8am is a bit early for full drag, but you do what you gotta do.
Immediately after getting home from Awesome Con in DC on May 29-31, I had to turn around and get ready for Special Edition: NYC the following weekend of June 6-7. A two day show, Special Edition: NYC is the fiesty kid brother of the infamous monster that is New York Comic Con. It's second year in running, I had heard decent-to-good things about it last year (I did not attend) and figured I'd give it a shot considering it's in my own backyard and I wouldn't have to travel far or upset my normal schedule too much to attend. For having very little in the way of expectations, I was pleasantly surprised with how the show turned out! I made a satisfactory amount of money to justify coming out and saw lots of my friends and fans that I normally only see at NYCC, which is too crazy to be able to talk to anyone longer than 5 minutes at. I'm definitely going to attend next year as well, and add this show to my yearly convention roster.
When I'm too tired to deal with my hair- out come the wigs.
I'm very glad the show turned out to be worth my time and money, as setting up on Friday didn't help my abysmal expectations. I had to push my heavy-ass granny cart full of merch and display racks from Williamsburg, Brooklyn all the way up to Pier 94 in Manhattan on 53rd and 12th in the rain. At least I burned a TON of calories on my pedometer. Pier 94 itself didn't really add to my confidence of the event, as it was basically a dingy warehouse on the Hudson River whose entrance was under an overpass, with barely any signage. I was convinced no one would come out and I'd be in a hole yet again, as my previous two shows this year were a one-two-punch of debt and disappointment. Fortunately I was proven wrong by the amazing crowds on Saturday!!
Bonus tip for you ladies: use an old convention lanyard as a zipper pull for those tiny zippers on skirt/dresses/tops!
Saturday at Special Edition was really crowded which was awesome. Apparently a big reason for this was that it was one of the few (only?) places you could get NYCC tickets after the online tickets sold out in under an hour. There was also a ton of cosplay going on and though I was all the way in the back (something else I was initially displeased about), it actually worked out in my favor because I was right next to the cosplay meetup area and the cafe, so I got a lot of traffic by my table. Almost immediately after I took the curtain off my table Saturday morning people were swarming and buying things. Yessss. This is more like it!! COMMERCE!!!! I even made back table just on Saturday- which for this show especially was a bit steep, but hey that's NYC for you.
A video posted by Paige Pumphrey (@paigey_pumphrey) on
IMMA MAWDEL.
Sunday was a little less crowded, which is fine as it gave me a chance to actually talk to friends who came by. Including some extra special guest stars!!! Like:
OMG ADAM WARREN!!!!
I could barely contain my squee's. ^ o ^
OMGGGG!!! A rare, surprise appearance by one of my all-time favorite creators, Adam Warren of Dirty Pair/Empowered/Gen13 fame, who was also exhibiting!! I haven't seen him since I used to attend Otakon in the early 00's as a cosplayer- I've even got a wall of his original sketches that I commissioned. He was awesome enough to specially come by and see me at my table, as I was running it by myself and didnt really have a chance to escape except to use the bathroom.
Cuties bein' cuties!
I also was lucky enough to catch a moment with the fabulous fashionista Betty Felon and super sweetheart Lauren Moran, who I always love seeing- both in person and on the interwebs.
Also, something I would like to address:
If
you work an Artist Alley: PLEASE don't launch into a sales pitch
immediately after someone makes eye contact while idly walking down
the aisle. It's obnoxious and off-putting and will more than likely
scare them off. JUST SAY HI. Maybe even smile. Let them come over on
their own. Quit acting so thirsty!
That
exact tactic made me AVOID artist alley at all cost as a fan back in
the day. Think of all the potential customers/fans being run off! With over 8 years of experience behind an artist alley table, 18 years of attending conventions as a whole and 7+ years of working in sales as my occupation outside of art- believe me when I say this. Invest in decent signage, look presentable and tone down the aggressive sales tactics. At my table I
try to talk about everything BUT my art, it's all already there for them to look at. The most I usually say when people have shown an interest in my product is simply stating that yes, this is all my art and that I make most of the products (jewelry, magnets) by hand. And that's mostly because there are people who are new to the convention scene that do not understand that the person sitting behind the table at a con is usually the person who drew the art on the table in front of them. I still get people who think that I'm either some sort of booth babe, or that "The Art of Paigey" is some faceless storefront entity and that I am but an employee in their service. I know, weird- but don't underestimate how ignorant a customer may potentially be. In my experience, the EASIEST way to get people
talking and looking at your stuff is to simply ask them how the shows
been for them. Or ask about their other purchases. Or their costume. Or
their t-shirt. Its basic sales stuff. Ask open ended questions.
