So this year at our KOKOMO-CON, I'll be hanging out and checking in constantly with Art Baltazar! Co-Writer and Artist on Tiny Titans!
We just got him locked in as our Guest of Honor this year as a follow up to Katie Cook from last year. I'm pretty excited. We've doubled our area for the Con, having now the ENTIRE convention center and added a few more guests, with hopes of more. But getting Art is pretty awesome, I won't lie!
AWWW YEAH!
Moderator: Mr Wallstreet
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Tragic Angelus
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And I just found out today as well that I am in charge of the majority of Artist Alley!
Since we've doubled the size of the Con this year, it seems the head honcho wants to put volunteers/staff in charge of certain aisles and areas. Since I was the head of volunteers/manager/what have you for the staff last year, it seems I get the majority of Artist Alley this year.
And I think that's pretty damn cool. Of course it could all change in the next few months but who knows. I had volunteered to be Art's Con assistant so he doesn't get bombarded with over 20 sketches from 1 person and I got that news so it could be pretty awesome for me that day hanging with some artists!
Since we've doubled the size of the Con this year, it seems the head honcho wants to put volunteers/staff in charge of certain aisles and areas. Since I was the head of volunteers/manager/what have you for the staff last year, it seems I get the majority of Artist Alley this year.
And I think that's pretty damn cool. Of course it could all change in the next few months but who knows. I had volunteered to be Art's Con assistant so he doesn't get bombarded with over 20 sketches from 1 person and I got that news so it could be pretty awesome for me that day hanging with some artists!
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Mr Wallstreet
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Congrats on getting some great names for your Con. Building up on the sucess of your previous Cons will, no doubt, help your Con grow bigger and better every year.
An even bigger congrats on getting to run Artist Alley and becoming Art's assistant. You now wield great power; the power to do as you wish with little regard for others. Abuse your power as you know we would. But on a serious note, as a volunteer I imagine there must be some perks right? Give us details.
An even bigger congrats on getting to run Artist Alley and becoming Art's assistant. You now wield great power; the power to do as you wish with little regard for others. Abuse your power as you know we would. But on a serious note, as a volunteer I imagine there must be some perks right? Give us details.
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Tragic Angelus
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Ha as a volunteer, I get in free, work all day, and get to shop around and help creators/vendors/etc set up, just like you guys did at NYCC this past year. Which means I'll get to shop around a bit as people are setting up, hear what they have for sale, and since I'm working, probably get a decent discount.
Last year, Andy Bennett didn't charge me at all for the sketch I got from him. I had initially asked just for his free sketch at first, and he went all out and added charcoal and shading and told me it was free and I didn't owe him anything when I went back to pick up my book. I'm assuming that was because I was working for the show. So who knows what I could land this year.
But again, things are subject to change and I could always get shifted around. But I'm assuming that since I was the main leader/manager of volunteers last year he won't want to move me from Artist Alley. And I won't complain about that!
Last year, Andy Bennett didn't charge me at all for the sketch I got from him. I had initially asked just for his free sketch at first, and he went all out and added charcoal and shading and told me it was free and I didn't owe him anything when I went back to pick up my book. I'm assuming that was because I was working for the show. So who knows what I could land this year.
But again, things are subject to change and I could always get shifted around. But I'm assuming that since I was the main leader/manager of volunteers last year he won't want to move me from Artist Alley. And I won't complain about that!
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jedispyder
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Tragic Angelus
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Yeah we do. Not many are huge names, but more small press creators really.
We have Rafael Nieves, who has written and co-created Bob the Plumber and the Apocalypse Plan in the last few years, and generally makes the horror/small press/MidWest circuit returning as our Premier Guest for Life as he helps out an incredible amount with our marketing.
Tony Maldonado, who helped color in our artwork for this year, and has worked with Nieves a few times I believe (Though I'm not certain.)
We have Stuart Sayger coming back again this year.
Troy Hickman, who recently wrote Twilight Guardian.
The awesome Andy Bennett, who did my Deadman sketch last year.
And then we have other small press/online comic creators who are in a decent traveling distance to Kokomo come in and promote their work. We also had local artists, painters, and more who could buy booths to sell and promote their own work as well.
We're hoping more people return from last year, and we're upping the names we're trying to get. I had contacted Gail Simone, though it didn't pan out, and I know we've also contacted Ethan Van Sciver, though he was quite a bit out of our price range this year unless we guaranteed a few returns. The main show-runner really wants to get Chuck Dixon either this year or next since he doesn't live too far away.
On top of that, we have local businesses who specialize in toys and gaming come in and rent booths to sell their own merchandise. Kokomo's a relatively small town that's really trying to push and promote local businesses, so doing this helps to reinforce that and puts us in a great eye for the rest of the community.
