Comic-con 2007 from the other side of the table

By: Maggie MacDonald

This was my first Comic-con, but I decided to try it from a different perspective. I spent some time behind a vendor table, selling items that were apparently quite popular. I got to talk to people who’d been doing the convention for many years, and learn what to avoid, and what to definitely not avoid.

The vendors that I  helped were from out of town, so they even had the additional pleasure of dealing with San Diego traffic, hotels and just dealing with basic needs.

On either side of us were comic book vendors, jewelry vendors, stuff animal vendors, and “The Pagoda of T-shirts”. It got named that for being about 15 feet tall, and just t-shirts as far as you could see. The benefit to being with the vendors was that you could get in early, and get a chance to walk around and see exhibits before there are a billion other bodies between you and the displays.

The Golden Compass display was especially awesome when there weren’t three dozen people between me and the glass case that held the costumes. The Sci-Fi Channel booth with the space vehicle type center was even more interesting without a hundred people blocking up the view.

The disadvantage to this situation is that there are those who try to walk off with the stuff that you’re trying to sell. There are grumpy patrons (of course), and times when you’d really rather be someplace else besides standing behind this table smiling at someone who wants you to sell them three t-shirts for $5.

For my time though, I got to meet other cool vendors. Neil Gaiman had a really big year, and as a result his name is being put on even more merchandise, such as the Neverwear line of clothing, though its just shirts at the moment. I snagged one for myself. Hey, I gotta know about the competition, right?

~ by tmecomiccon on July 30, 2007.