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!