I've been waiting for NYCC since last year; I'd gone for a day and had the time of my life. This year, I was much more prepared: I was staying with a friend in Brooklyn, I had some meetings scheduled, and I was looking forward to enjoying NYC while representing the store.
While the rest of the employees would be going down early Thursday morning, I headed down late Wednesday nightNow, as I've said to some of you, I'm a guy who likes being behind the wheel, but when I get too close to NYC, I turn into Mr. Road Rage. I'm fortunate in that I left so late that the traffic was minimal, the directions were perfect (thank you Google Maps) and I found a parking spot right next to my friend's apartment building. As a precocious evil infant likes to say, "Victory is(was) mine!".
My first challenge on Wedneday night was holding off the peer pressure of my friends to go out and have "one or two" drinks. We all know what one or two drinks turns into, right? I wasn't having any of it, so I stayed in my swanky Williamsburg pad and got some sleep.
--
Thursday morning rolled around, and I had my first adventure on the subway. I had to switch between 2 different subways. Did I mention that I was a complete neophyte when it comes to this whole subway thing? To my surprise it went much better than I thought and I got to the Javitts Center in time for the Diamond Comic Distributors Brunch. Diamond is the main source of all the American-published comics, and the elephant in the room when it comes to distribution. Several times a year, they hold breakfasts like this at NYCC or San Diego or some of their own retreats, and use it as an opportunity to speak with retailers.
I generally have mixed feelings about these kinds of things. They don't always come across as productive, and seem more "ra-ra, look at us" than necessary. There's often a distinct lack of professionalism at these events, but that might be a personal bias of mine; after being a teacher, I often think HOW you act is just as important as the message you're trying to get across.
The brunch was held in a much prettier location than year's sub-basement facility, but the sound and audio in the large glass-filled room was ATROCIOUS. Halfway into the brunch, I turned to a colleague and said "This is the third time I've been to one of these and I hope it's my last." I'll spare you the details, if only because I couldn't hear most of them (and it wasn't for a lack of trying). However, Dark Horse announced next year's Free Comic Book Day offerings would include Star Wars AND Serenity. Best news ever, right there.
So, the brunch was a complete bust.
I spent the afternoon in a couple panels. One was very, very good; a great session on running events, and the other was a general-purpose customer service talk. I was disappointed that a panel on LGBT comics was cancelled without notice, I was hoping to get more info on those books. I took a lot of great ideas away from that afternoon, and hope that the audio for the events panel becomes available in the near future, so I can pass it on to the rest of the Den staff. We do so much business with events and the tables, that every good idea we can steal helps us along the way.
The folks running NYCC decided to create a separate entrance for Pros and Press, but to my surprise, the line to get in for the 4:00 opening was loooooong. I got in line around 3:45, but was inside by 4:05 or so. That line really hustled once they got the doors opened.Nice job, Javitts and Reed Exhibition folks!
And once I finally got inside and took a look around, my mind was blown.
--
A life-size Optimus Prime! The Avengers helicarrier booth! Artists Alley! There was so much to process and not enough time. I walked over to our booth to check how things were set-up, and I was very impressed; they'd put everything together quite nicely, and had things ready to go. I thought bringing the Batman neon sign was particularly inspired, it really stood out. I made my way over to our friends at ZombiePetz and spoke with Ryan for a bit. I caught up with him a couple times during the con, and he was absolutely insane with sketches and commissions. We carry the ZombiePetz t-shirts at the store, and couldn't be happier for Ryan and the success he's getting.
I waited in line for a while and got one of our Action Comics variants signed by Jim Lee, who was a perfect gentleman. He even remembered me from when we met at the New 52 Retailer Roundtable at DC about 3 months ago. Great guy.
I walked through Artists Alley for a bit, making a mental note of where certain artists and writers were. I immediately kicked myself for not writing down in advance where some of them lived.
By around 6:30pm, I was ready to call it a day. I knew Friday would be a long one, but I had some time to kill before a late dinner with a group of retailers and the DC Sales department. I walked around NYC for a bit, before meeting up with everyone at Hill Country Barbecue which was just awesome. I got to hang with our DC Sales Rep, Stewart, who had shaved his awesome Hulk Hogan-inspired beard (BOO!) and shoot the bull with other store owners. I then took the L back to Brooklyn, and prepared for Day 2 of NYCC Madness.
--
On Friday I got up earlier than my roommates, as I had been invited to a retailer-only breakfast with a couple people from Image Comics. I don't know whether many people responded to the invites or some people slept in (it was at 9am), but when I got to the restaurant, there were 3 other retailers, the Image Sales Guy, and the Publisher of Image! So... small crowd, which meant I got some good face time with one of the decision makers at Image. Even with our "small but getting bigger fast" store status, my feedback was valued and listened to. That felt good, and it was great hearing about some of the books coming out over the next year. (None of which I can talk about, sorry).
