A-kon 2011 Con Report
I made it back from A-kon in one piece, although I seem to have lost a hat I bought at the Japan pavilion at Epcot while I was there. I remember packing it in my pillow bag before storing our luggage on Sunday, but it didn't make it home. That really upset me because 1. I really liked that hat, 2. I had only gotten to wear it once, and 3. it was $45. :| Other than that and a problem with one of my island-mates, it was a fantastic albeit weird con.
Going back to the Sheraton was like heaven after the last two hell holes I had to stay in for cons. It was made even better by the fact that we happened to luck out and get placed in a corner room so it was significantly larger than the other rooms while still being considered a regular double bed room. It was HUUUUUGE. It even had a little wrap-around couch with throw pillows and a coffee table in the corner! If that was a karma pay-off, I'll take it. It was also nice being around hotel staff who actually gave a damn about whether or not you were happy with your stay and didn't treat you like a second class citizen like the Crowne Plaza did in Houston. (We were allowed to use the front doors and everything! Wow!)
As usual I checked in with the AA on Thursday night and set up the Beast as well as my table cloth and banners. Some people sell at A-kon on Thursday evening and night with a bit of profit in return but it just isn't worth it to me for a con that's as tiring as A-kon. Thursday evening is my time to unwind, chill, and rest in preparation for the madness of the weekend and my mom and I did just that. We walked over to the Plaza of the Americas as we do every year and picked up menus from all the hotel eateries to use throughout the weekend, then we had our one really nice dinner of the weekend that was nice and relaxing with good food, a couple drinks, and a quiet hotel restaurant since a lot of the con-goers wouldn't be checking in until the next day. I was also able to take a long shower that night before bed which was a very good thing because with the sales volume I ended up having that weekend I had to make the choice between showering and sleeping and sleeping sure as hell won (getting back to the room after midnight and having to be up by 6:30 tends to do that). Thank God the AC was working full blast in the AA so I didn't get hot during the day and I had dry shampoo with me as well.
As I said earlier, this year's A-kon was just... weird. Not bad weird, but it just had this weird vibe to it that other people besides me noticed on both the artist and general con-goer end. This was my 7th A-kon so it definitely wasn't my first rodeo; I know how A-kon is supposed to behave and flow, and this year was just off a bit.
Friday was INSANE. I as well as many others on the A-kon AA boards are anxious to hear an attendance number because the number of people there was absolutely obscene. I didn't even TRY to go upstairs or go to the dealer's room because there were so. Many. People. EVERYWHERE. Even getting to the bathrooms was a chore at a slow shuffle through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. Throw in hot weather outside and that was not a fun experience by Sunday. Thank GOD the AC was working in the convention hall this year. The pre-reg line is usually long on Friday but this year it was unbelievable. The convention hall at the Sheraton is HUGE and not only did the line fill its entire maze, it stretched all the way around the perimeter of the hall all the way back around to the front doors it was so long. I was told by another attendee that at it's height it was a three hour wait.
I am so damn happy I pick up my badges through AA check-in the night before. I waited in line for maybe five minutes for that. Maybe.
The whole day was full of Saturday-like crowds and shopping and it actually ended up being my highest grossing day of the con. Saturday was actually a little slow until the afternoon and evening/night. It was continuous tending to customers to the point that neither my mom or I could leave the table for very long for fear of the other person drowning trying to handle everyone's orders. I was in the black within a few hours having already made enough to not only cover the cost of the table and the memberships but the hotel room for all three nights as well. After two shit-tastic cons before this, it was manna from heaven.
Sales-wise this wasn't only my best A-kon ever, it was my best CON ever, period. I broke my previous record by a couple hundred dollars. I got 10 commissions over the weekend and had to turn two or three people away by Sunday afternoon just because I wouldn't have had time to finish them all, and I have three messages in my inboxes from convention people wanting commissions post-con. Another weird thing about this con was that EVERYTHING sold. Usually one of my items will sell a lot better than other items while some items will barely sell at all, but everything sold pretty equally at this con including all different print sizes, buttons, magnets, checkbooks, and bookmarks. Inuyasha stuff sold really well, too, especially Sesshoumaru stuff. I take it that's because more people are starting to watch The Final Act online... I can't wait to see what it's like once the dub starts airing on Cartoon Network.