And we just locked in on getting a Batmobile from the 60s T.V. series. I don't know if it was a used or replica copy yet, but we're working on figuring out if we're going to get a fantastic almost new car or a slightly used less spectacular looking one. But we've definitely got it!
I'll put up more info as I get it. We're still a few months away but we're trying to book everyone now, since we're the week before NYCC.
We have Rafael Nieves, who has written and co-created Bob the Plumber and the Apocalypse Plan in the last few years, and generally makes the horror/small press/MidWest circuit returning as our Premier Guest for Life as he helps out an incredible amount with our marketing.
Tony Maldonado, who helped color in our artwork for this year, and has worked with Nieves a few times I believe (Though I'm not certain.)
We have Stuart Sayger coming back again this year.
Troy Hickman, who recently wrote Twilight Guardian.
The awesome Andy Bennett, who did my Deadman sketch last year.
And then we have other small press/online comic creators who are in a decent traveling distance to Kokomo come in and promote their work. We also had local artists, painters, and more who could buy booths to sell and promote their own work as well.
We're hoping more people return from last year, and we're upping the names we're trying to get. I had contacted Gail Simone, though it didn't pan out, and I know we've also contacted Ethan Van Sciver, though he was quite a bit out of our price range this year unless we guaranteed a few returns. The main show-runner really wants to get Chuck Dixon either this year or next since he doesn't live too far away.
On top of that, we have local businesses who specialize in toys and gaming come in and rent booths to sell their own merchandise. Kokomo's a relatively small town that's really trying to push and promote local businesses, so doing this helps to reinforce that and puts us in a great eye for the rest of the community.
And we just locked in on getting a Batmobile from the 60s T.V. series. I don't know if it was a used or replica copy yet, but we're working on figuring out if we're going to get a fantastic almost new car or a slightly used less spectacular looking one. But we've definitely got it!
I'll put up more info as I get it. We're still a few months away but we're trying to book everyone now, since we're the week before NYCC.
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Mr Wallstreet
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The 60s Batmobile is a fantastic addition to your Con, Kudos to you.
I also like how you're getting the indie, small press & horror creators out there. These guys need to shine. Have you tried getting Archaia, Oni-Press, Dynamite, IDW or any of the other guys? As someone who redsicovered his love for horror stories, I find it hard to track down good horror comics.
I recently discovered a collected edition of short horror stories written by Dirk Manning (Write or Wrong of Newsarama) called Nightmare World, which I will try out soon, as well as Awakening by Archaia which I will also try out as soon as they release the damn thing in paperback
I also like how you're getting the indie, small press & horror creators out there. These guys need to shine. Have you tried getting Archaia, Oni-Press, Dynamite, IDW or any of the other guys? As someone who redsicovered his love for horror stories, I find it hard to track down good horror comics.
I recently discovered a collected edition of short horror stories written by Dirk Manning (Write or Wrong of Newsarama) called Nightmare World, which I will try out soon, as well as Awakening by Archaia which I will also try out as soon as they release the damn thing in paperback
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Tragic Angelus
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A few of the people we have, including one regular costumer has written a few times for Archaia if I recall, though I cannot remember who he is. I rarely got to work on Wednesdays, due to school, so the few I have I don't know those costumers as well, but I usually get filled in. He also has a story in an upcoming Batman Annual or 80 Page Giant as well, though he primarily does small press.
We went with Small press mostly because they're much easier, cheaper, and honestly more willing to do smaller cons just to get their name out there. Like you said, they get little press and face time, and someone with less capital to spend on guests like Wizard World or a big profile Con like SDCC or NYCC have become seeks those guests out. We're also trying to have one or two bigger names this year, which is why we got Art (he was actually unavailable for us last year, but wanted to do the show) and we're looking at other artists and writers. But we can get more booths/tables with smaller press than we can by shelling out tons of money for 1 person.
We're growing with each year, and with this only our 2nd year, we're hoping to just keep the trend going as best as we can.
We went with Small press mostly because they're much easier, cheaper, and honestly more willing to do smaller cons just to get their name out there. Like you said, they get little press and face time, and someone with less capital to spend on guests like Wizard World or a big profile Con like SDCC or NYCC have become seeks those guests out. We're also trying to have one or two bigger names this year, which is why we got Art (he was actually unavailable for us last year, but wanted to do the show) and we're looking at other artists and writers. But we can get more booths/tables with smaller press than we can by shelling out tons of money for 1 person.
We're growing with each year, and with this only our 2nd year, we're hoping to just keep the trend going as best as we can.