Tag: Convention Displays

Con Report – Multiverse Convention 2025

It’s been a long time since I did a con report! Ah friends, it felt really good to be back on the circuit. The small, chill show that was Multiverse Convention was the perfect event for me to make a convention comeback! This year, I came representing my Birthstone Goddesses since I was the most prepared with inventory for this spread, but I’m hoping next year I can apply with my Dark Fantasy/TTRPG work instead.

Multiverse was small enough to not be too stressful and right on our doorstep as a local event, which made it also doubly amazing for being an easy setup and for getting to network with other creative types in my area.

I was so thrilled to reconnect with other artist friends like Ariel Burgess, Rachel Rieckenberg Becker, and Amy Brewer-Davenport and to meet new friends in-person like Emily and Lauren Brown! Lauren and I, in particular, have been admiring each other’s work for years, so it was one of my biggest joys of the con to have our parallel Art Nouveau worlds finally collide!

Meeting a few writers at the con also energized me to start indulging that side of my artistic spirit again. It’s been difficult to start for many reasons, but seeing other people passionate and motivated infects me with their spark.

PANELS! I also worked 4 panels over the course of con! I got to geek out about video game adaptations, chat references and figure drawing, and sketch costumed con-goers.
(Did you attend one of the panels I was on? Say hi in the comments!)

Who knew that the gentleman tv would be my fave sketch of the figure drawing panel?

My Bestsellers

Unsurprisingly for the down economy we’re currently in, most of my sales were of small items. I tried to keep most of my items $25 and under, with the exception of things like my original paintings and masks that were pricier, none of which sold from my booth or the Art Show. Most people bought:

  • Stickers (that 3 sticker deal was popular for gifting)

  • Enamel Pins

  • Drawstring Pouches

  • Coloring Books

If I could ever get organized to do a tote bag Birthday gift set for each of my Birthstone Goddesses, I think that would be really popular, but I’m still brainstorming how to present that at in-person events and how to present them in a shiny and unique way.

My Convention Display

I always take a picture of my display for future improvements! I have to say that this year I was very satisfied with my display and how the crowd interacted with it. Beyond a few minor fixes, I don’t have any major improvements I’d make.

Most of my nitpicks would be related to the space for the booth not being consistent with what was advertised by the vendor info. We were supposed to have an 8×8 ft space with a 7.5 ft table, but ended up with more of an 8x10x8 space with a table that was too large for an 8×8, which is the reason for the gap in the back. Thankfully, my vendor neighbors were forgiving and the staff assigned me against the wall where I had more flexibility after discussing my carpet walls with them.

Otherwise, I’m so pleased with how the new Lady of November standee worked out! She’ll be perching in my studio till the next event.

I’ve already gotten a few questions about where I got my displays, which I’ll share in a dedicated post with a list of the equipment in the near future!

The Verdict

We made a small profit after making back the fees, but the true gift of con was finding my kindred spirits again. I hope to come back next year with more writing under my belt so I can also experience the Writing tracks of the con that I missed this time around.

I also have a list of local art shows and figure drawing to check out since this con was so close to home, which is an awesome bonus.

This might be my last con again for awhile till life and medical chaos calms down, but I’m so grateful for my time there, for the awesome people, and for the chill atmosphere.

Catch you all again next year, hopefully!

♥ Ang

Planning a Convention Booth + Art Show Display with Visual Aids

Peeking my head up to say “Hello there” I’m alive! With Multiverse coming up in October, I’ve been hard at work envisioning ways to make my grand return to cons a big one and thought I’d let you all in on that process.

My Old Booth

My very first big con booth debuted at DragonCon 2019, which also happened to be my last big booth with COVID’s surprise dropkick that kept me out of cons for years afterwards. Even still, it was a valuable experience in figuring out how to layout my products, how foot traffic and customer flow works, and how to make everything visible and easy to find. I’m definitely drawing upon everything we did right back then to plan a new booth!

My Upgraded Booth Mockup

To plan how to upgrade this old setup, I started with creating a mockup first, with the next step being to set up a live booth in our sunroom to make sure everything fits and THEN to do a run to make sure we can fit it all in our car. Seeing everything laid out visually like this makes it easier for me figure out spacial relationships and what signage I’ll need.

