Convention Dates: Nov 18-20
Location: Austin, TX
Booth Cost: $255 ("corner" table space - this is bullshit and I'll talk about why, I promise)
Number of badges that come with booth: 1, extra badges were $38
Will I do it again?: No
Would I recommend?: No
Load in/out Ease: ★ - No loading dock available. Had to bring in my stuff through a side door and drag it across the hotel.
Anime Austin was part of an unfortunate string of really bad conventions in 2022. The convention bubble has truly popped. That is a whole other unfortunate story, so let's talk about the con itself.
This convention was so very unprepared. The space designated for the artist alley were the hallways and a single room set aside for voice actors and guests. The hallways were dark and cramped with barely enough room for the tables and attendees to exist in one place. The table spaces were first come, first serve, and most spaces had been snatched up by the time I'd gotten there. I purchased a corner space, which required me to pay $80 more. You would think that because of the fact that I paid more money for it, I would be given an appropriate space... but I was simply given a table that was at the end of a row. Normally for conventions, if you purchase a corner space, you're given an extra table. I had to ask that since I purchased a corner booth, I should be owed an extra table, so I was able to get it.
I ended up claiming two tables in the same room as the VAs and guests, but despite that, I was unable to get enough sales for me to think that the con was worth it. Sales were slow, with few and far between. My breakeven was about $400, and for the whole weekend, I only made about $600. A poor profit of only $200 for the weekend.
I have no interest in attending Anime Austin in the future. I also do not recommend it and don't even know if I can recommend it to anyone else, either.