I couldn't understand why we had to wait so long to get in until I actually got in. Everything was jammed into one side of the room. The aisle were so narrow and crowded with people that I couldn't push my mother's wheel chair through. I think this has such potential but who ever is planning this thing sucks at their job. I was so excited and so disappointed. We only stayed an hour I think and then went shopping at Hobby Lobby. That was way more fun. read more

These inaugural festivals always have their growing pains and Cookie Con was certainly not an exception. I am not excusing the organizer for the first time jitters but from my past experiences, cry me a river, people. Wah. I learned my lesson with other festivals. I have had my share of being turned away at the door. If you haven't been to any type of these festivals before, my advice to you: GO EARLY. Back to the Cookie Con, we arrived at 9:10 a.m., parked it on Green for free, and stood in line for an hour. They kept the line moving with a few super long pauses. Even the VIP people started to bitch in line - I don't blame them if they shelled out the money to bypass GA and GA line was moving along. Once we were inside, it was MUCH smaller than I expected it to be and extremely crowded. I was really blown away that the organizers would have such a small space if they were expecting the thousands of people who were in line outside. I quickly made my rounds and tried a few cupcakes and cookies. Nothing was really memorable except for Keruig people, raw milk folks, and Sarah's Skinny Sweets (only because they boasted paleo cookies). Since I bake a lot of paleo goods, it is tough to keep things fresh unlike conventional cookies but it didn't feel like it tasted it was baked recently. I am sure it was fresh but the texture I wasn't fond of. After 20 minutes of weaving in and out of the waves of people, I was fucking so done. The lines weren't bad and I was able to get samples pretty quickly but people were being idiots by standing there and ignoring the space around them. Come on, people, I don't have time for you to suddenly stop in the middle of the walkway to eat your cupcake. Move off the to side! We walked out at 11 am to head off to brunch and marveled at the insanely large waves of people wrapped around Green and Euclid. I felt really sorry for those people because it would be a while before they would be able to go in to experience meh-ness. Hopefully, next year's will be much better since they know what they expect now. Luckily, I came out unscathed compared to the 1st 626 Market and 1st Food Truck Fest (both easily the most frustrating fests I've ever been to). At least, I was able to get in and get a few samples quickly at this fest. BTW, it does bother me that the ticket takers didn't scan our papers. You could have doctored something up and pass it off as free admission! Thankfully, I got my ticket, heavily discounted, but that's still a problem. read more

Fun concept for an event, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. My boyfriend and I purchased the half day ticket (2-5PM) for ~$18. Honestly, 3 hours was sufficient, I mean imagine sampling sweets for 3 hours! You'll definitely get a sugar rush then crash! Once you get there, you HAVE to check into the booth with your ticket first, for a wrist band. There was a long line to pick up wrist bands since not all the booths were in use, which was very inefficient. Upon entrance, you're immediately immersed in chaos. We made our way through different booths, but some already ran out of samples. There was a variety of sweets vendors there, ranging from ice cream, toffee, cake, cotton candy, cookies, and popcorn. There was a limited amount of vendors with drinks and savory food, and this was really where the long lines were formed. I found myself standing in these lines just to get a break from all the sugar. Loved the Choctal stand - they handed out samples of a variety of vanilla or chocolate ice cream. It was nicely presented, with a brochure describing the flavors in each sample. Pop'd Up served fruit soda, which was different but tasty. Super long line here. With the large variety of cookies and cakes, it was difficult to distinguish which ones were the best because of all the sugar I had. I feel like my tastebuds quickly became fatigued. However, they were all good. All in all, I do admire the concept of a cookie con and sweets show. I did enjoy my time there, but hopefully they improve next year. The crowds and disorganization are a huge turn off. read more

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Save yourself the trouble and do not go. Very disorganized, tight aisles, and only 30% of the showroom floor used. Gf and I bought the Saturday tickets after reading some bad reviews. I thought to myself, "this was before, I'm sure the event hosts fixed this issue." NOPE! We spend an hour in line to get in the building. Then when we walk into the event center we see that only 30% of the showroom floor was used. Very tight aisles and very claustrophobic. I was literally shoulder to shoulder with other visitors. Look at it this way. There were so many people we only had a chance to sample two items. Gf and I spent about 45 mins there and decided to leave due to the lack of space. I'm sure if u look through photos there is a pic of the showroom. Do yourself a favor and save the $25 to get it and go to your favorite dessert spot. Waste of our time. Btw bring cash. There is no cell service there so any card transactions were all unsuccessful. read more

