Normally I was picking events based on locations where I had friends I could visit. I didn't think I knew anyone in PA at the time I signed up for this (apparently one of my WoW friends lived here though and I was like oh yeah much later lol). Actually, I only even registered because people said it was a good event. I had never been to Pennsylvania any time previously either. It's just one of those states I had no reason to visit.
Applications had a super short window. I applied on Nov 11, 2023 within the tiny window of like 30 minutes to an hour. I got accepted January 7, 2024 and then made my hotel reservation through the Westin on the Tekko website which.. was a terrible idea. I do want to be clear - the Westin Pittsburgh is a fantastic hotel. It connects to the convention center making it super easy to get back and forth with a wagon, but I didn't even realize that it connected until Sunday before we left. Noting it here in case anyone else decides they want to stay at the Westin. I had a great experience with the hotel itself. Heck, we got to check in early and they even gave us a map of all the recommended places to eat around the city. There is also a Starbucks inside the building and a connected parking garage which is convenient.
I got a little ahead of myself, but make sure if you apply and get in that you pick a hotel that is more affordable. I think $1200 was just not the play for me. I had planned for my daughter to be with the whole time so I personally wanted something that was very close to the convention center and good walking distance to a lot of food options. The views were fun though. I really love downtown Pittsburgh more than you can imagine.
I want to note something for people sharing hotels with people. Please make sure you can afford the room alone if whoever says they are sharing with you bails. This was obviously a situation I ended up in since they wanted to add someone to my room like the Monday before we were leaving. It's fairly rude to do something like that last minute. They got a room elsewhere but it would have been horrible if my husband hadn't said he'd just pay for it instead of my company. Hotels are VERY expensive and I understand now why people split them so many ways. 
Tekko sent out Tableshare and Assistant information/requests in March. I didn't do a table share but my daughter was my assistant for this event, so you had to make sure that you got a second badge before it closed.
In May they sent us a layout request form and reminders for the assistants or secondary artist badges. They are very communicative and it sounded like once we arrived at the event a lot of people were not great to deal with. Their AA team is A+ and if you ever get in yourself, you'll see that! There is a contract you had to bring with as well. It was part of the 2024 information packet they sent us and they would NOT allow you to set up without it. I brought several extras with me just in case.
Tekko table assignments went out at the end of June along with information about the loading dock, setup, closing and selling hours. They also brought up the ribbon game which I didn't know about in time and didn't participate in. They have a whole discord and Tekko Ribbon Collecting facebook group dedicated to such things if I recall correctly. Either way, ribbons are a big deal at this event so make sure you make some if you get in!
The AA staff was really quick to respond to me about things. My husband was still having issues with his arm so I wasn't sure if I would or would not have a helper for the event or if I could swap a helper in at last minute. They were super willing to work with me and I feel bad since I completely forgot to update them and it was mentioned at badge pickup.
We got a final countdown on the 14th from Tekko full of reminders for the event and helpful information. Since I had a long drive with my kid, I reserved two hotels - one on the way there in Indiana and one on the way back in Wisconsin.
I also joined the Unofficial Tekko facebook group and discord to prepare myself for the event and advertise. There were some attendees meeting up for dinner so I opted to let them know I'd be joining them for that too. As far as con-goers go, these have been the most friendly of any in any state thus far and I highly recommend just going because of that alone. I love them all so much!
The drive from Minnesota to Pennsylvania wasn't terrible. You will want an EzPass if you don't already have one though. Makes going through tolls way less stressful and it will pay automatically or deduct from your existing account balance. I got mine before this event and have no regrets. It's essentially free but they do require you to keep $25 on the account for some reason. I picked mine up locally in person at some government place. I forget, but you can search locally for your own options. Whatever is the easiest is what I recommend. You can add a temporary tag as well for rental vehicles which has been amazing.
We arrived on Wednesday and decided to unwind after the trip. I will say that slowly becoming a plush vendor has been a journey. It basically requires a ton of space and every rental vehicle just seems way too small. This was my clown fiesta of a cart I had to bring up to my room from the parking garage. We were on floor 6 of the Westin and had to come up from the lower floor of the parking garage which was still a short trek to the elevators.
Thursday we had time before load-in and took the opportunity to explore things locally. The Heinz Museum was like a block or two from the Westin and you could see the convention center from the entrance of the Heinz museum. I really liked the view from the second or third floor window though.
