As the conversation around AI usage continues, especially regarding generative AI platforms that enable the creation of art from unlicensed, unethically sourced training materials for their models and algorithms, METROCON (and I personally) would like to make it clear to our attendees that we stand firmly against the use of generative AI in creative and event spaces (and probably everywhere else, but we’ll stay in our lane for now). We have not and will not use AI in any of our assets, creative or otherwise, to produce our convention. No matter how absurd it may look (like a bunch of kaiju in a wrestling ring!), it’s real!

Promo art, videography, content for the convention itself or for our online spaces – it’s all written/designed/drawn/planned/orchestrated/produced by people, and it’ll stay that way. We implemented a stern “No AI” policy for materials sold by our Artists and Vendors as well back in 2024 that is still active today, and although it can sometimes be challenging to prove/enforce at such a large scale (and we don’t always get it right), we’re happy to continue taking steps to ensure that authentic licensed merchandise and human-made art continues to be the focus of our Exhibit Hall. Thanks to all the exhibitors and patrons alike who have helped inform and guide that process so far – we couldn’t have done it without your expertise and encouragement!

I love technology, I love progress, I think the future looks amazing, I want to live in a space colony someday – but that will only be possible if we don’t burn through millions of gallons of water every day making AI profile pictures and slop videos of fruit reality shows. We must focus on building a world where human expression is valued as much, if not more than, efficiency, profit, and instant gratification.

Reminder: you could literally find an artist online and pay for some of their groceries or healthcare directly with a single PFP commission – do that instead, I promise they’ll thank you, and so will our grandkids when a “river” is something they can still look outside and see in person.

Thanks all, and remember, stay feral out there this year! See you this summer!

Alex, CEO/Owner

Hi all – we’re excited to announce our applications for our Exhibit Hall will be opening on 12/1 at 7PM EST!

I wanted to highlight a few changes from last year, that you’ll probably notice as you review our Exhibitor Packet! We continue to refine our Exhibitor policies, especially around our application system, and we want to be as transparent as possible when there are changes!

• Artists are limited to ONE TABLE now, instead of TWO: while this might be limiting for some artists who have larger setups, we really want to get the widest variety possible in our Artist Alley. Most Artists who were purchasing two tables last year were doing so with the intent to resell or share the other space, and this isn’t fair to our applicants or our waitlist. In previous years this was not an issue, but we noticed a MASSIVE uptick in table sharing and transfers after double-table purchases last year, so we have had to change the policy.
• NO TABLE SHARING ALLOWED WITHOUT A SHARED APPLICATION: if you are planning to share artist or vendor space with another company/artist/etc, you MUST apply together on a single application. We will no longer allow the addition of table sharing after the application period has closed and approvals are being issued. This was also abused in the double-table purchases last year, and we ultimately want the opportunity to judge applications that represent as closely as possible what the set-up and contents of a booth or table will be.
• No resale/transfer of tables or booths: in the interest of fairness to our waitlist and application process, and to try and ensure the highest level of quality, artists and vendors will no longer be allowed to sell or transfer their table/booth of their own volition. To help alleviate the burden this may place on exhibitors who are genuinely unable to attend, we have extended the refund windows for both 100% refunds and 50% refunds (deadlines in the packet). While restricting the resale/transfer to previously wait-listed artists was a good step, it did not give the measure of fairness we are seeking to apply to all applications, which includes progressing through the wait list in the designated order.
• We’ve expanded our Artist Alley area to accommodate more artists! Did you know: when asked to score certain parts of the convention as “most important” on our recent attendee survey, Artist Alley consistently scored as one of the highest attractions! Well we heard what the fans said, and we’ve adjusted our floorplan slightly to try and accommodate as many phenomenal artists as possible!

Some quick reminders on things that HAVEN’T changed, but that we always get questions on!:

• We’ll begin scoring applications based on the process outlined in the packet as soon as we start receiving them, but we will not issue ANY APPROVALS until 2/1/2026. Every single application will get reviewed.
• Due to the volume of applications, we cannot provide scoring rubrics, individual scores, etc. to applicants.
• After the room is sold out, we will shift a fixed number of exhibitor applications to the wait list – we will then deny the rest. “Denied” status does NOT NECESSARILY mean that you did something wrong or wouldn’t be “allowed” back into the room, it simply means that based on score, category, etc. you were below the threshold to transfer to the waitlist (having 800+ exhibitors on a waitlist, when we historically have <15 cancellations during the entire year, just isn’t realistic or fair to the exhibitors who need to try and plan their summer show schedule).
• Please keep an eye on your email and application throughout the process. If your application is placed “On Hold” or you receive an email from us requesting additional info, your application cannot proceed in the scoring process until we receive a response.

