Archive for ‘conventions’
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SUNDAY:
The final day of the con, I got up and checked out of the hotel, and headed to the breakfast spot I always meet up with friends right by the convention center, my gear in hand. We were joined by Jennifer Brazas, who used to work on comics and now operates her own shop at anime cons. We had a good time fueling up for the final full day of the con, and then headed to the floor for set up and selling.
Curious what the seller side of the table looks like?
I didn’t have any panels on Sunday, so it was just friends stopping by to purchase or ask questions. I got to hang out with the staff a bit, who helped coordinate my being there in the first place (and who gave me such a premium spot on the floor), and then started packing up so I wouldn’t miss my flight home. I hopped a cab with Krazy Krow and his wife, and we headed to the airport early so we could grab some much-needed dinner and drinks to relax and celebrate our amazing (yet intense) weekend.
We eventually went to our waiting area, and alarms started going off at the airport. We couldn’t figure out what was going on, but the planes outside were all stopped as well (there was a massive line of planes on the runway, waiting for their turn to take off). Whatever happened, it delayed all the flights about 30-45 minutes; but thankfully didn’t cancel our flight home. We debated going to get foot rubs (standing for a 13+ hour sales floor 3-4 days in a row makes my feet a little sore…am I getting old?), but decided sitting felt too good to get up.
Eventually they started boarding, and we were on our way back to Chicago.
Waiting for the flight home with Krazy Krow and his wife
Anime Boston was, once again, an amazing time. It’s an exhausting show, with a long sales floor and an intense schedule, but it’s a lot of fun and has an amazing staff that makes you want to keep coming back year after year. I hope to be back again next year!
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SATURDAY:
Morning came too quickly, as it often does at a con, and I grabbed a quick bite and went to set up the table. I got a text message from Johnny Young Bosch (Power Rangers), inviting me to hang out that night and grab some dinner. It’s been a while since he and I had a chance to hang out and catch up, so I was very interested.
This is the face of a (sleep-deprived) man who wants to sell you some comics
My helpers showed up around noon, and I headed off to my first panel of the day (with my good friend and Spinnerette creator, Krazy Krow), Crafting Fictional Worlds. This was a fun panel, and was the first time I had done it in ages. And the first time I had done it with another creator. Learning about his process, and talking about my own (and how it’s changed over time) was a lot of fun, and informative for the audience. We talked about how even worlds based in “reality” (like Batman, or Strangers in Paradise) still need world building. They have rules, and you can’t break them or else the reader gets taken out of the story.
Crafting Fictional Worlds panel – standing room only, and (believe it or not) our least attended panel for the weekend
After the panel ended, we headed back to our tables and kept selling. I had a helper get me a little lunch, and then had to pack up again for my final panel for the weekend: Writing for Comics. This is always a fun panel to do (once again, Krazy Krow joined me), since we get to talk about techniques, styles, overcoming plot holes and “writer’s block,” and talk about our stories. How did we come up with them? Where did the characters come from? And the audience gets to learn about us, our process, and how they need to get started in comics.
My table helpers for the weekend, cosplaying as character from Spinnerette
After the panel ended, we went back to selling at the tables (and managing the hordes of panel attendees who came with more questions, or to buy from the table). The night ended soon enough, with time to break down before heading to the restaurant to meet up with Johnny and Polo (his friend and band member). I walked into the restaurant and found them already enjoying a relaxing beverage, and having ordered their meals. I grabbed the waitress and made my orders, and sat down and chatted them up. Johnny and I did a series of cons together several years back, seeing each other several times a month throughout that particular year. I haven’t seen him as much since then, but it was good to get to catch up and talk cons, anime, and his favorite thing to watch on Netflix right now (Samurai Gourmet).
After dinner, I went back to the hotel and tried to unwind by watching some Samurai Gourmet, but the bandwidth wasn’t working so well and I gave up trying to stream it after a few tries. I went to bed later than I should have, ready for the final day of the con.
Anime Boston is this recent gem of a con that I was invited to attend two years ago, and was a featured artist two years in a row (something I’m told has never happened before). This year was the first time I was just a regular artist in Artist Alley, but that didn’t stop the excellent treatment and amazing staff and volunteers from treating me like family. This was another incredible year for me at this show, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.
THURSDAY:
I flew into Boston early in the morning, giving me plenty of time to get my boxes, grab some lunch, and relax before checking into my hotel. I also had time to get registered, standing in a line for artist alley badges that was quite long. It only took a few trips to get my books over to the convention center, though, and then I left set up for the next morning (hey, it’s exhausting to fly). I headed to a local pub and grabbed the tastiest thing on the menu: Beef-tips!
