This is the prototype we gave to Joe's mom for Christmas. He's about 20" tall, so he's a big one. What do you guys think of him?
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Show Report- Chatty Crafty
Chatty Crafty was a first year craft show in Chattanooga, TN. We don’t normally do first year shows because we’ve found that they are usually disasters, but a few of our crafting friends were putting this on, and we trusted them. Plus we really enjoy Chattanooga.
Specs:
Nov. 6-7
Cost of table: $125
Juried: yes
Tables/chairs provided: no
Indoor/outdoor: outdoor
Attendance: 5000
Profit: decent
Nov. 6-7
Cost of table: $125
Juried: yes
Tables/chairs provided: no
Indoor/outdoor: outdoor
Attendance: 5000
Profit: decent
Pros
-The chance to see a bunch of our crafting friends like SoSheSews, Tot Toppers, and another Sassy! product
-A whole boatload of awesome new artists to meet
-Hospitality tent with free snacks and drinks, plus food vendors
-A vendor meet and greet Sat. night with free dinner and beer
-They had security on guard all night, so we didn’t have to break everything back down at night
-The jurying was well done, there weren’t a ton of the same type of artists at the show.
-We sold a good amount of artwork, and not just dolls.
Cons
-It was freezing and windy outside. We had problems the first day with stuff blowing over. We finally got everything weighted down. I think next year they’re going to move it up a few weeks so it won’t be as cold.
-It wasn’t very highly attended, which is a common first year problem. A lot of people were just out for a walk in the park and happened upon us.
-There was a huge rowing competition the same weekend. I think this helped contribute to the low attendance.
-It was advertised that the meet and greet would have some gallery owners present, but we never saw them or got a chance to talk to any gallery owners the whole weekend.
For us, this was worth the trip and worth coming back to. We thought it was very well run for a first year show, and it will only get better with time. We are aware that not everyone did well here, so until this grows enough, we suggest considering it only if it’s not going to be a huge travel expense.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Show Report- Con on the Cob
I don’t remember how I heard about this convention, but we had reservations about it to begin with. However, it was a four day show and only cost $80 for us to get a table (including badges) so we figured we probably couldn’t go wrong. This show proved we need to do better research on shows before we go. This show took place in Hudson, OH.
Specs:
Oct. 14-17
Cost of table: $80
Juried: no
Tables/chairs provided: yes
Indoor/outdoor: indoor
Attendance: 500
Profit: in the red :(
Pros:
-Everyone was super nice. We met some really helpful and sweet vendors at the show, including Dave from Tabletop Armory.
- Ed Beard Jr. was there, and we got to talk to him.
-Andy Hopp, the con chair, is a really nice guy and awesome artist. Also, his wife bought a doll from us, so props to her too.
-There was a really good art show, not just fanart. We wish we had put more pieces in that rather than having a dealer’s table.
-A con staff came around a few times and made sure we had what we needed. And on the last day, he came around to everyone to see what they could have done better.
Cons:
-The con was advertised as a multi-genre convention. But when we got there it was very apparent it was a gaming dominated convention. We felt this was misleading on the part of the con staff, but we also should have talked to more people about it and felt it out. The gaming demographic and the cute plushie buying demographic don’t normally collide.
-Not the con’s fault at all, but Ohio was doing major road construction which made getting around the city and to the hotel a pain in the ass.
-The hotel was VERY small and VERY old.
-The dealer’s room, art show, some tabletop gaming, registration, and a stage with various things going on were all in the same space.
-The hotel only offered lunch on two days, and only subs or chicken salad sandwiches. Oh and they ran out of chicken salad sandwiches the first day. And because of the road construction, it was very difficult to go anywhere to get food.
-Most of the attendees were running/participating in games all day long, so the dealer’s room was mostly empty
Overall, this ended up being our worst show. We lost a lot of money going to this, and we won’t be going back. If you’re a hardcore gamer, this would probably be a fun con to attend, but from our perspective, it didn’t seem that any of the dealers did very well.
Learn your lesson from us, do your research before you commit to selling at a show!