Sunday was CRAZY. It can be a pretty decent sales day at most cons, but it was CONSTANT this year! I made almost three times more than any other Sunday on record and the buying was constant enough that I didn't get to eat lunch at all. I only had one 11x17 sleeve left at the end of the day, and I almost ran out of button backs even though I had a completely full quart-sized ziploc bag at the beginning of the weekend! I sold out of five bookmarks, three magnets, one checkbook cover, and I came close to selling out of a few other things as well. While I haven't finished taking inventory yet, what I HAVE taken has shown that I sold 274 buttons, 133 bookmarks, and 45 checkbook covers to give you an idea of the sales volume I had all weekend.
I also had a lot more credit transactions than ever before which made me glad I ditched Paynet a couple months ago and switched over to ProPay and their MicroSecure card reader instead. There were so many people on the cell networks at the con that the internet wasn't working at ALL, so I wouldn't have been able to process any credit cards on Paynet's system. The card reader from ProPay was a godsend and I will never ever use anything else ever again because it was SO FAST AND EASY. It's just a little blue thing that's barely longer than a credit card that hooks up to a computer via USB. Instead of having to pray the net would work on my phone, all I had to do was record the cardholder's name, the last four digits of their card number, and the amount to be charged on a chart I whipped up in Excell the night before the con... and just swipe the card. Press the button, swipe the card, done. The little card reader stores up to 71 transactions in it that can be run at a later time on a computer via USB. I just ran all of my transactions last night and it was wonderfully simple. I made enough in credit transactions in this one con to more than pay for the entire annual fee for my account, the reader, and the purchase price of the reader.
Now to the only problem I had: one company that was in the island that I won't name specifically because that isn't kosher. During the day Friday and into Friday night they seemed to think everything in the island was theirs whether they paid for it or owned it or not. I should have known they were going to be a problem when on Friday morning I came to set up shop and saw that they had their stuff needlessly leaning against my print stand. I mean, come on, really? They had tons of stuff within the island that made it almost impossible for the other artists to move, and a lot of the stuff they were selling wasn't even qualified for the artist alley anyway! It was pre-fab stuff that should have been in the dealer's room, but their special contract with A-kon made them not only immune to the rules of the AA but it also allowed them to have EIGHT PEOPLE behind the table instead of four!
The people they had working the night shift on Friday were the biggest pain in the ass I've ever had to deal with during a con, and I felt really sorry for my neighbor that separated me from them. She left earlier in the evening to do other con things and not only did these people IMMEDIATELY take over her empty table, they destroyed it. They ate at it, left crap all over it, and even spilled a full glass of water on her table cloth and didn't even attempt to clean it up. They had huge buckets of fried chicken and proceeded to leave bits of fried stuff everywhere and chicken grease all over EVERYTHING once the evening was done. I came back the next morning to chicken crap all over the floor behind my table. I had to tell these people more than FOUR TIMES to stop hanging on/touching/pulling themselves up off the floor with my print stand! I have NEVER had a problem with anyone touching my print stand because it really isn't that difficult of a concept to understand, is it? It doesn't belong to you, don't touch it. The last person who touched my stand to pull themselves up off the ground was eight years old and he stopped after I asked him to please not do that. I prayed that my stand would still be upright when I returned the next day. Thankfully once the owner of the group was informed of how wonderfully miserable his night crew made everybody he "fired" them and we didn't see them again for the rest of the con. It made them better neighbors, but I sure as hell don't ever want to be near them ever again. :|
Other than that, I had absolutely no problems with anything or anyone at the con and it was overall a very enjoyable weekend albeit incredibly, mind-numbingly exhausting. I stay at the table as long as there are customers buying and that resulted in being behind the table for fifteen and a half hours not only on Friday but Saturday as well with only three or so hours of sleep in-between. I slept maybe six or seven hours the entire weekend so I came home on Sunday night and basically died. I slept 14 hours straight and was STILL tired when I woke up the next day at almost 4. I still feel tired and will probably take a nap after I get home from running some errands with my mom. It was definitely worth it, though, and my business account really needed this after the two crappy cons before this.
