Posts Tagged ‘new york comic con’
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So NYCC was last weekend, which was a total blast. But what else can you expect from the second largest comic convention in the country. This year, again, the Javits Center was completely filled with the show. And the layout felt a lot better than the previous year, where attendees had a lot more access to creators and artists in small press – where previously the artist alley was blocked by construction AND a giant Intel booth. This year, the construction is still there – but navigating through it is much easier and there’s more signage to navigate you through.
THURSDAY
Thursday was preview day, so I had to be at the show early enough to set up. 3:30am I got up to hop a cab and get to O’Hare. At the airport, the baggage check people didn’t show up until almost 5am, which was a little obnoxious. Especially since they told me I didn’t need to check my luggage, as it would fit into a closet on the plane.
After an uneventful plane ride I arrived in NYC, and a buddy came to pick me up so we could go buy a table and chair for the booth. Small Press booths don’t come with tables or chairs (you can order them separately from the show, but they’re expensive), and also got some snack food for the weekend. Since I rarely leave the table during a show, it’s important to have something to munch on and drink during the day. Water fits the bill for beverages, and a boat-load of granola bars and Pringles fit the snack bill.
After food and table / chair were acquired, we picked up my table buddy and good friend Steve Wallace, and we headed off for the show.
Driving through NYC wasn’t so bad (mostly because I wasn’t driving), and unloading the car went quick. Steve and I set up fast and were just in time for the onslaught of professionals that attended the show for preview night.
Teachers, Librarians, press, comic pros, and many other filled the isles and attended panels geared towards them, and the booth saw some strong traffic. Steve and I were officially representing Reading with Pictures, but unfortunately many of these people who were interested in supporting the cause were less interested in purchasing copies of the book.
At the end of the show, we all piled into Phil’s car and headed to Jersey to stay with our good friend Joe Dunn. Joe and Phil run a website called The Digital Pimp, which features such great internet comics as Matriculated, Joe Loves Crappy Movies, and Turtle vs Bunny. We ordered food, relaxed and chatted the night away, and eventually we all passed out, gearing up for our first full day of the show open to the general public.
FRIDAY
A shipping error had Phil running around to UPS stores in the morning, so Joe, Steve, and myself all hopped on a train and headed into the city. Set up was quick, as we arrived just as the doors were opening to the general public. The show was INSANE. Sold out. And people were EVERYWHERE.
I had a panel on the website scheduled for 12:15 at the Hasbro stage (located in the north hall, where all of the kids programming and autograph signing was taking place), but upon scoping out the location of the stage I saw the sign read the panel was Saturday. This was very strange, but I figured I had remembered wrong and went back to the table to sell.
Throughout the day people kept approaching the table, asking if we were supposed to have the 12:15 panel. They had saved the panel in their online schedule, but when they got to the stage there was another act on. Very strange, but hopefully the panel was still on for tomorrow.
A solid day of sales and lots of foot traffic made me feel pretty confident about the performance of the show, especially compared to last year.
At the end of the day we all took off back to Jersey to relax a bit. Tomorrow would be the big day, another sold out attendance, and would hopefully be our biggest sales day of the weekend.
SATURDAY
We got up early and drove to the convention center, since Phil was dropping his car off at his cousins. Getting in early finally gave us a chance to walk the floor a little while vendors were still setting up. I snapped a photo of the Marvel booth, which was very impressive.
Marvel booth at NYCC, looking a lot like the set of The Avengers movie.
The DC booth was adorned with new posters, promoting the new DCnU 52 characters. The artwork looked good – but with Jim Lee designing the characters, that shouldn’t be a shock to anyone.
As soon as the show opened we were bombarded with menus from local Chinese food places. Some of the delivery guys had a look like they could give two shits about doing their jobs, others were way too excited to be handing out menus. We didn’t order from them, but we heard from neighbors that they delivered straight to your booth – which is pretty awesome. Between our neighbors (MOCCA) and us, we received over 30 menus in total!
So many Chinese food menus! At least they deliver straight to your booth.
At 12:15pm on Saturday, I grabbed Eisner winner Gabriel Bautista (Comic Book Tattoo, Elephant Man), and we headed over to the Hasbro stage for our panel. The place was packed, but not just with kids – lots of adults showed up. We didn’t have much in the way of programming, and I didn’t want to bore the audience to death, so we did a volunteer system to have people come up on stage and do a read-along with us. Volunteers entered into a drawing to win a hard cover copy of the book signed by all of the contributors at NYCC.
We read through some of my favorite stories in the book: Albert the Alien (which Gabe and I did), Mail Order Ninja (written by Josh Elder), and G-Man (written and illustrated by Chris Giarrusso). The audience loved the stories, and we had some stellar volunteers come up to help out.
After the reading, Gabe gave out free sketches and we both signed copies of the books to people who wanted to purchase – and also gave out the free copy of the hard cover. People loved it, and we had people follow us back to the table for additional sales.
After that panel, the hard covers started selling like mad. I had only brought a few of them, and while they did last until the end of the show on Sunday (I sold out of everything I brought by end of show), it was a pleasant surprise to see them move after the panel ended.
A steady day of traffic with good sales made for a satisfying Saturday at the show. Steve and I even got some time away from the table to walk the floor and see some people. I visited my friends at Image and Aspen comics, and also walked around artist alley a bit to say hi to friends and fellow comic pros.
