Speaking of Saturday, this is the first time I've ever been to the Double Tree By Hilton hotel in South Portland. It is also the home of Portcon, an Anime-themed event held every July which I haven't attended...yet. So due to my unfamiliarity of the place, I parked across the street at the Maine Mall. Carrying half of the $100 I had set aside for the weekend, I worked my way to the lobby.
The layout of the hotel is weird - consisting of two cylinder-shaped buildings connected at ground level with the lobby and function rooms. I mention this because as I approached the place, there were no signs of activity. No signs promoting the event, no greeters, nothing. As I got to the door, someone came out of the place wearing a Cobra Kai t-shirt...and I immediately relaxed.
The main entrance to the hotel led directly to the main desk, but there's a hallway off to the left that went to the other entrance connecting the parking lot to the function rooms...which looked all too familiar.
If you've ever gone to any type of convention, as I have, and shown up pretty much at the start of the day, as I did, you see the same stuff: tables set up but without the required tablecloths, people getting chairs and setting up their spaces, computers (nowadays) firing up to check people in, and Coffee. Lots and Lots of Coffee.
I waited in line and got my badge, but the badges were of the "Hello! My Name Is..." sort, where you get the badge...along with a marker...to write your name on it.
The coffee I mentioned had not made it to my hands at this point, so I simply put my whole name - which they had on record for pre-registering.
It wasn't until later when I saw badges bearing names like "The Doctor" and "Indigo Montoya" that I realized I could have put down anything. Did I have to add my last name?
Anyway - the main function room held the vendors on the left side, the artists on the right side, and the food vendors roughly in between. The tables were set up around the perimeter of the room in addition to rows in the center to create aisles.
One of the things I've learned about myself over the years is that I'm a people person. I strike up conversations with complete strangers as a way of coping with awkward situations...which comic conventions most certainly are. This is great when I'm a volunteer. Back at Wizard Boston, I talked with anyone and everyone I could. I saw myself as a gopher, willing to get water for artists or vendors, sit at a table so someone could go to the bathroom or get some food, etc.
It's also a helpful skill when I'm behind the table. I once attended a single day event years ago with my own table. It broke the ice and made potential shoppers more willing to buy from me than from "that other guy's table over there".
As a shopper, however, things get tricksy. As I walked around the room Saturday, I struck conversations with almost everybody. The vendors were cool. They understood that most people were just looking at this point, and wanted to check out what everyone had before pulling out their cash.
The food vendors were also cool. They knew that even if nobody bought anything right away, they'd get hungry eventually.
Artists have a somewhat different agenda. They're selling their talent. They're there to promote their latest works, to sign stuff and to show people their interpretations of Batman, Wolverine or Zombies. So as I walked down the artists' tables and spoke with them, I felt more and more guilty not buying anything. It wasn't about whether or not they had a copy of Wonder Woman #59, for example, it was whether or not I liked their creative interpretation of Wonder Woman. Part of me wanted to buy something from everyone - especially the local artists - but I only had so much to spend.
Having said that, I did end up buying one item from an artist for Adorkette. She loves the BBC Sherlock, and she loves Zombies, so I bought this Sherlock/Zombie mash-up by Jason Welborn.
Check out the site: www.draw2d2.com.
Next thing I knew, it was Noon...and time for my first panel.
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