Cincy Comic Con Recap
This weekend was the 2014 Cincy Comic Con and I believe it's the 2nd one (?) ever. As many of you know I had a table in Artist's Alley this year after having attended last year and loving the atmosphere. The amount of vendors seemed smaller this year but the room was still packed so maybe there were just more artists. It's hard to say without seeing the statistical breakdown of the Con and I'm not sure I'm really THAT interested in knowing all of that. The Con is spearheaded by artist Tony Moore and his presence and that of his lovely wife was prevalent throughout the show. Since Tony is an artist and has been to many conventions himself he does a great job of taking care of the creators. His "henchmen" patrol the show floor handing out water bottles and snacks throughout the day. His lovely wife, sporting an "Overlord" jacket even passed out Advil at one point.! This is definitely a Con that caters to the creators and makes them feel welcome and comfortable. The table cost was reasonable as well, $150 for all three days which included 2 passes and the aforementioned free snacks! If I had a complaint about the show it would be that the convention center did not allow outside food and the food they were selling was overpriced and awful. As a diabetic I was torn between having to digest expensive garbage or waiting and possibly going into a diabetic coma. On the last day I just left and got Subway. Luckily, my brother Jesse attended with me and he watched the table for me.
A small complaint to be sure and far outweighed by the good. To begin with I had a lot of fun running the table and interacting with the Con goers. I saw a lot of great cosplay and awesome t-shirts. It was great to talk to people just as passionate about comics as I am and share my artwork with them. I also found some really great deals on comics and got a chance to talk to some of my favorite writers and artists. I even discovered some new creators that I was not familiar with but am now a fan. The list is long but I spoke to Tim Seeley and thanked him for his work and jokingly chided him for making me addicted to his work through the Chew/Revival team up book. I met Dave Wachter and bought everything he had to sell there! He was friendly and his art is amazing, you must check out Breath of Bones by him and Steve Niles. I spent a laugh filled few minutes talking to Ryan Browne and buying all he had to offer as well. His God Hates Astronauts is a must buy!
As for myself I didn't do especially well financially but I did gain more experience attending the con as an artist and working out things that I can do better for the next one I attend. I made a grand total of $55 which included two pieces of original art but, in the grand scheme of things, if you add in all of the supplies I bought for the show, the hotel room, food, gas, and the table cost I actually lost big time. I am not upset about that I only mention it to say what I'm going to say next, it was all worth it. This Con showed me what to expect and how to proceed from here. I learned a lot just by studying the traffic and the people who approached the table. First I learned that comics, well unknown comics like mine, are not enough to finance a table. I saw what sells at the artist's tables. Prints and artwork. I now know if I do another show I will need prints and a sign with commission prices. I also missed out on the opportunity to promote my website. We handed out stickers with the Dead Cat Comix logo but that was all that was on the sticker! I need to design a new one that gives website info! I also need to have some flyers made up with good info about the comics on them. Finally, I need to work on my pitch to help sell the comics, my elevator speech if you will.
Overall it was a fun show and one that I would jump at the chance to do again. I know what I need to do to be more successful next time and I think I can be. I'll stop now before I start rambling about how great the con was again.
This weekend was the 2014 Cincy Comic Con and I believe it's the 2nd one (?) ever. As many of you know I had a table in Artist's Alley this year after having attended last year and loving the atmosphere. The amount of vendors seemed smaller this year but the room was still packed so maybe there were just more artists. It's hard to say without seeing the statistical breakdown of the Con and I'm not sure I'm really THAT interested in knowing all of that. The Con is spearheaded by artist Tony Moore and his presence and that of his lovely wife was prevalent throughout the show. Since Tony is an artist and has been to many conventions himself he does a great job of taking care of the creators. His "henchmen" patrol the show floor handing out water bottles and snacks throughout the day. His lovely wife, sporting an "Overlord" jacket even passed out Advil at one point.! This is definitely a Con that caters to the creators and makes them feel welcome and comfortable. The table cost was reasonable as well, $150 for all three days which included 2 passes and the aforementioned free snacks! If I had a complaint about the show it would be that the convention center did not allow outside food and the food they were selling was overpriced and awful. As a diabetic I was torn between having to digest expensive garbage or waiting and possibly going into a diabetic coma. On the last day I just left and got Subway. Luckily, my brother Jesse attended with me and he watched the table for me.
A small complaint to be sure and far outweighed by the good. To begin with I had a lot of fun running the table and interacting with the Con goers. I saw a lot of great cosplay and awesome t-shirts. It was great to talk to people just as passionate about comics as I am and share my artwork with them. I also found some really great deals on comics and got a chance to talk to some of my favorite writers and artists. I even discovered some new creators that I was not familiar with but am now a fan. The list is long but I spoke to Tim Seeley and thanked him for his work and jokingly chided him for making me addicted to his work through the Chew/Revival team up book. I met Dave Wachter and bought everything he had to sell there! He was friendly and his art is amazing, you must check out Breath of Bones by him and Steve Niles. I spent a laugh filled few minutes talking to Ryan Browne and buying all he had to offer as well. His God Hates Astronauts is a must buy!
As for myself I didn't do especially well financially but I did gain more experience attending the con as an artist and working out things that I can do better for the next one I attend. I made a grand total of $55 which included two pieces of original art but, in the grand scheme of things, if you add in all of the supplies I bought for the show, the hotel room, food, gas, and the table cost I actually lost big time. I am not upset about that I only mention it to say what I'm going to say next, it was all worth it. This Con showed me what to expect and how to proceed from here. I learned a lot just by studying the traffic and the people who approached the table. First I learned that comics, well unknown comics like mine, are not enough to finance a table. I saw what sells at the artist's tables. Prints and artwork. I now know if I do another show I will need prints and a sign with commission prices. I also missed out on the opportunity to promote my website. We handed out stickers with the Dead Cat Comix logo but that was all that was on the sticker! I need to design a new one that gives website info! I also need to have some flyers made up with good info about the comics on them. Finally, I need to work on my pitch to help sell the comics, my elevator speech if you will.
Overall it was a fun show and one that I would jump at the chance to do again. I know what I need to do to be more successful next time and I think I can be. I'll stop now before I start rambling about how great the con was again.