Specs:
Oct. 14-17
Cost of table: $80
Juried: no
Tables/chairs provided: yes
Indoor/outdoor: indoor
Attendance: 500
Profit: in the red :(
Pros:
-Everyone was super nice. We met some really helpful and sweet vendors at the show, including Dave from Tabletop Armory.
- Ed Beard Jr. was there, and we got to talk to him.
-Andy Hopp, the con chair, is a really nice guy and awesome artist. Also, his wife bought a doll from us, so props to her too.
-There was a really good art show, not just fanart. We wish we had put more pieces in that rather than having a dealer’s table.
-A con staff came around a few times and made sure we had what we needed. And on the last day, he came around to everyone to see what they could have done better.
Cons:
-The con was advertised as a multi-genre convention. But when we got there it was very apparent it was a gaming dominated convention. We felt this was misleading on the part of the con staff, but we also should have talked to more people about it and felt it out. The gaming demographic and the cute plushie buying demographic don’t normally collide.
-Not the con’s fault at all, but Ohio was doing major road construction which made getting around the city and to the hotel a pain in the ass.
-The hotel was VERY small and VERY old.
-The dealer’s room, art show, some tabletop gaming, registration, and a stage with various things going on were all in the same space.
-The hotel only offered lunch on two days, and only subs or chicken salad sandwiches. Oh and they ran out of chicken salad sandwiches the first day. And because of the road construction, it was very difficult to go anywhere to get food.
-Most of the attendees were running/participating in games all day long, so the dealer’s room was mostly empty
Overall, this ended up being our worst show. We lost a lot of money going to this, and we won’t be going back. If you’re a hardcore gamer, this would probably be a fun con to attend, but from our perspective, it didn’t seem that any of the dealers did very well.
Learn your lesson from us, do your research before you commit to selling at a show!
Show Report- New York Anime Fest 2010
We love New York, so when we had the chance to do a huge show up there, we took the opportunity. The costs were pretty high, but we made a great profit. This was our all time best show to date.
Specs:
Oct. 8-10
Cost of table: $225
Juried: no
Tables/chairs provided: yes
Indoor/outdoor: indoor
Attendance: 50000+
Profit: very high
Pros
-the line to get our badges was short, and the staff was efficient
-security was good, they checked badges every time we entered a room
-The Anime Fest and Comic Con were held together, which helped both parties. It boosted attendance, and people that may not have come to the Anime Fest came over to our side since they were already at the convention center. We sincerely hope they keep it this way in future years.
-Comic Con had a lot of big names and huge exhibitors, in addition to tons of indie artists. It was amazing, and we def. wouldn't have been able to go otherwise. We met Bruce Campbell!
-We got to see our buddy Ejen from Cosplay in America, our good friends Laura with RawK=KandY and Lindsay and Jennie from Pretty Pop, and several other artists that we liked.
-The number of lolitas was astounding. That may be a bad thing for some people, but I think they’re soooo pretty!
Cons
-The artist’s alley could have been marked better. I heard people complaining that it was hard to find.
-We didn’t have enough merchandise. We didn’t expect it to be as crazy as it was.
-Parking was a headache. The convention center had no parking, so we had to find a lot each day. And it was expensive. Next time, we’re staying right in the city so we can walk.
-The crowds were so dense it was hard to walk around, especially Sat. I didn’t even attempt to leave the Artist’s Alley at all on Saturday. There really wasn’t anything they could have done about it, either, because it was in a huge space. There were just that many people there.
-They had a “maid café” set up in the same room as us, and they were blaring music and having dance-offs and dating games all weekend. We were right next to the stage, so it was very loud and annoying.
Not too many complaints, since this was a great show for us. We’re def. looking forward to next year. We’ll have twice as much stuff!
Specs:
Oct. 8-10
Cost of table: $225
Juried: no
Tables/chairs provided: yes
Indoor/outdoor: indoor
Attendance: 50000+
Profit: very high
Pros
-the line to get our badges was short, and the staff was efficient
-security was good, they checked badges every time we entered a room
-The Anime Fest and Comic Con were held together, which helped both parties. It boosted attendance, and people that may not have come to the Anime Fest came over to our side since they were already at the convention center. We sincerely hope they keep it this way in future years.