Also, don't take it to heart if a person doesn't buy anything at your table. If they're interested in your work but don't have the means to purchase something at that very moment- give them your card. I get a box of at least 500 giveaway postcards per show and plan to hand out every one. All it has is the address of this here website- because from here you can go to literally all of my stores and outlets on social media. The simpler, the better. Yes you give them away for free and yes, that means you may initially feel that it is a waste of money. Really you should look at it as an investment- as you literally never know who will see it later and whether that person will become a fan who then follows your work and buys something at the next show, or contacts you about a commission, or buys a bunch of stuff from your online store. I even go above and beyond and will keep a small stack in my purse so that whenever I go to a cafe, or a bar or some sort of public space that has a spot for local advertising and leave a stack there. If there isn't a spot for this- don't be rude and leave them, then you literally ARE throwing money away because the employees that work there will throw them away and kind of hate you. I've had people at conventions recognize me from cards I've left at donut places, Thai restaurants and dive bars all over the city and it's kinda cool- you get a wider swath of potential customers. Even better, as me and my BFF and frequent convention collaborator Little Asian Sweatshop have started doing- split a 2-sided postcard with a friend who also shows at conventions (especially if you're near each other or split tables). Double the impact and you save money and paper!
When I quit Joe Kubert School after 2nd year and started working sales/retail jobs I thought I was making the worst mistake of my life. I worked as a commission-based sales person at a high-end tv and stereo store and then later as a part-time manager at Hot Topic. Strangely enough however all the sales training and merchandising has actually been a giant boon to me on the convention floor once I put two-and-two together and started selling something I could actually
get behind, being my own artwork and various handmade merch. This is
why I try to make as many different things as I can at different price
points to cater to different customers. I bust my ass to stay relevant
and well-stocked. Yes, conventions are changing. Mainstream attention
means mainstream customers. Do I think there are pro's (and "pro's", yes
with quotes...) who have taken for granted that conventions will always
be the same and thusly the thought of things like market research are
completely alien to them? Abso-friggen-lutely. Evolve or die.
Awesome Con (May 29-31) in Washington, DC! We've heard so much positivity about this show and have gotten some very professional-looking flyers for it since it's inception a few years ago. With my best friend and frequent partner-in-crime Fenny of Little Asian Sweatshop living right outside of DC, we figured we'd give AC a shot and see if it's something we'd like to add to our regular convention schedule. This was the first show of 2015 with our regular dream team of pinup goddesses: Fenny of Little Asian Sweatshop, Maria Danalakis and of course, myself.
A video posted by Paige Pumphrey (@paigey_pumphrey) on
Once upon a time 3 little girls went to Starfleet Academy...
Overall I liked Awesome Con. It wasn't perfect, but the stuff that it got right- especially for a show only a few years old- was stuff that will make it into a great con once it's been around a few years. They really had their shit together. Lots of staff, all very friendly and willing to help. Unlike my last show. Lots of room behind the tables as well. Enough room to put on SKITS, because me and my friends are ridiculous. And the three of us donned some classic Star Trek uniforms, of course. I mean both William Shatner AND George Takei were guests there. We HAD to.
A video posted by Paige Pumphrey (@paigey_pumphrey) on
Haha, yes we are ridiculous.
I got my bangs specially cut to be a Vulcan that weekend.
There were a few things I wasn't super crazy about.
A big one was realizing I'm not that crazy about DC in general. When I lived in Maryland I used to avoid it like the plague- the traffic is crazy, it's easy to get lost in and it being an older city who's general infrastructure doesn't handle the influx of people coming in and going out. Also after living in NYC for 8 years (woo!) their Metro system compared to the subway is a confusing, high-stakes nightmare. That closes around midnight. Ugh. Now I remember why I never went to the city without an 'adult' to guide me.
After setup on Friday.