You can take a look at the pricing, find the application link, and review the Exhibitor Packet by clicking here! If you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out to us anytime at exhibits@metroconventions.com and we’ll be happy to help! Thanks everyone, and see you next summer!

Alex Craddock, CEO/Owner

**REPOSTED FROM DISCORD** – Alex

Hey everyone !! Some quick updates on our Exhibit Hall Applications – and some notes for the process next year that I wanted to share with everyone!

**ARTISTS** – the Artist Alley is now officially sold out; as stated in the packet, a fixed number (200 or so applications, a mix from both new and returning artists) will be transitioned to the “Wait List” status, and the other pending “Under Review” applications will be moved to the “Denied” status. THIS DENIED STATUS DOES NOT PREVENT YOU FROM APPLYING IN THE FUTURE. We had 1100+ Artists apply (JUST artists!) this year – the primary reason we don’t keep ALL of the artists on the wait list is because realistically it is very unlikely we will make it through even 100 cancellations/refunds/etc. and it is unfair to keep your hopes up/weekend booked when you could be targeting other shows/events!

**VENDORS** – there are a very small number of vendor booths remaining, and we continue to issue approvals, but we don’t want to over-approve and oversell the room, so it’s slow going on the last few (much as it was with artists). Once the room is sold out, we will then do the same wait list/denied shift as described above in the Artists announcement.

**NEXT YEAR** – here’s a little preview to some changes for next year! We know that as the landscape of Exhibit Halls and Conventions changes in the industry, we will always have tweaks and improvements we can make; we are already in the works to ensure the smoothest possible experience both on our end and for the exhibitors, and inevitably provide the best possible exhibit hall for the fans! We also want to ensure that the most artists and vendors possible can get into the room, and that we maintain a standard of quality and monitoring on everything in the room.

A couple of things I KNOW are coming for 2026:
– we are shifting policy next year to limit artists to 1 table each; any approved artist will only be able to purchase 1 table;
– we are no longer allowing table sharing starting in 2026 in Artist Alley unless artists apply together under a SINGLE application;
– continued refinement of the “returning vs new” application categories, and how we manage those independently vs together

There will surely be more coming, but we are always working to ensure the best experience for everyone involved – thanks for all the feedback we’ve received so far, and I hope to work with many of you in the future even if you weren’t able to make it into the Hall this year! As always – if you have questions, please reach out to exhibits@metroconventions.com via email, but it’s always helpful to us if you check the Exhibitor Packet on the website first, since a LOT of questions are answered in there!

*Edited to correct some spelling and a quantity mistype*

Hi all – just some quick updates!

Our exhibitor applications for 2025 are now available – learn more here on our Exhibitor page, and get those applications in before they close on 1/20/2025!

Also, pre-registration is now open for 2025! Hotels opened just recently, and while our host hotel is sold out, check back often for cancellations or book at any one of our TWELVE other hotel properties with special rates in downtown Tampa!

Ticket info is available here, and hotel info can be found here!

Last thing – our auditions are coming up in just a couple of weeks for our internal shows like DREAM/fight LIVE! and our world-famous METRO Fire Show – interested in volunteering to perform with us?? Check out audition information here!

 

Interested in being a cosplay guest at METROCON?? Check out the application here! Applications are open until 3/1/2025!

Learn more about our cosplay guests here!

Hi all – our Cosplay Department has been hard at work, and we’re excited to share some updates to our lineup of Contests this year!

We’re highly focused on ensuring there is an opportunity for all ages, skill levels, and a variety of talents to be able to show off their amazing abilities! We’ve revamped our contest lineup to include the following:

The METRO Cosplay Championship

This contest is a hybrid performance/craftsmanship competition, with both pre-judging for costumes and a live-judged skit performance session. This event is our major cosplay contest and is considered the “main event” of the contest line-up, featuring cosplayers who are both serious creators/fabricators AND amazing performers – double-threats of all kinds are encouraged to apply!

Cosplay Craftsmanship Competition

Our Cosplay Craftsmanship Competition (CCC) will be a pre-judged costume construction/craftsmanship/creativity competition – no skits, no performances, and strict requirements about the percentage of construction vs purchase. The selected entrants will be featured in a walk-on runway show to exhibit their costumes for the crowd after pre-judging has been completed up close and personal with our panel of judges.

Cosplay Performance Showcase

The Cosplay Performance Showcase is our performance-only skit competition – this is where cosplayers who love to perform but may not focus as much on making costumes themselves get a chance to shine! Pre-recorded tracks allow lip-syncing, dance routines, and full-blown sketches to shine in this performance power hour!

What about Lip Sync Battle and The METRO Voice?

