Con Review: CollegeCon 2019

Convention Name: CollegeCon 2019
Date: Sept 21, 2019
Cost: $20, 10x10
Location: Norman, OK
Grade: B


This con was another small one, being held at the University of Oklahoma. The price was great, and it was local, so I didn't have to drive very far to get to this one. That's always a plus!
This particular con I found out about, even before applications were available, so I was ready and waiting when they were out! I put in the application and paid immediately!

Check-in was pretty easy. They had sent an email to vendors in the week prior, letting us know where to go, where to park, and where to check in. There didn't seem to be many people around yet when I checked in, so it went pretty easily.
There was a parking garage for the student union attached to the building. By parking on the third floor, I can go directly into the building from the garage. This helped a LOT when unloading and reloading the car.

In the email that they had sent, they let us know that we would be located in the ballroom on the third floor. It never really clicked in my brain until I located my spot that this seems quite out of the way. Nothing else for the con was being held on the third floor, so unless you are specifically going to the vendor area, there isn't a reason for con-goers to go up there.

The booth sizes were big! They had the tall pipe and drape between the booths. I had a partial window in the back of my booth, so I had some additional light coming in, at least. Plus, since I had so much space to spread out a bit, I was able to setup both of my pegboard displays again. I love when I get to do that! It's a little more work, but I can put out more stuff!
I'm putting most of the items on the smaller pegboard up on clearance to get rid of it, so it helps to get eyes on it!

The traffic there was OK. I can't help but believe that the vendors would have done much better if we were on the first floor, and have the video game tournaments were held in the 3rd floor ballroom, instead. It seems like common sense to basically force people to walk past the vendors to improve sales, rather than stick them in a corner. It's because of the location that I rated it a B.

I found out after a few hours in, that there was also a green room for vendors to relax, and they had some mini sandwiches and drinks and donuts, as well. This was awesome. I love when they do something like this for vendors! The downside is that it was on the second floor, so it wasn't as easily accessible.

Overall, I did about half as well as I was expecting. With the booth fee being only $20, and the fact that it was local for me, I still made money, but I have been getting spoiled with these cons, lately.
Back when doing craft fairs, I would have called this a great success. As a con, though, it was just OK.

At the end, they did come around and let us know that we could start packing up about 20 minutes early, since all the events were over. They did seem genuinely interested in receiving feedback, as well, to try and improve in upcoming years. I will probably still do this event again, either way.

Con review: LexiCon 2019

I am a member of several groups on Facebook, and I find them to be full of amazing information and support. My most recent group I joined is a network of Artist Alley vendors. I love the flow of information and sharing of tips on items, cons, manufacturers, etc.
One member just put up a bunch of reviews of the different cons that he has been attending, and I love the idea! I decided to do something similar here. I know that some people may not be very interested in the cons around the OK area, but I just want to share information. Plus, my readers can learn what I do on the weekends! (Although, I think I'm down to only 2 readers, now).

Convention Name: LexiCon 2019
Date: Sept 14, 2019
Cost: $10, 10x10
Location: Stillwater, OK
Grade: A

This was a small local con being run by the library.
I had been hearing good things about this con from multiple people, vendors I have met at other cons, so I decided to go ahead and apply. Gotta love the booth fee!
I was put on a waitlist right away. Apparently, this one fills up quickly, and even though I applied months in advance, I still wasn't quick enough. They also give preference to previous vendors, too.

While I was at SoonerCon back in June, I actually got my acceptance! I was super excited. I have been looking forward to this one for a while.

Check-in was pretty easy. They had already sent an email to vendors a week before, so they let us know where to enter and check in. I have things streamlined now, so I only have to make 2 trips from my car, which has helped me tremendously (especially since I go to these alone, my helper niece doesn't come to these anymore).
They pointed me to the room I was in, and also pointed out a refreshment room for the vendors, which I was excited about. I didn't expect this from a con that only cost $10! They had bottled water, bagels, crackers and cookies, raisins, etc.