Also it being such a young show, from what I've heard in years previous they have expanded the floor to accommodate bigger crowds every year since the show has been opened. The problem with this however is when you keep expanding the floor, everything gets placed further and further apart. Including attendees. Much like the last Heroes Con I attended in '13, the expansion causes even record crowds to appear smaller which leads to less hype, less excitement and less sales on the convention floor. I'd actually rather have a smaller floorplan with more crowding of attendees in the aisles than large swaths of empty floor shining back up at me. But then that's easy for me to say as a mere vendor. So... ::womp womp::. Also? I think the show could stand to be a 2-day versus a 3-day.
We also had Artist Alley neighbors who were a male artist and his wife who insisted on keeping their small 2-3 year old son strapped in a stroller behind the table with headphones and an iPad for almost the entire duration of the show, and when he wasn't watching the ipad he was sleeping in the stroller. Oh and they fed the kid candy. ALLLLL DAY. Which is a total buzzkill, because now we need to watch our volume, watch our language and listen to the kid freak out and cry when the ipad runs out of juice. Fortunately the mom had the sense to stroll the kid away when he started to melt down, but still... ugh. Originally in our layout of our tables we had Fenny next to the family, which if you've ever met Fenny you'd know in a convention setting she is very loud, very boisterous and very potty-mouthed. Having already witnessed some epic snippiness last year at Baltimore Comic Con over Fenny's volume levels, I had the forethought to switch with her to the furthest table space to avoid further possible conflict. Ever the little adjudicator I am.
We found an awesome Uhura and had to get pics with her. <3 comment-3--="">
Also SAD, my trusty vertical Paigey banner died at this show. I opened it up for the first time after coming back from Dallas and when I pulled it out of the bag about 3-4 little nuts and bolts fell out too that controlled the spring mechanism that brings the vinyl banner back into the base and holds up the support pole. It had a good 4 years and I wanted to get a new one anyways, so now that def has to happen.
We were also near the ever-awesome Jennifer Rose and Ruby Rinesko as Batman and Batgirl!!!
Overall I really liked Awesome Con, but I'll probably give it a couple years to come into it's own before I return. My earnings weren't quite enough to validate the trip down, plus a lot of the folks I saw were my regular customers at Baltimore Comic Con, which is a lot easier for me to get to.
So here goes! It looks like I'm gonna do it! If everything fares well,
this November I will be vending at my *first* West Coast convention: Designer Con! I'm SO EXCITED! I've had my eye on Designer Con for awhile as a potential West Coast convention to attend. The art scene out there is so much up my alley, plus California in general has stolen so many of my creative friends from NYC. (I'm looking at you, DC Comics...)
I'm going to be sharing a booth with my pal Peter Goode Art and my husband Phil and I will be taking a much deserved vacation the rest of the week, visiting stuff like Disneyland, Universal, Little Tokyo... So many things to check out. I haven't been to LA since I was a little kid, and then it was only because my family had won a trip to Disneyland. I'm excited to go back! Plus bonus: since I'm going at the end of November I'll be getting out of NYC just when the weather has gotten shitty.
Peter Goode and his creepy awesome monster paintings.
PLEASE HELP SUPPORT ME this very expensive trip I'll be taking (I've calculated the costs of going and I kind of want to cry...)! Visit me at one of my upcoming convention appearances and buy some of my merch! Not in the area? Check out my Society 6 store! Or my Stickermule marketplace! I might even get my etsy store restocked one of these days, haha!
It was inevitable that in my time doing conventions and fan art that I'd do a spin on Doctor Who, and I finally figured out which rendition I'd do after I saw the episode "The Idiot's Lantern" where the 10th Doctor and Rose Tyler go back to the 50's and get spiffy outfits. I decided to make it a mini print set with a shared background of Rose's foggy London back alley and the TARDIS to unify them. Cuz you know, OTP.
Reference:
I'm probably going to do a variant of this set with the Doctor and Rose in their regular street clothes as well at some point down the line.
Process pics:
Rough pencils
Inks on vellum
Scanned inks being colored in Photoshop
Almost done!!
Some lucky peeps at Awesome Con and Special Edition got to snag some of the magnets early!!