We’ve decided to hybridize several of our competitions and ensure that we are opening up both competition slots to the widest variety of cosplayers, as well as making sure we are putting out highly-demanded, highly-attended entertainment in our limited three-day schedule. To that end – we have decided not to bring back Lip Sync Battle and The METRO Voice for 2024. Hopefuls who are disappointed those contests will not be returning are highly encouraged to submit for the Cosplay Performance Showcase if they weren’t planning on making their costume themselves, or for our Cosplay Championship if they would like to compete in a hybrid performance/craftsmanship event! We also have the IdolFest by NextStage and our KPop Dance Competition by KJunkies returning this year, and we encourage our musically inclined folks to group up and participate in those events as well!

Pre-Convention Contests – TikTok Challenge and Picture This!

Want to start the competition early?? We’re bringing back our TikTok Challenge and our Picture This! Photo Contest this year as well! Submissions will be taken prior to the convention, and you could even win free passes to THIS YEAR’s event for submitting! We’ll showcase the photo and video submissions on our social media as well as showing them at the convention during other events. We know there’s lots of talent out there who may not want to spend their whole weekend dedicated to cosplay contests, so we’ve decided to get our content creation folks to collaborate BEFORE the con and show off what they can do!

Okay, so how can I enter this stuff?!

Details, rules, applications, and more can all be found on our Cosplay Contests page, by clicking here: https://metroconventions.com/cosplay-contests/

Details for the TikTok Challenge and the Picture This! Contests are coming soon!

Thanks all, and best of luck! On your mark, get set, make!

– Alex, CEO/Owner

Check out our new logo up in the header, METROCON fans! You’ll see us using this new logo on our website, our merch, and all over the convention and social media this year. We wanted to not only modernize and clean-up our logo as we continue to grow and define our community even further, but we wanted to symbolize several different things with our new logo. We’ve also expanded our color palette (which you may recognize from our 20th Anniversary branding). If you’re a design geek like me, you might have picked up on a few key notes, but we love letting you in behind the scenes when we can so you can see what we’re going for when we work on things like this. Some of the things featured in our new branding:

The famous sunset pinks and golds of Florida’s Gulf Coast.

The strength, solidarity, and boldness of our community.

The walls of safety we’ve built up around “the gear” to keep this community safe.

An emphasis on “METRO” (who we are) over “CON” (what we are).

A distinct Japanese touch, to show our love for the culture that our favorite fandoms generate from.

The Japanese wave pattern featured in the “O” balances the high-technology approach we take to putting on events with the very traditional, human element we know makes a community like this thrive (as well as pay homage to the Bay that our convention center sits on).

We hope you love the new branding as much as we do – we can’t wait to see how it looks on the badges this year!

From 2004 – 2023, we had a “Versus” theme – pitting two ideas or aspects of fandom against each other, in the tradition of great fan debates and crossover video games.

As METROCON continues to evolve, we have introduced a new style of “Theme” for 2024 and beyond. We have often had a secondary theme at the event that we talk about at closing ceremonies – some idea or concept that has resonated with our team and our interactions with the community throughout the year, or some message we want to bring to the forefront of the event. We want our event to more accurately reflect that overarching “theme”, and not be based inherently on conflict and divisiveness like a “versus” theme. Even if the competition was always friendly and playful, it’s just not at the core of what METROCON is trying to do anymore. You’ve got plenty of reasons to argue with strangers on the internet – let’s not go around inventing more of them lol.

We’ve also opted to retire our METROCON Mascots starting in 2024. You’ll see some new, amazing faces and cosplay guests from around the convention community hosting events and participating throughout the weekend, and we’re working closely to bring you our NEW mascot, a character we intend to keep in the 2D world – you should be meeting them very soon!!

We’re excited to theme the event in a new way – it probably won’t affect your METROCON experience much, but maybe you’ll take just a little more away from your time at the event!

Check out 2024’s theme “Legacy of Dreams” and more info about the convention on our About Us page by clicking here.

Past “Versus” themes included:

2004: Schoolgirls vs Catgirls – 2005: Ninjas vs Pirates – 2006: Kawaii vs Kowaii – 2007: Anime vs Video Games – 2008: Light vs Dark – 2009: Sci-Fi vs Fantasy – 2010: Ninja vs Samurai – 2011: Monsters vs Hunters – 2012: Agents vs Outlaws – 2013: East vs West – 2014: Old School vs New School – 2015: Brains vs Brawn – 2016: Order vs Chaos – 2017: Faithful vs Fallen – 2018: Guardians vs Invaders – 2019: Virtue vs Vice – 2021: Mortals vs Machines – 2022: Weird vs Wild – 2023: Anime vs Video Games: Remastered

We’re excited to announce METROCON’s 2024 dates – we’ll see you next summer, July 5-7, 2024 for an amazing 4th of July weekend! We look forward to having you back at the best party in the multiverse, and thanks for an AMAZING 20th Anniversary year. Be sure to follow us on social media for updates, and check out our Facebook for albums from our official photographers!