The convention center it's self was very roomy and...

The convention center it's self was very roomy and decorated very nice. So disappointed with the Essence Festival. In my opinion I received the best show for my money for the Essence after dark reggae concert. Only thing I didn't like being from out of town is it was standing room only. Yes, it had some VIP seating, but you would not have seen the artist while sitting and when we left we were exhausted from standing inside and out, but I wish I had just paid for all the concerts instead. Essence fest itself could've been better. First, the lines for free products were too long. They should have had two separate lines for product information/sales & free. I paid $59.90 for the beauty carnival and received the same gift or similar to the people who got in for free, only difference is I didn't have to wait in the long gen admission free line. So, save your money. We knew nothing about the my black is beautiful exhibit/stand beforehand because in order to participate, you had to come when convention center opened to get a time stamped wristband of when to return. What I expected was a separate experience from free similar to VIP because I thought I was paying for VIP. However, they should have added things like makeup/hair tutorials. At the Maui booth I did get a picture with Elle Varner which was nice. There was nice places and props for photos. Great hair journey informational exhibits. It was way too many different music playing to enjoy the many different interviews and extra concerts, but the Brandy concert at the Coca Cola booth was great. The program and Essence app was confusing on how to get to exhibits inside expo. No suggestions on how they can fix it, but it needs to change. Maybe something with directions on how to get to expos because some of the staff had no idea how to read program details or where things were located. Or, maybe more floor signs.