I'll have plenty more at future shows, along with print sets and other goodies. Keep an eye on my Convention Schedule to see where I'll be next.
Won't be seeing you? You can get the print as a single sheet over at Society 6!
I'll also be adding the magnets to my etsy store once I restock!
Another piece of art that's been floating around in my brain for awhile- a retro-inspired burlesque poster featuring Princess Kashmir from The Simpsons, specifically season 1 episode 10, "Homer's Night Out".
Last fall was the Every Simpsons Ever marathon on TV and my husband and I watched it pretty rigorously for the first few seasons. I was actually pretty impressed with how I was able to remember so many season 1 episodes word-for-word after not watching them for at least 10 years. (And maybe getting a little misty over the "Moaning Lisa" episode- which reminds me so much of myself as the less-than-perfect 10 year old girl I was when it came out. My parents STILL refer to it when I go into my sensitive artist mode.)
Princess Kashmir in Simpsons form
Progress shots:
Pencils.
Inks on vellum.
Inking Gulliver Dark on vellum.
Coloring scanned inks in Photoshop.
More coloring in Photoshop.
Poster layouts. Creating text in Illustrator, arranging the poster in Photoshop.
2015's convention season kicked off in a rather unconventional way with my first trip to Texas EVER and my first time attending All-Con in Dallas as a vendor. It was super cool of my friend Taffeta Darling to extend the invitation to me as part of an exchange of allowing her to stay at my apartment in Brooklyn last year for the Nerdlesque Festival. So almost like a crazy girl exchange program, this March I flew out to Dallas, Texas. The show I attended: All-Con, was definitely an experience which I am about to go on AT LENGTH here. Lots of ups and downs. To be fair, there's a TL;DR warning. But first thing's first: All-Con marks my first time traveling alone by airplane- I navigated security and bag check like a full-grown adult! I can do things!!
Taffeta Darling as Lady Lobo. Me as myself.
Okay, the positives! It was great to spend time catching up with old friends and meeting some brand new ones. Taffeta Darling was a great hostess and I really appreciate the invite and extension of her hospitality during my stay. That gal is going places and she is an absolute pleasure to be around. I was trying to get her to come out to New York Comic Con this year but she's already TOO BUSY going to a bunch of other shows where she will be moderating panels, hosting events and wearing some amazingly clever costumes. So there's hopefully next year? I told her the invite was standing.
Taffeta Darling: Righteous Babe. Total Goober.
I also got to see my old pal Soni (aka Agent 13 of Dallas based go-go troupe The Pistolettes) whom I've known for about 12 years- we met when I was still a cosplayer attending Dragon*Con in the early 00's! It's always a treat to see her and catch up on the latest gossip, drink some drinks and talk some smack. As an added bonus- since I rarely see Soni in her element as she is usually the one visiting me, I attended a panel/dance lesson at the show that was put on by The Pistolettes and was taught some awesome 60's dance moves that even I could follow. Soni even taught us the entirety of 'The Madison' which I still am able to bust out bits and pieces to in the privacy of my own apartment. (I'm not one for dancing.) It's always such a treat to take part in my friend's passions, and Soni's passion for dancing is infectious enough to get even a klutz like me on the floor. I also stayed with Soni at her apartment for a couple days after the con and we had awesome food adventures- my personal faves were Steel City Pop's coffee brownie pop and Dude, Sweet chocolate's Flower Child truffles. Sooo good.
Pistolettes room party!
It's Madison Time!
Also burlesque performer Black Mariah did a fan dance act based on my Card Queen art at the big burlesque show Saturday night at All-Con. It was AWESOME and the music choice of 'Killer Queen' by Queen was superb! And those fans!! She was so secretive about what she was doing and insistent on me being at the show (with a special seat and everything) that I wasn't sure exactly what to expect- yet then when she came out with the crown on it all came together. I was able to grab a quick snippet of video from it, but didn't want to spend the whole act viewing thru my phone when such an amazing performance is happening live in front of me.
There were a lot of new friends that I met as well! Some of my favorites included: ~A pair of adorable bright-eyed kids (in their late teens/early 20's) who dressed up as Amy Pond and The Doctor. The Amy Pond girl was so excited about life that it kind of brought out my inner Disney evil queen and I wanted to siphon her boundless energy and use it for my own. Which coming from me is a compliment.
