When I first learned that conventions existed, my mind kinda blew. Here were people from the movies I loved paired with artists, writers, and people selling merch and collectibles, and I was in heaven. I had never imagined such things could exist, but there it was. When I went to more conventions and eventually ended up on the other side of the table —the vendor side —the love affair was set, and I was ready to marry.
I made the leap to putting on shows just before 2010. I had been around artsy folks with a DIY attitude and felt like a niche was being missed. Eventually, it led me to put on conventions with friends. It was a ton of stress, a ton of work, and there were people who didn’t do nearly enough to warrant the time invested in them, but it didn’t matter because I was doing something I loved with friends.
What people on the outside of events don’t see —and don’t really consider —are the effort, stress, and cost of putting these shows on. Ideally, you break even/make enough to keep doing these things. If the person/people doing the shows aren’t scoundrels, then they are not getting rich doing the shows. With the stress involved, there are better grifts to make money. You have to really want to do these shows and really want to contribute to the community you are serving to keep at it.
We are seeing a lot of the smaller “mom-and-pop” arts and culture events fall by the wayside because of the cost of doing them, and the disappearing venue resources. Once the small, regional, and local shows are gone, it will just be big, corporate entities, meaning costs skyrocket because they want to make money. They don’t care about you or your community; they care about money. You see this happening with horror and pop-culture conventions, and they will book dozens of guests, overwhelming the market and the fan, and charge tons of money to vend and attend, and in the end, it’s not sustainable.
The thing is, fans and vendors aren’t helping matters. Fans don’t want to attend shows that aren’t mega-sized with big-name guests, and then they are frustrated at the cost of everything. And vendors will complain at every show they do, whether they make money or not. I dunno how many shows I have done where people doing them just don’t bother to put the word out about the event to support it, because they don’t care. They care about themselves and treat the event people as if they are serving them alone. Putting on smaller shows is a communal effort, and it takes everyone promoting and supporting the event to make it succeed. We’re in a rough time because post-COVID people only go out for big, huge things; otherwise, they’re content to stay home. It’s crazy that concert prices have blasted into the outer atmosphere, but they still sell out.
The biggest sin, in my mind, happens with vendors. Vendors are the biggest brats. Even at a show they pay nothing to be at, if they feel they are not making money, they make a HUGE deal out of packing up early, and loading things up to leave. It could take more time than is left in the show to teardown, but by god, they’re going to do it to make a petty point. And once one of them tears down, other people decide that the show must be over.
I have put on shows that have bombed, and done shows that bombed, and while I will slowly start to put things away within the last half an hour, I never completely pack up unless it’s clear that the show’s over. To do otherwise breaks the trust of the showrunner and is tacky. I get that this is all loosey-goosey, but if you are going to make a big deal about you not making enough money to waste your time any longer, then you had a professional expectation, but have decided that the event organizer’s expectations don’t matter.
It’s about you.
When we were doing conventions and bigger shows, it was crazy to realize that we put all this work into something that everyone there, from celeb, to vendor to fan, would have a different experience with. There was nothing we could do other than try to make sure folks were as happy as possible, but that wasn’t always up to us. I remember one year someone complained we weren’t decorated for Halloween because the convention was close to that date.
Bro.
Gimme a break.
It’s sad that what community there is with convention folks, and I love so many of them, and have made so many friends through them, is withering away. And it’s withering because people are brats. No one likes a show that isn’t well attended or doesn’t make money, but you’re there —you paid to be there, you made the commitment, so stick it out. Your passive-aggressive tantrum just makes the show fall apart and cheats any latecomers of the chance to enjoy the event. I did an art show that was free for artists to do, and when no one was showing up after half an hour, one artist declared it “wasn’t her vibe,” and she packed up and left.
People have just lost what minimal respect they have for one another.
Sooner than later we’re gonna lose these smaller shows, and then you’re only left with the big ones, and if you start tearing down early at those, well, friend, it won’t go well for you. Like it or not, we’re in this together, and having served in all three capacities, fan, vendor, and show runner, if you don’t work together to support and promote the shows we’re doing and care about, we’ll lose it altogether, and then crummy vendors will be left grousing about the good old days.
…c…
The Spooky World of Chris Ringler 