By the time breakfast had ended, and I had gotten into the con, it was well after 11, almost 12 noon. I headed over to DC to thank Stewart for dinner, walked to our booth to check in, and then started roaming the Con, looking for artists and writers. This is where my lack of Con experience caused me the largest waste of time. So many writers and artists will be at their booths for an hour here, or an hour there; some put up signs, some leave their assistants. So while there were people I found right off the bat (Brian Wood, writer of DMZ, Northlanders, just announced Conan and soon to be announced Wolverine), others proved to be more elusive.
I had a wonderful conversation with the folks who work for Peter Beagle, writer of The Last Unicorn. We discussed the possibility of him coming to the store to do a signing next year when they re-release the movie in limited release across the country. The comic adapatation of The Last Unicorn is GORGEOUS, and highly recommended to everyone, ever. Plus, IDW is releasing a graphic novel adaptation of the sequel to The Last Unicorn, "Two Hearts".
I spent more time than I wish tracking down the maker of the Popfun glasses we carry in the store. I made at least four trips there to meet him, but each time he had "just left" or was in a meeting somewhere. It was too hectic to talk for too long, but it was nice to meet the guy who's been making all the cool glassware that's been selling so well.
I waited in line again at the DC booth for Jim Lee (had more books to sign), but he showed up late, and the line was too long, and I didn't make the cut-off point. That was disappointing, but only fair as I'd made the cut-off point the day before.
I hung out at the ComicsPro booth for a while and schmoozed with other retailers. Meeting other retailers and talking shop is one of my favorite things, and a source of great ideas. I got a bunch more little tidbits and interesting sales tactics from a couple people, and I look forward to putting some of them to use at The Den, if I can squeeze some extra space out of the comics wall.
Brian Wood was alone at his table, and I caught up to him and talked shop. He's wrapping things up at Vertigo, and doing Conan for Dark Horse, with long time creative partner Becky Cloonan. I re-read his DMZ before I went down to NYC and it's superb. A great work of art. We talked about him doing a signing up at The Den, as he travels up to our area a couple times a year.
I waited in line for a couple writers (Abnett and Lanning), only to have them have to leave for a panel. My man crush on DnA was denied! Curses!
Sadly, I approached one or two creators about doing a signing up at our store, and was rebuffed. I got some attitude or "Ohh, I don't know"-type bs. That didn't win any points with me, and needless to say, they will not be invited our way any time soon. Sorry comic creators, we can't all be as big or important as Mid-Town. Pssh.
Along the way, I bumped into Seth Green, and saw Tom Morello checking out Artist's Alley. I'm not going to lie, I almost started singing some RATM lyrics, but kept my inner rage-fueled fan bottled up.
I headed over to the Marvel booth to check things out, and was blow away by how big the backdrop was. I confess to being disappointed that Marvel was more interested in pushing The Avengers movie than the comics themselves. That was a bummer, especially when you consider how comic-centric DC's booth was.
I caught up with Kieron Gillen, who some of you might know as the writer of Uncanny X-Men #1. He's a Brit, so I won't hold it over his head, but he was a cool guy. We ended up having an entertaining conversation about A-ha later in the day. (Much later. See below).
I did a bit more wandering, and realized it was almost the end of my day. I had plans to meet some retailers out for drinks later, but I decided to head back to Brooklyn for a bit to recuperate. Hours later, I was out with retailers, shooting the bull, and hearing gossip I didn't need to know. Then I headed down to the iFanboy party where Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie were DJ'g. The bar was wayyyy too small for the comics crowd, but I spotted Jason Aaron (his beard is mighty), and a couple people from Comics Alliance chilling out. I grabbed Kieron and we started talking about A-Ha's Take On Me. We found out that we both love 80's music, being only 6 months apart in age, but Kieron's knowledge of 80's pop music is INSANE. As in, trumps mine. The man is an 80's music afficionado.
By now, it was after midnight, and I may or may not have had too many drinks. I deny nothing. The swanky Brooklyn pad was calling out to me, and it was time to sleep. L train to Williamsburg, 3 block walk, and I was out.
--
Since the original plan was for me to work Thursday and Friday, I got Saturday and Sunday off. I lounged around Brooklyn on Saturday and caught up with friends Saturday night. I went over early on Sunday for an hour and did some more wandering around the show, then went back to Williamsburg, packed my bags, and headed north for the long sojourn to Poughkeepsie.
--
Some final thoughts:
* As someone who's never "done" a big con before, I made the right decision not to plan too far ahead. That left my schedule flexible to see and do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.
* That said, I wish I'd done a little more research into learning where creators live. Getting crestors to do signings is easy when they live in NYC. When they've recently moved to Oregon, not so much.
