Heather P.
Yelp
This past weekend, I immersed myself in the wondrous world of being a girl! MAKEUP!! Yay! I missed IMATS, but my one of my favorite brands promoted the PHAMExpo, and I jumped on the chance. Presale tickets online were $57 for each day, and a fair bit more at the door. Not only was the show completely amazeballs, but the venue is fabulous as well.
It was fairly crowded, but parking was really easy. I was expecting this place to be a little more worn down, as it is an ooolllddd building, but I was pleasantly surprised! It was very spacious, even with all of the booths, shows and people walking around! The bathrooms were super clean, and well stocked, thank goodness! A concention full of women..the bathrooms gave to work! AC also worked, something I was worried about because you know, when you read "old" the first thing you think of is "Do they have AC?!" Especially since it was a convention, and there were soooo many people! But the Convention Center was amazing! The event coordinators and the employees of the center did an awesome job working together! When I think of a convention center, I was thinking along the lines of something similar to the one in LA. No, this is not a block long glass building, it's a bit more intimate, but still big enough to accommodate LARGE crowds..
And I promise you, this weekend...there was a LARGE crowd. But what would you expect with the likes of Too Faced, MELT, Lime Crime, Morphe, Jeffree Star, MUFE, Makeup Geek, ahh..all my favorites. The lines were very long, but the staff managed to do a great job with keeping them all organized, and moving as quickly as possible. The guest speakers area was also well worked, I thought, especially because people were getting there a bit late due to the long lines. Alas, I got to see all my faves thanks to the great planning and efficiency of the staff, the vendors and even all the other makeup addicts! Everyone worked together to help others out. The vendor booth layout was well thought out, plenty of space between each one so people were not piled in on top of each other, or forced to walk like a herd of sheep.
If you ever get the chance to attend a convention, of any kind, at this location I encourage you to take it up! I had a great time this weekend and I will definitely attend more conventions at the Old Pasadena Convention Center!