This year I want to start adding a selection of photos and highlight my galleries more from my traveling, so enjoy!

Click for more: GlassCityCon Photos

I couldn't help but laugh - these guys did a GREAT job on an unorthodox cosplay...

The hallway on Sunday - watching the people walking through.

Our table - showing off the new banner on the left.

These are so adorable - I bought one at JAFAX, and had to admire them again. Great quality!

This guy was showing her a dance step, and I loved the bright red against the sunny windows.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by, especially those who are our repeat “we have to find you every year” customers. My favorite moment was listening to someone trying to direct their friend by phone to their location to meet up: “We’re at DisjointedImages. The fun table!”

Our next convention is in Ohio – http://www.glasscitycon.com/ Please come see us!

Come see us for high quality buttons and our solitaire game MahJong House.

It was great seeing all the new faces, and getting great ideas for buttons for next year.

Can’t wait for 2012!

Despite (or because of) that, there are many tips and tricks that I’ve learned that I think hold true no matter what you’re selling. I’ve also got over 5 years behind me, and have made friends with a variety of artists along the way, and gotten feedback and tips from them as well. Hopefully some of it will be useful to you!

The absolute first rule is VISIT AN AA! This is the best way to get a good idea of what you’re getting into. Don’t hesitate to ask artists questions about selling – while they might not tell you financial details, most will talk about expenses, hours worked (both before and at the convention), tips for success and how long they’ve been selling. If you’ve never seriously considered everything that goes into SELLING while actually in an AA, then you’ll see it with new eyes. Just thinking “I bet I could make money too” and not doing the research will bite you hard.

Remember – the rules for an Artist Alley differ from place to place. Always check first with the organizer to see what restrictions there are before getting a pile of items made. Some locations also require a seller’s permit – which is a free form available from that state’s government site which outlines the rules and tax regulations for selling. Remember – even if the convention itself does not require one – income you get from convention sales should be reported each year on your taxes. Consult a professional for details.

Now then, I’m going to jump in and presume that you’ve done the above, and already have an idea of WHAT you want to sell. Be it prints, commissions, bookmarks, stickers, tchotchkes, whatever – you already have it ready to go at least in your head.

Research – As I said above – research how an artists’ alley works in general and specifically at the convention you want to attend. Get to know what is typically desired (showing up at a sci-fi convention with nothing sci-fi will have you and your customers confused!) both in subject matter and type of product.

List out a rough estimate of costs. Hotel, gas, food, badge/table, and your merchandise for example, all need to be considered. Most conventions have a no refund policy on both the table and the badges – so don’t get caught short and have to cancel at the last minute and lose your investment.

Prep – There’s a lot that goes into just getting READY for a convention. Being unprepared is the most common downfall of any new artist. I suggest creating a checklist – both for prep work and packing – and revising it as needed every time you go.

Merch Prep: Don’t underestimate how much time it takes to get things done. Whatever you’re selling, it takes time to get it all together and ready for sale. If you’re doing prints – leave time to have them printed and make sure every one looks good. If you’re hand making an item – how long does it take per item? How many do you think you’ll need?

Money Prep: You’ll need to bring some for change – and it’s hard to bring too much change! I’ve had customers come up with a $50 for a $1 item. Don’t get caught short. Go to the bank, they can give you set bundles of cash ($50 in ones for example) easily. Write down how much you have with you, so you can figure out how much you made at the end of the day. Make sure you have a secure place to put your money too. A locking money box is best, and keep it out of sight.

Inventory - Always keep an accurate inventory of your product(s). This will be especially important if you plan on selling more than once a year. It helps you gauge your sales without having to keep a detailed receipt book at the table, and quickly lets you see what was most or least popular. Do a full inventory before you leave, and after you come home.

Don’t be afraid to sell out! By that, I mean don’t print/draw/make so many of each item that you put yourself short on cash your first convention. It’s hard for even veterans to know what will sell the best, and a first timer can easily go overboard and bring way more than they need. If you completely sell out of something – be happy!

That said, try not to take so little that you’ve got nothing to sell after the first hour. Get an idea of how many people attend the convention you’re going to, and plan accordingly. If possible, bring materials to make more over the weekend, or take note of local print shops.

Pricing - Make sure you come prepared with an idea of what you want to price your items, but be flexible. Have some kind of sign available (and extra paper to make a new one) clearly showing your pricing for each type of item, and you may even want to put prices right on the items when possible. If after arriving you find that you’re priced too high or low, make a new sign. Don’t cross out and write in a new price, as this makes it look like you’re not confident in your art.

Showmanship - Half of the challenge is just getting people to stop and LOOK at your art. Having a nicely laid out table goes a long way in this.