-Comic Con had a lot of big names and huge exhibitors, in addition to tons of indie artists. It was amazing, and we def. wouldn't have been able to go otherwise. We met Bruce Campbell!
-We got to see our buddy Ejen from Cosplay in America, our good friends Laura with RawK=KandY and Lindsay and Jennie from Pretty Pop, and several other artists that we liked.
-The number of lolitas was astounding. That may be a bad thing for some people, but I think they’re soooo pretty!
Cons
-The artist’s alley could have been marked better. I heard people complaining that it was hard to find.
-We didn’t have enough merchandise. We didn’t expect it to be as crazy as it was.
-Parking was a headache. The convention center had no parking, so we had to find a lot each day. And it was expensive. Next time, we’re staying right in the city so we can walk.
-The crowds were so dense it was hard to walk around, especially Sat. I didn’t even attempt to leave the Artist’s Alley at all on Saturday. There really wasn’t anything they could have done about it, either, because it was in a huge space. There were just that many people there.
-They had a “maid café” set up in the same room as us, and they were blaring music and having dance-offs and dating games all weekend. We were right next to the stage, so it was very loud and annoying.
Not too many complaints, since this was a great show for us. We’re def. looking forward to next year. We’ll have twice as much stuff!
Indoor vs. Outdoor shows
So we've been doing shows for over a year now, and wanted to share some insights into the different types of shows. We do a variety of shows, anime conventions, indie craft shows, and folk festivals, and seem to do equally well at all three. But what we wanted to touch on was the pros and cons of indoor vs. outdoor shows. This isn't to say that one is better than the other, but some people prefer to do only one type.
We'll start with Indoor shows. Most anime cons and indie craft shows are indoors.
Pros
-There is A/C or heat, so you don't have to die in the sun or freeze to death. This is especially helpful for Kelly because she gets a horrible rash from being out in the sun and that looks bad for the customers.
-In addition to that, weather protection. We've done outdoor shows in wind, where our tent was about to blow over at any second. We've also done a show in the rain, which is awful, especially since our tent eventually started leaking and we had to pack up and leave. None of those worries with an indoor show.
-Easier setup. The majority of indoor shows provide a table and chairs. For outdoor shows, we take 3 or 4 tables, chairs, and the tent.
-Better security. If it's a 2 or 3 day show, usually we can leave most of our stuff locked in the facility. This is not always the case, though. We've had a few anime conventions where we had to lug everything back and forth for a few days. Awful. At outdoor shows, usually they'll have security patrolling the grounds, so we can at least leave our tables and tent, but not everything. Although we've had two indoor shows where we've left up our tablecloths and people have eaten and spilled drinks on it. So you never know.
All right, now for the good things about outdoor shows. Most folk festivals and art festivals are outdoor, usually either in a park or on a blocked off street.
Pros
-a bigger space. This is probably the thing we like most about outdoor shows. Unless you're doing a huge expensive exhibition show, indoor spaces are going to be 6 or 8 ft of table space. Anime cons(if you're in the artist's alley) are usually the most cramped. Outdoor shows usually give you a 10x10 space.
-A bigger space means we can bring more stuff with us. We change our setup depending on the show we're doing, so anime shows usually have the least amount on the table. At outdoor shows, we put out as much stuff as we can fit in our tent. Usually this means at least 3 tables, plus an art display. Now we're looking at how to use the wall space to hang more stuff.
-It also means more storage space. We can fit our big tub and all our other bags underneath the table and still have room to work back there. When we do indoor shows, we're very squished in. It's almost claustrophobic.
-The hours are more flexible. There's no one saying "ok, it's 6 o clock, the show is over!" and locking the doors. If people want to stroll around and buy until 8, we'll stick around. With that being said, the converse of this is the lowered security. If we did decide to pack up and leave, if people are still walking around, they could mess with our stuff.