* I've gotten some feedback from customers and other pros that the aisles were too small and it was too crowded. Since I stayed away on Saturday, I can only imagine how nuts it was, but I don't think this is something that's going to change. The Javitts is the only place to hold a convention of this type in NYC, but it's not really the best venue.
* Big props to the rest of the staff at the Den for the traveling, packing, unpacking, breaking down, putting together, and then doing it all over again on Sunday.
* Saw a bunch of reservists and regulars while I was down there. Nice job representing the Dragon's Den, guys!
My first challenge on Wedneday night was holding off the peer pressure of my friends to go out and have "one or two" drinks. We all know what one or two drinks turns into, right? I wasn't having any of it, so I stayed in my swanky Williamsburg pad and got some sleep.
--
Thursday morning rolled around, and I had my first adventure on the subway. I had to switch between 2 different subways. Did I mention that I was a complete neophyte when it comes to this whole subway thing? To my surprise it went much better than I thought and I got to the Javitts Center in time for the Diamond Comic Distributors Brunch. Diamond is the main source of all the American-published comics, and the elephant in the room when it comes to distribution. Several times a year, they hold breakfasts like this at NYCC or San Diego or some of their own retreats, and use it as an opportunity to speak with retailers.
I generally have mixed feelings about these kinds of things. They don't always come across as productive, and seem more "ra-ra, look at us" than necessary. There's often a distinct lack of professionalism at these events, but that might be a personal bias of mine; after being a teacher, I often think HOW you act is just as important as the message you're trying to get across.
 |
| He said ATROCIOUS, not ATROCITUS. Pay attention, puny human |
So, the brunch was a complete bust.
I spent the afternoon in a couple panels. One was very, very good; a great session on running events, and the other was a general-purpose customer service talk. I was disappointed that a panel on LGBT comics was cancelled without notice, I was hoping to get more info on those books. I took a lot of great ideas away from that afternoon, and hope that the audio for the events panel becomes available in the near future, so I can pass it on to the rest of the Den staff. We do so much business with events and the tables, that every good idea we can steal helps us along the way.
The folks running NYCC decided to create a separate entrance for Pros and Press, but to my surprise, the line to get in for the 4:00 opening was loooooong. I got in line around 3:45, but was inside by 4:05 or so. That line really hustled once they got the doors opened.Nice job, Javitts and Reed Exhibition folks!
And once I finally got inside and took a look around, my mind was blown.
--
A life-size Optimus Prime! The Avengers helicarrier booth! Artists Alley! There was so much to process and not enough time. I walked over to our booth to check how things were set-up, and I was very impressed; they'd put everything together quite nicely, and had things ready to go. I thought bringing the Batman neon sign was particularly inspired, it really stood out. I made my way over to our friends at ZombiePetz and spoke with Ryan for a bit. I caught up with him a couple times during the con, and he was absolutely insane with sketches and commissions. We carry the ZombiePetz t-shirts at the store, and couldn't be happier for Ryan and the success he's getting.
I waited in line for a while and got one of our Action Comics variants signed by Jim Lee, who was a perfect gentleman. He even remembered me from when we met at the New 52 Retailer Roundtable at DC about 3 months ago. Great guy.
I walked through Artists Alley for a bit, making a mental note of where certain artists and writers were. I immediately kicked myself for not writing down in advance where some of them lived.
By around 6:30pm, I was ready to call it a day. I knew Friday would be a long one, but I had some time to kill before a late dinner with a group of retailers and the DC Sales department. I walked around NYC for a bit, before meeting up with everyone at Hill Country Barbecue which was just awesome. I got to hang with our DC Sales Rep, Stewart, who had shaved his awesome Hulk Hogan-inspired beard (BOO!) and shoot the bull with other store owners. I then took the L back to Brooklyn, and prepared for Day 2 of NYCC Madness.
--
On Friday I got up earlier than my roommates, as I had been invited to a retailer-only breakfast with a couple people from Image Comics. I don't know whether many people responded to the invites or some people slept in (it was at 9am), but when I got to the restaurant, there were 3 other retailers, the Image Sales Guy, and the Publisher of Image! So... small crowd, which meant I got some good face time with one of the decision makers at Image. Even with our "small but getting bigger fast" store status, my feedback was valued and listened to. That felt good, and it was great hearing about some of the books coming out over the next year. (None of which I can talk about, sorry).
By the time breakfast had ended, and I had gotten into the con, it was well after 11, almost 12 noon. I headed over to DC to thank Stewart for dinner, walked to our booth to check in, and then started roaming the Con, looking for artists and writers. This is where my lack of Con experience caused me the largest waste of time. So many writers and artists will be at their booths for an hour here, or an hour there; some put up signs, some leave their assistants. So while there were people I found right off the bat (Brian Wood, writer of DMZ, Northlanders, just announced Conan and soon to be announced Wolverine), others proved to be more elusive.
