Show Report- Ichibancon 2011

Ichibancon is a small anime convention in Charlotte, NC in January.  This is only its second year running, so we were surprised at how many people were there.  They are quickly going to outgrow that hotel.  We were lucky enough to get an Artist Alley table at the last minute. We were only there Friday and Saturday, because we had a prior engagement on Sunday, so our report can only be based on those two days.

Specs:

Jan. 7-9
Cost of table: $40
Juried: no
Tables/chairs provided: yes
Indoor/outdoor: indoor
Attendance: 1500
Profit: high

Pros
-The table was cheap
-The AA was pretty much the first thing there when people walked in the door
-Lots of our cosplayer friends were there
-They locked the room up at night, so we didn't have to take all our stuff back home.
-We were told there were good panels, too bad we couldn't attend any.
-We had several very nice, super enthusiastic fans. 
-Someone actually recognized us from STUFFED!  Not just recognized, but knew all the characters' backgrounds!  We felt so cool.
-Most people weren't put off by a $20 plushie.   It's hard to tell which conventions will have poor teenagers and which will have adults/people who save up for cons.  This one was really good for us.

Cons
-Bad con security.  The majority of the time, there was no one checking badges anywhere.
-No visible staff.  I only spoke with one staff the whole time we were there.  And he wasn't wearing a staff shirt or anything.  I know it's a small con, but I think I should always be able to quickly find a staff member.
-Super small AA.  9 tables.  No wonder the tables filled up so fast. 
-One of the tables in the AA was a con promotion table selling badges and retail merchandise.  Now, I have no problem with other cons getting tables to advertise, but seriously, when there's only room for 9 artist tables, please give them all to artists.   I felt that staff could have put that table in the hallway without being obstructive. 
-There was some problem with the lights in the AA.  They kept going out throughout the day.  That was annoying.
-The first day, the room closed an hour before it was supposed to.  It was ok for us, since it was slow and getting late anyway, but it still isn't fair to stop people from making money when they've paid for their table.  

 In the end, all of the bad things were just minor annoyances, and we still did very well.  This was a high profit show for us because of the low table cost and the fact we didn't have to get a hotel room.  We plan to be back next year.