-Outdoor shows are usually festivals, so they include music or other entertainment. Usually this is a good thing, as it draws bigger crowds and a more diverse bunch. It's only bad if we're right next to the music and can't hear the customers. (that happened at an indoor show)
-Bigger walkways. Yes, there's usually more crowds, but the space is larger, so you don't get the pulsing mass of people we've seen at some indoor shows.
So that's the good things about both types of shows. As you can see, the rules aren't fast and hard, we've had just as many good indoor as outdoor shows, and we can't say we prefer one over the other. We'd love to hear feedback on this! Comment if you have anything to add!
We'll start with Indoor shows. Most anime cons and indie craft shows are indoors.
Pros-There is A/C or heat, so you don't have to die in the sun or freeze to death. This is especially helpful for Kelly because she gets a horrible rash from being out in the sun and that looks bad for the customers.
-In addition to that, weather protection. We've done outdoor shows in wind, where our tent was about to blow over at any second. We've also done a show in the rain, which is awful, especially since our tent eventually started leaking and we had to pack up and leave. None of those worries with an indoor show.
-Easier setup. The majority of indoor shows provide a table and chairs. For outdoor shows, we take 3 or 4 tables, chairs, and the tent.
-Better security. If it's a 2 or 3 day show, usually we can leave most of our stuff locked in the facility. This is not always the case, though. We've had a few anime conventions where we had to lug everything back and forth for a few days. Awful. At outdoor shows, usually they'll have security patrolling the grounds, so we can at least leave our tables and tent, but not everything. Although we've had two indoor shows where we've left up our tablecloths and people have eaten and spilled drinks on it. So you never know.
All right, now for the good things about outdoor shows. Most folk festivals and art festivals are outdoor, usually either in a park or on a blocked off street.
Pros
-a bigger space. This is probably the thing we like most about outdoor shows. Unless you're doing a huge expensive exhibition show, indoor spaces are going to be 6 or 8 ft of table space. Anime cons(if you're in the artist's alley) are usually the most cramped. Outdoor shows usually give you a 10x10 space.
-A bigger space means we can bring more stuff with us. We change our setup depending on the show we're doing, so anime shows usually have the least amount on the table. At outdoor shows, we put out as much stuff as we can fit in our tent. Usually this means at least 3 tables, plus an art display. Now we're looking at how to use the wall space to hang more stuff.
-It also means more storage space. We can fit our big tub and all our other bags underneath the table and still have room to work back there. When we do indoor shows, we're very squished in. It's almost claustrophobic.
-The hours are more flexible. There's no one saying "ok, it's 6 o clock, the show is over!" and locking the doors. If people want to stroll around and buy until 8, we'll stick around. With that being said, the converse of this is the lowered security. If we did decide to pack up and leave, if people are still walking around, they could mess with our stuff.
-Outdoor shows are usually festivals, so they include music or other entertainment. Usually this is a good thing, as it draws bigger crowds and a more diverse bunch. It's only bad if we're right next to the music and can't hear the customers. (that happened at an indoor show)
-Bigger walkways. Yes, there's usually more crowds, but the space is larger, so you don't get the pulsing mass of people we've seen at some indoor shows.
So that's the good things about both types of shows. As you can see, the rules aren't fast and hard, we've had just as many good indoor as outdoor shows, and we can't say we prefer one over the other. We'd love to hear feedback on this! Comment if you have anything to add!
Show Report- Folk-fest St. Pete
Folk-fest St. Pete was, as you might imagine, a folk festival. What does this mean? Well, for us, it means we can take more art along with us, which is always a good thing. It also means the crowd is older, and usually there's a good many art collectors. This turned out to be one of our best shows. It takes place in St. Petersburg, FL, which surprised us by having an awesome arts community. The event was put on by Creative Clay Cultural Arts Center.
Specs:
Oct. 1-3
Cost of table: $150
Juried: yes
Tables/chairs provided: no
Indoor/outdoor: outdoor
Attendance: 25000
Profit: very high
Pros
-There were a lot of volunteers walking around to help us.
-Creative Clay provided breakfast in the morning, and water throughout the day.
-There was excellent community support.
