Conventions, and our progress

Studio Gato is located in the middle of Oregon
in the middle of a valley
in a town
in the middle of a collection of ugly idiots

that all falls down more and more

The city we are in is so deep in the valley, that cold air cannot get in, but clouds have free range.

This means that while the city next to us can get snow, we get rain.
The city next to us gets a college, we get high school drop outs
The city next to us gets girls who look nice, we get girls who have lice

The worst part about all this, is that since we are so valley hidden, and the rain mixed with the ugly, mixed with the stupid, mixed with the "where exactly are you" means that not only does our town get nothing, but most of our state gets nothing.

Which brings me to my point "conventions"

There are many different types of conventions, ones just about selling things, ones just about comics, even ones about shows that have been off the air for 40 years, but still has a fan base that will one day form a religion rise up and kill us all (Futurama said so...kinda)

Around here I have only found 4 large conventions, and even they aren’t the biggest ever

In no particular order:

Emerald City Con
Sakura Con
Stump Town Comic fest
Kumoricon

Emerald City Con
This is a new one to us, it’s rather large and seems to be filled with people who have actually bee on tv. It’s a massive thing we only heard about this year, but they have already opened registrations and before this Friday, they should be getting us either a “yay” or “nay” on if we can participate.

I am looking forward to it, because it’s a large convention with plenty of things to do, and the chances are high that we will be able to get in.
I am not looking forward to it, because I am not sure how it works, never having sold anything before, and not knowing the ins and outs are a little “shot in the dark” but I am confident that with a friendly staff and baby steps everything will go fine

Sakura Con
Ever since we went to our first Kumoricon, they have been talking about this convention. Apparently it is the place to be for anime fans, it’s well organized, large, and everyone around here goes to it. While their registration seems to be a ways off, if we keep a watchful eye on it, the chances are we can catch that date and things will go well

I am looking forward to it, because it seems like the kumoricon we’ve been to, only more organized and the staff understands what is going on, making things easier for the easily worried (see: myself)
I am not looking forward to it, because as with Emerald con, the unknown is scary. I know that it is big, but the name along brings up Naturo episodes and a voice that is so scratchy on my ears it haunts my dreams “BELIVE IT *gahhh the blood*” (on a side not, seriously 4kids, go die >(, I liked One Piece)

Stumptown
A thing in and of itself, we actually went to this convention, and while it’s really just a large Artist Ally (place to sell stuff) it was worth going. We found out about the convention literally the day before we went, we made it in, paid, and good times where had. Definitely a go back to affair, but this time more planning : D

I am looking forward to it, because in reality it really is a large Artist Alley, if we get in early enough we can get an awesome booth, and a lot of our favorite artists are there, so to sell by their side would be good times all around.
I am not looking forward to it, because it’s really “just” an Artist Alley, I’m hopeful that we can get a spot and if so wonderfully, but if we can’t sell then sad times. Not sure what other not selling parts there are to the convention, but the AA really s the highlight of the event. So I do hope we get less I feel let down.

Kumoricon
The BIG one, we have been to it more times than anything else, we have seen the sights, and we know the ins and outs. To be honest it is the worst organized thing ever. Trying to register for the convention starts early, and isn’t difficult, but as time goes on it cost more and more. Which normally isn’t bad, you just registers as soon as you can.

But if you want to get into Artist Alley you must wait for things to open up so you can do so. Which means you have to wait until there are only 3 months before the actual convention.

This has two problems, first if you don’t get into artist alley then you are paying $45 per ticket for something you could have gotten for $25. And Second if you do get into artist alley, then while you get some good tickets finally you only have a few days to get all of your supplies in order for selling, which is horrible because even at the best of times this is hard, with only 3 months to get it all together, it could be almost impossible.

I am looking forward to it, because we have been so many times, it would be nice to actually sell in a familiar setting.
I am not looking forward to it, because there is a low low chance being able to get into the Alley, so it’s hard to get excited about having a 10% of getting in…

Conventions are high, and low…hope to crack in, but it’s difficult to be excited about what we know almost nothing about.

So that is the state of things, we have some conventions, each with high and low points. Not sure about any of them, but I have hoes that they will go well.

As more and more new news come together, I shall post about them. For now we await for some of these places to either open registration, or reply back about our possibilities.

Until then, enjoy your spinach wrapped tortes…
oh wait that’s me…
well…
I WILL

Stumptown actually had a lot of panels I was interested in, but they mostly happened really early in the day or the day before we got there. So there's stuff besides the alley hall, but that's the center of it all, and from what I understand that's actually pretty common and the damn point of most of the things, unlike Kumoricon shoving us all in a tiny corner somewhere where we have to beat underground-dwelling mythical creatures away from our wares and hope they weren't actually cosplayers or something.

I will have to make it a priority to stalk you at as many conventions as possible.

Pfft you just want more Snowy.

Or maybe to mix it up this year? I've been informed somebody's birthday is coming soon~

The more the merrier,

both in conventions and people with uses.

Yay whoot for convention madness, to say nothing about snowy

Actually this year, to make up for what still qualifies as the most inappropriate response to a gift I have ever managed (and an incident I will never forget for the rest of my life), I'm going to be making a point of giving you something, not the other way around.

*ponders the meaning of a 'snowy job'*

It's fluffy, LM. Delightfully fluffy.

ONLY four large conventions? Adelaide is a capital city, and it has two anime/videogame related conventions (that I know of) within about 600 miles. Both are quite big though, and mostly well organised (one of them is supported by a major television network, and I think both of them are supported by one of the main [only] distributors of Japanese media in the country, but I digress). If you count comic cons, I think there's another one I'm forgetting because I don't really attend.

Seriously, four conventions is huge. On the other hand, we have the world's largest sexpo (what? Look up the wikipedia stub article on sexpos, it's not entirely what it sounds like), and the second-largest performing arts festival in the world. So that's all good.

Hmm, are you guys planning on going to any conventions this year?
My summer is currently a large vague mess of possibilities, so it would be cool to know early if there are conventions you are considering.

Also, Kazzie, Welcome back to the forums!

Stumptown and ECCC are both solid, and I'm fine with that. ECCC is at the end of March in Seattle, and Stumptown is a much smaller, closer to home show in Portland we scouted last year and I loved that place. It wasn't too big, but the Buttersafe guys and Ethan Nicolle were there, as were Kurtz and Straub. It was a one day scout job, but it was a very enjoyable day all the same.

ECCC is my first AA showing, so I'm kinda nervous because that is a big effin' con and a lot of room for mistakes is present. That said, I'll have like 80 books and at least 50 Tenla prints, and oodles of buttons, so hopefully we get some wares out and my evil spreads. :3

If Seattle goes well, maybe next year I'll try braving something in... gasp!... California. O:

O: I get to go! I am counting down the days! I cant wait to see you guys there!!!

16 days you guys!

1 week left!

I actually have things to sell. I'm rather excited, and a little confused! It's all so new to me. @.@

Monies Monies Monies! Yay! <3