~A really nice lady who had a massage chair set up and was giving back and neck massages for a mere dollar a minute. I went to her twice over the weekend as I was dealing with a HORRIBLE neck sprain from sleeping weird. She kinda saved me from completely wilding out on people.
~This little 5 year old boy and his mom who came walking by my table looking at my merch. As the mom was looking down at my merch, the little boy was looking up at me- then gave me some Groucho Marx eyebrows and made kissy noises. Both me and the mom were bemused by the Little Casanova (who looked like the kid from Jerry McGuire- pipsqueak has some charisma) and she came back to tell me the next day that he was talking about me to the family at dinner- about how not just he, but *everyone* thinks I'm pretty and how he's going to *marry* me one day. OMG- my heart can't take it. So adorable. So I'm apparently his first crush ever. He even swung by my table to chat me up again on Sunday and we played with his Transformer and took selfies (that I sent to his mom to print out for him). I even gave him one of my Bettie Page pins (which he insisted on pinning to himself) and his mom says how he treasures it now that they're back home. D'ohhhhhh. :3
~Blaze, the Red Rose of Texas! She's awesome and her Loki costume was amazing and we shared pictures of our pets (she has 3 pugs!).
Hotties bein' hotties.
~While I was at a room party after the burlesque show with a bunch of the performers, a girl came by with a giant cooler bag of tiny, individually wrapped mason jars full of alcoholic mousses that she had made herself. There was even a list of what flavors she had. And they even came with teeny tiny spoons!! And omg they were DELICIOUS! And even better- she was GIVING them away!! What??
I got Thin Mint. :d
~I had these amazingly sweet neighbor girls at the table next to me that I had some very pleasant conversations with and who were adorably concerned when I would arrive at my table late as hell. One of them even drew a picture of me!
I won't lie. I got a little teared up seeing this. Convention Auntie 4-eva.
Now, for the negatives.
I didn't make very much money. This is actually one of my worst performing convention tables ever, in my 8 years of vending. While there's fun to be had at shows, for me it's still a job. I spend a lot of time and money to make my merch, rent table space and travel to shows. The most I can usually hope for is to break even on my expenses, and I wasn't even able to do that this time around. For a show that was 4 days long, that is a rough go. Thankfully my room situation was taken care of, because to also eat a hotel room cost would have honestly made me very upset. There also didn't seem to be an overwhelming interest in my merchandise. People would look and say nice things about my art in general, but then when it came to buying stuff most people just said 'thanks' and walked away. And I'm sorry but compliments don't pay my credit card bills. I think the smallish size of the show worked against me- the crowd was very insular, lots of regulars and not a lot of outsiders or casual customers just coming in for the day. Also save for a few pockets of attendees in their 20's-30's, most of the crowd was old school nerds. Like, OLD SCHOOL. The whole geek chic/nerd girl trend hadn't caught on yet down there like it has on the east coast I suppose. Or they were all at Walker-Stalker Con, which was also going on that weekend and had apparently stolen a lot of All-Con's attendees. All-Con also in my opinion casts it's net of interests too wide and there was a lack of identity to the show. The programming topics ranged from the mildly interesting to the eye-roll inducing to the just... odd. Like "Knitting"? But then I also have to remind myself that I'm actually in the comics industry and have been lucky enough to land in my career choice of being a professional nerd and that at times I do take that personal freedom for granted. Many attendees who come to shows for fun are also more than likely living lives or working in jobs where they aren't able to share their nerdy pursuits with those around them and conventions are their only outlet to talk about and revel in their interests.
Not everyone gets to wear this to work.
