Con Review: Konsplosion

Convention Name: Konsplosion
Date: Nov 15-17, 2019
Cost: $300, 1 8-ft table
Location: Ft Smith, AR
Grade: B-

This con was a little deceptive, and I'll explain what I mean by that.
Their website looks great! There was their great website, good pictures, and some great reviews on the previous years that I was really looking forward to attending this con.  It was a 3 hour drive away, but that didn't bother me much.
The artist alley information on the website was a little vague (to me, at least) on one of their rules. I wanted clarification before applying, so I used the "Contact Us" link on the website to ask my question. After a couple weeks went by and I didn't hear anything back, I still wanted that clarification, so I reached out again via the website, just in case I didn't submit right or it didn't get through (there was no automatic email or onscreen indication that the message was sent or received). I still didn't hear anything back. Rather than keep wasting time, I went ahead and applied and submitted the application online (again with no email confirmation the application was received). I may have applied twice, since I didn't hear back anything.

After several more weeks of not hearing back on the application, I looked to Facebook to see if I could find any information as to if invitations had even been sent. I found a Facebook group for the con, so I applied to join. Once in, I was able to locate an email address for someone with the con. At this point, I had no confidence in anything on the website, so I sent an email directly. 

I got a reply! However, I was told that they were full on artists and vendors already. I also inquired about the fact I never heard back or got a confirmation. Apparently they do not send out emails unless someone is approved, but that they were full by May (this is in September). 
I bit my tongue and didn't respond because I didn't want to burn any bridges, but it would have been nice to know this months ago rather than keep waiting to hear back on anything. Well, that was the right call because a couple weeks later there was a cancellation, so I was able to get a table, after all. I responded that I wanted it! I sent another email a couple days later asking for payment options.
Then after a couple more days I was asked to send the fee via Paypal friends and family to avoid fees.  This struck me as very odd, and I didn't feel comfortable doing this, as I wouldn't have any protections. I did send the money, but normally and I sent  a few extra dollars to cover the fees.

Fast forward to the weekend of the convention. There were no emails that went out to the vendors to provide any information. I got to the convention center and had no idea where to go. After wandering around a bit, I found the right area, and went to the desk to check in and see where my table assignment was.
Turns out, there were no assignments! They just let me pick the table I wanted, first come first serve style. This, again, struck me as odd. There is no way to prevent tables of similar items from being near each other. Plus, if you show up late, you will have a horrible spot.

Luckily, I had a pretty good spot.

That closed door behind me is actually one of the doors to the vendor room, so not only did I get that traffic in and out of the vendor room, but I had the room to put up my big display (which I wasn't expecting to have room for, bonus!).

I was expecting a lot more traffic/sales for this weekend. I checked a map of the con, and it looks like all the panels were on the opposite side of the building, so that could certainly contribute to the low traffic. Even with the traffic we had, though, it just seemed like many people just weren't buying. I've never done a con or fair here in AR, so I don't know if this is typical for the area. One of the con volunteers mentioned that there were others complaining of low sales, too.

Overall, I did better than breakeven, so that's good. But it wasn't so great that I would want to drive 3 hours to again, unless things were different.
There seemed to be some great events and panels for this con (more than others I have been too). However the management felt a bit amateurish. It had the feeling of a bunch of friends that got together to put on a convention. The "con" even had a vendor table where someone was selling random stuff in the vendor room. This was referred to as the "con's" booth, but nothing being sold had anything to do with the con itself. Just regular vendor stuff. Plus, to me, it just seems like whoever was in charge of the vendors/artists either had no idea what they were doing or they just didn't care. There was no communication with the artists at all (aside from the approval email). There was some info online, but not much.


I will have to closely consider if I decide to do this con again next year.

Con Review: Tulsa Pop Culture Expo

Convention Name: Tulsa Pop Culture Expo
Date: Nov 3&3, 2019
Cost: $300, 1 table (spot I ended up in had TONS of space)
Location: Tulsa, OK
Grade: B

 This was a large convention. Definitely the largest that I have ever attended. There were quite a few celebrities and lots of space for this one. The price is most definitely the biggest I have paid for a booth, double what my highest was up to now. Because of this, I was definitely nervous. Initially I had decided not to do this one because of the cost, but I went ahead and dove right in to see how things would go for a larger convention.

The location of the expo was in a mall. There wasn't much clarification on this on the website or in any of the emails. I wasn't sure if this was an old mall that had been turned into something else, or just being held in part of the mall. When I arrived, I had to drive around the place, and I finally located a big sign on the side of the building. Turns out, this was being held in an old Sears store in the mall, 2 stories of space.

Check in was really easy. There was a table setup right by the door, so I checked in and was shown where my spot was right away. I ended up going the day before for setup. In the communications, setup/load in was on Friday, and I didn't see any times listed for Saturday morning before the con. This was a bit annoying because I now have an extra night of hotel just to be able to setup. My setup takes, at most, 2 hours to do. Granted, the extra setup time allowed me to take my time, but since I had my niece with me this time, we still had it done in about 2 hours.

My booth space was was great. You know how in department stores there are the tile "pathways" and the merchandise is located in carpeted areas. My booth was in one of the areas along a wall, so I had all that space between the "aisle" and the wall. It was doubly good because I was at the corner, so there was an "aisle" to one side of me, too.

In the picture, we are near the wall, and there was a HUGE space in front of us before the aisle. The other tables and I talked with the people in charge and were able to move forward up to the aisle so we would have better foot traffic.
My location was great, too. That aisle to the side was between me and the booth area where the celebrity photos were being held. So, I got some good views from the photo people while they waited for pictures. I also got to see all the celebrities walk right past my table on their way to their assigned photo time. It was great!

For this being such a big con, I expected to do much more business (especially with a $300 table fee). I didn't lose any money, but I wouldn't call this con a success. If the table fees cost the same next year, I highly doubt I will attend this con again. It just isn't worth all the work and time and money to just barely break even. The table fee is why I gave this con a B.

This was my niece's first con (she only had gone to the craft fairs with me before), and she LOVED it. I have been trying to get her to come to cons, since they are a lot more fun, and now I think she is hooked. She even tried to get days off from work to go to the next one in two weeks, but she wasn't able to. Hopefully I will have her for many more in the future, though!