Rainfurrest After-Action Report and Randomness
I'm tired, but that seems to be perpetual state with me these days, so I'm going to try and knock out a post while the brain is at least semi-functional. Here's hoping it has at least some semblance of coherency!
So due to the stars aligning (and getting into Geekgirlcon long after I'd given up), I've managed to schedule myself for three conventions in four weeks. Namely Rainfurrest, Geekgirlcon, and Portland Retro Gaming Expo. I'm in the middle of my three con stretch right now--Rainfurrest was weekend before last, and Geekgirlcon is this weekend. I ... think I'm ready? I mean, I have a ton of prep things that still need to be done, as always, but at least the big stuff is done, more or less. I just have to do final inventory on my posters tonight and pack the car so I can set up tomorrow afternoon after work. And then make more magnets. And decals. And work on commissions. Oy vey. @__@
I'll be glad when this is done--I haven't written anything in at least a week, and I miss it. Plus I'm always afraid of losing momentum, especially since we've gotten to the Big Dramatic Parts in Giants. And I'm leaving poor Fractal hanging again, which I hate doing.
So Rainfurrest happened! And it was fun--I always love going to that con. I've said it before, but I'll say it again--in terms of diversity, inclusivity, and just plain old happy, friendly folks, I think Rainfurrest has every other con I've ever been to beat. It's just a really fun con, and I honestly don't know why the furry fandom gets the scorn it does. (Ok, I do--it's the porn. Which is a lot like how fanfic is treated in some circles, now that I think about it ...) I was lucky enough to get a half-table in the Dealer's Den this year, rather than having to do the first-come-first-served scramble for Artist Alley. Even luckier--the dealer who was was supposed to be my tablemate never showed, so by 3 pm on Friday I officially had the whole table, yay! Which is a good thing, as I was finding out that I now have WAY too much stuff to effectively squeeze into two and a half feet of space. Blarg. The art show also went well--I sold all but two pieces, and two of them went for their 'Buy It Now' price, which almost never happens. So I'm happy about that.
Lessons learned this year:
Space matters! This was a big one--on Thursday and Friday, when I only had half a table, I didn't have nearly the same number of people stopping at my table to browse. Watching the traffic go by, I could tell that their eyes were just kind of skipping right over my display, despite my best efforts. I'm not sure if it's because I had an half-empty table right next to me, or because I was sandwiched between two very popular and eye-catching tables, but sales were very slow .... until I expanded my display to the whole table. Then they picked right up! And I hadn't made any other changes to my display set-up, beyond spreading out my materials more, but I had a LOT more people browsing or just stopping to admire. So while a half-table in Dealer's Den was better than none at all, I'm very glad I ended up with a whole one anyway.
The difference between dealer's den and artist alley--for this con, at least, it didn't seem to hugely bump my sales. This year's Rainfurrest was better than last year's in terms of sales, but it wasn't a massive jump in profits--just a few hundred extra, really. The big benefit of Dealer's Den? Not having to set up each morning and tear down each night! (And get in line in the morning early enough to actually get a spot) This was huge--I had forgotten how much extra stress and work that was until I didn't have to do it this year--it was great. Plus I got to chat more with other vendors, including some friends from previous cons. AND I got to hang out with one of my favorite artists, Cari Corene, and geek out together--how cool is that? I definitely hope she makes it back next year. :)
Other minor tips and tricks I've picked up: another vendor was showing me their lighting setup, which used a whole bunch of little clip lights from Ikea--I may see about using those to supplement my lights in the future, though getting electricity for them could be tricky, depending on the show. (Some shows provide it, some don't, and some make you pay big $$$$ for it.)
My next door table also had this great setup where they had a small monitor/tablet on a stand out on their table, connected to a Cintiq drawing monitor that she was working on, so people could watch a live feed while she worked on her latest piece. Given that I work digitally, this has a lot of appeal. However, it's also a $3K setup, minimum--Cintiqs are NOT cheap. After much thought and research, though, I decided on a cheaper option--a Galaxy Note tablet that I can set up on my table to run a slideshow of my complete portfolio. This should do a couple of things--it'll let me get rid of my big 'show-off' portfolio book, so I have more space for other things that I'm actually selling. I should be able to hook up my laptop/tablet to it for a live art feed of my own, though this is very dependent on having a) the time to work and b) the space behind the table for my equipment. And finally, it'll provide an interactive, moving visual that will attract the eye. At least I hope so!
After ordering the equipment I needed and figuring out the logistics of how to have it on my table while still keeping it secure, I only had the time to set up the slideshow/gallery bit for Geekgirlcon, so this will be the big test to see if it works. *crosses fingers* And if it doesn't--well, at least I now have a shiny tablet that I can run credit cards and read fanfic on? :P
That's pretty much it. Rainfurrest was great in another respect--I went into the show with no active commissions pending, and came out of it with seven. (Now eight!) On the downside--I have had almost no time to sketch the last couple weeks. I've started quoting people at least a month and a half wait, which is unusual for me--I hope they don't lose patience with me during this convention marathon of mine. Still, tons of really interesting character commissions to do, which is always fun!
