Well I've been to the last two cons in Florida and Minnesota but am not so sure about New Orleans. The cons are great for meeting up with friends you've made and friends you'll make. All the people I've gotten a chance to meet have all been pretty awesome and quite friendly. So, it's always great to get a chance to meet up with them again if possible. If it were just about the figs and souvenirs, I'd just order the Homefront hero package.
If I'm going to attend a convention, I'd like for there to be other things to do while I'm there. The Orlando con was awesome because I finally got a chance to go the Disney and attend a con. There was a lot to do there to keep me entertained that I missed a lot of the con stuff. Though it was hard for the wallet. I did get to attend some of the seminars, meet quite a few people on the various boards and spend some time on the slaes floor.
At Minneapolis, it good and bad. The turnout seemed to be quite smaller though. There weren't any activites provided by MC. The texas hold'em charity thing didn't count. Also, there wasn't much to do there outside the convention. I went to the Mall of America which was pretty far from the hotel. It was big, but nothing to special. The whole area around the hotel/downtown area was really boring as there wasn't anything to do. I got to meet up with some of the guys I met at the previous con and got to hang out with them. I also met some more new faces. The dinner sucked though.
I'm really on the fence with this year's con. After all that's gone on in NO, I'm not so sure it's a great place to hold a con. Also, I'm not sure it's a place I want to be or visit right now. I know we are getting all kinds of stories from there. Some saying it's out of hand and others who defend NO saying it's as usual. The truth is nothing is really going to change from now until the convention. It'll take literally years to restore everything. The whole place is polluted and there's garbage everywhere. There's been so much loss and so much tragedy.
Some say the area of the con is ok shape, but I'd like to go around and see the city, but if there's nothing to see and I have to stay secluded in the hotel then I really don't want that. Had the hurricane not hit, I'd most likely head there for the con this year. It was a place I would have like to have visited. I am worried slightly about crime, but moreso of the state of NO.