I will say that the museum was not nearly as exciting as I would have liked but I did get some silly souvenirs. It was a huge mix of different things related to the city of Pittsburgh but also had a large portion dedicated to sports. I'm not a sports person. Pittsburgh is definitely obsessed with their sports teams to the point I was sort of hyped up just being around them even though I had no idea what was going on haha. Even when their baseball team loses they still shoot off fireworks which was cool.
After this we intended to eat near the Carnegie Science Center but I had poorly located food apparently. I thought there was food near there but turns out most of the things were places inside the Steelers stadium. We learned very quickly that they were not open. I basically tortured my kid making her walk all the way around the stadium only to end back up at our vehicle. 
We drove down the road in front of the stadium and found food. I guess if we'd realized sooner, we could have just walked straight and found food. Oops.
We ended up at a place called Bar Louie in North Shore. It was sooo good. I got the salmon and my daughter got a cheeseburger. We were basically the only people there because it was pretty late in the afternoon by the time we found food. I definitely recommend it though.
We went back to the parking lot by the Carnegie Science Center after and finally went inside. Load in started at 4pm so we were basically on a time crunch at this point.
We basically did a speed run of the museum in under 2 hours. We even stopped to watch some space thing where we had to vote. I think it was like a mission to Mars. It was fun and I think as a group we did pretty okay. The body area was the silliest one. Pixar was also there but we'd done that one before in Minneapolis so we skipped that exhibit entirely.
One of the levels was more for little kids so it was easy to skip that but we did miss out on the submarine that was located outside of the museum. That would have been fun to see. Maybe next time we go!
I took some photos of the view from the windows. There was a lot around the city I still wanted to see and didn't get a chance to go to. I don't know why I am so caught up in this city, but I am. It has some sort of awesome energy I can't shake.
We raced from the museum back to the hotel so we could grab everything we needed for load in. We arrived around 5pm, so not on time but also not late.
Before the Event & Setup
So load in was open from 4pm-8pm on Thursday but they were also doing badge pickup around that time so there was a huge line around the convention center.
Once we got our badges, we went inside and located our table. The walk wasn't too bad. We went up one elevator to get to the floor that had the artist alley and then the room was to the left. This convention center was so great because it was on the water but also had so many windows.
They do this flea market thing apparently and it was going on while we were setting up which was a little weird if you ask me. Basically any random person could bring whatever they wanted to sell. I don't know if they had to apply for it or not so there were probably restrictions I am unaware of. People were selling video games, plush, old cosplays, etc. Definitely an interesting mix of things. I don't think this really impacted sales at all but who knows. They were separated by a curtain.
The tables for artist alley were decently spaced apart. I don't remember how much we really got set up before heading to meet discord attendees for dinner, but I do remember it was pretty hot. At the time we were setting up the wall between where the game area is and the artist alley was not closed off yet. I actually didn't know there was going to be a wall until Friday morning. Didn't get any photos but I got to meet Single Sploot - another corgi artist who I adore. She also does vlogs if you aren't familiar with her already!
We intended on having dinner with discord folks who were attending the event from I think Ohio or something but my daughter couldn't find anything she was willing to eat on the menu at Condado Tacos. This place was conveniently across the street from the Westin where a majority of the attendees I was talking to were staying anyways. They were also out of horchata and I was so sad in the end.
So Anthrocon had been in the city like a weekend or two prior. It's like a massive furry convention held at the same convention center as Tekko. We left dinner after a bit of chatting and finally went to Pizza Parma around the corner. They had large boards outside for people to put stickers on and it was covered in furry stickers from the last convention. Inside it said we like furries or something. I can't remember exactly but either way, they were such a welcoming place for con goers and even tried to help us pick something to eat. They suggested the pizza boat. I just opted for a regular pizza and I am glad I did. No offense but that thing did not look like a boat and I would have been disappointed to have received that as a meal. The pizza was very good and didn't make me sick which is pretty rare these days.
After that, we wanted to go to Target to get things for the event. Mike had messaged me with way too many recommendations for food at some point during the day and I asked where Target was. He offered to drive us there so I took him up on it and he wanted to buy a corgi so I brought one of those with as well. He's a super nice guy and it was very cool he offered to take us around for a bit!
There are two Targets to know about for this location. One is in walking distance of the Westin, although it's still a bit of a walk. I did go there but not on Thursday. I think I went like Sunday morning or something, but yeah. It's a less great Target that is basically super tiny. A lot of things were behind glass. The Target Mike took us to was in a place called Shadyside which was pretty cool. The Target had a parking garage and now that I am thinking about it, I have no idea if there was a way to park on top of it or maybe the Target went over top of the parking garage. I clearly did not pay that much attention.