Over the weekend, I was at the inaugural event for Cookie Con in Pasadena. I decided to go, because I really wanted to see Pastry Chef Ron Ben-Israel who was the host of Sweet Genius; a food show that has since been cancelled from The Food Network. It was so nice to see and meet him. It was also a joy to watch his seminar on wedding cakes and baking techniques in general. As a matter of fact, I really enjoyed all the seminars and demos at Cookie Con. Watching them was worth while. On the flipside, there were a lot of noticeable problems, which were: 1. The limited amount of vendors who sold kitchen accessories or kitchen gadgets. Conventions should have more of hese types of vendors as the shopping would have been worth while. When I attend conventions, my goal is to always find a good discount that's better than what I can find at the stores or online and go home feeling good that I got a great deal for a product. Cookie Con should have gotten more vendors of kitchen gadgets, bakeware, etc. 2. As much as I loved all the food vendors and purveyors, the ones at Cookie Con didn't have any special and unique baked items that was worth purchasing to take home. They had a 4 pack of cookies, for example, but the product didn't make me feel compelled to buy. 3. The tasting samples were way too small to enjoy (like one tiny nibble) and the selection of bakery goods was very limited (1-2 items). I think this was another reason why I didn't bother to buy any bakery goods. 4. This convention was clearly not a food festival. I knew it, but the majority of everyone around me didn't know. They were expecting unlimited, free full sized baked goods to eat. 5. Last, but not least, there just was not enough to see, eat, do, and shop at the convention. I really would have love to have seen a big variety vendors especially food companies like Nabisco, Nestle, etc. It would have made sense to them attend, because they usually have lots of freebies and coupons to giveaway to the public. Clearly there is room to improve this convention. So I hope it does for next year. read more

Unfortunately, Cookie Con was not that great of an experience. I was very excited to take my sister and 3-year old nephew (who currently has an obsession with cookies and cupcakes), but the event itself needs significant improvement. We arrived on Saturday 2/10 around 9:40am, exited the parking structure, and walked and walked and walked to find the back of the line. We waited in line about an hour. My nephew was being so good and patient and we were in good spirits, looking forward to what awaited us when we finally enter Cookie Con. As we got toward the front of the line, I realized the reason for the long line was that there was ONE door open and ONE man letting 20 people in at a time. Now, the Anaheim Convention Center is huge. I went there a few years back for the Star Wars convention and we definitely entered through more than one door. Why they chose to have ONE door open, I did not understand. Furthermore, that one man letting people in also had to deal with people coming up and asking questions and saying they're VIP, etc. So we finally get in. Cookie Con! Yay! Oooh do we get a tote bag or--no? Okay. Then as we enter the actual Con, I realize that Cookie Con is happening in just one room. Ahhh, that's why they're letting 20 people in at a time. It was a big room, but NOT big enough for this event. They had at least 2 or 3 stages crammed in there where people would do demonstrations, but then the crowds for those events overflowed into the lines to see each vendor booth. Finally, I decided to get in a line, ANY line, thinking I may get a sample of something. No samples, but I ended up buying some Hawaiian ice cream cone shaped like a J. I paid $6.95 and the lady gave me a ticket. Now I had to stand in another line for like 10 minutes to actually receive the ice cream because there was one guy making them. J-shaped ice cream cone in hand, I squeeze through the crowd to find my sister and nephew on the next aisle. She had managed to buy him a chocolate chip cookie that he was snacking on. We had to step off to the side to take a breather from all the people. We walked around a little more, but didn't really see any samples and if we did, the crowds were too huge to get through. We left. We walked outside the convention center and shared some yummy french fries from a food truck. We are making cupcakes and cookies tonight with my nephew for Valentine's Day, so he will have his own mini Cookie Con in the kitchen! I'm sure the vendors had some interesting things to share, but the fact that everyone was crammed inside one room made the whole experience rather disappointing. So I echo what many other people have said on here...Cookie Con was a bust :( read more

I bought tickets through Groupon for the '1-day Weekend Admission for two' and went to redeem it the day before only to discover that ticket option WAS SOLD OUT. They basically oversold it and didn't organize it well or planned ahead. I contacted the organizers multiple times to try and get reimbursed or at least tickets to the same convention in LA. NO response NO reimbursement NOTHING. What a waste of money. Even though I got discounted prices, the fact that they don't even have the courtesy to respond to my emails is ridiculous and unprofessional. If I could give negative stars, I would. read more

Better then 2018 LA Cookie con. A lot more vendors and samples. I have been going for the last past five years.

