have was the odd timing of things- The Catgirl/Boy Auction was at 9 AM! Not only did I barely get there to cover it there was very few people with money (Me and V were the only ones I think) and very few people in general. I learned this year that MEWcon is easily a afternoon/Night type of convention- a whole lot more interesting things go on between 6 PM-Midnight which means that there will be very few people to attending anything before noon.

[oslapedo]

^ Yeah, for MEW I sleep in so I miss good events when they're in the morning.

Also, please officially bring back Whose Line is it Anyways. I didn't know they were having it this year because it wasn't on the schedule ;o;

[StarryShay]

They did that at the Bang Bang Neko thing I think.

[Mr Silmero]

Nope- that was a sudden event that was on the digital/online schedule but the paper copy was a slightly less revised version that did not have that panel on here.


Protip for next year: Anyone with a smartphone can access the online schedule at www.mewcon.com/schedule and they will have the most up to date schedule on hand.

[kaku]

Protip for next year: Anyone with a smartphone can access the online schedule at www.mewcon.com/schedule and they will have the most up to date schedule on hand.

Good idea, but a technical note:
There are some weird issues with our host, and not putting a trailing / at the end of the schedule url will create a new session and essentially consider you logged out when you actually haven't been. This makes for viewing your custom schedule somewhat difficult.

The More You Know(TM).

So, the actual keep-your-login-intact url is:
http://www.mewcon.com/schedule/

[Mr Silmero]

Thanks for that piece of info

[lychee-twist]

Ok. I realized that I did a faux-pas with my earlier post and didn't do the right order of things. I'm sorry about that.
The good:
-I really, really loved the set up of Artist Alley. It was fantastic this year, and the window view was absolutely gorgeous.
-Everyone at Artist Alley was great. I hope to table with everyone again!
-I liked that there was a small vote to close AA at 6PM. I think this was a good time and should be kept for next year if possible.
-The selection of games in the Gaming room was fun. I got to play Mario Bros Wii for the first time. It was out of MEW's hands, but the only thing that ruined the Gaming ROom for me was a die-hard gamer that was so completely rude and insulting over Mario Bros. Wii. Like I said, though, out of MEW's hands.


The Bad:
-Previous mentioned trash situation. Once again I saw a lot of frustrated hotel staff due to MEWcon's attendees being messy.
-MEWcon seems really unorganized. I know that MEW is a very new con, but this really seems to be a problem with organizing everything and even advertising.

Other than that, I had a good time at MEWcon. The set up was really nice. I hope it grows a lot for next year

[Legoman]

-The selection of games in the Gaming room was fun. I got to play Mario Bros Wii for the first time. It was out of MEW's hands, but the only thing that ruined the Gaming ROom for me was a die-hard gamer that was so completely rude and insulting over Mario Bros. Wii. Like I said, though, out of MEW's hands.

Now I'm sad If someone would have said something to me I would have talked to them.

[I, Jon]

-The selection of games in the Gaming room was fun. I got to play Mario Bros Wii for the first time. It was out of MEW's hands, but the only thing that ruined the Gaming ROom for me was a die-hard gamer that was so completely rude and insulting over Mario Bros. Wii. Like I said, though, out of MEW's hands.

Now I'm sad If someone would have said something to me I would have talked to them.

Were they saying the game was bad or questioning your skill at the game?

[lychee-twist]

He clearly liked the game and was just being really insulting to us. If he fell down a ditch or got killed he blamed it on us and called us douchebags. The three of us were having a lot of fun on our own before we invited him in.

At one point in time we were at the level with Yoshis. We were riding around when he got kicked off his and was accidentally killed somehow. He blamed it on my friend Kiwi and jabbed her in the arm with his WiiMote. I thought it was just a tease, but she told me later that it was actually hurting her. Really at first we couldn't tell if he was being jokingly competitive, but it just wouldn't stop and he'd throw this little tantrums if we didn't listen to him.

It really wasn't so much MEW's doing. It was just something that happened, and we should've given him the finger and told him off. That guy seriously had a zero on social skills, and that's not MEW's fault at all. Just an unfortunate happening. I have absolutely no bad feelings to MEW over the matter If I had thought about it I might have said something to you guys, but it just didn't cross my mind at all.