Ease of Set Up and Tear Down: 9/10
Set up and tear down were super easy and relatively quick once you got into the loading dock area. The wait to get into the dock was about an hour for both, which isn’t the convention's fault at all since they don’t control the amount of parking spaces that are available. However, for set up, I was rather frazzled since the email we were given said we would have much longer to unload than the dock pass did. It wasn’t a huge deal since they weren’t actively checking passes of parked cars but it didn’t help in an already overwhelming and stressful situation.
Communication With Staff: 9/10
The convention runners were super detailed in their emails and didn’t try to sugar coat or over complicate their wording which I really appreciated. (Some runners really try to play it up and it just turns into a confusing ramble which helps no one.) There were several staff members directing people in the morning so it was really easy to figure out where to go even though there was limited signage that was hard to see since it was almost on the floor. When we got confused about where our table was, they were super helpful to point us in the right direction and cut down on our wandering around the huge floor plan.
Crowd Size: 10/10
This year was a bit bigger than last year which was apparent when looking at the floor plan and the lines every morning. They also redid the layout which was greatly appreciated since last year’s was terrible for crowd flow. Attendance was pretty solid for the whole weekend though we did have moments of the artist alley being a little slow. However, that is to be expected especially around times that panels are happening or at the beginning when everyone is racing to the celebrities.
Sales Numbers: 9/10
To be 100 percent honest, this year was a bit of a gamble for us since we left last year in the hole a decent amount of money. While we were not rolling it by the end of the weekend, we made enough to break even and cover all of our expenses and buy some things throughout the weekend which is always nice.
Other Info:
Best Sellers
Stickers made up about 95% of all of our sales which was both surprising and not. Normally stickers make up around 50%-75% of any event's sales for us. I noticed that we were moving a lot of stickers over the weekend, even selling out of a few designs, but I had no idea it was to that extent.
I have noticed that smaller items like stickers, buttons, patches, etc. have been gaining in popularity amongst attendees across the board for many sellers in the artist alley. This is probably due to inflation and how expensive the con experience is so lower cost items are more feasible of a purchase for many attendees.
General Observations
Artist Alley was popping off. I had to grab so many business cards because I wanted to buy something from them later because I was running out of room in my car. I normally find one or two places I want to buy from while at the convention but there were so many amazing things that I had to limit how much I came home with. As an artist, it is really motivating to walk around and see such a high caliber of art because I want to make sure I am making things that meet that standard even more.