After the show ended, we all headed to get some Korean BBQ. This has become a tradition for our group for NYCC, and it’s a fun one at that. Joining us were Phil’s cousin, Vicki, and RWP founder Josh Elder. After dinner, we tried to find an indie after-party, but they were charging cover at the door and I have a strict policy against paying cover anywhere I go. Instead, we went to a local pub and grabbed a few drinks.
That night Steve and I crashed with Josh in his posh hotel room, falling asleep while laughing our asses off watching hilarious youtube videos.
SUNDAY
The final day of the show started off with arriving a little late to the show. We were all pretty exhausted from the 4-day weekend, but still energetic by the possibility of selling out of our stock.
Steve and I manned the booth, and sold until we ran out of books. Which was about 20 minutes before we had to pack up to make our flights out. I did some quick shopping before the end of the show, and then we hiked for several blocks before finding a cab that would take us to the airport (cabs in NYC hate to drive to the airports…and also hate to pick up people with luggage, apparently).
I arrived back home late that night, exhausted and starting to lose my voice. Waffles (my cat) was happy to see me, and I was happy to see my bed again.
Net net, it was a great weekend filled with amazing friends, fantastic fans, and good times. Thanks to everyone for making this NYCC the best one yet, and I’m really looking forward to next year.
Only two more conventions on my schedule this year:
-Mid Ohio Con: Oct 22-23
-Kollision Con: Nov 18-20
And now, it’s time to sleep…..
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Insights into the inner-workings of the average male mind. Let’s be honest – Squirrels with lightsabers are the coolest thing ever. 
I’m in NYCC this weekend, manning the Reading with Pictures booth in small press (booth #2629). We’re going to have copies of the anthology for sale, guest contributors signing at the table throughout the weekend, and a bunch of panels. Be sure to check out Reading with Pictures newly designed website to get the latest information on the non-profit.
The following weekend I’ll be attending Mid-Ohio Con in Columbus, OH. More books will be sold and more good times will be had.
Thus concludes the Phone Call story arc. Got another arc coming up about doing laundry (starts next week), and all the while I’ll be attending NYCC as a guest speaker.
I’ll also be manning the Reading with Picture booth (2629) in small press with fellow contributor Steve Wallace.
Hope you have a great weekend, and I look forward to meeting you at NYCC next week!
It’s official! Reading with Pictures takes the Big Apple in October at the New York Comic Con (NYCC).
Fellow contributor Steve Wallace and myself will be manning the RWP booth in small press, located at booth #2629 (below is a handy dandy little map; RWP is the orange square).
We’ll also have some events at the show, including:
RWP 2.0 – The Future of Comics in the Classroom
Date: Thursday, October 13
12:15 pm – 1:15 pm
Location: 1A02
Speakers: Charlie LaGreca, Dr. Michael Bitz, Jessica Abel, Josh Elder, Matt Madden
Description:
Find out how YOU can help get comics into schools and get schools into comics in this informational seminar hosted by some of the biggest names in the world of comics and education. Join Josh Elder of Reading With Pictures, Dr. Michael Bitz of the Comic Book Project, Charlie LaGreca of Comic Book Classroom and Jessica Abel and Matt Madden of Drawing Words and Writing Pictures as they unveil their plans for 2012 and beyond.
Be sure to stop by the booth and see how you can help get comics into classrooms around the country! And also check out our first anthology, nominated for two Harvey Awards, featuring award-winning talent such as Jill Thompson, Raina Telgemeier, Josh Elder, Fred Van Lente, and many more!
Additionally, we’ll be doing signings with many of our creators throughout the weekend! The schedule will be announced before the show, but the table will be loaded with awesome comics that are both appropriate for all ages and educational in nature.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
So I was talking to the girlfriend the other day about things we wanted to do before the weather turns that nasty cold direction, and we made a list of things we wanted to do. Then we looked at the schedule to see when we had time to do them, and our jaws dropped. Because we didn’t have a free weekend between now and the end of the year.
It’s a little insane, and suddenly we’re both freaking out trying to figure out how we’re going to accomplish the things we want to do (much less the things we NEED to do) between now and when those things are due.
So what kinds of things am I doing between now and then? Well, let me avoid the boring details of my social life and tell ya about the highlights…
October 13-16: New York Comic Con
I’ll be a guest speaker at the show for the first time, working on Reading with Pictures panels. Additionally, I’ll be manning the Reading with Pictures booth in small press with fellow contributor Steve Wallace
October 22-23: Mid Ohio Con
I’ll be a guest for the second year in a row, and will have a table in Artist Alley somewhere. Not sure yet if I’ll be a guest speaker, so stay tuned. Being back-to-back with NYCC, I’m making sure I have enough inventory on hand to cover both shows. Might be making a lot of sketch cards in between.
October 31: Halloween
It’s been a while, but I think I’m throwing a party. Last time this happened was years ago, and I was in Ann Arbor. A lot of people showed up, a lot of people drank, and everyone had a fun time. Going to see if this can be repeated, but in Chicago.
November 18-20: KollisionCon
The final convention of the year is going to be a total blast! Put together by many of the same people who work on ACEN, this show is going to be a rockin’ time. Plus, with such great guests as Russell Lissau (fellow comic book creator, and all-around awesome guy), Johnny Young Bosch (the Power Ranger), and Samurai Dan (an awesome dude in armor with swords), I’ll be sharing the con with some top-tier talent – and some fine people I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know over the last year.
There are a lot of personal activities, rep events through work, and holidays going on in there, too. But again, I won’t bore you with all the details.
Suffice it to say, not quite sure when I’m going to get all the comic projects done – but you make time for what you love, and I love working on comics.