I applied for Anime Fusion in March and I was accepted in June. Dealers room has a contract and I don't remember much about it at this point. I did also sponsor this event for $250. They advertised my business on their socials before the event.
I received my load in information from them on October 11th. My kid still has swim stuff so the load-in hours only being from 2pm to 9pm are fairly restrictive. I'll bring it up at later, but I definitely like it when load in hours have more flexibility on the day before the event.
Thankfully Friday hours start at 2pm but vendors can show up from 8:30am until the event starts if they can't set up on Thursday. I like having my stuff ready the night before and doing any last minute adjustments on the day of.
I want to note that they bring up weather in their email which I appreciate. Since I am living in Minnesota, I am very familiar with how temperamental our weather can be in October. Anywhere from the 70s to snowing. They mentioned that it will probably be chilly and can be snowing, so that is great information for anyone flying in from a warmer climate.
Before the Event & Setup
I'm on staff, so I spent Thursday morning working on banners that one of the other departments wasn't able to complete because of a computer problem. I forget what happened but got that knocked out. It was MEA week so the kids were off school Thursday and Friday, enabling my daughter to tag along for setup.
My husband had been working on hooks for about a week or so trying to get them prepped for testing at this event. My daughter had preplanned how she wanted my display to sort of look like before the event, but we still had to change how the display looked in the end which upset her a little. Part of the issue was we never put the pins on her setup, so we needed the extra grids. There was also this little connector she really wanted, but it blocked anyone who was standing so we opted to remove that and just use it for pins.
I have a picture of her looking super grumpy, but I'll just share what parts we set up before the All Hands meeting for staff at 7pm. We ran out of printed hooks and Kenny wanted to make some adjustments to the ones that the dragon magnets were hanging on anyways. 
We basically went to the staff meeting and then to dinner afterwards. Meeting took about 40 minutes. Staff photo got moved to Sunday which just resulted me getting left out entirely since we really needed to get home after load out. Not a big deal. Picked up my shirt before we went to dinner on Thursday. I do not feel like the quality was great, but maybe I am picky. Something to bring up later.
We had dinner at Sunshine Factory Bar & Grill in Plymouth because it was literally across the way. If you sell at the event and want to eat somewhere delicious, all of our food was very good. My meal ended up being the special so it was like $6 cheaper than expected so I consider that a win! This spaghetti didn't make me sick. Maybe my issue is just premade sauces. I have no idea anymore haha.
Since I wasn't able to finish setup on Thursday, we had to plan to show up with enough time on Friday.
Tried to grab cash Friday afternoon before heading in but my bank was super busy. Thankfully the ATM gives you the option for 10s, but I still had to have my husband get me some 5s and 1s when he did a Caribou run for us on Friday during the event. About half of all my transactions for the weekend were cash, so cash was actually important for this event.
We actually weren't even in a hurry on Friday since the power was out and created problems. At some point we were told the vendor hall would not be open until about 3pm, but the power came back on an hour or so later and the normal time was back. That did have me rushing to get to the event since we definitely slacked on leaving sooner knowing the power had been out.
I want to note that during setup on Friday, I accidentally discovered that my sticker holder can connect to my display. It made it quite nice since people couldn't just move the display around. It won't work if I have tons of stickers I guess since it can't have two displays connected in the same feet, but it's pretty nice for one at least.
The Event Itself
Friday I forgot my corgi pillow that was for preorder and also forgot I didn't put out like 3 other pin designs, so my display didn't get fixed until sometime on Saturday when I remembered.
I will say Friday had a lot of people browsing but not a lot of people buying. I had enough sales to cover my booth cost though, so it wasn't so worrying that I wasn't recouping basic costs. I have a ton of repeat customers and I love them so much. Several of them stopped by throughout the weekend!
We had to grab my nephew on the way home since we were bringing him with Saturday morning. This was his very first convention and he was very excited to show off the suit he'd been laboring on for several months. He also had some stickers that I am not sure if he passed out or not, but it was nice to see him having a good time. We stopped at Taco Johns for a quick bite to eat, went home and got everything together to be more prepared for Saturday.
Saturday morning we had to get two kids up and ready for the event. Stuffed everyone with donuts and coffee and headed on over. We had to drop Owen off after the event, so he had to bring his suitcase with. I did manage to remember to bring things I was out of and also bring the pillow so it could be displayed.
Owen tried to go to a panel for sewing toys for animals and the panel instructor never showed up or maybe they were really late. Either way that was a bust. Kenny and Aurora went to an Ita Bag panel that was extremely short. It was about 9 minutes long, about 5 slides and just covered what an ita bag was. The biggest takeaway from it was that ita bags break at the straps a lot.
There was a kitten being brought around to all the tables. It really liked my Anxiety plush. Apparently it ran around playing with people later and my nephew got a video of it being a loaf. Sounds like everyone was having a good time at least!
Tako was brought by to visit. He's such a good boy!
Saturday sales were better but still nothing crazy. I wasn't sure what to expect as everyone kept saying they'd come by Sunday to buy instead. The vendor hall was nice and cool. Artist alley, however, was still quite hot especially for anyone in cosplay. I guess people kept walking inside and then saying it was too hot and leaving. Unfortunate really. I am happy I ended up being a vendor though instead of in artist alley.