This was the biggest disaapointment ever!! There were little to no vendors, a roofing booth, a sports memorabilia booth, a chips and salsa booth, a jewelry booth, not to mention a MESAGE BOOTH THAT TOOK UP A QUARTER OF THE ENTIRE CONVENTION FLOOR!!! this was ridiculous! And why on the hell were all the booths bunched up on half the available space!? It was ridiculously crowded and no freaking DUFF!?!?! I would give it ZERO STARS!!...#imdone read more

LA Cookie Con - When there are NO COOKIES at cookiecon!!! #whatajoke - Unofficial Yelp Events Near Me

Absolutely awful. Small crammed show- took 1 hour 25 min just to get into the show floor. The entire show floor was rented out yet the organizers decided to cram all the booths into one area. There was nowhere to go - way to many people. I took my daughter and am so disappointed at how the show represented itself vs what it actually was. A true CON. Never again. The organizers should be ashamed and embarrassed. Rosanna Pansino is in the website yet not anywhere on the schedule. I will say the local businesses who had booths were friendly and I am hoping they will pick up business from the show. Do not waste your time- there was a group of 8 of us- none of us will be returning next year. read more

Very disappointing. A VERY long wait for VERY little information to see. It was fun to see Ron Ben Israel, but we couldn't hear him speak due to the echo. The walkways were too narrow, especially since they had PLENTY of room to spread out. I really wanted to see bakeware, and people baking and learning tips. There were vendors and some demonstrations, but not really any gadgetry to speak of. Felt like a huge let-down after waiting almost 2 hours to get in. read more

This was my second outing to LA Cookie Con! Last year's convention in Pasadena was ok the only problem I experienced was the long lines and it not being very organized. However, it had way more sizable samples to eat (think normal size cookies not crumbs) compared to this year's convention. With that being said this year's location was in Downtown Los Angeles at the LA Convention Center, much better as far as lines and getting inside, etc. However, we went on a Sunday this time. There was less samples to try so I did not like that at all yet more vendors. So we did some shopping instead. We also had lunch across the street since the food court is mediocre at best and pricey. I would recommend more signage directing were to line up regarding your ticket whether it being a VIP ticket, Groupon, Weekend, etc. And let vendors know to pass out more of their product, not saying big samples just some to try. I know a lot of vendors were selling their products only. That is fine but it would have been nice to taste it first like last year's concept. Hands down the best tasting sample I had this year was Drunken Cake Pops, YUMMY! And last year's Top vendor for me was Deluscious Cookies, their red velvet brownies were to die for and they were super nice to interact with. All in all I will go to the next LA Cookie Con and looking forward in seeing if any changes will be done due to all of the feedback they got. A for effort! read more

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I went with a friend and showed up about 9:30. The line was surprisingly long, but I had very low expectations (just to learn something). It took a while to get in, but once we did, it was a lot of fun. The stores had many interesting items and I bought a lot more than I planned. One booth, sprinklesnstuff, had amazing classes and MADE the convention! I learned to decorate sugar cookies and tried making wafer paper roses. These people worked hard. One other booth, Delucious, was another show stopper. They had the most amazing red velvet brownies (you heard right) and m&m crusted chocolate brownies. They have changed my life!!! I understand and agree that there were problems with the line. We waited over an hour to get in. I would suggest that next year, they have more booths with hands on demos. That was the best. Even for $5 a class, I'm sure people would pay for it and they could make money. Maybe even a hands on area? I would also like more recipes, if possible. I had a blast and will attend next time. read more

LA Cookie Con - My first try at decorating a sugar cookie. - Unofficial Yelp Events Near Me

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First time coming, second year of cookie con We arrived a bit after noon because we didn't want to have to deal with any of the crazy rush or lined earlier in the day. There were a lot of stands with tiny samples from each. Although it was called cookie con, there was a huge variety of snacks. Ice cream, cake, drinks, jerky, baking materials, chocolate covered fruit, coconut oil, yam cakes, brownies, truffles, cake pops etc.! Everything closed down an hour before the official close time because most places had run out of samples or things to sell Along with all the samples and food for sale, there was a section where cake creations were displayed. A few stages were set up in the area for the celebrity guests or smaller presentations read more

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Terrible experience, waited one hour and a half to get in. Once inside I asked if I can get a shirt and a bag and was told they were only for VIP'S. I offered to buy one but was denied. Anyways it was so crowded inside , you can't even walk. This type of event should be better organized. I will not be wasting my money or time on this event again. read more

LA Cookie Con - Unofficial Yelp Events Near Me

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This was an awful event! Don't bother going or I would imagine to the new one they're pushing. Was probably half the size of last years event. I bought the VIP ticket based on a couple of things but one was this, which is on their web site: The VIP Experience For VIP ticket holders and select members of the press: two VIP Rooms with exclusive programming, sampling and a signature VIP tote bag. VIPs also get in 1 hour early both days of the show. Got the tote bag and in 45 min early because they were so unorganized, but there was no VIP rooms. And they have deleted my, and probably everyone's negative comments from their Facebook page and blocked me so I can't post again. So if you don't mind them manipulating their posts to make you think how great it was, then go! But don't say you weren't warned! read more

