Steel City Con — Attraction in Monroeville

My sister and I have attended many SSC events over the past 7 or 8yrs. Our very first convention experience was at the Walker Stalker Con in Atlanta, GA. That experience had us hooked and set our expectations very high. We learned about SSC shortly after. We've attended as many as we can ever since. A few of our observations: -SSC has gone through a lot of changes over the years. Some are still a work in progress but they are all changes for the betterment of the event. There's a little bit of something for everyone. From celebrity appearances to vendor booths. -Parking sucks unless you get there first thing and manage to find a spot in their main lot. Otherwise prepare to find a spot at a kind business and walk (avoid Burlington next door. There is a security guard who is very good at his job and will tell you to move unless you are strictly shopping at Burlington) -Bring cash. Not everyone is able to process credit card transactions though there is an ATM machine inside. -While this is a large venue, a lot of people (many of whom are in beautiful costumes) make it feel small quickly. The celebrity area also gets very hot with all the body heat. -Expanding to the hotel across the street for the bigger celebrities is nice. It allows more celebrities to attend without overwhelming the main event room. -The newest and best feature (imo) is the prompter screen by the SSC merch table letting you know the upcoming Photo Op times and where to go. Though I do think "something" should change with the placement - maybe mount it a little higher on a wall? A lot of people tend to stand right in front of it so it can be hard to see. Listen to the announcer! They'll tell you exactly where you should be when your time slot is up and if it's been delayed. -If you have a photo op with a sold out celebrity, expect a delay. And expect that you might have to wait outside temporarily. I know it sounds like it sucks but (imo) this is an improvement as far as safety and organization is concerned when you're trying to funnel hundreds of people through a line. (on that note), if you want the Photo Ops to stay somewhat on schedule, remember they are not the place to try and converse with the celebrity. Say hi, smile and say bye while you're leaving. If you wanna talk, visit the booth (but expect to be in line for a while with some of the celebrities. There's a good chance there's a lot of people who wanna talk too! -The staff and employees are trying their best to run a smooth and enjoyable event for everyone. Be nice! -There are a lot of people who put together some amazing costumes. Ask them for their picture! There is basic event food/drinks you can buy at event prices but it's food and it's edible and it's conveniently located inside. -The events are held every 4months. August, December and April. The next event is usually advertised at the current event. -That's all I can think of for now. If you enjoy meeting celebrities, meeting some very interesting people and supporting local people trying to make a living, this is the place to be. 10/10,...

Unfortunately this was literally the WORST convention I've ever gone to. As someone who's been going to a variety cons for near a decade now this was the most disorganized cash grab I've ever experienced. None of the volunteers were informed of anything, there were disorganized and confusing 5-7hr lines outside in the December cold. I had asked a volunteer that was actually helpful earlier about where I would need to be for a photo op and a separate plain-clothes staff member jumped in, gave me the wrong info, and when I asked for clarification, she scolded me for trying to line up earlier that 15 minutes before "like their Facebook page said" despite the fact it says on their website to be there 30 mins before.

No signs for information besides one LED sign that was literally at a bottleneck point that was so low to the ground you couldn't see it unless you were right there. No indication anywhere that celebrities were cash only. Pre-sale autograph tickets were a joke, the celebrities are cash only, so it took longer to have them scan your phone than hand off cash, and, except for a very limited amount of guests, gave 0 advantage over general tickets. No secondary line into the building, no secondary line for celebs meaning if you didn't get there in time for your 'Saturday Only' pre-sale tickets you were out $80+ for nothing, and with the processing fees, end up being $2 more than just paying cash.

While I wasn't personally there for the cluster that was the ticket line this afternoon, from what I understand there was 0 conversation between the ticket booths and the front door, leading to non-refundable tickets being bought for an over-occupancy event. Meaning people were out $30 for an event they couldn't get into and couldn't get back their money. Which is kind of funny when you consider there was absolutely more people there on Saturday and occupancy wasn't even a concern, meaning they shoved as many people in despite the risks.

Unless you are willing to put up with all that I do not recommend it at all, and It's going to take a really big name or two for us to even consider going back, especially for the...

It is unfortunate that I have to leave a 1-star review for a convention I used to love attending. Because Steel City Con has been deleting and censoring comments on multiple social media platforms, I feel I have to include this disclaimer that I have been a paying customer of this convention for many years, and my review should not be unjustly taken down or flagged simply because they do not agree with what I have to say.

Steel City Con deliberately waited to announce Kevin Spacey as a guest until the middle of the first day of the convention, and subsequently turned off comments on many posts. They refused to answer any questions, and deleted comments on various posts if the comments were asking them about Kevin Spacey or voicing any negative opinion about him. In my opinion, this is extremely unprofessional of the organizers and public relations for the convention, and, quite honestly, highlights a bigger issue for the convention itself.

I cannot, in good faith, continue to support and provide my patronage to a convention that does not care about the safety and comfort of their guests. A convention that knows a guest will be controversial, hides it until the last minute, and refuses to address it, going as far as to delete comments and turn them off completely.

As this is a review, here is some constructive criticism for the convention: move to a bigger venue, update your website before the convention starts (the map has not been updated since December despite your reply to a patron on Facebook saying it would be updated on Friday, the first day of the convention) do not hide guests from your customers, do not restrict your customer’s opinions, and communicate with your patrons in a way that is...