Meta Con

Oh boy, Meta con... Well this con has only been around a few years now and I've been to it every year.

The first years were the best, but then the location changed from the Double Tree in Bloomington to the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis. I imagine the Double Tree was sick of this con and Animinneapolis so they refused to renew the contracts.

After a few years of renovations the Hyatt is mostly presentable now, but unfortunately the convention space has been left 30 years in the past and it's used exclusively for the artists and vendors of the con. The room is apparently impossible to correctly climate control, so it'll be 90 degrees one day and 60 the next. The carpet is disgusting. The bathrooms are small and frequently stop functioning. The area used for loading in artists and vendors from their vehicle is tiny. Parking each day costs $24.

The staff (one woman in particular who has been in charge of the room every year) is quick to anger and I've personally seen her in several petty squabbles where she's engaging in bickering and throwing attitude, just being unprofessional. This is usually reserved for vendors and artists who dare bring issues about the con forward, though, and I have not personally seen this toward an attendee.

The con seems to attract a younger crowd, which typically restricts the spending they can do.

What surprises me most about this con is the refusal to learn from experience. The same staffers are used despite complaints. Vendor badges are rarely ready in time for the con. Posted hours are always incorrect. Staffers are late literally every single day to open the doors to the vendor hall. I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but it's not. If your posted hours say you'll have access to the room at 9, then the very latest those shutters should be opening is 8:59, not 9:40. And this shouldn't happen more than once per weekend, let alone every single day.

And now we move to the elephant in the room. As I've previously stated, this con and it's partner con Animinneapolis, attract a young crowd. This is a problem because of the staff's legal history. One off the staffers was a convicted sex offender, prosecuted for pedophiliac crimes.
The man who runs the convention himself has been accused of rape. Those records are public, easily findable by searching for "Ryan Kopf".
In Meta Con 2016 this same man, the man who organizes the entire event, repeatedly punched one of the vendors in the face. Yes, that happened.

You can find posts about these incidents pretty easily with Google, but it's important to note that Mr. Kopf has filed lawsuits against the people who wrote said articles.
I'd steer clear of this con and definitely do not send your children here unattended.

I wish i found this website before I signed up for the convention, my fault for not researching enough before signing up, but here is my review. I was from out of state, only reason i made the travel was because I had friends here that I could stay at so I didn't need to worry about hotel cost. The venue seemed like a nice area, enough space to hold a lot of events and many could attend.
One thing that I had a problem was the air conditioning, i dont know if the attendee's were dying from the heat, but they didnt need to make the room really cold, i felt like i was in a refrigerator the whole time.
The staff was unfortunately not very good with customer service, maybe they were new or were not trained enough.
Attendance wise it felt like there were maybe 500-600 and a good amount were like middle school - highschool age that would mostly buy smaller/cheap items.
Overall I definitely feel that this is more for people who are local and want some pocket change, or just to meet with other artist in the local area. Not good for people traveling from afar.

I've been to this show 2 years in a row now and don't think I'll be back. It's a friendly but largely broke and teenage crowd, making for crummy print and original art sales but a high demand for cheap-as-possible pins, magnets, and the like. Many artists I knew just barely broke even. Staff generally seems overworked, unprofessional, unhelpful, and/or uninformed for the most part. Just getting an email response to a simple question took a month and half. On the positive side- there is always a great artist crowd! Everyone working the alley is very friendly to artists of all skill levels (at least in my row- we bonded over crummy sales), which, with the manageable crowds, makes for a good first convention experience. Otherwise- give it a pass.

Most part of working this convention were all mediocre but acceptable. Okay crowds, okay alley space. Sales weren't super great, I wouldn't recommend this con to anyone who would have travel cost associated but it's perfectly fine for people who like in the area.
BUT the CEO of the company running the convention DID punch a vendor in the face.
I think that kind of speaks for itself.