The good:
More room
More events
Photography station set up
Good draws (to the con)
The bad:
Rooms not marked
Late start times for events
Last minute changes to the schedule
Cancellations of events : (
Expensive local resturaunts
The ugly:
Unfortunately for Metro, the downtown area seems to close about 5 on Friday and not reopen til Monday morning. This proved expensive to guests who either had to eat in some fairly pricey local resturaunts, or venture out to other areas of Tampa to obtain food. Convention center pricing was high, a single can of soda running 2.00.
Overall:
The con itself, despite some snafus was fairly good, if a bit
Ybor city has some nice resturaunts, namely the Acropolis, where I had dinner. Given the nature of the buisness conducted across the street, I was amazed the police officer I asked for directions gave it such a glowing reccommendation. To my shock, the red light district seemed to begin within about 15 feet of the resturaunt, and the local hookers were having a fairly profitable night by the look of things. The cab driver was nice enough to enlighten me on the two shootings that had taken place that week, as well I was told the next day about a stabbing that occurred there.
The local Hyatt had a very nice resturaunt, and the room was quite nice. At this con, I advise staying within a quarter to half mile, else you won't find your way there and back! My original accommadations were about 8 miles away and nearly impossible to drive to and from.