VCON 35, 2010- Saturday, part 1- Return to the vendor room!

The vendor room was pretty much as we had left it. As far as my table went, except that my poster of Regan had fallen off the wall.

I had also laid down my display of books the night before, and moved flimsy things like bookmarks away form the edge, lest someone walk by and toss them asunder, so I had to set those up.

It didn't take long for the war of bookmarks resumed with Steve Fahnestalk, and for visitor flow to pick up better than any period of friday. With dry fruitloops now pumping into my veins, washed down by a little concentrated taurine poisoning, my lack of sleep didn't matter. It was party time!

Suddenly, Danielle Golden joined the party! Level ??? dual-wielding ranger:

I hope they don't mind me ripping this pic form their facebook gallery.. 'they' being the Border Guardians of Ackernon. She was there in costume, promoting their stuff! She impressed my aunt on friday, "Joey, there's this girl in this funny costume, she's cute, you should draw her!"

Okay, I figured my aunt had just run into her first cosplayer, but when I met Danielle, the pieces clicked together. We chatted for a fair while. Some time later, I heard someone nearby commenting on her awesome outfit, and I said "I KNOW, yeah? It makes me want to play her!... IN A GAME, I mean. In a game!"

I don't know if anyone believed me.

Many of the orbiters came around a few times, including Gabe, the young man seeking his destiny! A quest, an epic quest! - who I mentioned in a previous blog entry. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse... but I told him to be patient. One more day, and his destiny would be fulfilled. Assuming the U.N. didn't interfere.. more on that in coming blog entries..


In the end, there can be only one. Or something.

This was the longest and busiest vendor shift. Sales were decent, and I remembered to give away some nice juicy posters of my art when 1)they bought more than one book, AND 2)they looked like they might like one, AND 3)I remembered to offer.

It was always great to talk to people who'd read some of my stuff, and were up for the next book- be that the newest one, Echoes of Erebus, or they were a book behind, needing Watching Yute. Heck, two people bought all three at once. The first time it happened, I thought "Oooh! A hat-trick! My first ever! I wonder why this never happened at previous VCONs, c"... oh.. yeah.. I never had 3 books before. Fair enough.

Wanna know the devious sales tactics I had developed by mid-day? A person walking by glances at my table, and I tell them something like "Well, THERE'S the hardened stare of someone seeking a free bookmark!"

About half the people would grab one. Among the other half were people who politely declined, and a very minor ..ùh.. minority who ignored me. Among those who grabbed them, (and I was always interested to see which of the 3 they would grab-tip blood catches the eye) most would read the bookmark, then look at the books.

As chatty as I am, I had to let them read the back of a book for a bit before yapping away. I'd then maybe mention, "Technically, they're a trilogy, but I went out of my way to make them all readable as stand alones.." and some discussion would normally start snowballing from there. When I realized I was doing a similar thing repeatedly, I felt like a bit of a shmuck.. but it started some fun discussions, and the odd sale.. so who am I to complain?

Next post: The after events- My visit to the gaming room, the party with the SciFi Canada crew, and the dance..!