I hate to give this such a bad rating because the vendors did a great job and paid lots of $$$ for the privilege to be there. There were some delicious cookies and I've discovered a few bakers that I will buy from in the future if I can. It would have been nice if they provided convention discounts or something since I paid $25 just to get through the door, but I know they were desperate to make enough to cover their fee and make it worth their time. The convention was so poorly run I am stunned. I've heard the owner of the convention is a scammer and I kind of believe it now. Clearly the company is interested only in making as much as possible and didn't care that the attendees or vendors had a good experience. Not going back. read more

This event was a joke. Tickets specified a 9 am start time, just for us to be waiting in line for over an hour. & not get in until 1015am. We got there around 845, so I know the line that wrapped around for a mile, those people were stuck in it for a few hours. There should have been clarification. Word got around through the line that 9am was for bloggers & press. But that was no where indicated on tickets. No directional signs guiding paying ticket holders where to go. Upon entering the convention center the booth were too close together, knocking elbows with other people, & mind you this is a huge room that was not utilized properly. There was so much dead space behind draped curtain walls. So many vendors that had nothing to do with baking, Windows & timeshares at a baking convention? Seriously? & the massage company took up so much space & was one of the first things you see when you walked into the convention. Seriously who worked on the layout? No food vendors inside, just 2 food trucks outside. The few actual cake related vendors who were there, were great. The actual event, not great. So disorganized, unprofessional setting. I am a professional in the event industry & went in support of some of the bakers I knew. & felt kind of embarrassed of the whole thing. & you know the worst thing? Me leaving some of these remarks on their Facebook page & them having the audacity to not only delete my comment but all the other negative reviewed comments as well. If they were proud of their event, there would have been no need to delete comments. Why delete constructive criticism from actual paying attendees? Why try to hide behind the screen? why can't they come forward with an apology for all the wrong doing? I wish I would have seen precious year reviews, I would have never went based on that. Lesson learned, don't waste your time. The paying attendee doesn't matter once that ticket is sold. Signed Some one who will never attend this disastrous of an event again. read more

Had wanted to go to this for 3 yrs went this yr wirh my sister in law. Pre bought tickets had to stand in line over an hr just to get in. Then when in it was SO packed it was ridiculous. 1st off super unsafe then just to get to booth was crazy. The room that it was in could have utilised better whole back wall empty and a good portion of the room was blocked off. If that spred it out made the ailse larger im sure it would of helped. Poor people with wheel chairs and strollers had no chance . If i would of went to yelp prior to going ... i would of saved my money and time Live and learn read more

Cookie Con was an awesome experience! My in laws came down from Sacramento to join my husband and I to the event. There was a little bit of everything there sweet wise. From churros cupcakes, cakes and of course cookies! All the vendors were inviting and informative. However the aisles were tight. They didn't maximize the full use of the venue. Felt like it was more for the public than for bakers or professionals. Still had an awesome time. read more

VIP tickets were a JOKE. Overpriced. Very unorganized. We purchased tickets for the VIP admission because they advertised early entry and 2 VIP rooms. Due to the lack of organization, we did not get into the event until close to 10 AM. the time GA was admitted. There was only one VIP room that we saw on Sunday and it was not worth the extra cost. No place to sit, got a sample of a cupcake and some water from a dispenser. We definitely did not feel like we had the VIP experience! One show was of a girl trying to make green hat cookies for St. Patrick's Day. We felt bad for her as she did not have the correct tools to work or even show the audience what she was doing. Her whisk clumped up horribly and her ingredients did not mix in completely. Thought it was a joke at first. The vendors were so over crowded , it was difficult to speak to them personally. Vendors that did not belong just there made it seem like a cheap swap meet. We drive from Phoenix, AZ to learn something from the different vendors and pick up some helpful tips for my wife's new found love to decorate cookies and we came home empty in that department. She gets more from free YouTube videos. Requesting VIP refund difference. Not recommending to friends. read more

I was really excited to get to sample and buy different cookies from various vendors but in reality, we maybe had two samples of cookies, one sample of beef jerky, açaí, cobbler and popcorn. The convention is pretty lame... several booths with people trying to get you to sign up for wine tasting, a chance to win tickets to California Adventure or a $200 gift card for Geico. I think you pay for the chance to see Duff Goldman. In my honest opinion, I will not waste my money on this event again. read more