I had a wonderful conversation with the folks who work for Peter Beagle, writer of The Last Unicorn. We discussed the possibility of him coming to the store to do a signing next year when they re-release the movie in limited release across the country. The comic adapatation of The Last Unicorn is GORGEOUS, and highly recommended to everyone, ever. Plus, IDW is releasing a graphic novel adaptation of the sequel to The Last Unicorn, "Two Hearts".
I spent more time than I wish tracking down the maker of the Popfun glasses we carry in the store. I made at least four trips there to meet him, but each time he had "just left" or was in a meeting somewhere. It was too hectic to talk for too long, but it was nice to meet the guy who's been making all the cool glassware that's been selling so well.
I waited in line again at the DC booth for Jim Lee (had more books to sign), but he showed up late, and the line was too long, and I didn't make the cut-off point. That was disappointing, but only fair as I'd made the cut-off point the day before.
I hung out at the ComicsPro booth for a while and schmoozed with other retailers. Meeting other retailers and talking shop is one of my favorite things, and a source of great ideas. I got a bunch more little tidbits and interesting sales tactics from a couple people, and I look forward to putting some of them to use at The Den, if I can squeeze some extra space out of the comics wall.
Brian Wood was alone at his table, and I caught up to him and talked shop. He's wrapping things up at Vertigo, and doing Conan for Dark Horse, with long time creative partner Becky Cloonan. I re-read his DMZ before I went down to NYC and it's superb. A great work of art. We talked about him doing a signing up at The Den, as he travels up to our area a couple times a year.
I waited in line for a couple writers (Abnett and Lanning), only to have them have to leave for a panel. My man crush on DnA was denied! Curses!
Sadly, I approached one or two creators about doing a signing up at our store, and was rebuffed. I got some attitude or "Ohh, I don't know"-type bs. That didn't win any points with me, and needless to say, they will not be invited our way any time soon. Sorry comic creators, we can't all be as big or important as Mid-Town. Pssh.
Along the way, I bumped into Seth Green, and saw Tom Morello checking out Artist's Alley. I'm not going to lie, I almost started singing some RATM lyrics, but kept my inner rage-fueled fan bottled up.
I headed over to the Marvel booth to check things out, and was blow away by how big the backdrop was. I confess to being disappointed that Marvel was more interested in pushing The Avengers movie than the comics themselves. That was a bummer, especially when you consider how comic-centric DC's booth was.
I caught up with Kieron Gillen, who some of you might know as the writer of Uncanny X-Men #1. He's a Brit, so I won't hold it over his head, but he was a cool guy. We ended up having an entertaining conversation about A-ha later in the day. (Much later. See below).
I did a bit more wandering, and realized it was almost the end of my day. I had plans to meet some retailers out for drinks later, but I decided to head back to Brooklyn for a bit to recuperate. Hours later, I was out with retailers, shooting the bull, and hearing gossip I didn't need to know. Then I headed down to the iFanboy party where Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie were DJ'g. The bar was wayyyy too small for the comics crowd, but I spotted Jason Aaron (his beard is mighty), and a couple people from Comics Alliance chilling out. I grabbed Kieron and we started talking about A-Ha's Take On Me. We found out that we both love 80's music, being only 6 months apart in age, but Kieron's knowledge of 80's pop music is INSANE. As in, trumps mine. The man is an 80's music afficionado.
By now, it was after midnight, and I may or may not have had too many drinks. I deny nothing. The swanky Brooklyn pad was calling out to me, and it was time to sleep. L train to Williamsburg, 3 block walk, and I was out.
--
Since the original plan was for me to work Thursday and Friday, I got Saturday and Sunday off. I lounged around Brooklyn on Saturday and caught up with friends Saturday night. I went over early on Sunday for an hour and did some more wandering around the show, then went back to Williamsburg, packed my bags, and headed north for the long sojourn to Poughkeepsie.
--
Some final thoughts:
* As someone who's never "done" a big con before, I made the right decision not to plan too far ahead. That left my schedule flexible to see and do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.
* That said, I wish I'd done a little more research into learning where creators live. Getting crestors to do signings is easy when they live in NYC. When they've recently moved to Oregon, not so much.
* I've gotten some feedback from customers and other pros that the aisles were too small and it was too crowded. Since I stayed away on Saturday, I can only imagine how nuts it was, but I don't think this is something that's going to change. The Javitts is the only place to hold a convention of this type in NYC, but it's not really the best venue.
* Big props to the rest of the staff at the Den for the traveling, packing, unpacking, breaking down, putting together, and then doing it all over again on Sunday.
* Saw a bunch of reservists and regulars while I was down there. Nice job representing the Dragon's Den, guys!
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