What are your favorite small conventions in the USA?

Egon Spengler

Master Member
I gotta admit, I love Dragoncon, but man do I ever really love a nice small convention with some good guests. Guests from old classic shows like Lost in Space, I Dream of Jeanie... etc. Incredible Hulk. You know, cons that really have that home grown personal feel to them too.

I'm trying to put together a nice list of little known conventions with great guests from tv and movies. Nostalgia is always a plus :)

Any suggestions?
 
Define small. We're going to be hitting a couple of small cons this year, just because I like the feel of smaller, more personal conventions over the corporate juggernauts.
 
OddMall: Emporium of the weird. Its all over the east side of Ohio and I think some in WV. It is totally free to get into with free parking at the one in Akron. In fact the Akron Oddmall is this weekend! I have been going to that one since 2014
 
OddMall: Emporium of the weird. Its all over the east side of Ohio and I think some in WV. It is totally free to get into with free parking at the one in Akron. In fact the Akron Oddmall is this weekend! I have been going to that one since 2014

I found this

http://www.oddmall.info/

It's interesting, 7 or 8 different locations around Ohio.

They say they have them in the Pacific Northwest too.

So what are they like? A small Comic-Con?
 
I found this

http://www.oddmall.info/

It's interesting, 7 or 8 different locations around Ohio.

They say they have them in the Pacific Northwest too.

So what are they like? A small Comic-Con?

Yes thats what they are like. The Akron one imo is the largest one ive been too. Its a catch all con for anything entertainment and they have costume contests. It grows bigger every year in Akron. Im going to the outdoors one in Canton this summer.
 
So for myself, I'm a Con newbie.

2016 was my first year of attending Cons, and I went to Long Beach Comic Con, Long Beach Comic Expo, Wondercon, Phoenix Comic Con, Emerald City Comic Con, Comikaze, LA Anime Expo, and two small first-year startup Cons (San Francisco and LA).

To me it felt like Wondercon, Phoenix, Emerald City, and Anime Expo were "big" Cons. The Long Beach ones and Comikaze had a special feel about them, not too big but not too small.

What is "too small"? I think the first-year startup Con I attended in San Francisco was a bit small, but it's grown quite a bit since, I hear. The first-year startup LA Con was far too small, not worth the effort to go to. It seemed to be poorly run and it might have just lasted that first year.

Coming up soon for me are two small Cons I've not been to. This weekend I plan on attending Costume Con in San Diego (not a Comic Con per se) and the weekend after that a small new Con in Ontario (California).​
 
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Anything still in a hotel, and not in a convention center, still feels pretty intimate. Heck, even Dragon Con -- even though there're some things they need to get better at as they've grown.

Around me, NorWesCon, RustyCon, and at one time OryCon (back before they moved).
 
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I dont know what the definition of small would be but I like going to Steel City Con in Monroeville, PA. They do it three times a year, always has a good list of guests, is inexpensive compared to Wizard World and the likes, and has a very laid-back feel. I’ve met celebs from Star Wars, Weird Science, I Dream of Jeannie, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Terminator, etc. there.


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We hit a really tiny local con last week which, honestly, was too small. 2000 attendees, a dealer's room the size of a postage stamp, no real well-known guests, etc. I think we were in and out in about 3 hours.
 
Megacon in Orlando used to be nice. Just two days in late winter or early spring. Now it's four days long in May. So people in costume have to worry about heat stroke and the panels are too spread out. Want to see your favorite star in a panel, get your picture with them, and get something signed? Good luck with that, each of those might be on different days. Just as I talked myself into going this year Karl Urban had to cancel so I said screw it and saved a lot of money.

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I'm a big fan of CONtraflow in New Orleans each fall, it's a small sci-fi/literature convention with a mostly older fanbase. You won't find much anime or Asian pop culture because of the older age demographic, but it has its perks: it's the only convention I attend that throws a massive Saturday night floor party in the hotel, and the panels are almost all very well planned out and executed by people with real public speaking experience, as opposed to teenagers at anime conventions playing Truth or Dare to justify their free badges.
 
Silicon Valley CC put on by Steve Wozneac is the Best in N California I think, San Diegos to be for the location,went last year just to go but wont go back,if I cant see everything that you would like to do to be to big, thens its not worth going to, this year Im trying DragonCon.......well see
 
NORWESCON in Seattle (SeaTac) is pretty good.

There is a good variety of different costumes as well as a costume contest.

I went as a Classic Borg (not movie) "2nd of 4" was my designation.
borg.jpg

http://www.norwescon.org/

.
 
Just came back from this weekend's Santa Rosa (Calif) Toy and Comic Con. Been going for years, takes place at the county fairgrounds. Crowded enough to have a great vibe, small enough to walk freely and talk with people. This year they had Levar Burton, Adam Baldwin, others. Lots of comic / graphic novel writers and illustrators, sci-fi artists, prop folks, etc.


Gary&Gamoran.jpg

I met this California Highway Patrol officer in the incredible costume so I had to pose with him.
 
Went to Anime Impulse in Pomona, CA last year. It's a new con, but I was very impressed by the quality of cosplay and the event space overall. Great environment.

If you are looking for some lesser known cons in 2019, this list of conventions is pretty handy. OhayoCon looks promising, just love the name (it's Ohio >:p )
 
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