Infinity Con for me did not go well. Not a lot of people. Fun? Yes. A lot of cool stuff? Yes. And overall, a nice weekend getaway (would have been nicer minus the rain but eh, what can you do, still in a scenic area, cloistered away with good friends). Why didn’t they come? I don’t know. It wasn’t so hot for other vendors, either, but there are all kinds of theories why. People come to Lake George for the water parks. It wasn’t advertised. It’s not a “con” kind of town. It’s only the 2nd one and building a following.
Not going to judge or even hazard a guess. Chalk it up to learning. I probably won’t do the next one unless I get a major break on table pricing. Or unless I hear from others in my boat that it’s getting better. I try to stay open-minded, but my wallet can only handle so much.
I did, however, make contacts.
NOT among them, would be the Post-Star, the local paper. They interviewed Minion Susan, who was a fabulous DarkStar (I’ll post more pics from home). She pushed and pushed and lauded the books.
The character name, my name, the name of the book…none were mentioned. Ok, another learning experience. From the article, looks to me like the reporter was going for a certain angle (the “escape reality at a con” thing), which is fine, but he mentioned a dozen other names. And as Susan said, a local artist/author should be deemed worthy of one mention.
On the plus side, hooked up with the Geek Culture Podcast, who were more than happy to plug the book. And the Argyle Gallery in Troy, and one of their local artists Raymond Lowell. Good things may come of this.
Lastly, a weekend like this makes it hard to go on. I don’t feel like doing any more art, if I can’t move what I have. Spending money on a table, when I live check to check, isn’t worth it if I can’t even make the table back. Do I want to write books 3 and 4 when it’s a struggle to push 1 and 2? I have horrible self-esteem, so a weekend like this brings back all the doubts and worries I had once gotten rid of.
So, thank you to my minions and supporters. Those of you who stand by me, con after con, doubt after doubt.
You come to the cons, even if cons aren’t really your thing (though nowadays, having seen vendors carrying jewelry, cupcakes, Coach purses, and bath fittings, I’ll hazard a guess that cons have something for everyone). You buy the artwork and books. You never see something and ask if you can have it, because you respect my work. You come through on your promises (and I really appreciate that, because I’ve had people promise to do a whole lot for me, and do none of it). You did not boldly support the first book, then lose interest in everything else I do.
You are true friends. You are there for me, and I appreciate it, and I love you for it. After a weekend like this past, I need that, and you are always there to support me.
Thank you.
azbaelus 
I truly hate when the promoter of an event does a half assed job of what their job and goal should be. Is Lake George a Con Town? maybe/maybe not, but why couldn’t it be? With the right amount of promotion it should have been a great showing. For the most part Lake George has always been a vacation spot purely, so their should have been advertisements/flyers in EVERY single lobby of EVERY hotel/motel in the Lake George region. I understand that the majority of the cons do most of their advertising through Facebook and social media nowadays, but I barely saw any until I liked their page, and would receive notifications that way. You don’t rely only on a small portion of your options to promote (the city? Radio?) and expect to see a return. I spoke with a vendor who overheard that even the Lake George Diner across the street had no idea what was going on, a patron had to tell them.
If the promoter saw this as a success, they are surely blind and fooling only themselves. I think that all fledgling cons would benefit with some insight from either established cons in the area (AlbanyCon, ChaseCon, SaltCityCollecticon… etc.) on how to promote and get people to come to your event. Or, even do what a recently new con did and have the last panel of the day be one that guests include the promoter and a few other people from behind the scenes that can answer simple questions, and get ideas for improvement.
And it further infuriates me when I see that they send a thank you out to those involved in InfinityCon and do not recognize ALL of the people who took time out of their lives, came there to set up shop for two days, to put their hard work and effort, only to see a poor showing. It really wants me to blast the shit out of their post… however I hold a civil tongue as I do not want to mar someone’s name because of my frustration. (I will show you what I am talking about at a later time).
I am always the optimist and think that things will get better, and I will continue to be so… I will constantly remind you that you are an amazing artist, a fabulous author, and a pretty all round beautiful being. The good thing is that you are making some amazing contacts through the circuit. I hope that good will come from The Geek Squad podcast, I hope that you go to the Last Friday in Troy and check out the gallery, and maybe sit in on one of their Drink & Draw sessions. Through that alone you can meet more artists that can further your vision, and maybe provide you the guidance that will help you expose yourself to the community and the world. I know you pour your heart and soul out there in front of everyone to be judged, and that can be the most difficult thing in the world to do, but I have seen amazing reactions to what you have shown. I will sing and scream your praises from the rooftop until I have no voice left, hopefully others will see what we all see in you.
I have a feeling he knows, and that’s why he wouldn’t speak to most vendors. He wasn’t even making eye contact. The steam punk jewelry guy near us spoke to him, but he had to physically stop him. The whole thing makes me sad, and you said he thanked people for making it happen? Who did he thank? I didn’t get so much as a “kiss my ass”.
There was a post on Lenn’s page from Steve Duckett stating: I want to say thank you to everyone that was involved with Infinity Con this weekend. We had a great weekend with great people. I can’t say thank you enough.
I checked the list of names he tagged and yours was not among them. I was like SERIOUSLY??? WTF? I will now forever refer to him as Steve Duck-it. Because if a problem comes along, he will duck it.
Nice, take my money and then slap me in the face. That’s what it amounts to. Whatever. Best of luck to him. I’ll move on.