Ok, enough rambling--onward and upward. Or something like that ... *falls over*
So due to the stars aligning (and getting into Geekgirlcon long after I'd given up), I've managed to schedule myself for three conventions in four weeks. Namely Rainfurrest, Geekgirlcon, and Portland Retro Gaming Expo. I'm in the middle of my three con stretch right now--Rainfurrest was weekend before last, and Geekgirlcon is this weekend. I ... think I'm ready? I mean, I have a ton of prep things that still need to be done, as always, but at least the big stuff is done, more or less. I just have to do final inventory on my posters tonight and pack the car so I can set up tomorrow afternoon after work. And then make more magnets. And decals. And work on commissions. Oy vey. @__@
I'll be glad when this is done--I haven't written anything in at least a week, and I miss it. Plus I'm always afraid of losing momentum, especially since we've gotten to the Big Dramatic Parts in Giants. And I'm leaving poor Fractal hanging again, which I hate doing.
So Rainfurrest happened! And it was fun--I always love going to that con. I've said it before, but I'll say it again--in terms of diversity, inclusivity, and just plain old happy, friendly folks, I think Rainfurrest has every other con I've ever been to beat. It's just a really fun con, and I honestly don't know why the furry fandom gets the scorn it does. (Ok, I do--it's the porn. Which is a lot like how fanfic is treated in some circles, now that I think about it ...) I was lucky enough to get a half-table in the Dealer's Den this year, rather than having to do the first-come-first-served scramble for Artist Alley. Even luckier--the dealer who was was supposed to be my tablemate never showed, so by 3 pm on Friday I officially had the whole table, yay! Which is a good thing, as I was finding out that I now have WAY too much stuff to effectively squeeze into two and a half feet of space. Blarg. The art show also went well--I sold all but two pieces, and two of them went for their 'Buy It Now' price, which almost never happens. So I'm happy about that.
Lessons learned this year:
Space matters! This was a big one--on Thursday and Friday, when I only had half a table, I didn't have nearly the same number of people stopping at my table to browse. Watching the traffic go by, I could tell that their eyes were just kind of skipping right over my display, despite my best efforts. I'm not sure if it's because I had an half-empty table right next to me, or because I was sandwiched between two very popular and eye-catching tables, but sales were very slow .... until I expanded my display to the whole table. Then they picked right up! And I hadn't made any other changes to my display set-up, beyond spreading out my materials more, but I had a LOT more people browsing or just stopping to admire. So while a half-table in Dealer's Den was better than none at all, I'm very glad I ended up with a whole one anyway.
The difference between dealer's den and artist alley--for this con, at least, it didn't seem to hugely bump my sales. This year's Rainfurrest was better than last year's in terms of sales, but it wasn't a massive jump in profits--just a few hundred extra, really. The big benefit of Dealer's Den? Not having to set up each morning and tear down each night! (And get in line in the morning early enough to actually get a spot) This was huge--I had forgotten how much extra stress and work that was until I didn't have to do it this year--it was great. Plus I got to chat more with other vendors, including some friends from previous cons. AND I got to hang out with one of my favorite artists, Cari Corene, and geek out together--how cool is that? I definitely hope she makes it back next year. :)
Other minor tips and tricks I've picked up: another vendor was showing me their lighting setup, which used a whole bunch of little clip lights from Ikea--I may see about using those to supplement my lights in the future, though getting electricity for them could be tricky, depending on the show. (Some shows provide it, some don't, and some make you pay big $$$$ for it.)
My next door table also had this great setup where they had a small monitor/tablet on a stand out on their table, connected to a Cintiq drawing monitor that she was working on, so people could watch a live feed while she worked on her latest piece. Given that I work digitally, this has a lot of appeal. However, it's also a $3K setup, minimum--Cintiqs are NOT cheap. After much thought and research, though, I decided on a cheaper option--a Galaxy Note tablet that I can set up on my table to run a slideshow of my complete portfolio. This should do a couple of things--it'll let me get rid of my big 'show-off' portfolio book, so I have more space for other things that I'm actually selling. I should be able to hook up my laptop/tablet to it for a live art feed of my own, though this is very dependent on having a) the time to work and b) the space behind the table for my equipment. And finally, it'll provide an interactive, moving visual that will attract the eye. At least I hope so!
After ordering the equipment I needed and figuring out the logistics of how to have it on my table while still keeping it secure, I only had the time to set up the slideshow/gallery bit for Geekgirlcon, so this will be the big test to see if it works. *crosses fingers* And if it doesn't--well, at least I now have a shiny tablet that I can run credit cards and read fanfic on? :P
That's pretty much it. Rainfurrest was great in another respect--I went into the show with no active commissions pending, and came out of it with seven. (Now eight!) On the downside--I have had almost no time to sketch the last couple weeks. I've started quoting people at least a month and a half wait, which is unusual for me--I hope they don't lose patience with me during this convention marathon of mine. Still, tons of really interesting character commissions to do, which is always fun!
Ok, enough rambling--onward and upward. Or something like that ... *falls over*