First-night whiskey and coke, a much needed social lubricant
Beef tips with potatoes – the kind of dinner you NEED after a hard move in
I quickly filled up and headed to the local store to grab some snacks for the weekend, and then headed to bed.
FRIDAY:
I got up early in the morning, and since the hotel didn’t have a gym, I grabbed breakfast and went to the convention center to set up. I had premium placement – just to the right of the entrance, and impossible to miss as people were walking in. I chatted with the staff of the show as I continued to unpack my books and displays, anticipating a long day of great sales. I was not wrong.
The table, all set up and ready to sell
A little after noon, I started to get ready for my first panel of the weekend: Making Webcomics. I was going to be joined by Spinnerette creator Krazy Krow, and once my helpers showed up to watch the table I ran off to the panel. This panel has always been extremely well attended in years past, and this year was no exception. The room was full before we even got there – over 200 people standing room only, and all eager and excited to learn. We did our usual joking answers, had a lot of fun with the audience, and then invited them back to our tables to buy.
My helpers got me some lunch once I got back to the table, and I kept selling late into the night. During that time, fans new and old stopped by – and I even got a visit from guests of honor Johnny Young Bosch (Power Rangers) and Greg Ayres. Good buddies of mine.
That night I was on my own for dinner, and found a little pub to hang out at and enjoy a meal. I had to go to bed soon after that, though, because a 13+ hour sales floor mixed with early mornings and late nights = a tired Trevor.
SUNDAY:
The final day of the con had us grabbing breakfast in the green room (they had some delicious fresh apples!), and then heading to the floor for our final set up. The last day of the show is always exhausting, but the excitement of the final day always brings enough energy to muscle through.
We didn’t have any panels on the final day, so we were able to just focus on sales and hanging out. Traffic on the floor was still pretty solid, and people were in good spirits – the way you like to see the final day of a con.
The comic book guests of the show, somehow full of energy on the final day!
After several hours of selling, we finished and packed up and began to say our good byes to the staff and volunteers who had made our weekend so great. I even walked around the floor a bit, looking to see if there were any gifts for my daughter (I didn’t see anything age-appropriate, but I’m sure she’ll want a bunch of stuff when she’s old enough to appreciate it).
Thanks so much for another amazing weekend, and a fantastic start to the convention season! I can’t wait to be back again next year!
Thanks for a fantastic weekend, Anime Milwaukee. Photo by Tommy Schultz
SATURDAY:
The next morning started like any other day, but would progress quite differently. We attempted to grab breakfast at the diner across the street again, but after waiting over 40 minutes for our order, we had to take off to open our tables. Russell offered to stay behind and pick up our food, which took another 20 minutes or so. Alan and I were open and ready for the masses who piled into the dealer’s hall first thing, and started making sales right away. The day flew by quickly, between selling books, chatting with friends who stopped by, and promoting the Kickstarter for Albert the Alien vol 3 (live until March 15).
Kickstarter backers at the con got bonus rewards, as modeled by Alicia
Around 5pm, just before the close of the floor, the group broke down and went to our panel about How to Exhibit at Cons. When we arrived at the room, however, it appeared to be another schedule hiccup. The room was already filled with voice actors doing their bits for a very large crowd, who was having a fun time. Since the schedule didn’t list the right now for our panel, and no one was waiting for us, we opted to let the voice actors keep going and instead went to grab some dinner.
Alan took us to a Spy-themed restaurant, which I was not able to eat at due to the wait time (I had another panel later that night). Instead, I went to a local Bon Mi place and went to the green room to eat diner and talk to the staffers up in the room. I enjoyed my sandwich, told some funny stories, and then headed to my final panel for the weekend (which did have a matching schedule on the door to my schedule) about Self-Publishing. We had a nice sized crowd for the panel – a good 30+ attendees – all asking excellent questions and trying to make their own comics. I went on for the full hour, and broke down at the end to grab a quick drink before we did Cards Against Humanity with Dan and Jillian.
Myself and Lady Jillian, getting ready for a night of Cards Against Humanity!
The rest of our guest lineup for CAH. Top: Russell Lissau and Greg Wicker. Bottom: Alan Evans and myself
This panel is a rather private affair, and pictures are almost always forbidden – but we were able to snap a few. They play the game a bit differently than normal – but it’s a way that I’ve grown to enjoy more and more. If you’ve never attended, you really should – it’s a fun time. The panel went until almost 2am, and as soon as it ended I headed up to bed.
What do you do Saturday nights at a con? Are you all about the panels? The viewing room? The dances?