Not at all what we expected! Bought two day VIP tickets and finished walking the place in about an hour. Several vendors not even there at 9:00 for the early admission. I expected something like the big cookie con. The real cookie con but smaller. Very disappointed that I wasted $120. NEVER AGAIN!! Total bust!! I wish I would have read reviews. Expected cookie demos and really thought it would be a bunch of "cookiers". Nope. It should be just called a sweets show. The "cookie con" was very very misleading. read more

I've read some of the reviews that were written after mine, and I wanted to reply IN GENERAL to some of the comments that may have been written thoughtlessly. First, if you gained entrance and your wait in line wasn't dreadfully long, it MIGHT have been due to attrition. SCORES of people left the line along GREEN ST and EUCLID AVE in order to obtain refunds, NOT because they were admitted. When the main line shortened due to unhappiness, you benefited directly from others' misery and misfortune. Second, exhibitors (there were at least 38 of them) paid $500-$700 to participate in the event. That's at least $19,000 to $26,600 not counting the gate, and not counting sponsorship. Each of those vendors lost out part of their ROI, due to lost exposure and loss of sales. I came to BUY (and learn), not just sample freebies, and all of the vendors exhibiting lost out. Third, each exhibitor got 5 passes, 2 tix for friends and family, and 2 tix for comps. Capacity for Exhibit Hall A is 2,560 (approximately). That means up to 342 spots were already gone before paid admission. Add in the comps granted to the staff, sponsors and their invited guests, talent, and media, and it becomes a good proposition that available capacity fell below 2,000. (2,500 is capacity for a THEATER setting, while 1,580 is capacity for a BANQUET setting, so the amount of PAID ADMISSIONS initially allowed entrance could have been even smaller) Here's a tip for event organizers: Give sponsors a touring window the DAY before. If that's not possible, give them a private HOUR (9 a.m. to 10 a.m.) before doors open. Same goes for media. Some exhibitors will feel rushed, but those that live by the "early bird" mantra will be happy for the extra exposure. More importantly, you can now clear the show floor and admit PAYING CUSTOMERS into the venue ON TIME. Finally, a wee bit of mocking is due for the people who prefaced their reviews with qualifiers along the lines of "it was their first time'. To that, I respond, SO WHAT? This isn't a frat party kegger, or your next door neighbor's Superbowl party. This is an event where admission was charged to gain entry. Being their first time does not absolve them from expectations of responsibility, careful planning, and/or thoughtful execution. AKT incorporated in July 2014, and tried to put together an ambitious event in a relatively short time frame (6 months). Even if you grant them an A for effort, it doesn't begin to mitigate the failure to provide a seamless and professional experience. read more

If you want an incredible cookie selection, Ralph's or Whole Foods will be your better friend in this case. This is probably the worst convention I have ever been to. They are lacking identity, why are there photographer booths, pickle booths (one of the best tasting) and vip sections when it is already in a small overcrowded room? Why do geico, Lyft, and Yelp have a booth? There are sample lines at each booth so be prepared to wait even more after you are in. At least 60% of the booths didn't have samples and were selling their products only. Update: Got a response from them after sending a private message inquiry for a refund request. Their reply: "There were literally pounds of free cookies to sample and take home, per person. Sorry we didn't meet your expectations." At the event, everyone seemed confused about where the rest of the convention. I get a very unimpressive excuse for a convention and I dropped $50 for it. As far as customer service, they didn't address my concerns but essentially say "you're wrong." This is absolutely embarrassing for them, I hope they change something because this is really unsettling. This is a scam, and by my definition robbery. read more

This is my first time going to Cookie Con. I'm quite disappointed and will not be going back next year. There were a number of booths but the cookies weren't impressive. The cookies weren't anything special, neither are the cakes or ice cream. It's not worth the money and time. read more

Unorganized and long lines to get in when it opened for general admission. There was a line to get wristbands which seemed pointless since they just ended up just scanning tickets at the door to let people in since the line was extremely long. Seemed kind of small for a cookie convention. There were two sections for the VIP area which seemed kind of odd. It should have been one area and divided with a large petition instead of a half partition. Overall was just ehhh. Love ArtisanalLA better. Lots more interesting foods and desserts. Also to note LA convention center sucks. They should have just taken up more of the Pasadena convention center which is also cleaner and nicer. While waiting in line at the convention center, a mass of smokers congregated right outside the door. Blowing smoke in front of everyone. Annoying. read more