-There were huge crowds all three days
-There was a nice variety among the vendors, not just the art vendors, but the food vendors too. Much better than the average hamburger or hotdog choices we usually get.
-The festival included music all weekend, with such bands as the Indigo Girls, The Heavy Pets, and Dar Williams. Awesome music all the time!
-The music definitely helped bring in a wider demographic.
-There was great parking for the vendors. We were practically right next to our car.
-We knew a lot of the people there, so it was nice to see everyone again.
Cons
-If we were closer to the stage, the music may have interfered with chatting with our customers.
-Depending on your view of things, this could be a pro or con, but Creative Clay had a beer truck and encouraged the buying of beer to support the arts. We thought it was a smart move, it was nice for vendors to have a drink or two during the day, but the only problem was by nighttime, we got several drunk customers. They happened to be harmless, but I did worry that they would stumble into our display, knocking everything down. So here's my public service announcement: If you're drunk, don't try to handle expensive art. It makes the artists nervous, and we can't understand what you're babbling on about.
-It is a folk festival, and we're lucky enough that our work blends into the folk aesthetic, but we had a friend who was very indie and trendy not do so well there. So think about it before you try a folk show.
Well, that's it. A lot of pros, and almost no cons. Overall, an excellently run show with wonderful people involved. This is definitely one we're marking down for next year.
Specs:
Oct. 1-3
Cost of table: $150
Juried: yes
Tables/chairs provided: no
Indoor/outdoor: outdoor
Attendance: 25000
Profit: very high
Pros
-There were a lot of volunteers walking around to help us.
-Creative Clay provided breakfast in the morning, and water throughout the day.
-There was excellent community support.
-There were huge crowds all three days
-There was a nice variety among the vendors, not just the art vendors, but the food vendors too. Much better than the average hamburger or hotdog choices we usually get.
-The festival included music all weekend, with such bands as the Indigo Girls, The Heavy Pets, and Dar Williams. Awesome music all the time!
-The music definitely helped bring in a wider demographic.
-There was great parking for the vendors. We were practically right next to our car.
-We knew a lot of the people there, so it was nice to see everyone again.
Cons
-If we were closer to the stage, the music may have interfered with chatting with our customers.
-Depending on your view of things, this could be a pro or con, but Creative Clay had a beer truck and encouraged the buying of beer to support the arts. We thought it was a smart move, it was nice for vendors to have a drink or two during the day, but the only problem was by nighttime, we got several drunk customers. They happened to be harmless, but I did worry that they would stumble into our display, knocking everything down. So here's my public service announcement: If you're drunk, don't try to handle expensive art. It makes the artists nervous, and we can't understand what you're babbling on about.
-It is a folk festival, and we're lucky enough that our work blends into the folk aesthetic, but we had a friend who was very indie and trendy not do so well there. So think about it before you try a folk show.
Well, that's it. A lot of pros, and almost no cons. Overall, an excellently run show with wonderful people involved. This is definitely one we're marking down for next year.
Show Report- AnimeFest 2010
Specs:
Sept. 3-6
Cost of table: $115 for a 6 ft + badges
Juried: no
Tables/chairs provided: yes
Indoor/outdoor: Indoor
Attendance: 7000
Profit: low
Pros:
-No waiting in registration lines, they had our badges at the AA sign in.
-We actually saw people we knew.
-Everyone was super nice, and we met a lot of new people
-There were a lot of really good cosplayers
-The staff in charge was helpful and apologetic about the location, and encouraged us to give feedback on the website.
-All the staff we talked to were friendly and helpful, and so were the other artists.
-A lot of the artists sold crafts and not just prints
-The AA didn't have set hours, so we could sell as long as we wanted. We usually stayed a couple extra hours and made a few more sales.
-the dealer's room was very largeCons:
-Our table was in a bad location with low traffic
-Photoshoots all day Saturday blocked our booth
-The AA area was not secure, so we had to set up and break down every day. Even just leaving our table cloth up, we came back to find trash all over our table and spilled drinks.
-There were a lot of tables selling almost identical merchandise.
-We only had time to rush through the dealer's room once, but didn't really see anything we liked.
