By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 3/15/2016
With convention season swinging in high gear with C2E2 this weekend, followed by WonderCon, MoCCA and ECCC, let’s review a little bit of convention exhibiting basics, shall we. With the flood of smaller shows, the economics of attending have to be examined closely. If you’re a writer, even more so. Matt Hawkins is the […]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 11/3/2014
Last year our good pals at The Devastator magazine made news with an anonymous survey of convention exhibitors that showed average sales of $1300 at the shows surveyed, the differences between indie and comics shows and more.
Well, as you MAY have NOTICED, there has been quite a bit of talk of late about exhibiting at conventions, profits and how it is changing. I thought it might be interesting to revisit this survey and after contacting Amanda Meadows at the Devastator, The Beat is proud to be co-sponsoring this year’s survey.
This survey covers sales at shows this year and general trends in staffing tabling and money making. It’s intended for anyone who exhibits at Cafs or Cons, artists, small presses or crafters.
The Devastator team will be tallying the results and making yet another informative infographic. that may give som ehard numbers to the heretofore speculative view of the changing face of conventions.
This survey drills down quite a bit on individual convention sales, so grab a beverage and get set to share your knowledge.
As someone who does the programming side of things, #3 is definitely something to take into consideration. If you have an artist or author guest who has a strong table presence, don’t take them away from their table at a time when people will be shopping. If the con tries to schedule you then, ask to have it changed and explain why.
If the con has a preview night, especially with little programming happening, make sure you are ready to go and at your table when people are let in. For people who go to a lot of programming, a preview night may be the only significant amount of time they spend in the exhibitor hall.
Last year, I saw our local comic con schedule a writer/artist on a panel pretty much the entire evening on preview night so he had very little chance to be at his table. Definitely not something I would have done.
I find that if I offer to do nude sketches of comic book characters, they will pay me a large amount of money and then I don’t actually have to draw any comics.
When a friend drops by your table to chat, make him welcome but insist on serving customers while he is there; on the opposite side of things, when you visit your friend’s table, don’t block the front of the table, and do let him conduct business while you are there. If it gets busy, go for a walk and come back to talk to him later.
It’s perfectly acceptable to hire someone to watch over your booth. I was a booth sitter/babe for a bunch of webcomics back when they were booming (2006-09). It let the artists get away for a while, eat, smoke, pee, shop, or do a panel and keep their booth going.
The last point is a big one. Over agressive sales pitches are going to guarantee that I, while being polite, will thank them for their time and continue on my way. If you are fun to talk to I guarantee I will give your work a look see.