Their website sucks and the event has a misleading name. "LA Cookie Con" in Anaheim??? I still can't figure out what it is about since it has a different name on every website: - cookies and baking (LA Cookie Con) - sweets (LA Cookie Convention & Sweets Show) - chocolate (Chocolate (and Candy and Cookie and Cake) Festival) read more

The name of this event fit it perfectly. L.A. Cookie "CON"..... This was such a waste of money! This was more like a swap meat where people sell their goods rather than a show. The "demonstrations" were done at a 4 foot table but with people standing around the table, you couldn't see anything. Even though they had the space available, they confined everything to such a tight, small area that you couldn't even walk without stepping on someone's toes. Some parents brought their kids in wagons or let them run around amok. Unbelievable!! This seemed disorganized, chaotic and EVERYTHING being sold was SUPER EXPENSIVE!! Oven mitts for $39...what?? For the price of the tickets, the fees that Goldstar charges and the $16 for parking, we could've taken a class or bought videos that would've taught us more and would've entertained us. We were so disgusted by this whole set up and the fact that we definitely did not get any value for our money that we both walked out after 2 hours of trying to get anywhere or learn anything. Whoever put this together should be ashamed of themselves as this was neither fun, professional nor entertaining. I truly wish we could get a refund and from what I hear, we're not the only ones that feel this way. It will be a long time before I purchase anything through Goldstar again as this has left a VERY bitter taste read more

I attempted to attend this event. I was bummed, because I went specifically in the hopes to network with some fellow professionals & possibly pick up some tips & info for an upcoming cake competition i am competing in. I turned down cake orders specifically so I could spend the day at this event without worrying about rushing home the 2 hour drive to work on cakes. i purchased my ticket in November & planned the outing in my schedule. I met up with one of my fellow pastry chef crew & we decided we would make a day of it, since its rare that we get an actual day off or actually get to spend time together. I was told no more people would be allowed in @11am. I continued to wait in line, in the hopes that i would actually get in. I was turned away @12:45 & told that they couldn't let anymore people in because they were over capacity. Mandy took my name & email address & told me to email Groupon AND LACookieCon to TRY to get a refund. I emailed both of them as soon as I got home. I live 2 hours away from the event. I received an email from Groupon this afternoon, advising me that my ticket had been redeemed today. Which is confusing because my ticket is still in my purse & was never scanned or even looked at by anyone at the event. How could it have been redeemed, if I never even got into the building? More over, how was it redeemed 2 days AFTER the event??? i'm confused & so is Groupon apparently. I tweeted monday: Still waiting to hear back from @lacookiecon about the refund of my ticket. i was turned away because they were over capacity; to my surprise they tweeted for me to message them so they could look up my email address. But I had already sent them a direct email Sunday afternoon AND had given my information to Mandy in the "refund" line. Today I received an email from Nancy, advising I was misinformed & noone was turned away. Her email errored on the condescending side. She also requested i remove a youtube video that she thinks i posted. which is even MORE confusing, because it wasn't my video, i just commented on the video. While i understand this is the "first ever CookieCon", it does not excuse the lack of organization or communication that has encompassed this entire situation. I have attended MANY food events, as a professional pastry chef AND as a person of the general public, as well as a competitor. I have never had such a stressful, confusing & aggravating encounter at any event i have attended until now. As a consumer, I am feeling taken advantage of. Groupon is under the impression that I somehow attended this event today......the event organizer herself has told me that i am misinformed of what i was told & experienced first hand. And then felt the need to "explain" the situation so i could better understand "what really happened". Now I am reading all these yelp postings that are exactly the same situation that I encountered on Sunday & its only flaming my anger. i cant help but wonder if everyone that has posted here has received a similar email from Groupon, advising them that their ticket had been redeemed??? or did most people just shrug off the ticket price & not even ask for a refund??? Has anyone received a similar email from Nancy? or am i just special enough to be singled? As a professional, i'm outraged & embarrassed. Embarrassed for AKT & their lack of understanding that the local pastry professionals would love to have a venue that caters to our genre. outraged because the event coordinator has the gall to tell me that noone was turned away, after I told her in detail how I was turned away not once, but 3 times by her staff. Insulted, because I was accused of posting a video of Nancy explaining that they didnt think anyone would show up at 10am. Unprofessional. Inappropriate. Lack of Customer Service. You do NOT blame the customer for your mistake or tell them they dont know what they are talking about. Theres a very long row to hoe for this company before they attempt another event of this size. Planning is everything & professionalism makes up for alot of short comings. read more