Bring a tablecloth of some sort, so that your booth has a splash of color against everyone else. Sometimes the tables don’t even have a covering, so this can be a requirement more than a nicety.

Display your artwork as much as possible. A single binder on the table to flip through is nice, but if you can have multiple examples out in the open it increases the odds that someone will see a character that appeals to them. Most places are ok with having some sort of upward structure for holding prints / objects, something I’ll discuss in my next post.

It’s also a good idea to do a “test run” – mark out a similar sized space and decide how you want everything to fit / be laid out. Ask for opinions from friends and family.

Up next: Setting up! Getting your stuff there, and displayed.

While overall we had a great time – lots of new customers, cosplay buttons, a great rave, and good sales – I do have some serious concerns / comments / suggestions that I hope will be seriously considered by staff for next year.

Let me preface everything by saying that I currently staff for one of the largest conventions and Artist Alley’s in North America.  While there are definite differences in how a convention is run depending on its size,  I want it known, that I am coming from the perspective of not only an attendee and artist, but someone who knows firsthand the logistics of registration and AA DH needs for a large scale convention.

That said – below are my observations and comments on this year’s convention.

Registration - WHY was there a 3+ hour line for Pre-Reg badge pickup?  Because there was a SINGLE staffer handing out the badges.  Furthermore, WHY did the check-in desk for AA not have the artist’s badges separated to hand out.  I declined to even bother getting my badge until Saturday because of this.

AA - I felt that the interior 2 rows of tables would have been better suited going along the wall along the second half of the alley down past the Ballroom.  Having four rows of tables in the small first half of the space was far too cramped given that the alley was also a major thoroughfare to get around the circle to the other events.  This led to a lot of problems of getting clogged when someone was stopped at both sides and someone else needed to get through.  Just not enough space to have both.

Additionally, when events for the main ballroom on that level lined up, it backed up around into the alley, blocking an entire line of tables.  Again, moving the center 2 rows would have allowed for somewhere for the line to be without interfering.

The lighting was very bad.  Once the sun had gone past the skylight, my table was in near darkness.  All they have are enough pot lights and underlights to keep you from tripping when walking through the hotel.  It obviously was not designed with the intention of having someone set up in those areas.  If we are there next year, I will have to invest in some standing studio lights (which I noticed one table luckily had brought and even needed DURING daylight hours).

Food - AWFUL handling of the food situation.  There WAS a food court, yes, but half of them closed at FOUR on both Friday and Saturday and did NOT EVEN OPEN on Sundays.  Did the hotel notify those vendors of the LARGE convention that would be there and suggest later hours?  Did staff suggest it?  Beyond the food court, a google search (thanks to entirely NO information in the programming guide of where to eat) showed that there were NO places to order delivery from.  The closest locations it came up with were for Canada….

The website explained there would be no con-suite based on hotel restrictions, but it did not have any listing of what WAS available either.  Not even a link to the RenCen website with a food directory.

Even staff was at a loss of where to eat, at one point I had security members come over and ask where I’d gotten my pizza from.  I kindly offered them the menu (it was a Pizzapapalis – and on a side note, that was a pain to deal with as the driver didn’t seem to deliver to the hotel often.  They also refused to bring it IN, as there is no where for them to park, so you have to meet them in the valet/motor lobby, which was so hard to find that the driver had left and had to be called back.) for which they were grateful.

Maps - Badly designed, unclear, and in no way could you figure out where you were and how to get where you were going.  That goes for both the guide and the maps the hotel had up.  There was never a “you are here” icon so you could sort out a direction.  Everything was poorly labeled in the guide, and there was constant confusion over what had or hadn’t been moved.  The alley itself was only shown in the first quarter of the circle, and not the second section, and whether that was because that was added after printing I’m not sure, but I felt some sort of insert could have been included then to assist with changes.

Layout - In general, the layout was very difficult to deal with.  There were no good open spaces for photos for more than a single cosplayer in the general hotel space.  There seemed to be no one in charge / available to make sure that traffic kept moving where it should.  I frequently had to put on my “staff voice” and tell people to please keep to the walls/outside area.  Sometime around 9 in the evening, hotel staff started trying to prevent you from accessing the lower levels, further constricting the space people could be in, and making the effective room we had (and part of the reason to be at this hotel) null.

The elevators (an admittedly difficult thing at ALL conventions) were nearly impossible to navigate.  For an artist with several boxes/carts of items that need to be taken up to the room, we couldn’t just cram on to the first elevator with an opening.  We had to wait for one at least half full – and that was a minimum of 30 minutes every time. For a hotel with 70 some floors, it’s ridiculous that 12 elevators should be tied up so long.