The thing I liked about this Target is that it had one of those cart escalators which was neat. This Target was better than my local Target in Andover. Makes me a little sad since Minnesota is home of Target and we should have the best Targets of all. Not saying this was anything spectacular, it's just better than my local Target. I am between two Super Targets so it's not like I can't drive a little further and go to a better one. Either way, if you're in the area and need to go to one, this is the one to go to for sure.
After Target he sort of took us on a tour of the city where he pointed out random places of interest. I can't for the life of me tell you what they were anymore, but it was a fun little tour. Our final stop was a place called Mount Washington which is basically some hilltop neighborhood area across the river in Pittsburgh. I'm pretty much obsessed with this location now. Mike took a photo of my daughter and I looking at the city and sent it to me saying he thought I'd want to remember it. That was very nice.
Like come on, the view is amazing. There are some photographers on Twitter who have to live on one of these hills in the area because their photos are always breathtaking with the city in the background. If you go to Pittsburgh, do yourself a favor and stop here at least once. 
Mike dropped us off at the hotel afterwards and we got ready for the start of a long selling weekend.
The Event Itself
Every morning I got my Starbucks coffee, went back to my room and got my kid ready for the day and we took my very squeaky wagon down the path to the convention center.
Friday morning there was still a line around the whole building for badges. We had to finish setting up still. 
I want to note that it was July 19th, 2024 when the CrowdStrike problems were really apparent. Some people never made it to the event. I can't remember if artists were affected, but I know attendees and some of the guests were.
I was part of a Nintendo themed stamp rally for Tekko. Taylermade Studios was the one responsible for organizing this one. It was so well organized. This was the first stamp rally I have ever participated in and it was a great experience. I think I met most of the people in the stamp rally - Snowifer, Owloo Art, Hareno, Scout Bennett, & Doughnut Doodles.
The neighbors to my left were super nice. I didn't really talk to them much and didn't meet the people to my right. They had a gigantic display that basically blocked them from being seen in any direction other than the front. They sold prints and pins I believe. I don't remember. One of the people behind us brought snakes every day over the weekend, so of course my daughter had to hold it. She loves reptiles and snakes. The neighbors next to me were not very happy. They did not like snakes.
I had fully intended on having a different setup by the time Tekko rolled around but my daughter helped me set up so it was not too bad. I had a lot of corgis since I was told that Pittsburgh was a big corgi city. I sold many corgis and even some Panic Puffs. There were so many cool cosplays as well. A lot of people were browsing on Friday which seems to be a trend across the board. Some people did their impulse buying while many said they would come back later.
Picklesburgh was also happening the same weekend as Tekko which meant after our event ended, we were going to go check it out. We walked to market square where the event was being held and had Chipotle. It was faster to just order online for pickup than wait in line for some reason. Anyways, after that we finally explored the area. Picklesburgh also had a little market with vendors selling all sorts of pickle themed items. I was told to make a pickle corgi for next year haha. Watch it fall on a different weekend next year.
Honestly, if people love pickles this much in Pittsburgh, it probably wouldn't hurt to make some pickle merch. I'll think about it lol. Once the sun started to set, we headed out. Mike sent something Thursday about fireworks that were going to be happening Friday. Obviously with it being Friday at this point, that was now on our to do list. We hit the hotel and hung out until it was closer to the time of the fireworks.
PNC stadium is basically across the river from the convention center and because of that, the fireworks were going to be happening very close to where we were staying. I thought we could see them from the convention center, but the glare was too bad. I also didn't know they had a rooftop area until after we'd watched the fireworks from the bridge, but I know now for next time. I love fireworks! We walked from the convention center to the bridge and basically hung out across the street while they went off. It was a really good show! Apparently the Pirates lost, so the fireworks weren't because they did well. We went to bed after this as it was already very late and we had to be up early for a long Saturday.
Saturday morning we headed to Target and Dunkin in the city. I had some very bad issues with bleeding. This ended up being a problem for the remainder of my time at Tekko, resulting in an uncomfortable Saturday. I basically spent most of my time running to the bathroom. There was an Indian wedding happening at the Westin and we saw it on our way back from the store.
