Random: not asking for any sort of specifics, but have you ever had a truly horrible con? Like, the whole thing was just a complete disaster from start to finish?

Yes, the Mighty Mini Con in upstate New York, I think the town was called Herkimer. It was one of the very first cons I went to, and the owner lied to us and to everyone else attending non-stop, and quite a few (including myself) were cheated and never fully reimbursed. For most, it was a total loss. 

I didn’t know any better, he had a pattern of deception—he would flatter the person he wanted something from endlessly, promise them everything, and then get them to give him whatever he wanted…comics, financial backing, whatever. In my case, he asked me to pay for my flight there, and he would reimburse me when I got there.

It was such a nasty, miserable experience, I almost stopped attending small cons entirely. And dozens more had the same experience or worse. He didn’t ever do the work necessary, he just wanted to be considered a big wheel in comics. He didn’t book a room for us, when we tried to check in, his card was declined, it just went on and on. 

It really soured me, I thought, holy crap, is this what cons are like?

It turns out they are NOT like that. I still to this day never attend a con without checking its reputation with friends, because of that horrid experience. But I have never, ever had a really bad con experience like that since. Most cons are run by lovely people, as well as hard working staff and volunteers. I have rarely been treated poorly at any con since, and many times, I have made good friends with the organizers (big and small) and think of them almost as family. 

I had a pretty bad time at a con in Toronto once, the con was freshly purchased and no one was in charge, but even in that case, it was more confusion than malice.

Cons are great. I have to attend fewer this year for a lot of reasons, but it still hurts to turn down earnest requests from lovely people all over the world. Last year I had to turn down well over a hundred, and this year it’s even more. But the MOST I can do is a con every six weeks or so on average, and I like to take the Winter off, where possible. 

Aspiring pros, ASK AROUND. I don’t think there are many con organizers like that any more, the market doesn’t seem to support them. But it’s good to know who you are dealing with, your well-being and career are temporarily in that person’s hands. Ask around. :)