All in all it was nice to do a REAL con again with competent staff and a clean, nice hotel with competent and pleasant staff. I also took my 3DS with me and got 75 street passes while at my table. Too bad I didn't have enough time to play with all of them in my Find Mii game! I did complete three puzzle panels, though.
And now I have 79 days until Anime Fest.
Going back to the Sheraton was like heaven after the last two hell holes I had to stay in for cons. It was made even better by the fact that we happened to luck out and get placed in a corner room so it was significantly larger than the other rooms while still being considered a regular double bed room. It was HUUUUUGE. It even had a little wrap-around couch with throw pillows and a coffee table in the corner! If that was a karma pay-off, I'll take it. It was also nice being around hotel staff who actually gave a damn about whether or not you were happy with your stay and didn't treat you like a second class citizen like the Crowne Plaza did in Houston. (We were allowed to use the front doors and everything! Wow!)
As usual I checked in with the AA on Thursday night and set up the Beast as well as my table cloth and banners. Some people sell at A-kon on Thursday evening and night with a bit of profit in return but it just isn't worth it to me for a con that's as tiring as A-kon. Thursday evening is my time to unwind, chill, and rest in preparation for the madness of the weekend and my mom and I did just that. We walked over to the Plaza of the Americas as we do every year and picked up menus from all the hotel eateries to use throughout the weekend, then we had our one really nice dinner of the weekend that was nice and relaxing with good food, a couple drinks, and a quiet hotel restaurant since a lot of the con-goers wouldn't be checking in until the next day. I was also able to take a long shower that night before bed which was a very good thing because with the sales volume I ended up having that weekend I had to make the choice between showering and sleeping and sleeping sure as hell won (getting back to the room after midnight and having to be up by 6:30 tends to do that). Thank God the AC was working full blast in the AA so I didn't get hot during the day and I had dry shampoo with me as well.
As I said earlier, this year's A-kon was just... weird. Not bad weird, but it just had this weird vibe to it that other people besides me noticed on both the artist and general con-goer end. This was my 7th A-kon so it definitely wasn't my first rodeo; I know how A-kon is supposed to behave and flow, and this year was just off a bit.
Friday was INSANE. I as well as many others on the A-kon AA boards are anxious to hear an attendance number because the number of people there was absolutely obscene. I didn't even TRY to go upstairs or go to the dealer's room because there were so. Many. People. EVERYWHERE. Even getting to the bathrooms was a chore at a slow shuffle through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. Throw in hot weather outside and that was not a fun experience by Sunday. Thank GOD the AC was working in the convention hall this year. The pre-reg line is usually long on Friday but this year it was unbelievable. The convention hall at the Sheraton is HUGE and not only did the line fill its entire maze, it stretched all the way around the perimeter of the hall all the way back around to the front doors it was so long. I was told by another attendee that at it's height it was a three hour wait.
I am so damn happy I pick up my badges through AA check-in the night before. I waited in line for maybe five minutes for that. Maybe.
The whole day was full of Saturday-like crowds and shopping and it actually ended up being my highest grossing day of the con. Saturday was actually a little slow until the afternoon and evening/night. It was continuous tending to customers to the point that neither my mom or I could leave the table for very long for fear of the other person drowning trying to handle everyone's orders. I was in the black within a few hours having already made enough to not only cover the cost of the table and the memberships but the hotel room for all three nights as well. After two shit-tastic cons before this, it was manna from heaven.
Sales-wise this wasn't only my best A-kon ever, it was my best CON ever, period. I broke my previous record by a couple hundred dollars. I got 10 commissions over the weekend and had to turn two or three people away by Sunday afternoon just because I wouldn't have had time to finish them all, and I have three messages in my inboxes from convention people wanting commissions post-con. Another weird thing about this con was that EVERYTHING sold. Usually one of my items will sell a lot better than other items while some items will barely sell at all, but everything sold pretty equally at this con including all different print sizes, buttons, magnets, checkbooks, and bookmarks. Inuyasha stuff sold really well, too, especially Sesshoumaru stuff. I take it that's because more people are starting to watch The Final Act online... I can't wait to see what it's like once the dub starts airing on Cartoon Network.
