Hurricane FurFright

[tabbiewolf]

FurFright was great. I actually made more money than I did at Anthrocon, which is making me rethink going to Anthrocon 2013 -- the travel expenses are far more expensive than the money I make there, though it evens out with roommates and carpoolers -- and a lot of my fellow artists are saying the same thing. The amount of dealers is so huge compared to the amount of people who attend the convention that it isn't great for us smaller names who are trying to promote ourselves and our work.

I dunno. It could just be the shitty economy, but we'll see how the rest of the year pans out. FurFright was great because I sold a little bit of everything -- including a large amount of the portfolios that didn't sell at all at Anthrocon -- not to mention a ton of buttons, as well as a lot of original art (badges, sketches, etc.). I was never not busy (but I wasn't overwhelmed at any point...well, not by con-related stuff anyway), which is how conventions should be if you're a dealer.

Big thanks to all my friends who supported me and cheered me up after the non-convention-related drama that happened on Friday and Saturday. I really could not ask for better friends (Thank the Lord for the friends He cast in the play He wrote for you as the song goes). That's a situation that will one day be resolved (more detail may be gone into here one day, but I think it's okay to keep it amongst the people I told in person), but the ball is not in mine or Spot's court a this point, so I'm going to let it go as best I can and hope that things work out. Snarking with tashabear, playing Red Dragon Inn with world_dancer and fenris_lorsrai and Falconeio and a whole crew of other awesome people, digging through the weird Japanese candy we brought along to share...that really was a wonderful way to spend Saturday night and definitely helped calm me down :) Thank you guys.

We ended the con last night by changing into pajamas, ordering Chinese food, trying various delicious boozes (OMG the mead that I traded cupcakes for is The Best Mead EVER...damn Canadians, I have to go to Quebec to get more), playing the Back to the Future card game and then actually watching Back to the Future, followed by snuggling on the couch, followed by everyone crashing. Today we've been battening down the hatches in preparation for Hurricane Sandy, which is currently flooding New Jersey and the main part of it has not even made landfall yet.

If you're on the East coast -- anywhere from Virginia to Maine -- stay safe and follow the warnings they're issuing. Even if the storm doesn't hit some areas as hard as they're predicting it will, being too prepared is FAR better than not being prepared enough. Flooding has already started happening along the coast, and they're predicting that it will turn into a massive blizzard as it reaches Appalachia. Currently here, the state is under a Federal Emergency and all of the roads have been closed to traffic that is not emergency vehicles...most of the surrounding states are the same way. We still have power (obviously), but I'm not counting on it holding out.

Everyone stay safe and continue being awesome!

Comments

[silent-o.livejournal.com]

I've wanted to do FurFright for a while, but finances don't allow it. May be able to put some money away next year.

You stay safe too. :)

[thecartoongod.livejournal.com]

Stay safe, too!

[fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com]

I managed to totally unpack car last night and we're all set at house. hopefully power isn't out for a week like we had with both Hurricane Irene and Storm Albert. I do not like that track record!

[corelog.livejournal.com]

I know that we at RainFurrest keep a very close eye on the size of our Dealers Den. Our attendees often ask why we don't have more dealers, and we tell them that the math just doesn't work out.

For a certain number of dealers, each dealer needs X number of people to purchase something, in order for them to break even or make a profit. If we have too big a den, our attendees are spread too thin over the number of dealers, and the dealers suffer for it. Then you get dealers not wanting to come because they don't make any money, and the whole system collapses.

I'm not privy to the exact calculations involved, but I know it's a primary concern for our Dealers team, and it sounds like you might be experiencing this for yourself.

Speaking of RainFurrest, when are you going to come? :D Okay, okay, I know it's a bit of a trip, but c'mon, you could at least mail in some art to put up in the Art Auction! Please??? We need more quality art in our auction! Talk to me about it sometime. :)

[dalesql.livejournal.com]

For most fan conventions, the usual limiting factor is the size of the hotel function rooms, and how crowded you are willing to make the dealers room. How crowded is usually limited by the local fire safety code. So generally, the convention doesn't consciously make the calculation of dealers per attendee, as the building limits the room before you reach the point of not enough attendees. Anthrocon in a convention center, is not limited by the available room. I haven't been to AC since they moved to Pittsburgh, so really cannot say more about them. I will say that the level of crowding in the room at furfright would probably not be allowed by the Boston fire marshall.

[corelog.livejournal.com]

The size of the hotel function space is indeed a factor, but we've also deliberately restricted the space we occupy. Sometimes, this is so that we can plan for growth in future years.

But then there are times when we physically occupy the space and just arrange our tables (and aisles) to occupy more space than is strictly necessary. This has the effect of allowing us to seat fewer dealers than the room space may actually allow, with the intention of restructuring to allow more dealers as our attendance continues to increase.

This has been an active calculation on our part for at least the last two or three years, this much I know.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

Anthrocon does much the same. We shifted our Dealer's room last year to occupy a 50% increase in space.. with a 20% increase in dealer tables. For 2013, we're planning to expand by maybe 5%, if that. We try to keep at a certain attendee:dealer ratio. But we also try to encourage Artist's Alley folks to move to the Dealer's Room, which ups our efficiency and profit as a con. It's a very delicate balance.

Furfright's Dealer Room gets good sales.. iiiif you make it in. There's intense demand for the tables.

[world-dancer.livejournal.com]

Stay safe, and I'm glad you managed to eke out some fun.

This seems to be the year that everything went wrong, but we still managed to have a good time.

My power is currently doing the hokey pokey, so I don't know if my computer will be up tomorrow. On the plus side, work was canceled again.