Convention Junction, what's your function?

[Sean Taylor]

What conventions, local or otherwise, have you seen the most success at in terms of either sales, networking, or drumming up new work?

Which cons would you recommend and which ones would you recommend avoiding?

[Rachel Keslensky]

This may have been a one-off, but AWA was terrible for me this year... part of it was being in the Artist's Alley Marketplace (as opposed to the Artist's Alley proper, the Marketplace has reduced hours and is in the same area as the Dealers), and stuck way in the back corner (Low traffic!), but also most of the folks who came by either claimed they couldn't get online, didn't read webcomics, or otherwise were turned off the instant they saw furry on the table. (One girl ran away screaming!)

... I'm not saying the anime community in general is bad -- MomoCon was GREAT for me, or at least better than this went -- but AWA just felt wrong on several levels.

[Greg Carter]

Interesting. I had the exact opposite experience at Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA). But vampires are "in" again (at the moment). We sold a ton of merchandise, including comics. I gave away a buttload of promo postcards for the website. As soon as I said Abandon was a webcomic their faces would light up. "I love webcomics" was a phrase I heard a lot. I was in the Artist Alley Marketplace but was closer to the front.

I did very well at Momocon last year, since James Burns was nice enough to share his table in the Dealer's Room. Otherwise I would have been hidden away in the Artist Alley. It was stupid busy this year, unlike the three previous. Of course, I can't get any info from them on the 2009 con, so who knows if I'll be there.

I always do Otakon in Baltimore. It's a huge anime con with over 26,000 attendees this year. I didn't have the comics printed yet, but sold enough merchandise to cover the cost to promote the heck out of the comic. Gave away hundreds of postcards.

Megacon in Orlando is another great con. It has a good mix of anime, comics, and celebrities. I always do well there.

And, of course, Dragon*Con. I've kicked myself repeatedly for not having the comic printed in time, because I again gave away a ton of cards, sold out of ALL the merchandise and met a lot of people interested in the comic. Duh, vampire comic at Dragon*con.

[Sean Taylor]

I always do well at Dragon*Con.

As for Momocon, the artist alley if full, and I think they have a waiting list for the dealer room now. I'm going to be there and do some panels, but not have a table in either location. 'Sokay though, because my daughter is going with me, and I'd rather walk around and stop her from spending all the money I'm not making than sit at a table anyway. Heh.

[Rachel Keslensky]

Where did you see this info about MomoCon? Last I checked they hadn't even opened up stuff for sales yet...

... I should get dibs on a table there anyway. As a Tech artist, I'm much more local than the rest of you there :-p

[Sean Taylor]

Heard the artist alley bit from the guy who promotes the con at all the other cons. Can't remember his name at the moment. Sorry. The email I got from them told me about the dealer stuff and said about getting in the "pool" or the "queue" which leads me to believe it's mostly full by now.

[Rachel Keslensky]

Part of the problem is that MomoCon can only expand so much before it starts costing money to host and/or requires them to charge -- they currently get all non-dealers/artists space free, if I remember right.

I'm relatively sure that they ARE still expanding, though. If only to avoid getting the place shut down again for overcrowding.

[Greg Carter]

None of my emails have been returned. Guess I'll miss MomoCon for the first time. I've been at all of them so far. Oh, well. One less thing to worry about. It's not like I'm local and do a manga-style webcomic or anything.

[Greg Carter]

Amazing what a little bitching can do. I'll be in the AA at MomoCon.

[Rachel Keslensky]

Hm. Again, I'm still trying to figure out everything that went wrong at AWA -- the audience felt completely different to MomoCon's, even though they're both technically anime conventions. And while I do realize I did a few things wrong (on top of it being my first time selling at AWA, and the whole "my comic's still young" thing...), I still expected to have at least MomoCon-level sales, and didn't even hit that mark.

...Okay, so the actual difference in sales was $10, but given the difference in size + the additional merchandise I'd included in this table compared to MomoCon, that's still pathetic!

[Greg Carter]

A lot of people complained about low sales at AWA this year. Even in the main Artist Alley. Some people did well. It was an odd year and I think location had a lot to do with it.

[Lan Pitts]

Sadly, mine was Atlanta Comic Expo. I miss that show and it's sad that it fell through.

[Bobby Nash]

Dragon Con is still my biggest show of the year. I do a lot of smaller shows throughout the year too. I was actually invited to Momocon as a guest in 2009. It will be my first time there. This year I hit a few of the bigger shows like New York Comic Con and Wizard Chicago (accompanied by our host, Sean Taylor). Not so sure how many of them I'll make in 2009. I know I will be at Con Nooga, Dragon Con, Momocon, the Nashville Horror and Comic festival, and the quarterly Atlanta Comic Convention 1 day shows. The rest are up in the air depending on when books hit the shelves.

Bobby