I've re-realized how much I'm not a fan of hotel conventions versus my preferred convention center-type shows. I kinda had that feeling at Asbury Park Comic Con last year, but All-Con sealed it. After spending all day behind my table talking and selling and working my hustle- I've reached my limit. Which when that happens- all I want to do once the vendor room closes down is go home, order food and watch Investigation Discovery. MAYBE get dinner with a drink or two ONE night during the show. But even then- I'll go out with a small group of people I can be frank with. And I'll probably nod off before the check arrives. When I started doing shows as a professional I found I much prefer spending my time behind my table getting to talk to the average congoer and to friends who stop by for quick conversations, versus spending all night at the bar or crammed in someone's hotel room full of people all talking over each other. I find the barrier of the table comforting as opposed to the 360 degrees of vulnerability I feel being at the bar or walking on the floor. At my table I can see people as they approach and mentally prepare myself for conversation. I mean hell- almost everything I've been up to in the past few months leading up to the show is all spread out before me. Which is especially helpful in talking to new people whom I've just met. I feel like I have purpose at a show instead of just floating around looking for someone to talk to. Running a table is already socially exhausting, and then to add the forced socialization aspect of having to pass people in the hotel halls on my way to my room after I'm done for the day adds a level of anxiety I normally don't have to deal with. It's like a work day that doesn't end. It also weirds me out on a privacy level if people know where my room is. If I'm heading back to my room (particularly late at night) I'm always wary of the possibility of being followed, especially if I had gotten a weird vibe from someone at my table earlier that day. By the time I'm headed home at convention center shows there's only the other pro's still packing up and they wanna GTFO as much as I do. I need that separation. A reminder that there's an outside world. Conventions, especially ones in hotels where everyone is hanging out together for the long haul of an extended weekend can get a bit of a snow globey vibe. Or like it's camp. It gets claustrophobic. There will inevitably be drama. And buckle in, because there's no escape until Sunday.
Sunday. #sotired #overit
The worst thing however about All-Con would have to have been the Nazis. Yeah... Nazis. :\
This was grabbed off Instagram under the hashtag #All-Con by my friend Soni.
Me too, Indy. Me, too.
Let me back up. Because this was the big turd in my All-Con punchbowl. So there were a group of about 8-10 Nazi 'cosplayers', all white guys aged 30-60 that wore Nazi and WW1 German uniforms all weekend. They had different ones each day. Like that was basically all they had brought with them in their suitcases. They
even had a vending table they were hanging out at and selling replica
weapons. Thing is- the table had NO signage and no cards. Dressing up as a Nazi for a costumed event is pretty incendiary on it's own- but what really did it for me was the lack of context. When I asked around to people I heard that they were supposed to be from Hydra, or Hellboy, or "some obscure anime" or WW2 reenactors. Which is interesting, because no one could give me a straight answer on what exactly they were from. Contextless Nazi's are STILL NAZI'S guys. And actual history > fiction. I never engaged these guys face-to-face because I don't know if I'd be able to handle the answer they would give me if I asked. I'm a lot better arguing with people on paper than in person. Just seeing them hanging out in groups and drinking in their uniforms out in the halls after hours at the show was enough to make me feel uncomfortable. That uneasiness about going back to my room alone I was talking about before? That would have been exponentially worse had I have gotten into it with these guys and then had to squeeze past them in the hallway at 2am by myself. Also I have a bit of history with a local group of teenaged Neo-Nazis in my old neighborhood in Maryland. What started with them having a problem with me and my best friend who was gay- ended in my car getting vandalized and my father's car set on fire in our driveway in the middle of the night. Which could have easily caused an explosion, burned down my family house and maybe killed someone. Fortunately it didn't, but the intention was there. And that's a memory I'd rather not confront when I'm at a convention trying to make money, network and attempting to have a good time.
Great. So I get to be across from these assholes allll weeeekennnnd.
Those assholes wanted to
rattle some cages? Get some reactions? Oh, THEY DONE DID IT NOW. Interestingly enough, a lot of people who were regulars/local to the show would complain
amongst themselves or even to the Nazis directly, but no one thought
to complain to staff or take this to social media. It's like I HAD to
say something. And I'm no whistleblower by any stretch. But there's
wrong and there's right and then there's this bullshit. So like any congoer who feels threatened should- I took it to the event staff on Saturday morning after getting myself all riled up Thursday night into Friday. I was hoping like most shows, an attendee complains to staff, it gets taken seriously and something gets done in a timely manner. Because regardless of the situation going on between me and these guys- I still need to get to my table and put in hours so I can hopefully make some money. I don't have time for this nonsense. All-Con already has my money so I gotta hustle. The first lady I went to was an elderly mom-type who had helped direct me to the bathrooms earlier in the weekend. Like I said, as an outsider going into this show only knowing 3 people before stepping through the door- I was hard up for someone trustworthy to express my concerns to. I'm also leery of people who are put in positions of authority but figured she was my best bet. I asked her plainly in my most composed soccer mom voice, "Soooo… What's the deal with the guys in Nazi uniforms?". And acting somewhat surprised at my concern, she said "Oh they're war reenactors." My eyes narrow and shoot back, "Yeah, but they're NAZIS." Granted I'm still polite, but you could tell I'm starting to get my swerve on. "Oh well, actually- they were World War 1 Germans yesterday…", she replies matter-of-factly. Oh. Oh. So they were pre-Nazis yesterday, as opposed to the Swastika'd the fuck out members of the Fascist party that they are today? Cuz holy shit dude, I saw some of them on Saturday morning after I unsuccessfully tried to find a proper cup of coffee (good fucking luck) all hanging out in the hotel lobby with medals and swastikas and jackboots and all the trimmings. Like nothing's nothing. At like 9am. Guten morgen, assholes.
