The reason why I stick with Fanimecon?
It's local. It's cheap. I don't have to travel far. I have friends I see there.
I've been going to this con for over 10 years, and it has certainly gone downhill in terms of organization. Even though I'm not really a guest person, I know the importance of having good guests at a con, and the right guest might convince even me to go see them. (Just a factual point here -- the "guests I want" thread is something that I usually make, and I am not connected with staff in any way. Though, staff looks at the thread, it would never get made if I didn't personally make it. Not sure if that is for the sake of tradition, or if staff would simply never make a thread like that.) I'm mostly a cosplayer, and since this is my biggest con of the year, I spend most of the time doing cosplay things -- changing multiple times a day, doing photoshoots and gatherings, last year I ran a dinner event for Homestuck fans and was a judge for Cosplay Shopped, etc. -- but if this con's cosplay scene wasn't as great as it is (I don't do Masquerades so I can't speak to that aspect of the cosplay at this con), I would find myself with little else to do, to be honest. Some panels interest me, though the currently popular in-character ask panels do not. Karaoke very much interests me, but that fills up my evenings and late nights. Otherwise? It's all cosplay for me. The area is full of restaurants and other interest, and the cosplay is great, but the con itself? A bit of a mess. Glad the reg situation was sorted out last year though.
I have never understood why the guests can't be announced sooner, especially when other cons of similar or even smaller size can announce guests far in advance. SacAnime announces some of their guests for the next show at the previous show, for example. If other cans can do it, why can't Fanime?
As for transparency, I've seen other cons post pie charts with rough budget breakdowns. (X% goes for facilities&insurance, Y% goes to guests, Z% goes to programming, etc.). Why can't Fanime do the same? I would like an answer besides "we can't answer that."
I'm not nearly as angry about this con as some of the other posts, as I still attend and still love attending. However, I am frustrated about how this con is run sometimes. In the meantime, I'll stick to spending my days changing in and out of cosplays and doing photoshoots, until Fanime can come up with a draw other than the social aspect. As someone who isn't terribly social, that isn't as big of a draw as it could be.