Christof Vs. Conventions a.k.a I'm a geek not a cashcow

So with the Sydney EB expo coming up this weekend I thought it would be a good time to have a quick rant about pop culture, anime and gaming conventions in Australia. They are almost always over priced for what you get. I understand that there are costs involved in getting the various guests over as well as venue hire fees, but seriously $25-30 for  a day pass ($40 for EB expo) is way too over priced and here's why:

1. Most of these events use volunteers, so the staff costs are extremely low. Exploiting pop-culture enthusiasts for free labour when your event is actually there to make a profit shows a complete disregard for your target market. It's a bit rich of convention organisers to think that their event is so great that I am prepared to guard a door all day for free just so I can be involved. F*#! off.

2. A lot of the 'guests' brought into these conventions are reasonably low profile. Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with that in itself but when you keep charging me $30 a ticket to see the guy who played Ianto in torch-wood ( and he hasn't done anything of note since)  your'e going to start to piss me off

3. Whenever we get any high profile guests to these conventions you'll be lucky to catch a glimpse of them with the normal admission fee. If you want to get a photo or get anything signed then they start charging you outlandish prices for photos and signatures. Plus if you actually want to see the convention instead of waiting in lines all day you have to fork out even more of your cash for a VIP pass.

4. 90% of the convention floor is covered with stalls trying to sell me stuff. I wouldn't pay $30 to go to a shopping centre so why should I have to pay for what is essentially a glorified market?

Stop treating me like this 

In Conclusion: Stop taking me for granted as a customer and start thinking of ways that the admission fees could be lowered or up the quality and quantity of guests and attractions. I'm not an idiot so stop treating me like one who is oh so willing to part with his money


-End Rant-
 oh also if you think I'm being a jerk about the whole convention thing let me know! Would love to hear from you especially if you are involved in/ volunteer/ or organise pop-culture related conventions.