Anime Midwest 2021 Post-Pandemic: A Vendor Perspective

We’re just going to casually ignore the fact that I haven’t posted in months. You know the drill: college, work, and trying to keep my head above water with crafts. But I’m here now and I just got back from Anime Midwest. Red Bull in hand, let me tell my story.

My Day 0 and Day 1 Post-Pandemic Artist Experience

The folks at AnimeCon did vendors a solid by carrying over our 2020 booth costs to 2021. I was nervous because it took me months to hear from anyone. I believe once I was able to use Molly’s email to get answers concerning an artist helper ticket, but usually reaching out via email is mixed at best.

I set up my booth on Thursday, July 1st with minimal issues (aside the fact that I forgot my tape!). It felt good to be recognized by fellow members as this was my 5th year working Anime Midwest.

The pro-tip with conventions is to either get a badge mailed to you, or pick up before the general public does otherwise you run the risk of being late. As I started a new day job last year, I didn’t feel that I had enough vacation stacked up, so I went after work. It’s nice that it’s an option, but I should’ve taken a half day as my Thursday night into Friday morning was spent printing signage, cutting signage and fretting about how ill prepared I felt.

The big change with Artist Alley is how much space they gave us. Anime Midwest usually has 8 ft tables, but I had so much room behind me. Usually you can’t back up without almost knocking over your neighbor’s display.

Fast forward to the morning of, I put my best foot forward. I drew attention to my booth with my big huggable creations. I was positioned right in front. Life feels good.

What happened next was unexpected. I came to Anime Midwest because I didn’t want to lose out on $176. I’m vaccinated, but conventions are usually a hotbed of bacteria (Con flu, anyone?). Many people are immunocompromised and don’t want to catch the Delta variants.

That was not the case this year. The pre-registration line was out the door, something I have never seen in five years.

Anime Midwest stated that we’re to mask up at all times. I definitely saw a lot of people not wearing masks, but I’d say the percentage of masked to unmasked was at least 70%.

Anime Midwest opened up on Friday with a mighty shout, it was honestly intimidating. The traffic to my booth was insane and really validated my experiences as an Artist. If you follow my Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, the algorithm has not been kind. I revealed my Among Us keychains, Umbreon, Hero, Dark and Normal Chaos. Rabites, sloths and beholders and none of them got much buzz. I thought my art wasn’t that good. I actually tried to get away from the Pokemon formula in favor of D&D and video games. When I didn’t get the feedback I was hoping for, I thought maybe it was time to give up. But almost every single one of my “one offs” that got ignored by social media went day 1. I grew exponentially at this con. It blew all of my previous successes out of the water!

This being said, while myself and my booth neighbors were experiencing unprecedented success and validating reactions from the community, there is still a sense of loss that lingers in the “new normal”.

The Pandemic’s Paralyzing Poisonous Effects: Missing Artists

My glasses fogging up while wearing my mask to the point that I was better off crocheting without them is a small thing compared to how much the pandemic stifled the typical convention experience.

Anime Midwest, while not bigger than Anime Central by any means, still sells out within 2 minutes when artist sign ups open. The convention program did have some blank spots, but it didn’t have this many. I imagine people may not have been able to get off work (Anime Midwest 2021 was July 2nd-4th), people were scared of attending a super spreader event, or people honestly had to hang up their tools.

I’m a part of one artist guild. In 2020, Artists were angry at the Illinois governor for essentially decimating the Events industry with the mitigation efforts. Hashtags like #TheGovernorStoleMyCon flew around social media when the pandemic was raging, before we had vaccines. People tried to stay afloat with online conventions and pivoting to online commerce, but most people had to go back to day jobs to put food on the table, or close down their shops. I titled this post “post-pandemic”, but the Pandemic may never truly leave us. 15 months is a long time to go through something and the ripple effects are still going strong.

Dystopian Food Options

Okay, this sub-heading is a little dramatic, but the vibe between Artist Alley and the rest of the convention was vastly different. If I had stayed in Artist Alley, I could have almost forgotten we were in a global pandemic. Trying to get real food in between what my husband and I packed for the booth is a different story.

When working a con, I try to get at least one real meal a day. First, the hotel buffet that I love is closed. So Day 2 of the convention, my husband and I pivoted to the Perks Cafe because it was open. French Toast and a breakfast sandwich sounded cool, until we got our food. According to my husband, they didn’t handle the food at all. They took your food, which was packaged in a container, put it in the warmer, and handed it to you. My french toast tasted like foam.

Day 3 of the con, we realized that the breakfast buffet was replaced by a Grab & Go set up, similar to the Perks Cafe, but arguably better quality.

How it worked is that they told you the prices up front, you then picked the food you wanted based on the cellophane covered display plates, then you paid with registers to the left of the buffet. I could tell that at least this was made with real egg, but I really missed the buffet. Especially the bread pudding. I usually got that for breakfast every year.

If You Ate From This Food Truck, Don’t Ask What’s In the Vaccine

The service and hospitality industry are still reeling from the pandemic, and customers are upset that they’re not getting pre-pandemic service levels. The Hyatt seems to have innovated this approach with food trucks being available during the con. I was hoping that there would be rotating food trucks, or multiple different food trucks, but it was a hot dog food truck for all three days open for lunch, dinner and “late night” (per the sign).

What made my skin crawl slightly, was the fact that we had open containers of vegetables, especially the suspiciously green relish.

After Day 2 of the con where my booth was noticeably lighter the day before, I sat off to the side and relaxed with my husband. I took a moment to breathe and soak in the atmosphere. Everyone was honestly doing their best to enjoy the convention, and to connect with likeminded individuals.

Game Room Became Game Rooms…but Not In a Good Way

The other casualty of the pandemic is the fact that the game room had to be split off into multiple chunks. In a typical year, there are 2 game rooms, one for tabletop games, and one for video games. They usually hire an outside company to run the games, and there are more than enough spaces for you to pick up a game and get in on the action. Unfortunately, with each type of game, rhythm, fighting, and table top each being put in their own room, it lead to longer lines and claustrophobic environments.

People spent more time waiting in line for games than actually playing the games, I felt. It also felt like these were things people brought from home. There really wasn’t much pizazz.

Final Verdict: Just Glad to be Back

I am not going to judge Anime Midwest on pre-pandemic terms. Yes, if this were a normal convention, attendees would have a right to be outraged as this was not a top tier experience. But after an entire year of not going to anime conventions, being cooped up in the house, inundated with news of unrest, death and disease. We needed this weekend.

I also felt that people echo my sentiments. I was showered with so much love at my booth and people were positive. The angry pandemic behavior that you see on the news was not present here and I really appreciated that. If Anime Midwest 2021 was your first convention, please be aware that the convention is vastly better than what it has to be due to a global catastrophe.

Attendees, vendors and artists, if they want Events to come back, have to do their part to support the industry. Taking the precautions necessary so these events can come back is what we really need to support artists. Additionally, if you find an artist you love, please give them a follow on social media. In between conventions, it gets rough fighting the algorithm. Letting us know what you think and what you want to see, sharing our content helps us grow and improve.

I hope I can get into Con+Alt+Delete 2021. In the meantime, please give me a follow over at my new venture www.twitch.tv/hookedoncozy to watch me create live and chat with me. Thank you all for your support, and I’ll be seeing you net time.