Like I wrote in my last post I attended NYC Comicon and acted as a self-styled Booth Babe at the Geeks Out Booth. I also was given the chance to show and sell my artwork for certain times of the day. The experience was phenomenal- more for the chance to just have a blast at a Comicon than it was promoting my work, though.
Normally it is the opposite. In my adult life I have always seen conventions as business and a venue to promote and sell my art. When I go to Arisia, Boskone, World Con, Lunacon, or Dragoncon I may get up in a crazy costume and run about- but that is never the focus. I instead spend nearly all my time trying to direct people to my booth or to introduce myself to other artists/art directors/media in an effort to spread awareness of myself and hopefully make enough money to justify the venture.
But this Con was different. Comicons in particular have always daunted me in terms of setting up shop. After all they tend to be some of the largest shows out there and draw some of the best talent in this, or any other, visual industry. I also felt like it would be prohibitively expensive to get a booth in the Artist Alley, not to mention hard to do with so many people hoping to get in. So when the opportunity to participate in a much less stressful or daunting environment presented itself for free (as a guest of a wonderful group's booth instead of the host of my own) I jumped at the chance. I could show my work, yes, but unlike other conventions I wasn't tied to the booth or to my artwork. In fact I wasn't even supposed to show my wares all the time. They were generously handing out space at their booth for other fellow gay artists as well and we all shared that space.
What this meant in the end was that I was never really in SELL MY ART-mode. I was in PROMOTE GEEKS OUT AND HAVE A BLAST IN MY SILLY SLUTTY COSTUMES-mode. And as all the pictures I have instagrammed can attest to- it was a rousing success (a couple choice photos below- the rest can be found on my instagram).
HOWEVER! This doesn't mean it was a wasted opportunity to promote my artwork. While it may not have been the sole reason for my presence at this particular con I was still able to get my work out there, and all my silly costumes and fun actually culminated in some fantastic contacts and even an interview or two (which I'll post about next).
All in all it was an amazing experience. A special thanks needs to be given, of course, to the GEEKS OUT group. I have become fast friends with every single member I met there and the generosity and warmth they give unconditionally to fellow Gay Geeks is absolutely amazing. So visit their page! (http://geeksout.org)
Also apologies for the late nature of this post. The con was well over a month ago! But I'll be better about this from now on if I can help it.
My ridiculous Sora costume made into Entertainment Weekly's photo montage of the event.
Tons of fun pictures with other great costumes were taken.
DEC 2 2013