So I adore Kikicraft so much and I have been so excited for this event for months thanks to her! I will say that August has been a bundle of chaos for me with medical issues, trying to get back into shape, everything in my house breaking, trying to get business stuff prepped and organized, family visiting from out of state, back to school prep and my daughter's swim team starting back up.
I was also unable to actually use their emails because I have a teenager who clicks all the things, and a husband who disables ads and trackers through whatever crazy contraption we use for router/internet stuff. Thankfully Wisperia also got into the event and was helping me with that stuff. I was able to print out my ST-19 (even though I left it at home on Thursday night after the swim meet and had to turn it in the next day).
Before the Event & Setup
So load-in hours were like 5pm to midnight I think but my daughter had a swim meet at 6pm-9pm on Thursday evening so it was a major conflict of interest. I had fully intended just skipping and loading up my eclipse to go while she swam, but I was convinced to watch her at her meet. Afterwards, she came with me to help me set up, so it all worked out in the end.
My kid is the best. Just saying.
The drive ranged from 32 minutes to like 45 minutes? We're not all that close to Bloomington, so it was pretty similar to driving to Momocon from my parents house when I was in Atlanta for that event. The drive to Bloomington was such a breeze. No real traffic or anything.
The Doubletree is where the event was being held. I really didn't understand the map that was provided, so I eventually parked and just walked inside to ask. Apparently it didn't really matter other than don't park exactly where I did park when I came in to ask. Zoey told me to pull up out front and we brought stuff inside from the front entrance. I love that you basically walk inside, turn right then left and the elevators AND escalators were right there. I would like to note the elevators were fine for load in, but if you bring more things in later you will want to just take the escalator if you can carry it. Frankly, the elevators get really slow due to the amount of people trying to use them.
I also noticed I never got a helper badge for this event, which was okay until Sunday when my daughter was upset I never brought her despite her being busy all weekend with her friend. So if you need a helper badge, make sure you check and see how many are included. I was okay but I also never paid attention in this case, but it's something to note if you need a helper. My booth wasn't ever so busy I couldn't leave once in awhile to use the bathroom while Wisparia or her husband watched my table for a minute.
The Event Itself
I want to open noting that for ME, this particular weekend was a mess so I am just happy I made it to the event given all that was going on. Our AC went out so we had to get people out to give us quotes and get it replaced as soon as possible.
I showed up "early" to me but realized I didn't notice the 30 minutes VIP hours so I was just in time for those. Friday wasn't crazy busy but it was steady and people were so sweet. There was even a corgi that was wandering around named Meeka whose owners gave me a ribbon and a magnet! Didn't realize ribbons were going to be popular at this event but now I know for the future!
The lovely Meeka herself! She was the goodest girl. She wasn't even the only corgi I saw at this event which makes it even better. In case you may not know, 2d Con is a dog friendly convention. I guess this would be a good time to note if you are allergic to dogs, this is probably not the best event for you? Idk but take allergy meds if you come haha.
This cute corgi also came by and allowed us to pet her on Friday. I loved seeing all the corgis though. Definitely made this already wonderful event even better. 
I forgot to get any photos of my booth on Thursday setup and on Friday at all for some reason. I remembered randomly on Saturday. It was really busy on Saturday and everyone was so wonderful! It was also nice getting drawing suggestions for different dogs and other animals. My cat pins were very popular here.
My booth neighbor to my right (or left if you were facing my booth) was the lovely Wisparia and her husband. He actually brought me a coffee which was so amazing and sweet. Freaking made me day since I was dead tired from not sleeping from not having any air conditioning. My daughter had a friend spend the night Friday so they could head out to Valley Fair Saturday since the house was going to be miserable with no AC. I also want to note that Brittany from Wolf Dynasty Studios was my super hero this weekend. She wasn't at any events this weekend, just working on some new art which enabled her to help me out. She brought an extra fan over for my dogs, let them out, fed them and gave them water.