Some of the changes of note:

  • Self-Serve Area – On the right side, I’ve added a small table that allows for showing off more art where people can also enjoy browsing a portfolio and self-serve items like greeting cards and flip bins without being in the way of people at the main checkout table in the back.
  • Folding Bins in Front – In my 2019 display, I had the bins under the prints in back-left in hopes that people would come up to the big wall to flip through. Instead, people seemed afraid of going into that corner as if they were intruding on our seller space behind the table. Hopefully, having print bins up front will encourage more people to browse freely!
  • Added Masks – The Birthstone Goddesses were such a HUGE body of work that I hated leaving the masks out. People tend to find them interesting handmade items that make for great conversation pieces, so I wanted to give them a chance to shine!
  • Added Sticker & Pin Displays – My stickers were displayed in one barely noticeable plaque that didn’t have room for more than a few examples. Meanwhile, my enamel pins weren’t even on the table, which was not ideal as they’re some of my bestselling items! I’ve sacrified showing off the matted pieces on the main table to have ALL of the available stickers and pins featured front and center since they’re some of my most in-demand items.Many thanks to my Patrons here because your support helped me to be able to buy these displays instead of having to choose between them and groceries this past month!
  • QR codes instead of clipboard signups – In my long gap in vending at cons, technology has moved forward enough that QR codes are the standard. Instead of needing table real estate for a bulky tablet for newsletter signups, I’m going to put out a QR code with a Meet the Artist plaque instead. This will link to my landing page with links and my newsletter signup form.
  • Adding a Birthstone Chart – It’s amazing how many people don’t actually know their birthstone/birthlower, so I’m going to create little visual where they can look up their or a loved one’s combo for easier gift-giving.
  • Adding a Lady of November Standee – My brother runs a sign shop and has been wanting to make me a standee for years! I FINALLY found a reason to indulge his urge, which I’m sure will be a thrill for him. Backup plan in case the standee won’t fit in the car is to put a roll up verticle sign I already have.
  • New Tablecloths – I found these awesome table covers with openings in the back so we can easily store things, rather than using the unwieldy crushed velvet fabric square I had been using before. (Another expense made possible thanks to Patreon support. Y’all are awesome!)
  • Lighting (Not Pictured) – Dragoncon provided booth lighting, but it’s not guaranteed at other events, so I’ve bought a couple of sheet music lamps for a more budget lamp option.

The Art Show Mockup

Next, I also have a large bay in the Art Show. I like to fit as much as possible, while still having breathing room, so I like to plan a layout in advance in Photoshop. Bid sheets are also unwieldy, so it’s easy to forget that they will take up so much space!

This year, I’m including as many original paintings as I can. Having this layout available also helps if someone else other than me will be hanging my art, usually my husband or other helper for the show.

What you’re not seeing here is all the adding and removing of several pieces I couldn’t find that were lost after our house move or too big for the display once I swapped others out…but at least I can fill out the pre-con paperwork now! It’s like a game of Art Tetris.

The To-Do List

Still a few things left on the agenda to be fully ready for this show, including:

  • Sort out stock and packaging for the Print Shop area I’m also included in. Most of my prints are already packaged, but some might need bag and backing. Also pre-con paperwork to do for this area as well.
  • Cut mats (I HATE this part) and wait for frame glass to (hopefully) arrive in time to be inserted into the frame that didn’t come with glass by default.
  • Prep for my panels. I’m on a really fun schedule in the Art Track as a Guest Artist/Author which I want to refresh myself on info so I can be prepared. That’s me, the Very Professional Artist and not an imposter that everyone will discover soon!
  • Make sure I have all the signage I need, along with making sure prices are current.
The convention chaos begins!
The mockup booth begins to form in the corner of the sunroom.

PHEW have I missed this convention prep dance! Hopefully, everything will go smoothly this year, despite being quite rusty at this after my very long hiatus. Thanks again to everyone who has kept supporting my Patreon despite my sluggish updates lately. It’s helped make this prep so much easier for us while we also continue working through our medical struggles.

Now, back to prep with me!

<3 Ang