-Didn't bother us, but we heard some people complaining that there was no console gaming room.
-panel schedule wasn't in the con booklet, and by the time they got copies of the schedule out, the panel I wanted to go to was over.
If we lived closer, this would have been worth coming to, but for us, it's just too much travel for not enough profit. Unfortunately, I doubt we will return to this con, but we do want to return to Texas and try to do A-kon next year.
Check out all of our pictures on Facebook: AnimeFest 2010
Show Report- Otakon 2010
I've decided that we should write up show reports, both for our own future use, and for anyone else who needs to decide if a show is worth doing. We've done many shows this year already, but our most recent was Otakon, an anime convention in Baltimore, MD. This was our first time attending Otakon, and we had braced ourselves for this to be a huge show.
Specs:
July 30-August 1
Cost of table: $110 for a 6 ft
Juried: no
Tables/chairs provided: yes
Indoor/outdoor: Indoor
Attendance: 30,000
Profit: Very high
PROS:
-pre-reg lines were fast, and we were able to get our badges fairly quickly.
-I liked that artists were spaced around pretty evenly. We sold plushies, and don't like to be put right next to other plush makers.
-At conventions, we usually run into a snafu about Artist's Alley vs. dealer's room. Usually, if it's handmade it goes in the AA, and retail stuff goes in the DR. But sometimes a con only wants 2D stuff (prints, comics, fanart) in the AA and we have to be in the DR with the retailers, which sucks! Luckily, this con was good about having a wide variety of things in the AA, and we really enjoyed it.
-Long hours are good, but the hours were from 10 am-12 am, which was a little much.
-I liked that the Dealer's room closed earlier Fri and Sat, so we could get more people in the AA, and we closed earlier on Sun, so we got a chance to look in the Dealer's room.
-The fire alarm went off on Sat. and everyone had to evacuate, leaving everything behind. We were outside for an hour in the heat. The pro on this is that con staff had the good sense to let dealers and artists in first so that we could protect our wares.
CONS:
-The hours in the AA were too long for us to be able to do anything else at the con. Shutting down at 9 or 10 would have helped.
-We had originally intended on splitting a table, but since there were other open spots, we decided to buy our own space. This was a good thing for us, but the con to it was there was no discount for buying an AA table on Sat., even though we only got to use it for 2 days.
-There seemed to be a lack of communication between con staff and the convention center security
Overall, we enjoyed it, and plan on coming back next year.
Specs:
July 30-August 1
Cost of table: $110 for a 6 ft
Juried: no
Tables/chairs provided: yes
Indoor/outdoor: Indoor
Attendance: 30,000
Profit: Very high
PROS:
-pre-reg lines were fast, and we were able to get our badges fairly quickly.
-I liked that artists were spaced around pretty evenly. We sold plushies, and don't like to be put right next to other plush makers.
-At conventions, we usually run into a snafu about Artist's Alley vs. dealer's room. Usually, if it's handmade it goes in the AA, and retail stuff goes in the DR. But sometimes a con only wants 2D stuff (prints, comics, fanart) in the AA and we have to be in the DR with the retailers, which sucks! Luckily, this con was good about having a wide variety of things in the AA, and we really enjoyed it.
-Long hours are good, but the hours were from 10 am-12 am, which was a little much.
-I liked that the Dealer's room closed earlier Fri and Sat, so we could get more people in the AA, and we closed earlier on Sun, so we got a chance to look in the Dealer's room.
-The fire alarm went off on Sat. and everyone had to evacuate, leaving everything behind. We were outside for an hour in the heat. The pro on this is that con staff had the good sense to let dealers and artists in first so that we could protect our wares.
CONS:
-The hours in the AA were too long for us to be able to do anything else at the con. Shutting down at 9 or 10 would have helped.
-We had originally intended on splitting a table, but since there were other open spots, we decided to buy our own space. This was a good thing for us, but the con to it was there was no discount for buying an AA table on Sat., even though we only got to use it for 2 days.
-There seemed to be a lack of communication between con staff and the convention center security
Overall, we enjoyed it, and plan on coming back next year.
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