Enough about me, here are some notes from the event itself. The artist alley and vendor areas were very nicely spaced. It felt like the perfect quantity of vendors and artists to shop from. I assume they could have fit more rows in if they wanted at the cost of having a good amount of space for people's booths. That being said, I think this made sales better overall. Few artists that were juried to have a good selection. They definitely did a great job and I spent way too much haha. I also liked how we had space on either side of our booths so we weren't accidentally knocking things over or struggling to move things around.
The location of the halls were very good as well. They were right next to where the voice actors were in the entry way up the escalators. Some of the lines were wild. I was randomly leaving my booth for the bathroom and to refill my water, so I was always checking around to see what the crowds looked like.
One of the more cool things that this con did that I have not seen up to this point was them asking the artists and the vendor hall to stay open after it closed. The voice actors wanted to go shopping after hours and it was really cool that this was an option. Obviously not every booth stayed open, but several of us did stick around and Wisparia got a sale from a voice actor I don't know the name of which was so freaking exciting for her. I know people often have obligations after events and that's okay. I would personally like to see this happen at more events though. I think it's a really nice thing to do for the attending voice actors.
Sunday was about average. I ended the weekend doing much better than expected either way. I was so close to Convergence numbers which I did not expect for a gaming focused convention. It was so fast and easy to load out. Having two ways to enter and exit really close helped substantially. I don't know if it was as convenient for vendors who had a lot of stuff to haul, but it was so quick and easy for me. I absolutely love this hotel and sort of wish more local conventions would use it even though it's a bit far out of the way for me personally. I think the Hyatt in Minneapolis is more convenient to me but I really prefer this location.
I would like to note I have no idea where food was for the event so make sure you bring snacks. If you have a helper, at least they could run and find food. Wisparia shared some carrots with me as she's way more prepared than I am for events. You'd think all the years of parenting would teach me to bring snacks more frequently.
What Worked & What Did Not
Load in was so flexible. You could basically park and come in from any direction. It was open late and it was super easy to get to.
Hotel choice was so good. The Doubletree was just a really nice location and it was surrounded by food. I had to go home every night for dinner, but if I had the option to eat nearby the food choices looked amazing.
Signs were clear and everywhere. Staff was easy to find as well so if you couldn't figure out where someone or something was with the signs, they were always around to help too!
I only have a single complaint about this event and it's 100% an issue on MY end that may be a problem for others. To submit the ST-19 online, they included a click link that had some sort of tracker and my household (with a teenager) has a lot of tracking things blocked for obvious reasons. I had to physically bring my ST-19 in - not a problem. Just a thing I ran into and if you have something similar setup, you may encounter the same issue.
They had water for everyone that was free so we can stay hydrated. I love when events do this. I actually didn't notice this at first, but staff pointed it out to me. I love their staff so much!
Conclusion
So I think if I wasn't so dead set on helping them for 2025 as a volunteer, I'd definitely apply vend again. Everyone running this event is so amazing and I had so much fun even as a vendor. I have also never seen any events let VAs shop after and keep shops open for it so that was a nice surprise even though I have no idea who they were at all. The hall for artists and vendors were nice and small. So while it's hard to get in, it's a really good event and people like to shop!
The Details (TLDR)
Event: 2D Con
Dates: August 23-25th, 2024
Location: Doubletree Bloomington, 7800 Normandale Blvd Minneapolis, MN 55439
Hours: Friday 12pm-7pm, Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 10am-4pm (VIP Access 30 mins earlier than indicated times) CST
Total Vendors: 22 vendors & 26 artists
Attendance: 4,415
Travelworthy: I think this is a worthwhile event to travel to if you're in the midwest and can keep your expenses low.
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Booth Cost: $150
Total Sales: $2419.20 (this is before all costs are taken out)
Transaction Fees: $48.95
Taxes: $189.68
Total Profit: $2,030.57