There wasn't a whole lot of traffic, but this is a much smaller event. I wish I could say I spent less time being bored, but alas, that was not the case. I chatted with people a lot though which helped speed the day up. At one point our small crew went to Red Robin to get lunch and brought me back a hamburger which was delicious. Water was easy to locate and kept full so we never had any issues with staying hydrated.
I guess if I had to complain, there were no close bathrooms to the dealers hall. Everything was a bit of a walk and the doors were extremely difficult to close for the one that was closest to where I was walking from. Nothing felt super handicap accessible, but it is an older hotel from what I could tell.
We had dinner at Lucky's 13 Pub in Plymouth. I would like to note that we had about 11 or 12 people and they do not allow for reservations. Wisparia had suggested I call to reserve us a table around 7pm or so, but in the end their automated message said they don't take reservations. Amanda and her husband beat us to the restaurant by a few minutes and I think the staff was not prepared to handle a group this large so randomly. They did push some tables together though, so it worked out rather nicely.
Shout out to Craft Quest, Amanda Nelson Design Co, Wolf Dynasty Studios, Wisparia & Nakama Nerd-Op for coming!
Sunday only Kenny and I went since it was load out and we needed the space in the vehicle. I wasn't super motivated to get going in the morning so I got coffee on the way to the event instead of earlier in the morning like I normally do. Since we had leftover donuts anyways, was an easy grab and go sort of morning.
Parking lot was busy since people were already on their way out as we were arriving. This tends to be pretty typical from what I've noticed, especially for anyone who traveled any sort of substantial distance to attend.
Once the vendor hall opened, sales started immediately. I didn't really expect that, but we made about as much as we did on Saturday within an hour before things slowed down for the rest of the day. Kenny went to grab us lunch around 12:50ish so we could eat and noted the parking lot had plenty of spots still. Friday and Saturday people were basically circling the parking lot trying to find spots. Either way, it was a very slow remaining two hours as we made no additional sales past 2pm.
At one point the ladies next to us had someone who wouldn't shut up for about 15 minutes. I really have no idea what he just kept going on and on about, but my husband was annoyed and the guy wasn't getting their subtle clues to go away. He was the same annoying guy from the staff meeting who seemed to be a part of gaming. I didn't catch his name so I have no idea who he is. Either way, Kenny went over there and got him to guide him to the bathroom which was nowhere near the dealer hall. They were super happy since he just really didn't seem interested in leaving anytime soon.
Since it was slow, we took the opportunity to chat with the other vendors. It was nice talking to our booth neighbors who usually sell ears, but they were selling a book this time. We talked about RangeFan Con and how we were disappointed with the date change for next year and how we weren't sure how Twin Cities Con would go given they have over 400 vendors/artists and were continuing to add them at the time of this blog.
Load out was quick and easy. Even with the display changes, it didn't take substantially longer to break down. Having Kenny helped a ton as well. We had started organizing things to prepare for leaving about 3pm. Once 4pm hit, we quickly got everything broken down and into boxes. The new clip hooks were much easier to get off than expected so that also helped. I know they were a pain for me to snap on so I had expected them to be difficult to remove.
I had planned on attending the staff party, but decided against it. With the dogs waiting at home, we went home and Kenny made dinner. It was a pretty good weekend overall even though it was slower than I expected based on what people had said about the previous year.
I will note that I think changing up my display helped quite a bit. People were happy to be able to see all the pins at once versus having to use my dumb spinner. We will keep evolving the display and figuring out works for the next event.
What Worked & What Did Not
I think the table cost was very good. I'm so used to spending a lot on tables anymore and appreciated that our cost was under $200.
I think that if I do any sponsorship things in 2025, I will not be doing the $250 one but instead put an advertisement into the program guide. I had originally wanted an advertisement on the back cover but someone else ended up snagging it before me. I will be faster next time!
The parking lot felt too small for this con to grow in any meaningful way. They had several areas blocked off for guest and con staff, but parking was severely limited anyways due to the size of the location.
Getting four badges for my space was a surprise that worked out nicely. I am still unsure if we were supposed to get four or if the sponsorship included an extra two badges. Either way, this worked out for me rather nicely.
Vendor hall location was very good. We were basically right at the entrance of the hotel. Artist Alley was down the hall. Both areas were very easy to locate compared to some of the panels, so they definitely gave us the best locations.
Power went out on Friday and we believe that caused the hotel to be hotter than it should have been. By Sunday it was fine, at least in the vendor hall. Others have stated the artist alley area is always that hot. Either way, rooms were hot and people didn't want to shop because of it.
Conclusion
The event was smaller than expected but it ended up being pretty good despite that. Friday did have me a bit concerned at first, but eventually it did get better. Many others made more than I did, but that is okay. I am glad they did so well!
Others had said that previous years were better, but I have nothing else to compare it to other than prior events. This is a lower event for me for sales, but it was still worth attending. I will definitely be back next year if they let me!
The Details (TLDR)
Event: Anime Fusion 2024
Dates: October 18-20, 2024
Location: Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West, 3131 Campus Dr, Minneapolis, MN 55441
Hours: Friday 2pm-7pm, Saturday 10am-6pm & Sunday 10am-4pm CST
Total Vendors: 17 vendors & 24 artists
Attendance: 1,085
Travelworthy: Good if you're local and don't need accommodations or have free accommodations. Not worth traveling out of state or long distances for.
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Booth Cost: $175
Total Sales: $1,194.10 (this is before all costs are taken out)
Transaction Fees: $22.81
Taxes: $92.94
Total Profit: $903.35