Show Report- The World's 2nd Most Awesome Art Show

The World's 2nd Most Awesome Art show is in Louisville, KY.  This was only their second year doing this show, but honestly, with a name like that, we took the risk of traveling all that way.  And it paid off!

Specs:

April 1-3
Cost of table: $75
Juried: yes
Tables/chairs provided: no
Indoor/outdoor: indoor
Attendance: 2000
Profit: high

Pros
-A great variety of artists.  painters, graffiti artists, digital artists, mixed media, jewelry, plush makers, clothing and accessories, sculptures, even a confectioner.  Pretty much a bit of everything

-Everyone there was a really high quality artist.  It was amazing how many great people were together in one space. Some might worry this would add to the level of competition, but we feel like when everyone is really good, it raises the caliber of the entire show.

-Another great thing about the artists there was that everyone had a cohesive style.  The jurying team did a really fantastic job, because no one looked out of place.  We all meshed really well together, which is something that a lot of shows can't seem to get right.  This also helped the "mood" of the show, because people knew that this was a hip show right when they walked in the door.

-The show was 3 days, and the first day coincided with "First Friday", a gallery hop in Louisville.  Apparently they have trolleys that take people from gallery to gallery.  It was great to get all the traffic from that.

-There was a lot of gallery owner support.  We must have had 5 different gallery owners talk to us about putting our stuff in a gallery, and we were actually able to put some pieces in Revelry Gallery while we were in town.  

-The staff was incredible.  They did so many nice things for the vendors, such as having coffee and donuts in the morning and letting everyone bring in a playlist of music to play during the show.  They even gathered us all together before Sunday started to have a little powwow about next year, and we got to toss ideas around.  We really could tell they wanted this show to be great for everyone.

-The location was great.  It was pretty much the first building when you got off the interstate.  Easy to find, and right in a central location.  The building also had other galleries and shops in it.

Cons
-The show hours weren't the greatest, but that was something that was discussed for next year.

-The space we were in had bad lighting.  If we had known, we would have brought some clip on lights for our display.  A lot of people had brought lights with them, and half of the room had glass windows, so it was really only bad for the people right around us.

-The spaces were really tight.  We were smushed right up to the people beside and behind us.  Again, this was only an issue for half the people there, as the other half were against walls.

Overall, a great show that we fully intend to go back to.  It seems that all of the cons we found were issues already being addressed by the staff for next year, so we expect it to only get better!

Show Report- Nashicon 2011

Nashicon is an anime convention here in Columbia, SC.  It's one I've been going to for a few years now, and every year it gets better.  This was our second time vending at this show.  It's put on by Club Nashi, the anime club at USC.  They've been having it on campus since it started, but I believe that next year they are planning to move it to a hotel or convention center since it's getting too big for the student center.

Specs:

March 19-20
Cost of table: $10
Juried: no
Tables/chairs provided: yes
Indoor/outdoor: indoor
Attendance: 1000
Profit: high

Pros
-This year, they reconfigured the artist alley so that it was on the first floor and right across from the dealer's room.  It took up three rooms, which they named Artist Ally, Artist Neutral, and Artist Axis.  (Hetalia!)  The positioning really helped our sales, and it helped not having to lug everything up the stairs.

-The attendance was up a few hundred from last year, and I feel that it will only continue to increase.  Lauren, the con chair, and all her staff do a great job.

-Speaking of the staff, throughout the show, they were completely accessible and helpful, even willing to watch tables if someone needed to step away.  And the con chair wasn't a ghost like at most shows; she was walking around and talking to people the whole time.

-The hours of the show were very good, and we were able to stay open as late as we wanted.  There was security, so we could leave our stuff overnight, too.

-There was a good variety of panels and activities at the convention.

-We had a lot of fan support!  It was really nice to see a lot of people from last year who met us or bought from us, and still wanted more.  That always makes us feel good.

Cons

-The artist alley had repetition:  a lot of fan art, and quite a few other plushie makers.  But without a juried show, there's no way to stop this, and it didn't really seem to affect our sales, so eh...

