Once again another convention another lesson.

This conventions lesson is do not rely on a “middle-man”, things fall between the cracks and you have to make compromises that you didn’t think you would have too. So if you plan on going to a convention as a guest of an organization make sure you know who to ask all the questions and get a full understanding of what the expectations are.

The reason i say this is important is because if you normally are the show runner (that means you do all the things from running the booth, taking payments, running any games that you decide to, panels, etc.), working with a 3rd party can have some challenges that you may not see coming an below i will list the ones i personally ran into (and no i don’t hold a grudge against anybody just a learning experience, so learn from me if you would):

1. Running games was impossible as the venue was not equipped to do so in an effective manner. I say this as a person who frequents TTRPG Conventions and not things like PopCon, Anime, etc. so I am super spoiled in that regard. It also didn’t help that they did not have a list of games and times for people to sign up for. There was also very little if any advertising done on this portion of the convention.
   • In my opinion if you want to see a wonderful way to go about this, look into Midwest Gamefest as a great example of how one should do this.
2. I was working with a group and so the money i made was in the end less than what i expected (which is why i mentioned don’t use a middle man).
   • If you are working with a group or collective and they are doing payments an providing products for you to help sell, make sure you get a clear understanding of what is expected and what said payout will be for sales. In a contract form of some sort (hopefully clear wording of course).
3. Networking is the key to these types of events
   • Always be looking for ways to cross-promote to help your sales if able. If you are selling TTRPGs and can afford to take a small hit offer discounts if they show you their new dice. This absolutely pushed sales on the books we had in that genre. (and if you have spares let them display one of your products, just don’t forget to pick it up when the convention ends).

Well there you have it, my little nuggets of wisdom. Always remember every convention is a learning experience and if you don’t learn something you are probably doing it wrong (or some sort of wizard).

Good luck and stay crumbly.