Saturday was busy with a lot of sales, tons of cosplayers and people stopping by with their pets. Someone even came by with a parrot! Apparently they were part of a rescue that had a booth at the back of the convention. We never did get to stop by and see them so it was nice they were walking around with the bird.
There was also some vendor drama with a vendor called Saffron Books. Apparently they were being disruptive but also trying to harass people about who knows what. They eventually got evicted from the show and the spot remained empty for the rest of the weekend.
I was basically super focused on my personal issues at that point so left my kid at the hotel, ignored Mike offering to come with to Target and headed out to get more tampons and pants. It was a pretty embarrassing situation but at least I knew where to go haha. It was also on this drive to Target my blinker on the rental decided that hey, it wasn't going to work any longer. Yeah. That was an experience for sure. It didn't work the remainder of the trip including that fun 13 hour drive back to Minnesota. I had blinker stress for about a week even after I returned to my own vehicles haha.
Sunday was the day we learned we could take the bridge from the Westin to the convention center. I don't even remember how we figured this out or if someone told us, but we took it and it was great. There was basically only one way you could go so you couldn't get lost. There was an elevator at the end though so I guess that was a little confusing? Aside from that though, totally a great way to go.
We also got a different view of the vendor hall from the walkway. I took some photos so you could get an idea of what it looked like at least!
We did some shopping Sunday morning since it was the final day. It was so exciting meeting Kittynaut and Flair Fighter. I love both of these artists so much! I guess this is the one event Kittynaut even does anymore - at least according to her helper. Maybe she's local. I can't remember what he said anymore. This was the final day and we had to bring the wagon with us to pack up.
On Sunday they did some sort of announcement saying vendors could renew for next year. I was in artist alley and someone told me that we'd get to renew then later realized they were wrong.
We were invited by Studio Bliz to Mad Mex in Monroeville with her friends. I asked if I could invite Mike with, they were fine but Mike hates Monroeville and declined. I have no idea why people hate Monroeville but it's definitely a thing. The food was what you'd expect from a chain restaurant. I wish I could remember the two people we had dinner with beside Liz since they were also very nice and one was a local. The other had just moved to like Louisiana or something? I forget at this point, but that seems right. People definitely traveled from all over to be at this event to sell though!
Once we were back at the hotel after dinner, Mike was like wanna go for ice cream. We said sure and did. Downside was the first place he took us was so busy there was a line around the building. He did say it was the best ice cream in the city. It caught me off guard to be honest so I didn't snap a picture. Many regrets. If you're curious, it was called Page's Dairy Mart. I like ice cream but not enough to spend an hour in a line for it. We ended up going to what he called the second best ice cream place in the city, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. He works for a place that owns a lot of random buildings in the city so we went on the roof top deck of the building next to the ice cream place and sat at a table to eat the ice cream.
We had the hotel until Monday morning so we could sleep and leave refreshed. Took a final photo under the convention center of this rusty old bridge. I was sad to go but made a point to apply as a vendor since apps were opened. Will I get in again? No one knows. The window for artist alley is so short you may not finish applying in time or you can sleep right through it! Fingers crossed though.
What Worked & What Did Not
Parking was pretty expensive. I assume there were probably better places than the parking garage below the hotel. I want to say it was like $25-$28 a day. That was a lot of money so I tried to walk as often as possible.
Location was superb. Parking was easy to find all around the convention center, under hotels, on the streets, etc. It was also by the river so the view was spectacular.
My booth location felt pretty good being across from the food and bathrooms. I know not everyone liked their location, but I was pretty happy with mine.
Staff communicated everything super clearly before, during and after the event.
Conclusion
I absolutely loved this event so much I want to go back. The convention center, the city itself, the staff, the foods and the attendees were all so wonderful I can't imagine not wanting to sell at this event every year.
Half the fun is getting to pick a new place for dinner every night. Pittsburgh is definitely a foodie city and I do love to eat. I think I am way too enchanted by the city either way haha.
The Details (TLDR)
Event: Tekko
Dates: July 18-21, 2024
Location: David L. Lawrence Convention Center, 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Hours: Friday 11am-7pm, Saturday 10am-7pm & Sunday 10am-3pm EST
Total Vendors: 129 artists & 97 vendors
Attendance: 10,665
Travelworthy: Definitely great for locals and still very good for out of state artists who can keep expenses low.
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Booth Cost: $298.22
Total Sales: $2,855 (this is before all costs are taken out)
Transaction Fees: $48.95
Taxes: $178.50
Total Profit: $2,320.81