-The dealer's room was awful!  Barely any dealers, and the ones that were there all had the same stuff.  Not to mention about half of them packed up early.  I think that's the one thing that could seriously be worked on for this show.  What about Heroes and Dragons?  They have awesome stuff and are in town, and I see them vending at tons of shows.

-There wasn't a separate artist/dealer check in.  We were lucky and since we were carrying tons of crap, Lauren let us set up before getting our badges, but I don't think it would have been difficult to have badges on the tables, or at least a separate check in station. 

This is a con we enjoy a lot, and for us the profit has been pretty high because we have no travel costs, no hotel costs, no gas costs, and the table is so cheap.
As long as we're living in Columbia, we will keep going to this one.
I would only suggest vending if you live fairly close, as it's still a small con.  But it is a ton of fun to attend!

Show Report- Con Nooga 2011

Con-Nooga is a multi-genre convention in Chattanooga, TN.  It's held at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, an awesome hotel that actually has train cars for rooms.  We didn't actually get to stay there, though.  (Part of being a starving artist is cutting costs on hotels).

Specs:

Feb. 18-20
Cost of table: $100
Juried: no
Tables/chairs provided: yes
Indoor/outdoor: indoor
Attendance: 2500
Profit: low

Pros
-There was a whole lot of things to do.  Most "multi-genre" conventions, we've found, tend to lean one way.  This one was leaning slightly toward a horror con, but it really did have constant programming for sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, and anime, too. 

-There was a decent variety of venders.  We saw other plush makers, gamer gear, a few comic artists, figures, filmmakers, henna artists, jewelry makers, etc. 

-As mentioned above, there were several independent filmmakers and artists, as well as some bands.  I thought it was great to see so much original work rather than the overabundance of licensed merch and fan art we see at most conventions. 

-The show hours were good; not too long or too short.

-The hotel was really really neat, as well as huge!

Cons
-The exhibitor hall had dealers, artists, and fan/group tables together, and all mixed up.  I wouldn't have minded being in the same room with dealers if they had put dealers in one section and artists in another. 

-I mentioned that the hotel was large, which is usually a good thing.  But this hotel was soooo spread out, you had to drive from one building to the others.  They didn't keep the con in just one building or even in one area, they spread it out all over the place.  This was difficult for us wanting to go to panels, etc.  because they were hard to find and we couldn't leave the booth for that long.  It was also bad because the exhibitor hall was in the very back of the hotel, so I'm afraid some attendees didn't even make it that far.

-The exhibitor hall was very large, but it had a lot of empty booths.  The two back rows only had 1 or two people on them. 

So we didn't make a ton of money here, but we love Chattanooga, and got to hang out with our friend Lynda (of Another Sassy! Product) while we were in town.  We're not planning to return to this con, but maybe in a few years it will pick up and properly fill up the hotel.  Anyway, if you're just looking for cons to attend rather than sell at, it would be a blast.  We did get to meet Thong Girl, so I mean, what more can you ask for?

Quick Update + May schedule

We had a super busy month in April, and May is shaping up to be the same!  With shows every weekend, it's hard to find time to write more than a quick twitter or facebook update, so those of you who like to keep up with our shenanigans should check us out here or here.

All of our recent shows have been phenomenal, so we want to thank all the people who have come out to see and support us.  You're really making our dream of doing this full time come true! 

Also, props to all of the great artists we have met and become friends with.  You guys totally rock, and now we have a house filled with awesome art and handmade goods. 

This past weekend we were in Atlanta, GA for the Inman Park Festival.  It was definitely the largest show we've ever done, and not so surprisingly turned out to also be the best show we've done so far.  There were too many booths to even get a chance to see it all, but it is definitely one to check out next year if you missed out. 

We got some amazing luck and were able to get into ART-B-QUE this next weekend, May 7-8.  It's in Avondale Estates, GA (close to ATL) so if you missed us last weekend (or even if you didn't) come by and see us this weekend!  It looks like it's going to be filled with super talented artists, many of whom were also at Inman Park with us. 

After that, we'll be at Finster Fest in Summerville, GA

And then we will be returning to Who-Fest in Chattanooga, TN at the end of May.

Can't wait to see everyone!