Look at this asshole.
These guys too. I couldn't get a decent shot of their uniforms because I didn't want to engage them.
And this is also why my neck was killing me all weekend. The lady can tell I'm not going to let this go and decides to pull rank. Or lack thereof. She tells me that she is merely a volunteer and has no power in the situation. So she suggests I either look for an actual staffer in a yellow vest or fill out a comment card. The buck has been passed. I indignantly grab about 20 comment cards, shove them in my pocket and proceed to spend even more time away from my table looking for a yellow vest. Any convention worth their salt would have had that lady call up a staffer on a walkie and have them come to me, but I guess we just do stuff differently on the east coast. So I finally locate a staffer, a female about my age (maybe younger) sitting behind the registration desk against the back wall, arms folded, not looking like she'll be particularly receptive to my plight either. To be honest (and probably mean, but she was really unpleasant so whatever)- she was a textbook example of a legbeard. A grumpy, acerbic woman who has no business interacting with the public. I get her attention and politely tell her I would like to lodge a complaint about the guys in the Nazi uniforms. That they make me feel like I am not in a safe space and that I am triggered. You know- all the buzzwords that conventions should maybe pay attention to. Especially from their female attendees. And having already been passed off once by a representative of the show, I'm starting to feel a bit incensed. So the girl, who by body language alone obviously has made it clear that I am merely inconveniencing her good time, first states that they are most likely from an 'obscure anime'. So I'm getting nerd-checked instead helped. Great. Like, lady--- I WORK IN MANGA. I don't give a shiiiiiit. Like oh- I'm sorry. I thought they were the Nazi's from ACTUAL HISTORY. Haha, my bad. Carry on. She then asks if I've talked to them, like I should go and ask the Nazi's why they're Nazis. And I say no, that's why I'm coming to you- I don't feel safe talking to them, especially alone. We then start to get into an argument about freedom of speech, but I cut her off and ask if she's actually going to do anything about this or is she just trying to wear me down. She directs me to the comment cards and assures me that they read them every night of the show. I tell her I already have 20 and walk away. At this point my rage is incandescent. After
I complained to All-Con staff about the Nazis to no avail, I still had to go
get ready for my table. I headed to my room and blasted the Dicks (an
old queer punk band with lots of anti skinhead songs) and put on my
Wonder Woman costume and was like 'is this my life now'?
My life now, apparently.
At my table I then proceeded to pen my angry letter through into Sunday, dropping it off in the comment box before I left.
