Then Do It Yourself

I am burned out.

I am over it.

I have been doing events with people since 2005.

Art shows. Concerts. Kid’s events.

From there I started doing rummage sales at bars and in the building where I lived. Loose, laid back events where folks could sell their stuff in a funky setting.

From there I did art shows with friends. The hope was to get underseen artists the opportunity to show their work, maybe sell their work, and to gain some confidence. The art shows were really rewarding because it encouraged emerging artists to take the chance of showing publicly and it was great. The stupid thing that came from it though was that a local alternative newspaper decided they had the only authority to use the world ‘guerilla’ – they were guerilla news, we were a guerilla art show – and they protested us during a show. Dressed as zombies they wandered through the art show throwing their newspaper around and bumping into art and guests. They even had the audacity to try to unfurl some silly banner that said art isn’t for sale or some such nonsense with fake money all over it. Stupid, petty, and frustrating.

That’s how it goes, though, as you find out the longer you do events.

From there I got a group of friends together to do horror shows and conventions. The initial group fell apart when two of the people pulled out as things were coalescing, but I perservered and we put together the first horror convention Flint had ever seen. It was crazy to see it come together, a story I need to fully tell on a podcast, now that I think of it. That first year was magical.

The second year though, the novelty of it was gone and the expectations began.

We want huge guests.

We want a big show.

Which all sounds good on paper but the fact is that the bigger the show, the bigger the costs.

The biggest show we did ended up costing nearly thirteen grand – in part because two guest’s had to have flights changed at the last minute, adding almost two grand to the budget. People don’t consider the logistics of it all – booking guests, booking travel, booking hotels, and making sure they are happy, fed, and taken to and from the show. That on top of booking and managing vendors, and guests to the show.

We a movie room, vending, costume contests, and guests.

Those first years we also offered one of the best green rooms you will ever find, run by one of our members that took great pride in providing that and taking care of folks.

But fans, many who didn’t even come to our cons or many smaller events, had expectations. Vendors began to get bratty and acting as they would at big shows (bringing booze to the show, acting fools, all of that stuff that never bothered us but which was frustrating nonetheless), and plus ones of guests/vendors started abusing the green room.

We never broke even at the shows but we got close enough to do four of them.

They were amazing.

The relatively low attendance to our events got to me though.

When we evolved to do film festivals instead, as money just wasn’t there to do conventions, people still didn’t show.

They wanted conventions.

Or, gosh, we’re too busy.

Or whatever.

There were always reasons people weren’t coming and it got old.

I took time off and came back to do things solo, keeping the shows small and completely independent.

I liked it.

I missed doing shows, missed helping creatives get their work out and seen.

I wanted to do vendor shows, art shows, a film festival, movie nights, events with speakers and more.

I wanted to bring all of the events I wished there were to the area.

I was reinvigorated.

For a while.
Then reality set in.

Bratty vendors.

People canceling at the last second.

Worst of all was the general shrug that came from the public.

People just weren’t that into what I was doing.

After a handful of sparsely attended shows, a bomb of an art show, and a lack of general interest, I had had enough.

I couldn’t sink the money, or the time into something people didn’t seem to want.

Finding space to do events without paying was nearly impossible and it even offering free space I had trouble with vendors who felt it wasn’t worth their time.

And it sucks.

It sucks to try to create something you think is special only to have people crap all over it, or worse, not even care.

Horror is big where I live…but for haunted houses, or conventions, or watching BIG movies in a theater.

Whatever I was offering wasn’t what folks want.

It hurts, but that’s reality.

As an event coordinator that worst part of it all are the know-it-alls who have lots of demands but nothing constructive to offer. They just want to talk mess because you aren’t offering them what THEY want, darn it. They don’t want to go to the show but they will for sure make it clear to others they aren’t going.

It’s stupid.

It’s petty.

It’s childish.

My advice?

Do your own then!
If you are not seeing what you want, then start it.

Like anime and no one is doing anime shows near you?

Put something together.

If you like comics and want a real comic con?

Put one on.

Whatever you love, if no one is fulfilling it near you, then do it.

It’s hard.

It’s generally thankless.

But you can do it.

If you want it that bad.

If you’re more than just talk.

If you actually wanna give back and create something.

The geek scene has let the small shows die so the huge ones that cost arms and legs could go on. Gotta see those big celebs and then complain about how much they cost for an autograph or pic.

It’s easier to complain.

It’s comforting.

It’s the old punk guy complaining that punk is dead because he doesn’t like the modern stuff.

Or horror oldsters insisting that modern horror is no good.

If you can do it better…do it.

Partner with like minded people and do it.

Do it.

The geek scene needs the small shows. It needs passionate fans to keep the flame alive.

It needs to push back against the corporatization of our hobbies.

I have been doing this for nearly twenty years. I love it, so, so much.
Too much.

It’s too personal and too painful.

But if you have ideas, connections, friends, then use them all.

Make use of them all.

The thing is you have to do it right, which is a WHOLE other topic, but while I may have never been much of a success with shows I can say that I never compromised myself or my beliefs to do what we did and what I did.

I am glad for that.

Now go do something.

Do it.

…c…