First update of the new year, and the good news is I got my placement for my table at WonderCon this year. The bad news is, I got my placement for my table at WonderCon this year.
I shouldn’t be surprised, placement in artist alley is kind of a crapshoot unless you are among the elite creative class. But it’s not as depressing as many would think. The first time I tabled at WonderCon I was in the second worst possible placement on the floor, all the way at the back of the hall, next to to loading exits. I have never had a better show than that one.
To explain, WonderCon has historically flowed attendees not through the lobby doors but through the side of the hall along the length of its shorter side. What I saw happen was that it forced attendees down the entire length of the hall. They would mostly follow the path they were on all the way to the end of the hall. Since artist alley is the the end of that path, they tend to mill around for a good long time before cycling back through the show.
So what I thought was one of the worst possible placements on the floor was filled with foot traffic for the entire length of the entire show. It was pretty impressive. I had a commission buyer at my table minutes before the show ended.
The Long Beach Comic Con layout puts artist alley in the middle of the action, but sends attendees through one narrow entryway and exits. The flow of people tends to dwindle dramatically on the last day’s waning hours. Not ideal. But I tend to do decently at Long Beach in no small part to the regular folks who always attend the show and make it a point to drop by and at least say hello.
The last time I tabled at WonderCon, I was sitting right across from Rob Linfield no less. It was a very high traffic day and Deadpool the movie had scarcely been announced yet. I might not be getting that kind of traffic this year, but it should be nice to get back to Anaheim instead of downtown Los Angeles.