My first convention of the year – which is a show I commonly start my year with – was Anime Milwaukee, and it never disappoints. This weekend is, and does, set my bar for the year on how conventions can and should be run. I love this show. LOVE IT. And I’m going to tell you why: the attendees are awesome. Period.
What do you like most about the cons you attend? What tends to bring you into a show? Guests? Events? Bands? Panels? Word of mouth about the show? Let me know.
That said, let’s jump into the con.
THURSDAY:
After work, I picked up my buddy Russell Lissau (another guest of the show, and writer of Old Wounds) and we decided to hang out and grab some dinner locally before beginning our drive north to avoid some traffic. Russell took me to a local Mediterranean place that had some very delicious kabobs and hummus. We sat and caught up, having not seen each other for some time (and not having done a con together for months). Eventually we finished dinner and headed up to the con, which was a much faster drive than we both anticipated.
We got to the hotel and parked, and headed in to get our badges and itineraries for the weekend. We met up with Alan Evans (Rival Angels), who showed us that our rooms were all next to each other (and connected!). We poured some drinks and hung out for several hours, eventually being joined by our good friend Sandi. I didn’t stay up too late, because I was exhausted from having the baby at home, but I did stay up later than I expected to.
FRIDAY:
Alan and I got up early and hit up the gym, taking turns and spotting each other in the workout. We had a good hour in the gym, and then headed to our rooms to get ready for the day and headed to breakfast. We went to a local diner across the street, grabbed a quick bite, and then went to the floor to start setting up our tables.
The booth, set up in all its glory!
Our table position was PERFECT. We were just to the right of the main entrance to the artist alley / dealer’s area, so we had a lot of main traffic coming past our table. We were very visible from the entrance, and got a lot of spillover because of the extra visibility. Before we started selling, however, it was time for opening ceremonies.
Do you attend opening ceremonies at a con? I find them attended very sporadically, depending on the show – some have incredible attendance, others less so. This show has great attendance at their opening ceremonies.
Many guests were still arriving (or would not be attending for the weekend, due to the massive storms in California cancelling flights). They called the guests up in groups, and so the comic guys all went up together. Despite having agreed to me doing all the talking, Alan said a few words which lead to some awkwardness, and then we went off stage and opened our tables for the start of selling and panels. Well, sort of….
We had received our panel schedules from the guest department, which we were following. However, that schedule did not always match the schedule outside of the rooms. So when I arrived at my 3:30pm Writing for Comics panel, I found someone else already talking in the room and no line waiting for me. When I looked at the panel doors, that scheduled claimed the panel was in another room an hour earlier. I told my guest handler about the snafu, and went back to my table to keep selling. This would become a theme for the weekend, unfortunately, but was really the only hiccup in an otherwise perfect weekend.
Godzilla sketch card commission
About the time the floor was supposed to close, we had another panel – this one was a group panel, about Making Time for Making Comics. Attendance was a bit light, but again – our schedule didn’t match the door schedule. But we had a fun time, talked about identifying and removing distractions, and how to prioritize creative projects. After that, we grabbed some dinner and hung out in the green room with the rest of the guests – including an appearance by my buddy Matt Mercer, and Vic Mignogna.
I was a guest of honor (and a Harvey Award nominee) at the Baltimore Comic Con this year, which was an amazing con. I wrote a series of posts about it over at my other website, www.AlbertTheAlien.com, where I detailed out the events of the weekend. Below are the links to the posts, as well as some highlight photos from the event.
PART 1: Where I arrived at the show a day early, attempted to convince everyone I would be the easiest guest they had ever had, and then proceeded to prove that statement wrong in every possible way that I could (sometimes intentionally, other times not).
PART 2: The first official day of the con, where events were happening, sales occurred, and I had dinner with Dean Haspiel and Howard Chaykin.
PART 3: Where we didn’t win a Harvey Award, but we had a good time all the same.
PART 4: Where we had to say goodbye to new friends and fans, with the hopes that we would be invited back next year (despite all the shenanigans).
I wrote a series of posts on my other website, www.AlbertTheAlien.com, about my convention experience at Wizard World Chicago. Check out the various sections below.
PART 1: Preview Night, which included a very hearty dinner with my good pal, Russell Lissau.
PART 2: The first official day, in which I moderated a panel with Dean Haspiel, Ali Cantarella, and Steve Horton.
PART 3: The biggest day of the show, where Channel Awesome paid me a visit and I met Jon Baily (Honest Trailers)
PART 4: The final day, where I had to say my goodbyes (by taking silly pictures with people).
