>>10891392
It's somewhere between (insert local ~100 attendee "con") and AX. It's not massive, but it's also definitely much more busy than micro-cons. You can take things at your own pace because almost all of the guests are nobodies (and almost none of them are actual anime/gaming industry people being dub VA), so don't feel pressured to chase down panels or rush to signings. You will have to adapt to a few things:
-Ribbon Hunt: As far as I know, this con has the most devout ribbon community. You'll need to look around social media to properly "get" it, but loads of people will hound down as many convention ribbons as possible, and they're all fanmade. They're for pretty much everything you could imagine, but when you get to the con, that's effectively a local "minigame" that's always there every year.
-Con Space: It's never been just situated at the con center, there's an attached building to the con center that also has a lot of events. You really are going to want to take a look at the map in case there's something you want to participate in (workshops, gaming, screenings, etc.) because the general logic of "Oh I'll just walk around and find something" might not work when you see the way the con is shaped.
-Passerbies: It's in Long Beach, so you'll wind up around a lot of Long Beach denizens. Don't presume people in plainclothes are con attendees unless you see their lanyards and badges, because there will be a lot of suspect individuals crossing through. Apparently some guys got maced by an asshole prankster at a party last year.
-Weather: Long Beach is a beachside con in the Winter, which means the weather is completely unpredictable. Prepare for anything between a stiflingly hot 80+F day and a torrential rainstorm. We've had rain, flight-disrupting fog, and extreme heat at just Long Beach's ALAs, so bring extra outfits and/or cosplay to cover your bases.