Beyond that, for those that could have taken the stairs, there WEREN’T any.  The escalators only served the first few levels, and those were far too narrow for more than a street-clothed person.  The stairwells were locked fire exits only, and the hotel enforced that by kicking out anyone who used them.  Now, I am not suggesting that any fire codes be violated, merely pointing out the lack of options the facility had for moving people from one location to another.

Trash - I’ve touched on this in previous posts – and again, a failing at this convention was a lack of suitable trash receptacles.  AA didn’t have a single trash can.  Folks had to wait for hotel staff to come through with one (which wasn’t frequent enough) or try and cram it in the bathroom garbage (which isn’t suited for smell inducing foodstuff to begin with).  In general I didn’t see any public garbage cans set out for the congoers to be able to dispose of their trash.  It’s amazing the hotel wasn’t more destroyed than it was by Sunday with litter.

That said – AA people, you really need to clean up after yourselves more.  There were signs still taped to the tablecloths and trash left underneath the tables.  You really couldn’t have taken a few minutes to dispose of it?  Or at least compact it and leave it on top to make it easier on staff to toss?  “It’s their job to clean” should be a benefit, not an excuse.

Deep breath… ok.  I think that covers everything.  Now, please don’t think that I’m saying Youma is doomed, and should just quit.  Or even that we HAVE to find another hotel for next year.  It can be made to work, I think.

I also fully intend to be one of the first to sign up and come back next year.  I love Youmacon, and want it to succeed, which is all the more reason to write this post, and send it to staff.  If these things aren’t shared, and corrected each year, then Youma WILL have problems eventually.  I’ve watched enough conventions fold for lesser reasons.

I have the benefit of sitting rather invisibly at my table in AA and overhearing all the passing conversations.  It is human nature that one will complain before praise, and I certainly overheard plenty of griping.  It is also a fact that many won’t actually complain to the people that could fix it, for whatever reason, but will gladly tell all of their friends.  I don’t want that.  I don’t want assumptions and one-time problems to become what’s considered “standard operation” for Youmacon.  I also don’t want everyone thinking Youma was perfect this year, and have everything glossed over, only for next year to see the problems compounded by an ever expanding attendee base.  Fix the things that come up right away, or else they only get worse.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who makes the convention happen every year.  It is HARD work, long hours, and all ENTIRELY VOLUNTEER, for those who don’t know better.  Staff – I will happily discuss anything in detail privately, if you’d like to email me.  I’m always willing to share the things I’ve learned, and know that I could not run a perfect convention, but if everyone can pool their knowledge, we can get damned close. 

While attendance was low – and Friday was skewed due to the free admission – I think with the right nurturing it could become a good alternate convention.  I’d like to see them branch out a bit more to stand out against Youmacon, rather than being two of the same.  Perhaps what Reactor was supposed to be?  I really enjoyed the first 2 years at Reactor (before it became frat-con) and was disappointed it didn’t continue as it was conceived.

I was particularly pleased with how much the staff wanted input from the Artist’s on how to change/improve for next year.  They recognized and admitted faults and were genuinely open to criticism and comments.

I do believe we’ll be keeping an eye out for next year’s dates and making plans to attend again.

Come see us at Anime Detroit from Aug 13-15 at The MET of Troy hotel in Troy, MI.

We’ll be in the Artist’s Alley all weekend selling our unique and custom made buttons, along with a running display of Mahjong House.

If you would like to preorder any buttons – please contact me.

Garasunoshicon was really good. We were surprised by the amount of traffic for a college convention, and pleased with our table location (windows! light! yay!). We met new friends (Hi Kristie – http://www.insanitycentral.org/ ) and ran into several AA buddies (man are we all on the same con circuit or what?).

I was really glad to see how clean everyone kept the place too. Both college campus staff and congoers.

AA Staff was very attentive to everyone, and constantly checking in or making sure we knew how to find them.

The pizza was a good price, and pretty tasty.

The volleyball tournament on the first day was amusing – I did get a few customers from it though!

All in all, if they’ll have us, we’d love to return next year.

It was down to hours before to decide if we’d be able to go, since I had had an injury just days prior. On crutches and less than comfortable tucked onto a folding chair you made it worth the trip. Thank you to everyone that came by, and for all the well wishes.

Thanks to Brian as always for his understanding, help, and inspiration!

NEXT!

Our next convention will be GarasuNoShiCon in Perrysburg, OH from July 17 to 18th. Admission is free and I hear they have a FULL artist’s alley. All the tables are claimed, so if you’re in the area come on by and there should be lots of good stuff to see.