So, from the time I paid for parking to the time I got back into my car was exactly 3 hours, 2 minutes. And this is only because I stopped to speak to some friends and I walked around twice just to make sure I didn't miss anything.
So the good...
1. They actually had a small DC booth that had a signing table for those creators that were there.
2. ...
And now, the pitiful...
1a. Logistics was horrible. The event was held in Hall J, which is at the day end on the convention center. Problem is, no one knows this because there's no signage saying this is where the event is. So if course I park at the other end.
1b. Construction on Convention Center Blvd. made matters worse with regards to finding parking. Having the con at the end they did forget limited access to parking because that end is almost exclusively used for cruise ship parking. Plus, there are only a few entrances into the convention center due to the construction.
2. Horrible had been terrible. Outside of social media, there's been no true marketing if this event. No billboards, no nothing.
3a. There were no more than 3 or 4 vendors who sold comics, one including my LCS. In fact, it was the only local comic vendor in the exhibit hall.
3b. There were more vendors selling bottles of 5-hour tea and signing up people for timeshares than comic vendors. What the hell?
So now that this event is over, I've learned more about the back dealings from the folks at my LCS...
1. The promoter constantly complained about presales, despite being told multiple times that the New Orleans market isn't a pre-sale market; we usually show up the day of. Frankly, I wonder if this is the true reason about the date change.
2. Sales were terrible after the date change. My LCS was one of the authorized local sellers. Well, it's kinda hard to sell tickets when people are coming in and telling of a website that is selling the same tickets for 50% off. When asked about this, the promoter basically said "I don't have an answer for this, so I won't answer." In the end, they basically told my LCS to give the tickets away.
For an event that's scheduled to end at 5pm, by 1:30, most of the well-known comic artists were packed up and walking out. There were a few, specifically Clay Mann, that I never got to see.
This was just bad. I never thought that anything could be worse than Wizard World, but I was wrong. I would hope that if they do come back next year, they'd learn their lesson of what NOT to do.