Sunday was CRAZY. It can be a pretty decent sales day at most cons, but it was CONSTANT this year! I made almost three times more than any other Sunday on record and the buying was constant enough that I didn't get to eat lunch at all. I only had one 11x17 sleeve left at the end of the day, and I almost ran out of button backs even though I had a completely full quart-sized ziploc bag at the beginning of the weekend! I sold out of five bookmarks, three magnets, one checkbook cover, and I came close to selling out of a few other things as well. While I haven't finished taking inventory yet, what I HAVE taken has shown that I sold 274 buttons, 133 bookmarks, and 45 checkbook covers to give you an idea of the sales volume I had all weekend.
I also had a lot more credit transactions than ever before which made me glad I ditched Paynet a couple months ago and switched over to ProPay and their MicroSecure card reader instead. There were so many people on the cell networks at the con that the internet wasn't working at ALL, so I wouldn't have been able to process any credit cards on Paynet's system. The card reader from ProPay was a godsend and I will never ever use anything else ever again because it was SO FAST AND EASY. It's just a little blue thing that's barely longer than a credit card that hooks up to a computer via USB. Instead of having to pray the net would work on my phone, all I had to do was record the cardholder's name, the last four digits of their card number, and the amount to be charged on a chart I whipped up in Excell the night before the con... and just swipe the card. Press the button, swipe the card, done. The little card reader stores up to 71 transactions in it that can be run at a later time on a computer via USB. I just ran all of my transactions last night and it was wonderfully simple. I made enough in credit transactions in this one con to more than pay for the entire annual fee for my account, the reader, and the purchase price of the reader.
Now to the only problem I had: one company that was in the island that I won't name specifically because that isn't kosher. During the day Friday and into Friday night they seemed to think everything in the island was theirs whether they paid for it or owned it or not. I should have known they were going to be a problem when on Friday morning I came to set up shop and saw that they had their stuff needlessly leaning against my print stand. I mean, come on, really? They had tons of stuff within the island that made it almost impossible for the other artists to move, and a lot of the stuff they were selling wasn't even qualified for the artist alley anyway! It was pre-fab stuff that should have been in the dealer's room, but their special contract with A-kon made them not only immune to the rules of the AA but it also allowed them to have EIGHT PEOPLE behind the table instead of four!
The people they had working the night shift on Friday were the biggest pain in the ass I've ever had to deal with during a con, and I felt really sorry for my neighbor that separated me from them. She left earlier in the evening to do other con things and not only did these people IMMEDIATELY take over her empty table, they destroyed it. They ate at it, left crap all over it, and even spilled a full glass of water on her table cloth and didn't even attempt to clean it up. They had huge buckets of fried chicken and proceeded to leave bits of fried stuff everywhere and chicken grease all over EVERYTHING once the evening was done. I came back the next morning to chicken crap all over the floor behind my table. I had to tell these people more than FOUR TIMES to stop hanging on/touching/pulling themselves up off the floor with my print stand! I have NEVER had a problem with anyone touching my print stand because it really isn't that difficult of a concept to understand, is it? It doesn't belong to you, don't touch it. The last person who touched my stand to pull themselves up off the ground was eight years old and he stopped after I asked him to please not do that. I prayed that my stand would still be upright when I returned the next day. Thankfully once the owner of the group was informed of how wonderfully miserable his night crew made everybody he "fired" them and we didn't see them again for the rest of the con. It made them better neighbors, but I sure as hell don't ever want to be near them ever again. :|
Other than that, I had absolutely no problems with anything or anyone at the con and it was overall a very enjoyable weekend albeit incredibly, mind-numbingly exhausting. I stay at the table as long as there are customers buying and that resulted in being behind the table for fifteen and a half hours not only on Friday but Saturday as well with only three or so hours of sleep in-between. I slept maybe six or seven hours the entire weekend so I came home on Sunday night and basically died. I slept 14 hours straight and was STILL tired when I woke up the next day at almost 4. I still feel tired and will probably take a nap after I get home from running some errands with my mom. It was definitely worth it, though, and my business account really needed this after the two crappy cons before this.
All in all it was nice to do a REAL con again with competent staff and a clean, nice hotel with competent and pleasant staff. I also took my 3DS with me and got 75 street passes while at my table. Too bad I didn't have enough time to play with all of them in my Find Mii game! I did complete three puzzle panels, though.
And now I have 79 days until Anime Fest.