Just moved to Minnesota last month. I'm used to the east coast and eastern midwest where there's an abundance of decent to spectacular cons, but now I'm finding that most cons out here are mediocre or Kopf-cons. Is there anything out here that's worthwhile? (sticking to the US)
Daishocon is the only one I've been considering.
Not sure if I want to take the trip all the way to Chicago for Acen.
How is AnimeIowa?
I live in MN and go to Anime Detour every year. It's nothing special as far as cons go but I always have a good time. Registration caps at 5000 and it always sells out a few months in advance and the hotel sells out in under an hour after reservations open up so if you want to go you have to commit pretty early. There's also Animinneapolis. I've only gone once and liked Detour a lot more, but Animinneapolis sounds like it's improved the past couple years. I've also heard good things about Convergence as far as sci-fi party cons go, but I've never been. Chicago is just far enough away where I'd rather just go all out and go to a better con even farther away.
>>9122336
Animinneapolis is one of the Kopf cons.
I heard about the cap for Detour. I'm just not a fan of cons that small unless they have an amazing location.
>>9122940
Detour was my first con ever, went every year until I moved away. It's a total blast, they always have great panels. Anime Iowa was always fun as well if you're willing to travel for it, it's in the middle of fucking nowhere but worth it.
>>9122336
I travel 4 hours for Acen each year. It's the best Midwest event imo and is a decent size.
Welcome to MN anon! I hope you enjoy it up here.
Detour has always been a good time for me. Chill people, always a couple decent panels and cosplays.
Anime Midwest, Animinni and MetaCon are Kopf cons, I generally heard that they are more poorly disorganized so I've always avoided them.
CONvergence is a great con if you're into sci-fi or a bustling party scene at a con. The party rooms tend to go all out. It's a four day con and worth the money if you buy your ticket early.
ACEN is a great time if you're looking for a huge con atmosphere. I went for my first time this year and had a blast would recommend.
Nebraskon is pretty good if you're willing to drive the hours to Omaha -- definitely worth it in my opinion. Great people, great atmosphere from the three years I've went.
Daisho I've never been to and cannot make it this year due to reasons but it seems like everyone is excited for it. It's about the same size as Detour, maybe a little smaller I think but also has an indoor water park so that sounds pretty fun.
I hope you find one that you enjoy!
>>9122336
I'd rec going to Detour since Minneapolis has some of my fave artists who go since it's their local con (Trungles, Maya Kern) and all my friends are going to Daisho since it's a fun con in general. Personally, I go to Anime Milwaukee since it's my local con but idk if it's worth going if you have to drive more than 2 hours to, unless you really like English VAs.
>>9123251
>Nebraskon is pretty good if you're willing to drive the hours to Omaha -- definitely worth it in my opinion. Great people, great atmosphere from the three years I've went.
Adding on to this, I live in Omaha and it's a great con. I moved out here two years ago from So Cal, so I was used to cons like AX and ALA. Nebkon is crazy fun. People are nicer, more friendly, and the panels are way more interesting. Dealer's hall is mediocre, but the con itself is amazing.
>>9123251
>Welcome to MN anon! I hope you enjoy it up here.
I live in the real life equivalent of Whoville.
>I generally heard that they are more poorly disorganized
Not just disorganized, but Kopf's a pretty shitty person in general so I don't want to give him any support at all. I almost threw up when I found out he dominates this area.
I heard of CONverg 2 days before it took place so I didn't get a chance to go, but I might check it out next year.
I've known people who have been to Acen, but I'm really picky about con size (not too big, not too small). I'm considering it if I can find someone out here willing to provide a car and if people I know are going.
I'll look into Nabraskon, but it's also 2 weeks before Daisho unfortunately.
I've been doing Colossal since 2010 which is why Daisho appeals to me. Colossal is getting too big for my tastes and I feel like Daisho would be a throwback to old Colossal.
>>9123642
Typically guests don't appeal to me in general since I'm more about cosplay and hanging out than anything. I'll look into it, though.
>>9122336
Anime Iowa: Where the staff is always incompetent but the attendees have fun.
It's a party con filled with amazing and unique panels. Everyone fits in and for Iowa it's actually in a great area.
>>9125983
>I almost threw up when I found out he dominates this area.
*snerk* Uh... no.
>>9126323
Yeah the volunteers and staff were... completely useless seems harsh but accurate. Took 2 hours and 3 different lines for me to get one of 2 badges (since we had to get back in line for the second). The panels were really fun.
>>9126548
He's head of half the cons within driving distance from me. It's not so much dominates as "There is an uncomfortable amount of Kopf within my area".
Godaikocon best midwest con
Youmacon is trash don't bother
>>9122336
>>9125983
I would like to throw in a note here about daisho. I went this last year and it was a clusterfuck from a con running standpoint. I usually enjoy going to daisho however they had roughly 4,000 people but i dont know if they count their staff/security/guests into this number. Registration was a mess this last year. it took people who preregged hours to get through. I'm hoping that changes this year. I heard through the grapevine that they had lost quite a bit of staff this last year.
I would say that the one saving grace for daisho is the waterpark. Nobrand con moved from Eau Claire to the dells. It's caused a whole slew of issues with Daisho even though they're months apart.
Another con, if you wouldnt mind the drive is Kitsune kon based out of Green bay wisconsin. We're going onto year 7 now and had 3,119 attendees this year. No, we don't have a waterpark but we do have alot of space (80,000 sq feet which is double what we had last year). I run the Guest relations area so feel free to ask any questions about the con. I know we have our things to fix as does any con and i'm working hard on trying to improve as much as possible. Our dates this next year are July 14-16th. I'll be reaching out to guests within the next month here.
If you want to bother with Wizard World Chicago coming soon. You're better off at C2E2 downtown.
And Count-i-Con in the area.
>tfw you remember when the midwest had no cons...
i went to my first daisho this past year and it was very poorly run. it took hours to get through prereg, but my friend who did at con registration got through in 20-30 minutes max. there were a lot of panels that went past their time limit and staff didn't really do jack shit about it when alerted. i thought the art room was a nice touch, but at one point someone came into the room with a bunch of people and announced that staff had moved his panel into the art room and they commandeered some of the tables. i think the saving grace of this con is obviously the location. i wasn't really planning on going again, but a different group of my friends wanted to check daisho out and invited me so i figure i'll give it another chance this year and if it still sucks at least there's a waterpark and a nearby restaurant that sells nothing but mac n cheese.