I would have to agree that compared to the previous three Fests in a row that I attended this seemed down maybe 20% this year. I also didn't think the dealers room overall was quite up to the previous years in things to buy and there were even a couple of empty tables. The room filled up with buyers at 10 AM Saturday but once the initial rush was over I found browsing through the room easier than in the past, much less crowded. That said, two or three dealers did say they had darn good sales though. I spent about the same as previous years, $250 give or take $20.
The contest entries were definitely fewer and finding table space, particularly for the horror figure category was much easier, there was a fair amount of empty space when all the entries were in. The previous years that category absolutely filled the tables. And I was talking with Denis Lange for a bit in the room on Sunday and we both felt the overall quality wasn't as good although there were some stand out efforts in the contest for sure.
The after hours stuff was fun and interesting and I liked the Friday night get together with new products on display by Moebius, Cult, and Federation Models. However, no free beer, what happened???
I also attended SciFi U Friday and as usual Steve, Federation, and the assorted instructors did a great job and this workshop is an extremely valuable learning experience, especially for the minimal amount you spend to attend.
Overall I'd say the Fest was quite good, maybe a bit down from the previous three years I have attended, but still very good. I wonder a bit if maybe some people sitting on the fence might have ended up doing other things with family or such because of the Memorial Day weekend. I think going back to mid-May next year might help and a bit of refresh of things as mentioned above might help as well.