My booth location was a bit awkward. This con was being held in a Community Center, wich I think may have been a school at one time. So, other than the gym area and dining area, there isn't much space to put people, other than in the classrooms, which is what they did. At first, I wasn't very thrilled with my location. I was in a room just off of the main entrance area, and initially I was kindof tucked into a corner. Because they gave us so much room, though, I was able to spread out a little bit and use the space to my advantage.
(that window behind me is to the vendor snacks area, too, so I was really close)

Despite being in a side room, I still saw quite a bit of traffic. I did very well, and set a new one-day-con record for sales. I will definitely do this con again and again. I was very pleased with everything.
The only issue I had (and it's super minor) is that when I was done unloading it took a while to find someone to tell me where we were supposed to park. That part got left out of the initial email.

I'm kindof glad this was just a one day con. I started coming down with something, and just tried to muddle through the day. I was sneezing, runny nose, scratchy throat, the works. The funny thing is, I didn't start getting these symptoms until I had already setup. I washed my hands a lot, and tried to not spread germs as much as possible.
I'm still getting over it, a week later, but I'm not nearly as miserable as I was that day.
Overall, it was a great day, though.

Purse sneak peek

As I mentioned last post, I have ideas for a new purse. I managed to pick a color that I had several spare bags of rings for, too, so I could get started right away (I am running out of several things and need to make a new order soon).
Here is a sneak peek of the first part of it. I took this picture on Friday, and I had the purse done by Sunday.

I had intended just to post about the sneak peek, but I got it finished pretty quickly, so here are the rest of the pictures of the finished purse!

Dice bags!

My dice bag stash had dwindled down to only 5, so I decided to make some more!
My first batch was a red and black one and a full black one.  I was working on these 2 at work when things slowed down. A co-worker saw me working on them and actually claimed the red one before I had finished making it!

I also had an idea for making some dice bags with a charm on it at the top. I started with Hogwarts house colors, since those were the charms I decided to start with. I got the first 2 done and pictured. The other 2 have to wait until I make another ring order, as I ran out of some colors needed.

Here are 3 of the 4 new bags I made (I gave the red one to the coworker as soon as it was done).

I have a bunch of pendants/charms in my inventory just sitting and waiting for a purpose. I may use some of them for these dice bags!
I also have plans for a purse! No, this isn't the red and black one that I was making for myself (That still isn't completed). This is one that I have just come up with the idea for, and should be muuuuuuuch quicker to make than the one I was making for me.
I'll post pictures of it soon, hopefully! If it comes out even half as cool as I'm hoping, it will be awesome!

Need more inventory!

So, I had a thought for my convention displays.
As it is right now, when I go to my cons, I take the large pegboard display (where I can keep a large amount of inventory), but I also take my older, more portable, one. I generally don't know what my space will look like before I get there, and sometimes there just isn't room to be able to setup the large display, so I have to resort to the other one.


This poses a problem, as I discovered the first time I went to use the big display.
The whole point of getting the large one was so I could leave the hooks and necklaces on the pegboard, and just close and latch the display in between conventions. I was wasting a lot of time having to put up and take off all the pegboard hooks and merch each time. The large display resolved this issue for me, and it has been amazing!

However,  if I can't use the large display and have to resort to the old one, I'm stuck. That first time, luckily I had a few extra hooks, but I had to take a lot of the necklaces off the hooks on the large display to put them on the one I was using. This not only defeats the purpose, but actually takes even longer.
I have been trying to buy another batch of hooks to keep on-hand for this eventuality, but I realize I will need more inventory, as well. If I can just keep a large amount of necklaces handy, I won't have to remove those from the large display when I'm not using it. I've been working like mad to get more supplies to make a huge amount more. The success of my recent conventions has made this possible, too!

So, for the next few weeks, I am going to be making a bunch of necklaces. I'll post pictures of some periodically! Plus, I was able to get more hooks on sale, so things are looking up!

Here are just a few of my latest ones. I need to put them on cards and they'll be done!