Show Report- Con Nooga 2011

Con-Nooga is a multi-genre convention in Chattanooga, TN.  It's held at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, an awesome hotel that actually has train cars for rooms.  We didn't actually get to stay there, though.  (Part of being a starving artist is cutting costs on hotels).

Specs:

Feb. 18-20
Cost of table: $100
Juried: no
Tables/chairs provided: yes
Indoor/outdoor: indoor
Attendance: 2500
Profit: low

Pros
-There was a whole lot of things to do.  Most "multi-genre" conventions, we've found, tend to lean one way.  This one was leaning slightly toward a horror con, but it really did have constant programming for sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, and anime, too. 

-There was a decent variety of venders.  We saw other plush makers, gamer gear, a few comic artists, figures, filmmakers, henna artists, jewelry makers, etc. 

-As mentioned above, there were several independent filmmakers and artists, as well as some bands.  I thought it was great to see so much original work rather than the overabundance of licensed merch and fan art we see at most conventions. 

-The show hours were good; not too long or too short.

-The hotel was really really neat, as well as huge!

Cons
-The exhibitor hall had dealers, artists, and fan/group tables together, and all mixed up.  I wouldn't have minded being in the same room with dealers if they had put dealers in one section and artists in another. 

-I mentioned that the hotel was large, which is usually a good thing.  But this hotel was soooo spread out, you had to drive from one building to the others.  They didn't keep the con in just one building or even in one area, they spread it out all over the place.  This was difficult for us wanting to go to panels, etc.  because they were hard to find and we couldn't leave the booth for that long.  It was also bad because the exhibitor hall was in the very back of the hotel, so I'm afraid some attendees didn't even make it that far.

-The exhibitor hall was very large, but it had a lot of empty booths.  The two back rows only had 1 or two people on them. 

So we didn't make a ton of money here, but we love Chattanooga, and got to hang out with our friend Lynda (of Another Sassy! Product) while we were in town.  We're not planning to return to this con, but maybe in a few years it will pick up and properly fill up the hotel.  Anyway, if you're just looking for cons to attend rather than sell at, it would be a blast.  We did get to meet Thong Girl, so I mean, what more can you ask for?