I just left cookieconla and was VERY disappointed. I go to events like this all the time and this was the most unorganized event of its kind I have ever been to. I think tickets were oversold. It was so crowded we could barely even move. We had purchased tickets on eventbrite but still had to wait in line for wristbands when we arrived. There were only 2 PEOPLE giving out wristbands for thousands of people so we waited about an hour! Once we finally got to the front of the line they decided they were going to stop doing wristbands and just started letting people in without them! What a frustrating moment! If you love shows like this go to artisinalla or renegade instead. read more

LA Cookie Con - Unofficial Yelp Events Near Me

First timers! Only giving it 2 stars because I got to see my favorite baker Breescakes We got there at 7:30am to make sure we didn't miss out on all the good things. we didn't get VIP but sure enough we got what we wanted and left within an hour & a half. People complaining about the beef jerky HEY it was bomb af! Got myself new baking shirt along with delicious cookies, fudge, and brownies. If your coming here at 9am yeah idk why lol and especially if you come late don't be complaining about not getting anything you wanted Hopefully they get better at this though ! It was so crowded once every one came in I started getting anxiety I had to leave. There was so much more space there too.. & parking for $16 man tf y'all ain't Disneyland So because of those reasons I'm giving 2 stars Breescakes is the main reason why I came here! Get your shit together LAcookiecon we want more space more cookies less advanced people more celebrities & $5 parking read more

LA Cookie Con - Unofficial Yelp Events Near Me

It's hard to review something that was so poorly organized that I waited 2 hours and never even got in! So I'll review the organizers instead. They were so afraid to face their mistakes that they had some poor security guard trying to ward off all the angry and frustrated people such as myself. Finally, after over 30 minutes of the growing mob of angry people, they sent ONE lady out who promptly answered NO QUESTIONS whatsoever! They let a few mor guests trickle in, but I had already waited 2 hours and just wanted a refund. They sent me to the refund line, which was easily another hour long. I finally called Living Social to get my refund, and it took them a full day to process it because of all the others who called for the same reason! Don't give me any bull about it being their first time. This is not the first convention ever held, so do your homework and see what works and doesn't work and plan accordingly. Don't use the trusting public as your experimental "first go round". SHAME ON YOU ORGANIZERS! I attended this event with my teenage daughter who is eager to enter the field of bakery ownership, and she was excited to talk to others who are already there. Obviously that never happened, and she is now left with a very bitter first taste. Get it together or don't ever do this event again! read more

I was excited to see what this LA Cookie Con had to offer so I purchased the VIP weekend pass and made sure to fully utilize it. The other Yelpers are right. It was poorly organized; however, I could tell that they tried to make improvements this time around, but there are definitely many more they need to consider for next year. Saturday: - We were told that we needed to line up to collect our wristbands. The registration booths opened at 9am, and there was already a line by 8:30am. - I had no idea where the convention was so when I asked the workers at the registration booths, they had no idea either. WTF - After collecting my wristband, there was another line for the 10am entry into the convention. They ended up opening the doors at 10:15am. Once the doors opened, everyone made a mad rush to the doors. Imagine a bunch of tween girls spotting Justin Beiber from afar and making a mad rush to him for a picture/autograph, it was the same here. The workers looked completely helpless and clueless and instead "checked" our tickets by asking people to show their wrists as they ran by. WTF - Thank god for the early admission for the VIPers because it got really crowded later in the day when the General Admission ticketers arrived. - There were two booths for VIP - one in the front and one in the back. I really enjoyed those because they had the best samples. However, the "security" wasn't doing a good job "securing" the area. The back VIP area wasn't securely closed off, and I saw someone let his friends in through the back. I thought that was pretty desperate and ghetto. You can't afford to pay a couple of bucks for cookies?? Really? How did you pay for parking?? How do you live in CA?? Mind you...these were grown ass adults...Anyway.. - Variety of booths consisting of cookies, toffee, macarons, chocolate, cake pops, cupcakes, rum cakes, girl scout cookies, gluten free goods, baking supplies, etc.. Plenty of samples, but I heard that they were gone by the afternoon. This is when early admission comes in handy. - Variety of random booths...such as photos, lyft, massage...didn't understand why they were there and really shouldn't be allowed. - Throughout the day, there was a schedule to attend events at the Main Stage, Demo's Classroom, Traditional Baking Stage, etc.. I ended up watching a sugar flower making demo from Ron Ben-Israel, Sarah Michelle Gellar's discussion of her Foodstirs company, and also lined up for a pic and autograph with Ron. Note that every event started late. - I also attended a fondant rose making session at the Demo's Stage and the sad thing is....the tool she used to make the rose wasn't even sold at the Cookie Con. WTF Sunday: - I heard from plenty of attendees that we VIPers had to re-register at the booths even though we had our wristbands so I came early again. We all lined up at the registration booths and later saw one of the organizers there. After asking him if we needed to re-register, he said he wasn't sure and had to ask...WTF...then informed us no and directed us to line up somewhere else till our entry at 10am. While we waited, we saw many attendees trying to sneak pass the line and line up at the door. I gotta say...some of these people are hardcore. They started complaining to security and tattling and pointing out who was skipping the line. Luckily, the security listened and everyone was escorted to the line. Finally a little after 10am, we were in. Since I had walked around the day before, I knew which booths I was after and just targeted those until my classes started. There were some classes that required registration, and this is also when the VIP pass would come in handy. Registration starts at 10am, and General Admission is admitted at 11am so you can see how there would be no spots left. I signed up for the Cake Pop class and a Macaron Decorating class. When we arrived for class, the instructor didn't even have the sign up sheet to see who really signed up or didn't. Apparently, many people didn't realize that you had to sign up. Again, it was unorganized. After the Cake Pop class, I learned that the Macaron class, which was scheduled to start 15 min after, was cancelled. Thanks for the notification...what notification? Thus, I decided to line up for a picture with Rosanna and watched a Red Velvet Cheesecake demo with Rachel Fong from Kawaii Sweet World. As for food/drinks, they had a food truck that sold cookies and ice cream. I guess it was really good because there was a long line for it. I also saw that they had boxed salads, sandwiches, and rice bowls with chicken. I heard complaints of no bottled water, and everything was overpriced - $4 for a drink, I believe. Would I come back? Honestly, don't come for samples. If you're a serious baker and want ideas/supplies, sure. If you're fans of the headliners, sure. But I wouldn't come here just for the hell of it unless you're OK with blowing some time and cash. read more

