Last weekend, I attended
RadCon 6 in Pasco, Washington. I've heard about it for a few years now, but finally had the opportunity to attend as a visitor. My girlfriend's family lives in Pasco, and I happened to have the weekend off. I arrived on Saturday, February 18th, around 4pm. My main goal was to see what the show vibe is, how the dealer and art gallery is, and to see a panel discussion about Using Etsy and Ebay for Artists.
So, the show is at Red Lion, and Red Lion is a very unusual choice for a convention, at least in my own experience from conventions. The layout looks like a spider, with wings that go off into different directions, and several floors.
The last time I stayed here, I ended up getting lost trying to find my room. I felt the same with the show. I imagine that people who have gone here over the years has the layout memorized though. One thing I worried about for dealers and panels is that not everyone can find it.
When I first entered the hotel, the first thing I saw was a large booth for
SpoCon, another Science Fiction and Fantasy convention in Spokane. Since it wasn't a registration booth, I kept walking in. I walked around, and headed upstairs, and found a wing with shops. Rooms have been converted into mini shops of all kinds, from game stuff, to clothing, chainmail and armor, weapons, tarot, and everything else under the sun. After doing some browsing, I found where the panel discussion was going to be. I was about 30 or 40 minutes early, so I came back down to the main floor to do some people watching and browsing.
A view from the second floor of one of the wings.
A view from the third floor.
Right before the panel was going to start, I headed to the wing to go upstairs, and finally was stopped and asked for a badge. I asked for the directions, and found the booth, it was in the back, to the back right of the entrance of the hotel. I think the registration booth would have been better suited where the SpoCon booth was. I wonder how many people never paid.
When I registered, they said the badge was $35. Yikes, especially when I was one day late for the convention so far. I asked for a day pass, and the woman said "The city of Pasco doesn't allow us to give out day passes." Odd, I don't understand what Pasco really cares about one day passes. Well, I wanted to see that panel badly, so I paid.
One of the shops and people in costume.
I think the guy on the right in the suit is supposed to be David Tennent from Doctor Who. I had a difficult time recognizing many costumes.
This was a room full of dealers with booths, instead of rooms. It was really interesting, mostly selling comics, books, dvds, rpgs, cards, and some art.
There was also two game rooms. Heck, if I decide to attend next year, I might pack up Hero Quest and Talisman, and try to strike up a game.
So many people carried around guitars, I wasn't sure what the deal was. I didn't get a memo to bring my acoustic guitar, bass, or ukulele.
A game room full of giant screens and video games.
A room full of sexy fun time clothes. I didn't enter. The room across smelled of patchouli.
A group of kids, I think they were playing some sort of variant of rock, paper, scissors.
I guess a con is never complete without a furry. He was holding his head.
The art gallery was really impressive, and gave me some ideas on displaying art at a convention.
I actually got talked to by the guy in the center left for taking photos in the art gallery. I didn't see a sign, so it was just a tad uncomfortable. Plus I wasn't interested in the art so much, as the layout and gallery walls.
For some reason, if a girl didn't fully dress up, then she would wear a cat tail and ears. I think 30% of the females had this pseudo costume.
These guys are a gaming store from omewhere else in Washington. This place was the only store I bought something from, they had cheap miniature accessories made from molds for sale. I bought a few to use for Hero Quest, like desks and book shelves.
Apparently there is a convention in Spokane for miniatures gaming.If I'm off, I may attend for some gaming. I don't get to play games very often any more, so this could be fun.
Alright, so I found this sign all over the hotel. I returned Sunday to find the guy, and he already packed up. I really wanted a Nintendo in a cartridge:
So that's my essential experience with the con. It felt a little off, but I'm used to comic conventions. I was impressed enough with the art that I think I may enter the art auction, maybe even do a dealer table.
As for the panel discussion, I felt it was a little off balanced. There were three speakers,
Tiffany Toland-Scott, John Gray, and
Herb Leonhard. Of the three, Tiffany was the most knowledgeable. The discussion was about artists utilizing Etsy and Ebay to sell and promote their art. Of the three, John Gray felt the least useful, he even stated that he is a Luddite, afraid of even using his bank's website for fear someone will still his money.
Tiffany championed Ebay, and said a few key points: have a loss leader, something small like a postcard print that can be sold cheaply and raise views of your Ebay store. She also suggested to mail art flat, instead of a tube. Apparently tubes can fill with water if the piece is left in poor weather. She also said she really has to put a lot of effort in every day, filling orders, posting new work, and anything else to stay up top in searches.
From my personal experience though, I have never once sold a painting on Ebay. All my art has been through Etsy. I imagine it really doesn't matter who you go through, as long as you are really putting a hard effort into making sales. I really enjoyed the panel, it's nice to be around creative types who are dealing with similar situations as me. Not a lot of people understand the plight of the artist trying to make his or her way.
*Quick Update* - The RadCon group on Facebook just said that a lot of visitors and guests came down with a stomach bug, most likely Noro Virus. I figured that's what has been killing me last night, but I imagined I picked it up a work (I work at a hospital), not the con. Makes sense though, things like that take a good day or two to come into full effect, and I only had been back to work since yesterday evening. Alright, back to bed for more rest. The image below is how I felt last night, I was about ready to call for a young priest and an old priest.
