What would make the perfect convention?

Every anime and comic convention I have been to has its faults and flaws. From too tight spaces to way too much space, from a lack of good content to all of the good content overlapping. But after 6 years of attending conventions, I think I have a theory on what the dream convention would be like.

First, conventions should be an accepting place. Conventions, like ShutoCon, do this well by stating outright that they have an inclusion policy that protects people in the LGBT community from harassment. They also endorse the “Cosplay is not Consent” campaign, which makes the convention feel safe.

However, conventions should also respect their workers. A problem I’ve recently had with the same convention is that panelists are not paid nor given badges. There are other conventions like this, but I don’t think it’s fair to be expected to work for free. A perfect convention would have a cohesive panelist system to show respect to its workers. Youmacon, for example, allows four panelists to get badges for five and a half hours of panels, which is very generous. If a convention is expecting free labor, then I don’t think it’s a perfect example of a convention by any means.

A perfect convention would also consolidate on space. Fan World 2016 in Niagara Falls was a very small convention spread across two buildings in the United States and two buildings in Canada. This was an innovative idea, but because there wasn’t enough people at the convention, it always felt empty. That convention would have excelled had they put two different convention centers, one in each country. That would have kept the international theme they had, but also would make it easier for con goers to see the entire convention without having to walk miles to do so.

Some conventions, though, suffer from not enough space. For example, Grand Rapids Comic Con a few years back had a huge spike in attendance, leaving many people standing outside for hours waiting in hopes of even being let in. Analyzing attendance records and planning for growth would be the best way a convention could thrive. You can’t always predict attendance spikes, but if year after year your building is at max capacity, then it might be time for a change of venue.

A less extreme thing that would make a convention perfect would be constant access to food. Colossalcon does this well, with their food vendors open until very late in the night. However, some conventions like Godaikocon don’t have any food options on site, meaning you need to walk out of the convention to go eat. Not only is this a monetary loss for the convention, it also hurts attendance. It means during peak meal hours, people aren’t at the convention.

There’s so many more things I could think of. Saying one after another what conventions can change doesn’t really accomplish anything. In a way, this is my chance to vent about problems I see in conventions. And many people may not agree that these things need fixing at conventions. But, if I were to make my own convention, then I think I’d follow these guidelines.