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Was very disappointed with "VIP" admission. Very unorganized registration and long lines. You were supposed to get an early admission with VIP at 9am but because of the lack of coordination and vendors not set up, entrance wasn't until almost 10am and that's the general admission entrance. So there was no point in spending the extra money. Was crowded and they didn't use their space wisely. Two food trucks with long lines. If I were to go again, I'd get the half day (2-5) admission for $12 instead. There were some really good samples though. So I'd probably go again, but with the cheapest admission. read more

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This is the new page for LA Cookie Con (the other one claims this event is closed, probably because they changed locations), and I'm not even the slightest bit shocked to see that the same issues the hosts of this event had years ago are still happening. They are scam artists of the highest order and have clearly learned nothing from their previous years of running this event. read more

Just got back from cookie con. It was my first time attending and the one thing I didn't really like too much were the lines. We got the VIP weekend pass tickets and there is a line downstairs for registration and then a whole 'nother line upstairs to wait for the doors to open. Luckily we came early so we didn't deal with the line that general and VIP admission had to deal with towards 930-10 am. The staff inside (the guards that check your bands) were super friendly and looked like they were enjoying themselves. Loads and loads of booths. One thing I liked about getting the VIP tickets is that we got in an hour before gen admission, so the place didn't feel as packed and there was more room to interact with the vendors. Another stupid thing about the setup is that if you have a weekend pass and came on Saturday, if you're coming back for Sunday you have to do the whole checking in process ALL OVER AGAIN. It's stupid because in the email that's sent out they strictly say your ticket will only be scanned once and when you get the wristbands you can just wait in the line for the door the next day. But according to the staff today you have to come back for new bands. Other than the few unorganized parts, we got a lot of goodies and freebies and enjoyed ourselves. read more

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it wasnt worth the groupon for $23, sun general admission. granted they were hostin on superbowl sun, it was a no brainer. i waited 40 min in one line for tik scan n wristband. this was at 11:24 am. they boasted space was increased by a third. but for what? (general admission area, VIP, stages?) this event IS small for the price u pay. i received a total of 7 samples; 12 if u count the jellies i tried and bought. would i attend again? no. not worth the time or money. i brought a backpack to bring back samples i couldnt eat. was truly unnecessary. so i hauled some jars of jelly and fudge. do i recommend this event? to friends, no. to enemies, no. seriously, girl scout cookies as a vendor? read more

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When arriving I didn't know where to go, I eventually found the line and surprisingly this was the longest line I had ever had to wait in. I had people approach me asking me questions, really confused as I was. There was no workers to help direct us to form a line. There wasn't a lot of samples to go around here. Definitely not a COOKIE WONDERLAND, as much of us hoped it would be. read more

I was expecting every station to have free cookies. Instead only a couple of them had a few crumbs to give you. Thank gosh for the food truck that had ice cream and cookies, the only good part. $23 entry, $15 parking, not worth it for only that food truck. Everyone else was just selling overpriced sweets (and pickles and jerky?). Will not be attending next year. read more