They
have the right to believe what they want, but as a paying attendee of a
private ticketed event I have just as much of a right to complain to
the con staffers about my personal safety. And if there
is to be nothing done about this type
of presence at a convention, that's cool then I'm going to exercise MY first
amendment rights of putting these assholes on blast and making sure
everyone knows what goes down at a particular show. I have NEVER seen this type of thing go down at an east coast show. Because what I think
most of us can all agree on is that Nazis are dicks and we can show our
distaste of this by simply not endorsing the conventions that condone this
behavior. Hopefully then those cons will fall to the wayside. I
actually have no problem with them wearing their Nazi shit in their
home or at whatever reenactment events these guys go to. Whatever, it's a
free country. But that doesn't mean they are free from backlash and
consequences when they are out at events where people are not in on the joke. There's a time and a place and it's far the fuck away from
me. Plus c'mon- there's frigging kids around. During this entire time at the actual show I kept this whole silent war between me and these guys under wraps on social media because I knew as soon as I posted about these guys my phone would E • X • P • L • O • D • E with notifications. Half of why I've waited a month to write my con report was to let everything that happened process. Plus seriously, this is a LONG ASS ENTRY and kept putting it off. So, after the show I go to my friend Soni's apt for the final leg of my Dallas trip to hang out with her. She's had some run-ins with these Nazi's as well at past All-Cons- the guy in the top, reposted pic from Instagram actually bought her drinks and followed her around like a lovestruck puppy. Granted Soni also has way more patience than I and was able to decimate him (even make him cry!) with the power of conversation- and found out that yes, indeed- there is no context to their uniforms. They're just Nazi's. And now that guy tries to hang out with Soni and her burlesque crew at All-Con like they're friends. He actually tried sidling up to the group on Saturday night and Soni had to lure me away from the group like an angry dog. Which was probably a good call on her part because I was drunk, tired and wearing my Wonder Woman outfit. But late on Sunday after we had gotten to her place, Soni and I find the pic of that guy on Instagram hashtag for All-Con and Soni reposts it and it goes into her Facebook feed. So Monday afternoon and over 200 comments later, Soni and I are glued to her couch in our pj's and hunched over our phones clicking away on tiny keyboards like we're in some wacky cosplay version of All the President's Men. "Put it up on the big board!", Soni joked. Add to that a repost of the guy's pic to another Facebook cosplay group that yielded another 400+ comments and it became clear we weren't going anywhere for awhile. It was some intense shit for a couple hours. There were some WORDS. People got blocked. Which also reinforced my feelings of not properly addressing this whole situation until I was at home with my computer and a proper keyboard and the ability to open several windows at a time.
Fortunately it seems that we actually got the attention of All-Con and they issued a statement to Soni via Facebook:
"Unfortunately I cannot respond to your thread as your FaceBook settings do not allow non-friends to comment. ALL-CON
staff found the uniforms as disturbing as the public did. Our rules
have never addressed the possibility of such an outrage as we've
never had anyone as thoughtless (uncaring?) as to don a purposely
offensive 'costume / uniform'. As tacky as it was, we had no rules
against it. While
we may have been bitten once, we won't be twice. This condition in
general is being addressed specifically in a new 'Uniforms Policy', and
to prevent slight modifications to attire disqualifying them as true
'uniforms' we are adding a clause to our Harassment Policy to include
purposely inflammatory or 'offensive to event staff' costumes or
clothing to be a condition for ejection from the event. This will allow
any top-level event staff to handle a similar situation based on event
standard vs. any perceived community standards. Any historical reenactment groups will need to apply directly to the convention for approval. ALL-CON's
fairly open rules has allowed some amazing creativity that have been
astounded by and enjoy. Unfortunately, there's always someone who just
doesn't get it and has to come along and spoil the fun. We
are very embarrassed that this has happened at our fandom friendly
event and no not believe that 'offensive dressing' is a fandom we care
to support. If you would please pass along my comments to your thread, I would be deeply appreciate.~Todd Carlton Content Manager, ALL-CON.net
So... there's that. Ideally it would have been nice to have had something happen at the actual show- I wouldn't even say have those guys ejected from the convention. Merely asking them to go and change into something else would have been more than sufficient. There's been plenty of cases where a woman wears a costume too revealing and they are asked to cover up/change immediately. So
apparently the female body is more offensive than fascism and genocide.
Yay. Either way, at least something is now being done about this and I was able to facilitate a convention's change for the better. Will I return to see these changes carried through? Not likely. I love my Texas friends but they can come visit me in NYC next time. Also considering my other choice for an away convention- Monsterpalooza in Anaheim is two weeks after All-Con, I'd much rather take my chances out in California next year. Thank you for reading this GIANT blog entry.
UPDATE!!!!! Monday 4/6/15, 3pm!
A friend found and sent me better pics of the Nazi group that were taken Saturday morning at the All-Con photobooth- so now you CAN get some good, long looks at these guys.
Really? Even a Nazi gold prop?? Ugh.
Would YOU feel safe at a show with these guys walking around??
